~ Mike & Nanci Messana

Mike and I have four people who have given us the most education and inspiration about collecting carnival glass and who continue to do so to this day ! The first person to mention is Gary Lickver who literally sold us our first GOOD piece of glass and explained WHY it was good! Then he picked up another piece off his shelf and explained why that piece wasn't so good ! Of course it's his livelihood to sell glass but he's not mercenary about it. Anyone who really knows him knows he genuinely loves the glass, collects it himself and loves sharing his vast knowledge with others. He's incredibly generous with his time in that way. We totally trust his expertise about quality carnival glass, color and rarity and we've learned so much from him. Also, some of our very best pieces of glass we have were purchased from him. He just seems to always have something special!

The next person to mention has to be Judy Maxwell. We had the opportunity to see her amazing collection during our first convention. Gary Lickver urged us to make the trip and Boy! are we glad we did! We fell in love with the color emerald green instantly that day ! She has been such a good and caring friend to us ever since and a great role model and inspiration for all, especially new collectors.

Next we want to give our appreciation to Jeff Adams who is the president of our club, the Southern California Carnival Glass Club (SCCGC). Here's another collector with such passion for carnival glass and who cares so deeply about keeping the club and convention spirit alive. His enthusiasm is infectious and we love sharing our own love for the glass with him. His & Nadine's collection is so outstanding and for us, just seeing it was a great lesson in defining beautiful patterns and color.

Lastly, but Not least, we want to give thanks to Heidi Ritterbush. For those who don't know, she's an accomplished artist (on canvas) so she has an extraordinary eye for color, composition and balance. She taught us to "see" the beautiful subtleties in iridescent color that we were missing before. She literally took our own little collection to another level. Her own collection is absolutely awe-inspiring as are the seminars she's given! Now when Mike & I look at our own glass collection we are always reminded of the fact that we assembled it with the invaluable help and generosity of these four good friends and mentors.

~Mike & Nanci Messana

Mike & Nanci are memebers of the SSCGC and HOACGA Clubs.

Photo: Our beautiful granddaughter-a budding collector!