Bear Tales and Trails by Harry Croft!
Back to the Webspresso Boyds Cafe

LONG TIME - WE'RE BACK!
It's been quite awhile since our last post on this board, but with traveling, signings, shows, Gettysburg, Rosemont, etc., it seemed we never had time to just sit down and do some plain talking. Now with more free time on our hands, Millie and I are planning on doing more posts.
What kind of posts? Just posts with tid bits and a lot more that we pick up along the way, answers to questions, and general info. Glad to be back!

SUMMER 2001 BT&T ISSUED TO BE MAILED
Hopefully, this week-end we'll be able to mail our last issue of BEAR TALES & TRAILS QUARTERLY, then Dave & Linda will take over with the Fall issue. As always, we'll have the family over - everyone has a job to do, so it only takes a day to process everything. Subscribers should receive their SUMMER 2001 issue by next Tuesday or Wednesday. If you don't get it by July 28th not, give us an email (beartales@pipeline.com) or a call (847-358-6276) and we'll get a replacement copy out to go right away.

The SUMMER issue is a little on the nostalgia side - this being our last issue after writing 25 issues jam packed with news and info. It's hard to say good-by to so many friends - so that's why we've decided to try and post frequently - to keep in contact with everyone. Once again, we ran short of art work in the summer issue - we opted to use the space for news. Our collectors like news and that's what we've tried to give...28 pages of news.

If some of the sealing labels, stamps, or address labels are crooked, just bear with us - our almost 6 year old grandson has been dying to work for BT&T to earn some money - his wages...penny a label - am I a big spender!

We're going to meet with Jean Grubesky (VP) later this year to discuss donating some memborilia to the museum. If anyone has anything of interest that they might consider donating, drop us a line, a call or email. We'll pass it on to Jean. They also want your input as to what the Store/Museum should have, so if you have any ideas about what you'd like to see, pass them along to us and we'll past them on to her.   Hope you find the summer issue full of facts and info.

CLARION, IOWA - JULY 28TH SECOND ANNUAL CELEBRATION OF BOYDS
We're off to see the wizard, the wonderful wizard...at Clarion, Iowa. Millie & I will be the masters of ceremonies at Clarion on Saturday, July 28th for the second annual celebration of Boyds. In the morning, there will be workshops - cover a wide variety of topics that are of interest to Boyds collectors, one seminar will be given by our own Melody Mayfield - practical, creative and just-for-fun. Coffee breaks and a hearty midwestern lunch will be served.
The afternoon features Boyds showroom, full of new and hard-to-find pieces. Different swap and sell tables will feature just about everything under the Boyds world. The afternoon will conclude with raffles, closing exercises and sad good-byes!  We hope to see as many as we can there.

POSTING TITLE
While the title may see a bit strange - HARRY & MILLIE'S BOYDS BEAR NOTES - we're really not sure what to call our little column here on the net - if you have any ideas - email or post them - we'll consider everything and thanks.

BACK ISSUES OF BEAR TALES & TRAILS QUARTERLY
As I mentioned in the Summer issue, cleaning up our files, we put together some complete sets of BT&T - 25 issues (NO#1 to NO#25) all our issues, just filled with facts and info. If anyone is interested in getting a set of these treasures that Millie & I put together, just send a check for $50 and will send it PRIORITY MAIL - that very same day. We don't mess around, folks!

STARTING A NEW QUARTERLY
As of September, 1, 2001, Millie and I will be writing and editing a new quarterly "MENDED HEARTS". That's right, a quarterly for the Mended Hearts chapter of our local hospital. Since I'm a member (quad by-pass), the regular editor is retiring (sounds familiar, huh), they asked if Millie and I would write and edit this quarterly. Guess how many pages - 4 pages! After 28 pages, we should be able to do this during our lunch hour. PLUS, the hospital has their own printer and mailing staff.   Happy Days are here!

THAT ALL FOR NOW, FOLKS
Gotta get back to cleaning up the den - Millie says it looks like a nightmare - have to admit it she's right. We'll get back to you in August to give you the latest going on with us and naturally, Millie will have her own column about...guess what...yeah, you guessed it - the grandkids. Talking to some folks on the phone the other day, they remarked how much they enjoyed Millie's column - "THE BETTER HALF SPEAKS" - boy, talk about an ego leveler! I guess that's all for now, so take care for now,   Harry & Millie

Harry & Millie, Dave & Linda & Sally 6/2001

To Subscribe to Bear Tales and Trails, send $20 for 4 issues to:
Harry Croft
518 N. Everett Drive 
Palentine IL  60067-4110
send E-mail to Harry: beartales@pipeline.com