2024 FTCCO "In the Garden" Fiesta Event Recap

Our 1st annual FTCCO Fiesta event was held on May 16-19, 2024 in the Pittsburgh, PA area. Spring was in the air and it was a perfect time for a garden party.

With months of planning behind us, we were ready to welcome roughly 200 FTCCO members and staff from FTC to our "garden". 

Thursday morning, we started our week off with a visit to The Fiesta Tableware Company(FTC), in Newell, WV for guided tours of the factory and FTCCO event attendees had a rare opportunity to create their own art in a "paint-a-plate" workshop. 

 

Attendees were also able to take a stroll through the FTC factory museum to see many rare and one-of-a-kind pieces.

 

On Thursday evening our welcome party kicked off and our garden was buzzing with games and prizes. Attendees had a chance to visit the "Potting Shed" where everyone received an FTCCO exclusive limited edition, Fiesta Sky flowerpot decorated with the Fiesta Dancing Lady and Liz McIlvain's(President of FTC) signature in gold. It was made especially for our event. Each flowerpot had a whimsical pinwheel flower and a small wildflower seed packet from Wings of Change(www.wingsofchange.us)

Board member, Sue Tobier, organized a Dish Stock Exchange which allowed participants to bring a wrapped gift and exchange it for another. 

While we all mixed and mingled, board members Vicki Lindberg and Saarin Schwartz were running a silent consignment auction for attendees to participate in. Over 80 special items, both vintage and contemporary, sought-after shapes and decorations, were sold to the highest bidders. Our weekend was definitely starting to blossom. 

On Friday morning we reconvened back in Newell, WV for another exciting visit at the Fiesta factory. Attendees lined up quickly to wait for a mystery design that was being sold just for FTCCO attendees. Our long wait was rewarded with a selection of juicy Citrus decal items(produced on newly discontinued Butterscotch), a Watermelon Pedestal Cake Stand, and a cool 1st annual FTCCO event coaster. 

The Museum of Ceramics in East Liverpool, OH (https://www.themuseumofceramics.com) had a special open house for attendees. If you've never been to the Museum of Ceramics, we highly recommend the visit! It features pottery from all over the Tri-State Area. 

After a brief rest, activities started up again back at the hotel with a good, old-fashioned ice cream social and birthday cakes to celebrate the birthday of one of our attendees. 

Our first seminar of the weekend, "Table Talk", moderated by Saarin Schwartz, got started. Attendees enjoyed a slide presentation of tablescapes and a panel of four seasoned tablescaping enthusiasts--Marianne Becton, Mike Ellsler, Sue Bishop, and Rebecca Donaldson--presented their thoughts on how they design a tablescape. This was followed by a wide array of tablescaping accessories for prize drawings-donated all by the four panelists. 

With Friday already in the books, Saturday presented us with new surprises and activities. Between exhibits and displays, FTCCO pottery sales, member show & sale booths, more seminars and our much-anticipated evening Gala banquet, members had a lot to keep them busy. 

Exhibits large and small filled several rooms. Themes ranged from a history of Halloween to vintage HLC's Pastel Nautilus, Rose & Poppy decal; Betty Crocker's Fiestacana and Just Ducky decals; a Tale of HLC Tablescapes; and an impressive collection of vintage ephemera. New FTCCO exclusives were unveiled in display exhibits, too. 

"Ware's the Art?" displays highlighted creative displays of watercolor paintings, mosaics made from Fiesta shards, and even Lego's. 

Tabletop Displays featured an array of tablescapes and displays. Some highlighted Homer Laughlin China's connection to the Navy, a miniature Chester, WV's "World Largest Teapot", themed place settings, and more. 

Attendees lined up to be the first to be in the FTCCO sales room. It was fully stocked with new FTCCO exclusives-Ladybug, Bumble Bee, Watermelon, Peppermint, Festival of Lights, and FTCCO logo items. Wow! There were lots to choose from. 

If that wasn't enough, there was another room across the hall full of dealer booths and a members consignment table. 

Saturday afternoon brought more seminars. Current and former FTCCO presidents Lynne Liberato and Harold Cook presented "FTCCO Revue-What We Are ALL About," a presentation introducing the Board of Directors. Lynne and Harold explained in detail the organization's multi-faceted missions of education, member services, and charitable giving. They answered questions and then had a drawing for more prizes. 

We had a wonderful conversation with FTC's General Marketing Manager, Katie Bricker about recent releases like the Fiesta pint mug; embossed Easter egg shaped plate, and 24-oz bowl; new licensed accessory glassware and linens, and the new customer loyalty program, Plate Pal Perks. Katie also answered questions that had been submitted by members and took additional questions from the audience.  

After the seminars were over, members took a little R&R before it was time to prepare for the Saturday evening Gala.

The Saturday evening Gala is considered the crème de la crème for most attendees. The doors opened at 7 o'clock p.m. to reveal a large banquet room filled with beautifully decorated dinner tables. You could hear the audible gasps as attendees walked into the room. The FTCCO board worked really hard at keeping the Gala exclusives a secret and it was very well received by many. Each table had 8 place  settings consisting of a Fiesta dinner plate, salad plate, coaster, small Bistro bowl, and mini disk pitcher. All were decorated with a stunning Monarch Butterfly decal, the style reminiscent of the Arts & Crafts movement. The table centerpieces(2 of each) had the Monarch Butterfly design on Fiesta covered teapots, disk pitchers, carafes, and 12" pizza trays. Drawings at the table determined who would receive each item. One person at each table received a bonus item-a retired Fiesta Monarch shape vase, uniquely glazed in Butterscotch, which was an exclusive run specifically  for our gala. It was generously donated by the Fiesta Tableware Company.

 Our "In the Garden" theme continued with cards containing milkweed seed packets and information about the importance of planting milkweed and the endangered Monarch Butterfly, at each place setting. The milkweed seeds were sourced by preservation group Save Our Monarchs(www.saveourmonarchs.org). 

The night wasn't over yet though. David Neer(FTC Director of Design), talked to us about the importance of Fiesta's original designer, Frederick Hurten Rhead, and the longevity of his vision through multiple eras of product design, from Arts & Crafts and Modernism, right up to current design trends. 

After dinner, our FTCCO auction got started. The Saturday night auction consists of FTCCO exclusive pieces-mostly extra gala pieces, event posters, etc. This year, FTC graciously donated several pieces for our auction. One was a Fiesta Raspberry Presentation Bowl, made in extremely limited quantities in 1997, to celebrate the 500 millionth piece of Fiesta produced since 1936, and two one-of-a-kind pieces decorated by FTC's art department especially for our event: a Fiesta Ladybug utensil crock and a Fiesta Monarch shaped vase with our exclusive Monarch decals covering it. Wow, what a treat! They also donated two "Made in USA" trade show plates, Ladybug Platter, and a salaried employee Holly & Ribbon Casserole. 

It was an evening filled with joy, laughter, and excitement! Many retired to their rooms after the auction to start packing up their purchases and giveaways from the Gala. 

Sunday morning many gathered together for our last breakfast before we headed home. It was filled with hugs, shared stories, and promises to see each other next year.