Place: L’Olivier Restaurant, 465 Davis Court, San Francisco in the Club Room. (415-981-7824) The restaurant is easily accessible via BART (Embarcadero Station) and $5 valet parking is available.

NOTE: The dinner is being partly subsidized by the chapter, so the cost is a low $37 for members and spouses; $50 for guests (includes tax, tip and wine!) RSVP NOW please to Secretary Jack Young at jack@norcalvaluation.com and let him know you are coming. Do not reply to the Newsletter address—Jack is the one who needs to know!

Evaluating Pearls: An Evening with the Pearl Goddess

On Thursday, January 14 our program will be on evaluating pearls, by pearl expert Betty Sue King.

Betty Sue King is the owner of King’s Ransom in Sausalito. Specializing in fine & unique pearls, she has 30 years of experience buying overseas. Known as the Pearl Goddess, clients come to her when they must have the most remarkable & fabulous pearls.

A popular lecturer & educator, Betty Sue is often asked to share her insights & expertise as a pearl specialist. Editors & writers of trade journals sourcing trends & new products find Betty Sue ready to share the scoop on what’s hot. Her collective love & knowledge of pearls is frequently quoted in numerous publications.

Betty Sue’s experiences as one in the trenches in the pearl industry can be read in her chapter in Auction Market Resource, June 2002, “Cultured Pearls Galore: “A Tucson Retrospective”. She reviewed the book, Pearls, A Natural History for the GIA publication, “Gems & Gemology”. Betty Sue serves as secretary of the Board of Directors of the AGTA, an organization that prides itself on its professional & ethical business practices. The Northern California Chapter of the WJA nominated her for the Award of Excellence.

The “Pearl Goddess and More” is known for having pearls that are truly the cream of the crop. Uniqueness, quality merchandise, knowledge & personal service are truly the heart and soul of King’s Ransom.

Contact Betty Sue - the Pearl Goddess!

Upcoming Events

February 11 Program Meeting: American Quilts in the Marketplace

Joe Cunningham began making quilts professionally in 1979, after a ten-year career as a musician in Michigan. His early mentors were steeped in the history and traditions of quilts, leading Cunningham to a life of study in quilt history and a love of traditional technique.

Over the years his work has evolved into a unique personal style both original and shaped by the tradition. Cunningham travels throughout the country to give lectures and workshops on quilt making. He has two new books coming out with AQS in 2010, one on men who make quilts and one on his own life and work.

He has been seen on the HGTV series “Simply Quilts with Alex Anderson,” as well as “The Quilt Show” with Ricky Tims and Alex Anderson. Cunningham has performed his musical quilt show, “Joe the Quilter,” for guilds and theaters nationwide. The musical quilt show has been made into a DVD, “Joe the Quilter,” and Joe’s methods of basting and quilting are also available on DVD.

Joe will give us a brief history of the quilt in America, discuss some of the factors that led to the rise of a market for quilts in the early 1970's, and show examples of some quilts that would demonstrate the high end of the antique market, the low end of the quilt market, and the modern quilts that represent an entirely different market. He will especially explain the difference between the markets for old quilts and new quilts.

EXHIBITIONS

2009 Draw the Line: New Quilts by Joe Cunningham, California Street Studios Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2009 Fall Into Fabrics, San Francisco Design Center Showplace

2007 Saturn Returns@ San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles, San Jose, CA

2007 Old and New Quilts from Ancient and Modern Cities @Mitsukoshi

Department Store, Nihonbashi, Tokyo

2005 Men of Biblical Proportion@Houston Int. Quilt Festival, George R Brown Convention Center, Houston, TX, Oct 22-24. Booked at various venues through 2007.

2004 The Life of a Quilt@Herbst International Exhibition Hall, San Francisco, CA. Solo show. June 2004 -August, 2004.

2004 Return of the Quilts@Sanchez Street Studios, San Francisco, CA. Solo show. December, 2003-June, 2004.

2003 Man Made@Museum of the American Quilters Society, Paducah, KY,

Bibliography

Cunningham, Joe, Robert Shaw and Janneken Smucker. "Amish Abstractions: Quilts from the Collection of Faith and

Stephen Brown," Catalogue for the exhibition at the deYoung Museum, San Francisco, CA, Pomegranate Publications, Petaluma, CA.

Cunningham, Joe. “Rough and Ready”, American Quilter

Magazine, September, 2008, AQS, Paducah, KY; Cunningham, Joe. “Joe the Quilter”, Quilters Newsletter

Magazine, July/August, 2008, CK Media, Golden, CO; Chitra Publications, Montrose, PA.

Cunningham, Joe and Gwen Marston. “Quilting With Style”, American Quilters Society, Paducah, KY, 1993.

Cunningham, Joe and Gwen Marston. “Mary Schafer and Her Quilts”, Michigan State University Museum, East Lansing, MI, 1990.

Cunningham, Joe and Gwen Marston. “American Beauties: Rose and Tulip Quilts”, American Quilters Society, Paducah, KY, 1988.

Cunningham, Joe and Gwen Marston. “Classic Quilting Designs”, Dover Publications, Inc., NY, NY 1987.

Cunningham, Joe and Gwen Marston. “Sets and Borders”, American Quilters Society, Paducah, KY, 1986.

Cunningham, Joe and Gwen Marston. “Amish Quilting Designs”, Dover Publications, Inc., NY, NY 1986.

TELEVISION APPEARANCES

The Quilt Show with Ricky Tims and Alex Anderson, internet TV show: always available @ www.thequiltshow.com, episode 101

Simply Quilts with Alex Anderson, “Amish Quilting Designs”, HGTV SERIES #620

Simply Quilts with Alex Anderson, “Freehand Quilting”, HGTV SERIES #739 DVD

Joe the Quilter Joe Cunningham, quilts, guitar and vocals. One-man musical, recorded live February 13, 2007, Rockingstitch Productions

Basting and Quilting in an Old Fashioned Frame, Rockingstitch Productions, 2006

Membership Matters

By Robin Erdmann

Recent Advancements

The Northern California Chapter welcomes three new members: Willerie T. Razote ASA, Business Valuation, and Garrett Schwartz ASA, and Jack Young ASA, both Machinery & Technical Services.

Willerie is a Manager with Ernst & Young, and holds undergraduate degrees in Finance and Economics from the University of Washington. Contact email is: Willerie.Razote@EY.com.

Garrett is an analyst with Sencer Appraisal Associates, and holds a degree in Political Science from San Francisco State University, as well as having taken coursework in political science and computer science at Ohio State University. He is also enrolled in San Franciso State’s Executive MBA program. His contact information is Garrett.Schwartz@SencerAppraisal.com.

Jack is our chapter Secretary, and already a very active ASA member. He is sole proprietor of Norcal Valuation and Maximum Benefit Auctions in Sacramento. Jack is a CPA, having received his B.S. Accountancy, Arizona State University in1988 and attending the W. P. Carey School of Business, Northern Arizona University College of Business Administration. Contact Jack at http://www.norcalvaluation.com.

Welcome to all three new ASAs, and we look forward to seeing you at our monthly meetings.

Robin J. Erdmann, ASA MRICS MAI

Membership Chair

Governor’s Message

By Greg Ansel

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to all! I hope 2009 was a successful and rewarding year for all and I hope 2010 will be even better.

Not a lot has happened since the November call, however, the BOG is gearing up for our mid-term meeting in Washington DC on January 30-31, 2010. I will be there for the Budget and Finance Committee meeting on the 29^th and then for the BOG meeting on the 30^th and 31^st. If any of you have any questions/issues you would like me to present, please let me know.

HQ sent out a survey regarding discipline centric, conference programs, etc. Please not only respond to the survey, but also encourage your membership to do so. This is sure to be a topic of discussion at the BOG mid-term meeting, so please let your voices be heard.

On the last BOG call there were only three primary topics and they were all updates:

HQ Task force.

IT Report.

Constitutional Bylaw Committee.

The HQ Task force was formed to explore the HQ lease. The lease expires in 2011 and it is now at above fair market value. HQ is trying to renegotiate the lease amount, but realistically it looks like this will not happen until mid/late 2010 due to the landlord’s unwillingness to negotiate due to the amount of time still remaining on the lease. The task force has explored: 1) renewing; 2) relocating in the DC area; and 3) relocating to another city. I will keep you posted as things become more tangible.

The IT Report was positive as the new computer system and web site is up and running with things moving forward on a timely basis and within the revised budget. If you experience any positive or negative items, please let me or HQ know.

The Constitutional Bylaw Committee was formed to review and update the bylaws as needed. This committee is the very early stages so there is no specific update, but the positive is that the committee is formed and moving forward. We likely will get a more substantive update at the International conference in July.

As always should you have any questions or concerns please contact your local chapter president or me directly (gansel@fscg.com).

Website Update

By Nancy Stacy

I’m happy to report that we have begun building our new chapter website, hosted on the ASA site (www.appraisers.org). You can watch our progress by going to the link here. We have also acquired a couple of domain names that will eventually take users to the same location. We’ll let you know when they are activated, but they will include ASA-Norcal.com and ASA-Norcal.org.

Currently we have only posted a Newsletter on the new site. Gradually we will add and learn to use capabilities, such as member links, forums, and a public interface.

Speaking of the ASA website, we are beginning to see the fruits of all the work that has gone into this process over the past couple of years. Much database content has been migrated to the new Aptify database, where it can be accessed by the Sitefinity website builder. The Personal Property discipline website is up and running now and I am told that the Real Property website is nearly complete.

You might want to log on to www.appraiser.org and explore a little. Once you sign in, a “For Members” link will appear. Hover your cursor over “For Members” and you will see several choices. One is “My ASA”. This is where you access your most pertinent personal information. Check it out!

December Meeting

By Nancy Stacy

An enthusiastic turnout of ASA NorCal members and guests were beneficiaries of an excellent presentation by vineyard and wine expert Tony Correia. We learned about a vineyard that has had only about 4 owners over several centuries and, if offered for sale, would have ready buyers at any named price. We learned about the “boom and bust” wine cycle, and the unfortunate timing with the current economic situation. We learned that the overproduction of fine wine grapes has created incredible bargains all through the current price matrix of California wines. Buy California wines now! And for those not already aware, we learned that current government policy is turning the most fertile area on Earth, the San Joaquin Valley, into a literal dust bowl, threatening to ruin the lives of farmers and farm workers alike.

It is impossible to capture the wit and insight that rendered Tony’s presentation not only instructive but delightful. For those interested in the factual data, he has thoughtfully provided an abbreviated PowerPoint presentation that can be viewed by clicking here.

Events Calendar

JANUARY 2010

14^TH (Thur) Chapter Meeting Betty Sue King – An evening with The Pearl Goddess

FEBRUARY 2010

11^th (Thur) Chapter Meeting, Joe Cunningham - American Quilts in the Marketplace

MARCH 2010

11-14 MTS 208, Marine Vessel Survey - SF

11^th (Thur) Chapter Meeting, Executive Coach

APRIL 2010

8^TH (Thur) Chapter Meeting, International & Fair Value Accounting

MAY 2010

13^th (Thur) Chapter Meeting, Bill Mulligan: “Alternative Energy Outlook”

JUNE 2010

10^th (Thur) Chapter Meeting, Stephen Braitman: “Music Appraisal”

JULY 2010

8^th (Thur) No chapter meeting

26^th-28^th International Conf.

AUGUST 2010

6^th (Fri) tentative - Chapter Retreat
12^th (Thur) Chapter meeting, Installation of new officers TBA

SEPTEMBER 2010

9^th (Thur) Annual Meeting/Candidate’s Night

October 2010

14^th (Thur)

November 2010

11^th (Thur)

December 2010

9^th (Thur)

NorCal Officers & Directors

L to R:, Gil Mitchell, ASA, Treasurer; Robin Erdmann ASA, Past President, Doug Baxter ASA, President; Bob Lentz, ASA, Vice President; Jack Young ASA, Secretary (not pictured)

L to R: Gil Mitchell ASA, Treasurer; Doug Schnitzer, ASA; Nancy Stacy ASA, G&J Director & Newsletter Editor; Robin Erdmann ASA, Past President; Doug Baxter ASA, President; Roger Rapport ASA, PP Director, Bob Lentz ASA, Vice-President; Directors not pictured: John Barnet AM, BV Director

Chapter Officers

Chapter President Douglas S. Baxter ASA (PP)

Chapter Vice President Robert P. Lentz III, ASA (BV)

Chapter Secretary Jack Young ASA (MTS)

Chapter Treasurer Gil Mitchell ASA (MTS)

Chapter Past Chair Robin J. Erdmann ASA (RP)

Discipline Directors

Business Valuation John Barnet AM

Gems & Jewelry Nancy Stacy ASA*

Machinery & Technical (Orphan - Need a volunteer: Jack Young ASA is filling in)

Real Property Ray Mattison ASA

Personal Property Roger Rapport ASA

International Officers

International President Mike Evans ASA

Region 5 Governor Greg Ansel ASA

Anyone interested in being an active participant in the chapter should contact Doug Baxter at DBaxter@hobartappraisals.com and attend a BOD meeting.

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