10-6-12 LCCA Open House and Train Show/Swap meet with Founder Jim Gates CM1
On Saturday, Oct 6, the LCCA will be back in Perry IA to celebrate the history of the LCCA with club founder and charter member CM#1 Jim Gates. Jim and his wife Josephine will be hosting an open house at their home and a train show and swap meet at the community center across the street. You are invited to run trains at the Gates home from 9:00 AM -7:00 PM CST. Come and meet with Club founder Jim Gates and other Charter members. This will be a great opportunity to meet Jim, learn about the club's origin, run Lionel trains, get good deals on Lionel trains at train show and have some good genuine Midwest fun with fellow members! This may be Jim's last open house event, because he may be downsizing his collection and layout. Bring the entire family and have a fun Lionel Train filled day.
The Train show swap meet will be held from 12:00-4:00 PM at the community center across the street. The cost of admission will be $15/person. This price includes admission for one person to the train show, one barbecue lunch and one trading hall table. Each additional table will be $10 each.
Contact Jim at (515) 210-5718 or Al Kolis (248) 709-4137
The club has made arrangements for reduced room rates at the nearby historic Hotel Pattee located at 1112 Willis Ave, Perry Iowa 50330 -(515)- 465-3511. This hotel offers unique themed rooms decorated to preserve history, celebrate ethnicity, honor craftsmanship and pay tribute to noteworthy sons and daughters of Iowa and the Midwest. Call to reserve your room today.
Jim Gates and 83 other Charter members formed the LCCA back in 1970 in DesMoines IA. To learn more about our club beginnings and to watch 8mm film footage taken during our 1st convention in 1971, click on the link below.
Early LCCA Convention
This video was made in 2010 to celebrate our club's 40th Anniversary. Watch Fellow Charter Members then in attendance, elect the first slate of club officers. See how the tradition of meeting with Lionel representatives and presenting Convention tours began with the LCCA.
To view Jim Gates, of Perry IA talk and to learn more about the early formative days of the LCCA and his first (failed) attempt to for a club dedicated to Lionel trains, go to the video link below. Later (thankfully) he succeeded in creating what is now know as the LCCA with a group or other 83 Charter members.
View Jim Gates
Click on the video links below to view two videos of Charter Member #CM1 and club founder Jim Gates. This will explain the humble beginning of our club, the Lionel Collectors Club of America - the LCCA.
Jim Gates Interview #1
Jim Gates Interview #2
Al Kolis
Immediate Past President and Special Events Manager