The Strong has been an invaluable friend of the wooden jigsaw puzzle community
for many years, archiving many historic puzzles from serious collectors such as
Anne Williams. The museum has also collected every one of the Pagey Elliott
Puzzle Exchange (PEPE) puzzles since 2012. Eighteen of these modern PEPE
contributions are now showcased on the main floor of the museum in their
permanent puzzle exhibit. (Right across from the original 123 Sesame Street set!)

Although the Parley didn't officially begin until Friday morning, the Casual Puzzling
room opened on Thursday at 4pm. Enthusiastic puzzlers filled the room and
continued assembling until the 1am curfew. By popular request, casual puzzling
remained open every day and evening throughout the Parley weekend.

On Thursday evening, The Strong Museum hosted an exclusive, RSVP-only
"Meet the Collectors" event in the atrium adjacent to their new puzzle exhibit.
This after-hours gathering brought together Parley attendees and Strong
donors to hear from featured speakers Bob Armstrong, Anne Williams, and Lee
& Stu Bauer. The esteemed collectors discussed the provenance of puzzles
from their personal collections and commented on those shared by people in
the audience.

Friday's daytime activities kicked off with a series of 3 two-hour, hands-on
scroll saw workshops. A group of experienced cutters guided 36 enthusiastic
students on how to safely operate a saw and create their own small puzzle.
Conrad Armstrong, Terra Rodgers, and Chris Yates led the instruction in each
of the workshops, assisted by Isabelle Rouilliard, Joe Seymour, Shay
Carmichael, Melinda Shebell, David Beffa-Negrini, Roz Rea, Kim Keiser, Philip
Morganelli, Loren Damewood, and Mark Cappitella. Several first-time cutters
left the workshop inspired to purchase a saw and get started making puzzles!
Another Friday activity was the highly anticipated, puzzle-focused guided tour of
The Strong. Museum staff showcased the recently renovated puzzle exhibit and
offered exclusive behind-the-scenes access to their extensive archives.

Throughout the weekend, Puzzle Parley attendees enjoyed reduced admission at
the Strong, which recently underwent a stunning renovation, nearly doubling its
size.
Once the tours and workshops concluded, an opening reception commenced in
the open-air Center City Lounge on the fourth floor of the Hyatt. Attendees
enjoyed lively conversations and delectable hors d'oeuvres. Buffet dinner followed
in the Grand Ballroom.

After dinner, Terra Rodgers, coordinator of this year’s Pagey Elliott Puzzle
Exchange (PEPE), introduced this year's group of exceptionally talented
puzzle exchange participants who each then shared insights into their
amazing creations. This year's PEPE participants included Janell Amely, Terri
Brennan, Chas Bridge, Mark Cappitella, Peter & Kayla Clyde, Gabriel & Philip
Einsohn, Kim Keiser, Jesse Louis Rosenberg & Jessica Rosenkrantz, Mark
Majors, Philip Morganelli, Mary McDowell, Joe Seymour, and Bob Walzer.
The Casual Puzzling room was very busy that evening, a highlight being many
enthusiasts tackling a huge, never-before-assembled PAR brought by Conrad
and Bob Armstrong.

Saturday began with welcoming remarks from Bob Armstrong, followed by a
presentation from Anne Williams showcasing a variety of Western New York
puzzles, ranging from picturesque landscapes to intriguing political advertisements.

Next, Nick Weber and Shelly Strange had been scheduled to present a dynamic
approach to social media puzzle photography, but the widespread travel delays
caused by the Crowdstrike/Microsoft outage prevented their attendance. 

Our featured international speaker, Leo Vickman, captivated the audience with
a whimsical and informative presentation. He shared his inspiring journey from
a trans-continental bike ride to a profound fascination with puzzles, drawing,
and tessellation. Leo engaged participants in a dynamic group activity, challenging each table in the ballroom to collaborate on interpreting a six-piece puzzle of his design. Participants were asked to provide very specific feedback which he will use to engage students in social activities using puzzles back in Sweden.

Using his personal collection of assembled PAR and Pastime puzzles which
were on display, Bob Armstrong, with the assistance of his son Conrad, shared
insights about vintage PAR and Pastime puzzles including why there is such a
difference in the market value of each. He shared fascinating details and backstories about many of them.

A taco buffet lunch was followed by the eagerly anticipated Table Sales, featuring
30 vendors selling all sorts of wonderful puzzles! This year’s more leisurely
Saturday afternoon schedule allowed for a more satisfying shopping experience,
fostering connections between sellers and buyers. Attendees also enjoyed more
free time to casually puzzle, meet friends both new and old, explore The Strong, or
just take a nap!

An exciting afternoon Speed Puzzling Contest, sponsored by Artifact Puzzles and
hosted by champion speed puzzler Sarah Schuler, attracted a broad range of
contestants along with a dedicated group of supporters! After Sarah gave a brief
history of speed puzzling and laid down the rules for the 20 teams, the race to
complete this year’s mystery puzzle was on!

In just 12 minutes 23 seconds, the team consisting of Karen Kavett, Richard
Patterson, and Kayla Berkowitz took first place, winning gift certificates and
impressive handmade trophies. Yvonne Feucht, Tammy McLeod, and EB Caron
came in second, followed by Krystal Cotriss, Margaret Long, and Sammy
Brownlow in third place.

Fitting our record-breaking number of Parley attendees into one group photo was
no easy feat. Thanks to a very wide lens and Chris Yates’ booming voice, we got
almost everyone squished together on the balcony for a fleeting group shot.

Following a delightful 4-course banquet dinner served in the Ballroom the
evening’s entertainment began with one of the Parley’s longest-running traditions,
the Show and Tell.
This year’s Show and Tell, organized by Greg Fullerton with a slideshow
assembled by his daughter Elizabeth, faced unexpected challenges. Due to
the airline travel issues affecting other attendees, the Fullertons did not make
it to the Parley. Despite their absence, Greg and Elizabeth collaborated with
Chris Yates and Conrad Armstrong until the last minute to finalize a revised
presentation. Conrad stepped in as host and, as always, Show and Tell,
showcased a fascinating array of puzzles reflecting the diverse interests of the
people in the Parley community!

The Puzzle Parley now offers two prestigious awards. The Best in Show is
open to all puzzle makers and requires a physical entry at the event. The
Puzzlers’ Choice Award is exclusive to participants of the Pagey Elliott
Puzzle Exchange (PEPE). Examples of the PEPE puzzles are made available for
the public to assemble in the Casual Puzzling room throughout the weekend.

Terra Rodgers of Chestnut and Hemlock claimed the 2024 Best in Show award
for her ingenious “Down the Rabbit Hole” puzzle. 

The 2024 Puzzlers’ Choice Award went to Jesse Louis-Rosenberg and Jessica Rosenkrantz of Nervous System for their impressive “Eclipse” puzzle.

The evening concluded with the highly anticipated Raffle, which proved to be
our most successful yet, raising just over $4,000 for the Bob Armstrong
Educational Grants. These grants directly support attendance at the Puzzle
Parley for members of our puzzle community facing financial challenges.
Sarah Schuler hosted the giveaway, featuring a wide array of fantastic prizes
donated by attendees and businesses. Thanks to the efforts of Shay
Charmichael, the raffle included a unique puzzle cut the previous day by all of
the workshop instructors!

Again, casual puzzling went into the wee hours of the night! Did they finish
that big PAR? Yes they did! Many other puzzles were assembled... and
reassembled... and reassembled...

Programming continued Sunday morning with an energetic and engaging
presentation by Christine Lattin about her fascination with the depiction of
George Washington in puzzles, including subcategories of fox hunting, old
men in bars, and why George is always a bit larger than life!

Chris Bensch, the Vice President of Collections at the Strong Museum, then gave
us a riveting and often humorous look into what a “Day As A Curator” is like for
him and his team. The main takeaway was that archiving and preserving toys,
games, puzzles and playthings is fun and rewarding, but it’s also serious,
methodical work where difficult choices are made!

Our next presenter was Jasen Robillard, founder and designer at Stumpcraft
in Calgary, who provided a very interesting discussion of how his design
process and leadership philosophies work together. Jasen also provided
almost everyone with Stumpcraft’s “Blooming Hope” little puzzle in the swag
bags, which may have an extra piece... We’ll leave the rest to you.

The final event in the Hyatt ballroom Sunday morning was “Evolving Puzzle
World”, a panel and audience discussion about hot topics in the puzzle
community, from techniques, to prices, to future technologies, moderated by
Roz Rea. The panel consisted of Shay Charmichael, Kim Keiser, Gabriel
Einsohn, Justin Madden and Joe Seymour.

Roz wrapped up the festivities at the Hyatt a little before noon, thanking one
and all for being a part of such a superb event and revealing that the Parley will indeed return in 2026, in a location yet to be determined!

The final event of the weekend was a Cutter’s Demonstration from 2-4pm next
to the new puzzle exhibit at the Strong Museum. Parley attendees and the
public both jockeyed to observe the craft of puzzle making from Mark
Cappitella, Joe Seymour, Isabelle Roulliard, Philip Morganelli, Terra Rodgers,
and Mary McDowell.
See you in 2026! Until then Happy Puzzling!
-Puzzle Parley 2024 Steering Committee