2022 - 16th Sturbridge

Finally able to meet in person again, it was with great joy that we held our 16th Puzzle Parley in Sturbridge, Massachusetts from July 22-24, 2022. Over 120 enthusiastic attendees from all across the USA and a handful of international puzzlers converged on the Sturbridge Host Hotel, situated on the banks of scenic Cedar Lake. Although many of our attendees never again saw the outdoors that weekend, upon entering our puzzle paradise!

Cedar Lake, photo by Camille Eymard.

​Thursday night saw some early attendees and the Steering Committee hard at work getting ready for the upcoming weekend -- stuffing name cards, organizing registrations, and packing up puzzles! Despite quite a few travel delays, our team managed to get everything done that needed to be done before escaping to find a late dinner. 

Shay Carmichael and sib, Anissa organizing and prepping. Photo by Janell Amely

Terra Rodgers and Idabelle Rouillard hard at work prepping for the morning. Photo by Janell Amely

Melinda Shebell and Roz Rea preparing all of the Registration folders for the main event. Photo by Janell Amely

​Upon checking in at the Registration table, our lucky attendees were asked to choose out a "collector card” puzzle. Fourteen puzzle makers donated unique mini puzzles to share their skills and as a gift to our attendees. Find the inaugural crafters of this new Puzzle Parley tradition in the caption below. Attendees were delighted to get their hands on these mini puzzles -- the perfect way to learn about a new puzzle maker!

The 2022 Collector Card puzzles: Row 1: Dave Beffa-Negrini, Juliet Bell, Janell Amely; Row 2: Chas Bridge, Isabelle Rouillard, Mark Majors; Row 3: Thom Spencer, Melinda Shebell, Waterford Puzzles, Lisa Lee; Row 4: Terra Rogers, Chris Yates, Ron Moore, and Geoff Cota. Photo by Janell Amely.

Getting our hands on the mini puzzles, spotlighting Melinda Shebell's donation, and Lego mini figs of new attendees Tammy McLeod and Yvonne Feucht. Photo by Yvonne Feucht.

​​Kicking off the weekend festivities, we started with three hands-on Puzzle Cutting Workshop classes. Volunteer instructors guided new and experienced hands on many different types of scroll saws, including one delightfully hand-made contraption created by Loren Damewood -- a manual scroll saw! Our amazing instructors were: Conrad Armstrong, David Beffa-Negrini, Shay Carmichael, Lisa von Hasseln, Melinda Shebell, Thom Spencer, and Chris Yates. They shared their puzzle making tips, techniques and tricks on scroll saws with over 30 students over the course of the day. 

Roz Rea instructing Adam Woodbury. Photo by Diane Bizzle.

Some of the donated selection of prepared blanks -- images from several sources glued onto many different type of plywood. Photo by Diane Bizzle.

Diane Bizzle cutting our her first jigsaw puzzle. Photo by Sarah Schuler.

Tammy McLeod and Yvonne Feucht in real life (not Lego mini-figures this time!), at the cutting workshop. Photo by Yvonne Feucht.

Loren Damewood's hand-built scroll saw, using a jewelry saw attached to springs, and a clear lazy susan base to cut on.

Camille Eymard trying her hand at cutting her selected image glued on plywood into a jigsaw puzzle. Photo by Diane Bizzle.

​That afternoon was our second event, where several dozen attendees traveled to the American Antiquarian Society in nearby Worcester, to see a special exhibit of pre-1900 puzzles. They also learned about McLoughlin Brothers’ leading role in the 19th century American puzzle industry.

Photo by Tammy McLeod

Photo by Mark Geis

Photo by Yvonne Feucht

Photo by Mark Geis

Photo by Yvonne Feucht

​Friday evening featured the Welcome Reception, a buffet dinner and a full program.  After Bob Armstrong’s opening remarks, Melinda Shebell presented “A Brief History of the Pagey Elliott Jigsaw Puzzle Exchange” followed by the exchange itself, hosted by Janell Amely. Eleven very talented makers (Janell Amely, Melinda Shebell, Chas Bridge, Shay Carmichael, Lisa Lee, Terra Rodgers, Jesse Louis-Rosenberg & Jessica Rosenkrantz, Isabelle Rouillard, Joe Seymour, Thom Spencer and Peter Clyde) participated in the 6th Pagey Elliott Puzzle Exchange (follow the link to see the whole collection). Each spent a few minutes discussing how they came up with their design and the way that they challenges their creativity. 

Late night fun concluded with the always-entertaining Yankee Swap, emceed by David Beffa-Negrini, and casual puzzling in the Executive Room until the wee hours of the morning.

Side view of half of the Pagey Elliot Puzzle Exchange puzzles. Photo by Diane Bizzle

David Beffa-Negrini emcee'ing the Yankee Swap.

Tammy McLeod and Yvonne Feucht puzzling till 2 AM on Friday night. Photo by Tammy McLeod.

​Saturday’s action-packed programming began with Bob Armstrong’s tips on "How to Prepare and Mount Puzzles for an Exhibition" at a gallery. Anne Williams delivered a fascinating history of “Something for Nothing: Advertising Puzzles”. The morning wrapped up with the ever-popular Show & Tell hosted by Conrad Armstrong, with a cornucopia of interesting presenters and their unique puzzle finds.

After a delicious lunch, Kata Kissoczy, who traveled all the way from the Czech Republic, treated us to a delightful presentation on her beautiful art and puzzles, “Kata Art Puzzles - Between Art and Toy”. Owner of the Waterford Puzzle Company, Spencer Bean, along with colleagues Lisa von Hasseln and Jamie Leland then provided an informative history on the company’s transition, "From Elms to Waterford".

One of Bob Armstrong's prepared puzzles ready to hang in a gallery for viewing. Photo by Mark Geiss.

Anne Williams catching the laughter of the crowd with her subtle and dry delivery. Photo by Tammy McLeod

A selection of delightful puzzle Kata brought with her on her trip from the Czech Republic. Photo by Diane Bizzle

Puzzle by John Stokes III shared by Ginda Fisher for the Show and Tell. Features 3 of John's cutting styles.

The Cutters' Roundtable was led by Dave Beffa-Negrini, who graciously stepped in last minute for long-time Parley contributor Joe Seymour. Panelists Janell Amely, Conrad Armstrong, Shay Carmichael, Jesse Louis-Rosenberg and Ron Moore fielded questions on all aspects of puzzle making, be it with scroll saw or laser cutter.

The afternoon closed with over 20 sellers of contemporary, vintage, and antique puzzles. This is the place to find some of the finest jigsaw puzzles ever made! Tables were chock-full and business was brisk. Advice for future attendees: the first time you see a puzzle that you want, get it then! It will probably be gone before you have a chance to peruse much. 

After dinner, Deborah Leo presented the Best In Show award to Terra Rodgers, a brand new attendee to our Parley. Terra's work was also featured on the cover of the 2022 Program. The Raffle, emceed by Sarah Schuler, was the most successful raffle ever, raising a whooping $2,700 for the Armstrong Educational Grant! Thank you to the generosity of our attendees -- both the donors and the ticket buyers.  More than thirty lots of fine wooden puzzles and puzzle related items were won, prompting us to reconsider how we run the raffle so it doesn't take up the whole night!

The winning puzzle, cut by Terra Rodgers of Chestnut and Hemlock, "May Pop - Mary Halyn". Click on image to go to Terr's website! Photo by Camille Eymard

Jessica Komarow and Sarah Schuler hawking tickets for our very successful Raffle. Photo by Diane Bizzle

Terra showing off her trophy for her magnificent puzzle. Trophy design by Janell Amely, photo by Maya Gupta

Camille Eymard showing off her Raffle winnings that will be weighing down her suitcase back to France! Photo by Camille Eymard

​Maya Gupta of Artifact Puzzles talked about using artificial intelligence to increase the efficiency of the Hoefnagel Puzzle Club  exchanges. She then hosted the highly-anticipated Speed Puzzle Contest to crown the evening. The “Competitive Edge” won top honors for completing the tricky and colorful peacock puzzle - 201 pieces in an astonishing 26 minutes and 51 seconds! Read Artifact's blog post here: Artifact Speed Contest Post.

Maya Gupta presenting on "Making Puzzle Swapping more Efficient". Photo by Tammy McLeod

All of the speed puzzling teams racing the clock! Photo by Jessica Komarow

Artifact's brand new 201-piece puzzle, "Jean Metzinger Peacock", revealed at their speed competition. Click on image to be taken to their website! Photo by Camille Eymard

"The Competitive Edge" --Tammy McLeod, Yvonne Feucht, Janell Amely -- took first place in Artifact's Speed Puzzling Competition in an astonishing 26 minutes and 51 seconds! Photo by Tammy McLeod

"Order out of Chaos" -- EB Caron, Sarah Schuler, and Dan Caron -- finished second, not far behind at 29 minutes and 52 seconds. Photo by Jessica Komarow

Third place finishers, "The Anti-Chaos Society", made up of Rebecca Tushnet and Michael Card, finished in 33 minutes and 8 seconds. Photo by Maya Gupta

​Again, late-night puzzling went on until around 2 am. There is no stopping a determined puzzler, no matter what the time! Sunday morning’s roster started with Aaron Boxerman’s presentation "Solving the Puzzle of the Puzzle Business". A lively panel discussion about "The Evolving Puzzle World, What's New?" literally evolved into a lively discussion of give and take between the panel and the audience. The panel was lead by Roz Rea and featured Janell Amely (3 Cat Max), Spencer Bean (Waterford), Yvonne Feucht (Speed Puzzler), and Nic Ricketts (Museum Collection Curator). A consensus of sorts was that puzzlers need to reach out into their communities to build more puzzle gatherings and puzzle enthusiasm, especially with the younger generation. And if you are going to gift puzzles to kids, make sure the puzzles are of something they already love!

Peter Clyde of Lazels rounded out the presentations with an explanation of how he effectively uses audio-visual technology to promote his puzzles on social media, in "Puzzle Photography for Social Media"​. Officially completing the Parley presentations was Janell Amely, presenting the Puzzlers' Choice award, for the crowd favorite of this year's Pagey Elliott Exchange Puzzles. Melinda Shebell of Jardin Puzzles was delighted to receive the trophy for her puzzle "Butterflies of Spring". 

Casual puzzling into the wee hours of the morning. Photo by EB Caron

Aaron Boxerman presenting "Solving the Puzzle of the Puzzle Business".

"The Evolving Puzzle World, What's New?" panel -- Spencer Bean, Nic Ricketts, Yvonne Feucht, Janell Amely -- lead by Roz Rea. Photo by Tammy McLeod

One of Peter Clyde's titanium puzzles, "Azure", a 473 piece, less than 6" square! Photo by Jessica Komarow

"Puzzlers' Choice" winner -- cut by Melinda Shebell of Jardin Puzzles, "Butterflies of Spring". Photo by Melinda Shebell

 
We finished the Parley by thanking the multitudes of volunteers that make this event possible, major and minor. You can find a list of all our volunteers in the program! Special thanks goes to the hard-working Puzzle Parley Steering Committee for 2022: Bob Armstrong, Anne Williams , Melinda Shebell, Conrad Armstrong, Chris Yates, Roz Rea, and Janell Amely. 

And just when you thought it might be over, there was the after party held by Bob Armstrong, sharing his delightful puzzle collection! For those lucky enough to attend, there were plenty of beautiful puzzles on display, a workshop tour, and delightful desserts to be shared.

The Puzzle Parley continues to embrace the old and new, and we will continue to  celebrate the art, history, and fun of puzzles for many more years to come. Thanks to all who joined us in Sturbridge, and we look forward to seeing you at the Parley’s 30th anniversary in 2024! 

Full Program

Over 120 attendees delighting in meeting in person once again! Photo and edit by Chris Yates