We in the Midwest certainly know that Winter is upon us. It's tough to do anything in the great outdoors. Between the freezing rain and ice, we've had at least several inches of snow on the ground most of the time. It's difficult to walk, but even more treacherous to drive. High temperatures have averaged in the teens with wind chills regularly way below zero. I'll probably survive physically, but that heating bill is sure taking its toll (grin)!

As you're aware by now, the WINS Club Token contest ended a few days ago. We had a clear winner for the obverse design. But the reverse design ended in a tie. With a run-off vote in the works, it'll be a little while yet until winners are announced and prizes are awarded. Then we can move on with the task of coining our token and hopefully deriving a WINS Logo. Thanks to all who voted in the initial round, and please remember to vote in the tie-breaker in the next couple of weeks when announced. Thanks, too, for your patience in the process. Hopefully everyone will believe the eventual product was worth the wait.

Hey ! We have another celebrity in our midst. Every year CONECA, The Combined Organization of Numismatic Error Collectors of America, recognizes its outstanding newsletter authors with awards which are presented at their annual convention. The winners are determined by a vote of the CONECA membership. Our own Jason Craton had written a great article in 2002. It was titled "eBay Provides Rarity", and it appeared in the March/April, 2002 edition of Errorscope Magazine.

I had voted for Jason's interesting article, but I must have missed the results of the voting and the awards announcements. Recently, I asked Jason if he ever won the author award for which he was in contention. He proudly replied that "yes he had", and was kind enough to share a photo with me. The photo depicts the proud recipient of the "John Wexler Best New Author Literary Award" which was presented in Colorado Springs at the annual Errorama Convention in late 2002. Belated congratulations, Jason! And sorry for not following up on the award sooner. Please view the photo at the following link: Jason's Award.

By the way, just for everyone's edification, WINS member Sean Reynolds has held a seat on the CONECA Board of Directors for a year or so now. Good going, Sean!! And congratulations are also in order to WINS member John Baumgart who recently won the Terry Armstrong Memorial Award at the Florida United Numismatics (FUN) Show during the Society for Silver Dollar Collectors (SSDC) "Vam Thing" event. John was depicted in a color photo on page 41 of the January 27, 2004 issue of Numismatic News accepting the award from Dr. Michael Fey. WINS is very well represented in the numismatic world.

The Board of Officers recently discussed and then revised the email list posting rules via the following motion which was passed on January 30, 2004. By the time you read this, JD White, the List Mommy, may have already posted the updates to the WINS Website and made the announcement on the email lists. If not he will do so shortly. As is customary, the motion and voting is recorded below for your reading pleasure.

Board of Directors Motion 2004-01

I, Ralph J. Huntzinger, make a motion, within the Board of Directors, the Email List Posting Rules, as they read on the revision web page, be adopted as the Official WINS Administrative Rules governing the Society's email lists; said rules having been discussed by the WINS Board of Officers; said rules having been refined and expanded for clarification, professional presentation, and ease of requisite enforcement; said rules having been updated for the purposes of maintaining the sanctity of the email lists and for the harmony, peace, well-being and preservation of the Society; and, if passed, this motion will cause said rules to go into full force and affect immediately upon passage.

Seconded by JD White.

Vote is completed as follows:

Ralph J. Huntzinger - YES
Ray Larson - YES
Dave Noble - YES
Joe Garbarini - YES
JD White - YES
Doug Prather - YES
Josh Moran - YES

If you have any questions, please contact the List Mommy or one of the other Officers. Thank you.

Best Regards,
Ralph J. Huntzinger