Olympic Collectors Rendezvous in Lake Placid

(ATR) Olympic collectors from 16 countries converge on Lake Placid this weekend for buying, selling, trading and socializing.

The 21st World Olympic Collectors Fair will be held Friday through Sunday in the 1932 Rink at the Olympic Center on Main Street.

"The response has been overwhelmingly good," Jon Becker, head of the organizing committee, tells Around the Rings.

Becker says that collectors signed up for about 85 tables – with international visitors receiving their first table free – and attendance at the Saturday night dinner should surpass 100.

Although Lake Placid has hosted numerous Olympin Collectors Club festivals, this is the first time it will host the official IOC show. Lake Placid is also the first Winter Olympics host city to stage the fair, which was held last year in Lausanne.

The gathering kicks off Thursday afternoon with a tour of the 1932 and 1980 Olympic sites, including Whiteface Mountain. About 90 people booked the tour.

"For a lot of the visitors, this is their first time to Lake Placid," Becker says.

"Many people have called the 1980 Winter Olympics ‘the last small-town Olympic Games’ and they can see how a small community was able to pull it off."

USA Luge will host a reception Thursday night at its headquarters. Attendees will then board buses for an opening ceremony at the Lake Placid Horse Show Grounds, which hosted the opening ceremony 35 years ago. The cauldron will be lit to mark the occasion.

About a dozen Chinese collectors, including representatives from Chinese museums, are expected for the show. Russia has eight participants.

The U.S. Olympic Committee is sponsoring the Friday evening cocktail reception in the Lake Placid Olympic Museum.

Prior to the show on Saturday, the board of the Association Internationale des Collectioneurs Olympiques (AICO) will meet. The organization for Olympic stamp, coin and memorabilia collectors was formed last year in partnership with the IOC.

A reception Saturday night, sponsored by Chinese pin manufacturer Honav, will be held in the Lookout Gallery, followed by dinner in the Edelweiss Room at the Olympic Center. RR Auction, which is becoming more active in the Olympic memorabilia field, has agreed to sponsor the wine for the dinner.

The Olympic Collectors Club will meet Sunday morning before the closing session of the show.

Becker says Anne Heggtveit of Canada, Olympic gold medalist in alpine skiing, and Olympic luge medalists Mark Grimmette and Gordy Sheer are planning to attend the show.

Written by Karen Rosen

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