Well Done, Western Division!!

e*Train Issue: Aug 2003 | Posted in: TCA Adventures

by Paul Wassermann, TCA National President-Elect

Putting on a National Convention is a huge project, with many problems and challenges to overcome. The Western Division managed to entertain nearly 800 TCA members and their families with a week of great social events, tours, parties, and of course, a train meet. The weather actually started out cool and heated up during the course of the week. Certain highlights always stand out for me, memories that last a lifetime, and this year’s Convention provided many of those memorable moments:

The golf tournament where I was beaten by a one-armed golfer (Gordon)
A visit to the Neathercutt Museum….fabulous cars, pianos, and organs
The Homestyle Café with pancakes the size of auto tires
The Convention Banquet where Gordon got caught in a bidding war (and lost)
Caressa Caboose (Barbara Jones) hosting a TTML meeting
Receiving the Presidential Gavel from Newt Derby with scores of Desert Division
members standing at Newt’s request
Katie Wassermann getting “sugared up” on the dinner cruise (complimentary Shirley Temples)
A wonderful banquet photographic tribute to Ward Kimball
A lego display that was absolutely awesome!

Everywhere one turned there were Desert Division members. Our support of the 49th National Convention was overwhelming! I am quite certain that others had as much fun as we did. I know notes were being taken by quite a few of us to file away and reference later for use with our upcoming 2009 TCA Convention. Of one thing I am certain, the more planning and effort that goes in, the better the Convention that comes out. So if you found something very exciting, or annoying, or missing, please let Ed Micale (our Convention Chairman) know about it so we can build each year to make the 2009 event another benchmark for TCA conventions.

**Paul, Irene and Katie at the Welcome Party**

I know I express the appreciation of all our attendees in thanking the Western Division for the effort invested in the 2003 convention. Congratulations on a job well done!

Shop Amazon and Help TCA

TCA members who shop at Amazon.com can have each of their normal purchases generate a modest payment to TCA! And it won’t cost you anything!

The Train Collectors Association is now a participant with AmazonSmile, which is a special website operated by Amazon that lets customers enjoy the same wide selection of products, low prices and convenient shopping features as on Amazon.com.

The difference is that when customers shop at AmazonSmile (smile.amazon.com), the AmazonSmile Foundation donates 0.5% of the price of eligible purchases to the charitable organizations selected by customers.

The process is simple. Just search for and select Train Collectors Association when you sign up and shop at smile.amazon.com.

You use your regular Amazon.com username and password, but when you log in to smile.amazon.com, you’ll see that you are supporting TCA with your purchases:

Note that if you just log in to the regular amazon.com, this benefit does not operate.

There are no costs to either you or TCA, but TCA benefits!

This is a great way for TCA to earn extra cash to offset costs, so sign up today to help support TCA.

* Note: TCA is not a party to any of your Amazon transactions, and does not endorse any products or vendors.

Helping TCA with your ebay purchases when you use PayPal

If you’re an ebay user and have a PayPal account you use to make payments, you can designate a donation for TCA when you’re checking out — any amount, small or large.
If you’re a regular seller on ebay, you can pre-designate a percentage of your sales to be donated automatically in your name to TCA as long as the purchaser pays with their PayPal account.

In both cases, you will receive a donation receipt from the PayPal Giving Fund, and enjoy applicable tax advantages.

How to do it:

Click on the image above, or use this link. This will take you to ebay, where you will see the following page (log in to ebay if you are not already):

This offers TCA as an option. Click on the “Add to My Charities” button where indicated with the red arrow. Thereafter, when you make a purchase, at checkout you will be offered the option to make a donation to TCA in any amount of your choosing. Small amounts add up, larger ones are great! It’s always up to you!

The option will appear at the lower part of your checkout page, something like this:

If you’re a regular seller on ebay, you can allocate a portion of your sales proceeds to be donated to TCA. Look at the green arrow marked “Optional” above to see how to do it. Details on how ebay calculates the donation may be read here. This is a wonderful way to share the financial benefits of your hobby with the organization that promotes it!

An added benefit to TCA is that these donations are not subject to normal processing fees, so that makes your donation work harder!

* Note. TCA is not a party to any of your eBay transactions, and does not endorse any products or vendors. PayPal issues the receipts to you for your donation, not TCA.

Well Done, Western Division!!

Search By:

Sort By:

Have Train Stories to Share?