Message from the President December 2025
Merry Christmas! Let’s Have an Amazing 2026!
Here is hoping that this holiday issue of The Carnival Pump finds you warm, in the holiday spirit, and ready for some time with loved ones. I won’t sugarcoat it; 2025 was a pretty rough year for carnival glass collectors. We lost so many beautiful, wonderful collectors this year, especially ones very special to ICGA. The list of people I could call or email with a question or story about a piece of carnival took a big hit, and I am always sad knowing that it will be a long time before I see them again.
For me, I get some joy in knowing that this year’s Christmas holiday will be amazing for those we have lost. Imagine Christmas in the best place in all of creation, with loved ones you haven’t seen for years and years and surrounded by love and light. It would be the best birthday party we’ve ever experienced. That thought makes this year much more manageable.
Beyond all that, we do have a great year in front of us. 2026 will bring our MEGA2 Convention, continuing our success of this year. And it is official: the convention will take place July 15-18 at the Holiday Inn BienVenu Event Center in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The hotel and convention center (which are connected) are beautiful, friendly and ready to do all it takes to help make our annual convention a very special event. Look for registration and a schedule of events on the ICGA website very soon (the Committee is working diligently to create a schedule that offers more education and fun than we had with this year’s convention, while giving us more time to enjoy time with each other.
As you will see reading through this issue of the Pump, we will have a MEGA Vase display (which looks to be fantastic!), more roundtable seminars, and more. And our auction will be provided by Sheffield Auctioneers once again. Scott and Suzanne are putting together a great auction for us to consume!
We had a lot of people come to the first MEGA convention and we are hoping to see you at next year’s version. Our goal is to provide you with fun, friends, great glass, and a younger audience of potential collectors who can learn why carnival glass collecting and carnival clubs are a very cool thing that can continue on into the future. Getting new members from the next generations of collectors is a high priority for ICGA and we are hoping you will help and give them a great example of why collecting is something we have done for more than half a century.
When I think of our collectors who have passed, I remember all the wonderful things they did to move the hobby into the future (and I remember how helpful and generous with their time they were when I was a young collector). I believe that we honor them by working to bring the hobby and ICGA into the future by having that next generation join and learn how to manage and promote it themselves.
THAT would be one of the best Christmas gifts ever!
Peace and glad tidings in the new year. See you in 2026!!!
Brian
