As we love PEZ gatherings and conventions,
we are happy to share with you another wonderful review, this time from
the Dairyville PEZ Gathering, written by PEZ PAL
THE LANDON
enjoy it :)
Pez Gatherings and Conventions are usually more about the people who collect
dispensers than they are about the Pez.
Yes of course there is Pez buying new
and selling and trading and chatter and news all about Pez but seeing old
friends, meeting new ones and seeing someone who you talked to for years for the
first time face to face is what gatherings are all about.
The Dairyville Pez
Gathering hosted by the amazing Tina Gunsauls embodies everything I love about
collecting. Here is my adventure!
My adventure starts at Wednesday
afternoon in sunny Orlando, FL with a 6 hour flight to Ontario, CA (just outside
Los Angeles). There I meet up with one of my favorite people in the world,
Jessica Orozco.
Lots of hugs and no sleep later, it is Thursday and we are on
the road.
I love an epic road trip and when you are with Jessica and her momma,
Barbara, you know you it's going to be a blast.
We made it 4 or 5 hours
into our road trip when a message from Brent Johnson sent us on a spontaneous
side quest. We immediately changed course and headed to his house. As you
expect, Brent had a warm welcome ready for us and showed us some of his toy
collection, some fantastic poster art and of course his Pez collection.
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| Brend, Barbara, Jessica, & Landon |
The town
he lives in, Discovery Bay, is a hidden paradise in the middle of an otherwise
desolate and dry part of California.
He is surrounded by water and beautiful
homes on the water.
A trip to the marina proved how beautiful his town is.
Moments later we were back on the road to Dairyville. We all got checked in to
the hotel and lingered for a few minutes and then we were off to Tina's house!
When we arrived, we were greeted by Tina and learned that Pezamania stars, the
Glihas and the Marlowes were already there as well as west coast favorites, the
Alexanders. Moments later, I got to meet a Pez pal face to face for the first
time! Isn't that exciting?! It was no other than Doron Gazit and his son, Ben
all the way from Israel.
We agreed we were hungry and went to dinner as a group
at Tina's daughter's restaurant, Mill Creek. We had a delicious dinner of good
ol fashioned home cooking prepared by Tina's lovely and talented daughter. After
some good laughs and some good memory sharing, everyone went to bed to prepare
for the weekend.
Friday starts as a sight seeing day for me and for most
early arrivals. Some people chose to go hiking, others visited local parks and
checked out the local history, while I got to visit an antique mall and a local
brewery. Off to Tina's by 2pm to hang out with many new arrivals and by 6pm we
were being fed yet again. At this point; you are introduced to the culinary
talents of David, who is Tina's husband. This man does it all and is a master of
the grill.
(Tina, if you're reading this, can I have the macaroni salad
recipe?!)
It may be an unusual thing to include in a Pez report
but those
tomatoes were to die for!
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| David Gunsauls slicing locally grown tomatoes |
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.
|
Dairyville is teaming with local produce!
We got our
bellies full and shared even more stories with one another and before you knew
it, it was time for bed. Well kinda... The stars are in full view in Dairyville
and with the Perseid meteor shower, it was a great night to star gaze. Although
there weren't many shooting stars that night, we had a relaxing night under the
stars in Dairyville.
Saturday! The main event! 10am and Tina's house is
in full on Pez collecting mode! Tina's collection is on display and features
some beautiful pieces! Her store was open for shopping and you could pretty much
pick up anything you needed from her! Several people had set up tables to sell
their candy treasures.
I even made a few amazing purchases myself! The attendee
pack is awesome and it blows my mind at the generosity of our host!
Dinner bell
rings and it's time to eat again! This time, Chef David has prepared steak and
chicken.
Have I mentioned that David is a grill master?! More mingling with more
Pez collectors. So many people I haven't seen in years and many I was meeting
for the first time. All of them are now my friends for life.
Game time!
Bingo is the name-o!
So many happy winners and it was fun to watch how excited
people are to win. From yells of excitement to happy dances, everyone was
ecstatic! Then 2 amazing raffles and one lucky person walked away with a covered
grandstand from Showtime Displays and another walked away with the super awesome
Pez Palz blog dispenser!
And before you know it, people started to say good bye
and hugs were given.
One more meal with about 50 or 60 of my closest friends to
end the evening at Mill Creek and the final wave of goodbyes hit.
Tina's
generosity is beyond kind and I feel honored to have been invited to her home to
share in a part of her life.
The friends, both new and old, are all appreciated
and I loved seeing you all and swapping stories with you. With more than 100
people in attendance, this gathering maintained the feel of a small get together
with friends who are just happy to sit and talk with each other about the one
thing that we all love.
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| Landon & Tina |
Thank you Landon for your great report, and all the pictures
