Page 9 - October1997

October 1997 I{ATIO}IA"I, B UTTON BUX"I,ETI}iI 191

IUemories of l{adison

by Jean Speights
As I write this, my memories of Madison are one great big wonderful
blur. How could so much happen in such a short time? Well, thanks to "The
Committee" of the Wisconsin State Button Society, who had the
responsibility of organizing the Adventure in Dairyland, we all crammed so
much in one short week that it's hard to sort out the individual events.
However, here I go...
Our adventure began on Friday at the Cincinnati airport where I turned
around abruptly when I heard someone call my name. To our delight, it was
our old friend Shenie Alverson of Florida who was taking the same plane as
us. When our small plane landed in Madison, our first sight was of Jane and
Bruce Beck's smiling faces welcoming us to Wisconsin. While Bruce, Shenie
and Freddie went to claim our luggage, Jane and I got a chance to visit while
awaiting the arrival of Millicent Safro. Right on time, she arrived and we all
enjoyed a sight seeing tour on the way to the hotel in the Beck's snazzy new
van.
By 6 o'clock we were in our rooms and before long the room was filled
with button collectors looking for those "special" buttons. Our enthusiasm and
energy levels went into high gear as we greeted so many friends who we had
not seen since last ycar. What a thrilMt's always amaztng to us that so many
people arrive so early-but it's so much fun to visit and shop in the individual
rooms. Before long, lists were being made of who was in what room. Our last
guest left at I a.m. Saturday morning and at that hour I began unpacking our
suitcases. Needless to say, I was exhausted-but the excitement was so intense
that it was hard getting to sleep.
Saturday morning, Bruce and Jane took individual carloads of guests on a
personal tour of Madison. What an interesting city! The campus of the
University of Wisconsin is huge and inspiring; the beautiful capitol is
awesome; and the farmer's market around the capitol square is a bargain
hunter's dream. We also visited the beautiful homes around Lake Mendota
and finished the tour with lunch at a great restaurant filled with fantasies.
Arriving at the hotel, we found more early arrivals in the lobby, waiting to go
to our room. This was probably the most relaxed time we had, for when the
formal tour of Madison returned, the room was again filled and stayed that
way until after midnight.
Sunday was a repeat performance of Saturday except that the room was
packed from moming till after midnight. More and more old friends arrived
and we had time to visit even if only for a few minutes. When the tour to the
International Crane Foundation and Circus World returned, even more people
were in circulation.
The convention officially began when the Registration Table opened at
noon on Monday. Trays entered in competition were accepted by Denver