The 14th Puzzle Parley - Rochester, NY - 2018

7/16/2018

For the fourteenth parley we combined the Puzzle Parley with the AGPI (Association of Games and Puzzle International) Convention. We chose Rochester NY as the location for this event because of the Strong Museum of Play where some of our events took place.

Our weekend started on Thursday with two optional activities. The first was an all-day bus trip of Buffalo and Niagara Falls. We visited Buffalo Games who are known for their quality puzzles and interesting games. We then dined for lunch at the Anchor Bar where we had the opportunity to sample the original buffalo wings. After lunch we headed off for a private tour of the Buffalo Transportation Pierce Arrow Museum as well as a Niagara Falls visit where some of us journeyed into the falls on the Maiden of the Mist boat.

Our weekend started on Thursday with two optional activities. The first was an all-day bus trip of Buffalo and Niagara Falls. We visited Buffalo Games who are known for their quality puzzles and interesting games. We then dined for lunch at the Anchor Bar where we had the opportunity to sample the original buffalo wings. After lunch we headed off for a private tour of the Buffalo Transportation Pierce Arrow Museum as well as a Niagara Falls visit where some of us journeyed into the falls on the Maiden of the Mist boat.

Buffalo Games tour - from this to that

Lunch at the Anchor Bar Lower Right:Rick Tucker on the Maiden of the Mist Boat (Photo courtesy of Rick Tucker)

At the Pierce Arrow Museum

For a quieter activity, the Strong Museum opened their world class Brian Sutton-Smith Library and Archives of Play for research. The library is unmatched with its archives on the history of games and puzzles. It was a unique opportunity to access information to do research for an article in the AGPI publications "The Quarterly" or "On the Table".

On Thursday evening, early arrivals could attend either an adventure in one of Rochester's Escape Rooms or simply begin enjoying puzzling or gaming with old and new friends.

On Friday, the museum offered us complimentary admission and a VIP tour which included its research library, the behind the scenes archives, and an exhibit of puzzles past and current. Some of the special puzzles we saw included puzzles from The Anne Williams Puzzle Collection, our own Exchange Puzzles from past Parleys and the "South Carolina" puzzles from a previous AGPI convention. Several master cutters participated in a live cutting demonstration which was received with much enthusiasm by museum patrons young and old. Cutting demonstrations were graciously given by John Stokes, Juday Pedersen, and David Beffa-Nigrini over the day.

Our Friday banquet was followed by the fifth Pagey Elliot Puzzle Exchange, organized by Anne Williams. Then Show and Tell of interesting games and puzzles that were shared by attendees. Puzzling and gaming continued into the night!

Photo courtesy of Rick Tucker

Melinda Shebell and Marge Hillback in front of an exhibit of Melinda's puzzle

A Private Viewing of Past PEPE Puzzles and the South Carolina Puzzles

John Stokes, Juday Pedersen and David Beffa-Nigrini giving cutting demonstrations. (Photo courtesy of Rick Tucker)

Photo courtesy of Rick Tucker

Start of the Pagey Elliott Puzzle Exchange (Photo courtesy of Rick Tucker)

Saturday featured a full day of parallel and shared sessions with the AGPI. Some of the talks and sessions presented on Saturday included:

Bob Armstrong, "Dickens in Puzzles"
Antori Pancco, "Cutting Jigsaw Puzzles from Acrylics"
Judy Peterson, "How to a Design Jigsaw Puzzle if you Can't Draw"
Anne Williams, "A Field Guide to Jigsaw Puzzle Identification"
Chris Yates, "The Making of 'Baffler' Puzzles
Mark Tschida, "Making Wood Puzzles Using Veneers"

After Saturday's dinner, the AGPI presented the "Outstanding Achievement Award" to the Strong Museum of Play. Our after-dinner speaker on Saturday night was Chris Bensch with "A Curator's Day at the Strong Museum". Chris had us rolling in the aisle with his talk and his hula hooping!

Throughout the day, puzzle entries for the Best in Show trophy were displayed in the front of the room. People were encouraged to vote for their favorite. After dinner we announced the winner, Caesar Rocchi, for his puzzle of an Italian scene in wood veneer. His daughter Illaria was in attendance from Italy and accepted the award for him.

Saturday evening was officially drawn to a close with the AGPI auction, featuring Dave Beffa-Negrini with undiscovered auctioneering talents. His energy and enthusiasm brought tears of laughter, and he even upped people's bids automatically for the many treasures on the auction block. Although the night was officially done, many of us continued our puzzling and gaming till the wee hours of the morning!

Illaria Rocchi, Accepting the Best-in-Show Award for her father (Photo courtesy of Rick Tucker)

Best-in-Show Puzzle Costier Amalfitana by Ceasar Rocchi

Puzzling at the beginning of the night (Photo courtesy of Rick Tucker)

Close up of the struggle to find the right piece in a swath of green (Photo courtesy of Rick Tucker)

Getting near the end? (Photo courtesy of Rick Tucker)

Sunday morning had two parallel sessions. The first was a well-attended workshop on restoring old puzzles, lead by Lisa Lee. Like the last Parley, Lisa had prepared replacement pieces for some of her puzzles ,and attendees tried their hand at creating the artwork for them. The second was a panel discussion on "Today's Game and Puzzle Market", consisting of Bob Armstrong, Rosemary Howbrigg, Dave Thomen, and led by Bob Finn.
We closed with a presentation of the 2019 AGPI convention to be held in Denver, Colorado in 2019 and our Raffle drawing with items contributed by puzzle cutters, game collectors and combined Puzzle Parley and AGPI supporters.

Here are only a few of the wonderful puzzles on display all day Saturday: