Winter 1961

  The fact that Everett didn’t have a coin club (1961) had bothered George Bjork for a long time.  He had spoken to several other coin collectors in the area about starting a club, but nobody seemed too interested.  He could never quite get the idea of Everett, a city of over 40,000 at the time, not having its own coin club.  George and his wife, Alma had been attending the Sedro-Woolley coin club.

   One night on the way home from the Sedro-Woolley meeting George said, Why can’t we start a club in Everett?, Alma agreed.  The following day they called Gene Henry of Seattle, whom he considered the best authority on coins he knew, and who had offered to help in case a club was started.  Gene suggested that the first meeting be postponed until spring, when the weather would be better, but George insisted it be started right away, which was Jan. 1962.

 Gene said he would come up and act as chairman the first meeting.  They thought the library would be a good place to have the meeting because it was centrally located.  Gene suggested that we should draw straws to see who would be number one, number two and so on.  After that was duly porformed George was No. 1, Gene was No. 2 and Alma No. 3.

 George rented the smallest auditorium at the library, which he thought would be plenty large for the first meeting.  A display of coins was placed in the window of the First National Bank by George Friske, George Bjork, Roger Bohannon and others.  Connie Friske and Gene Henry made signs announcing the time and place of the first meeting.  A announcement was also inserted in the local paper, Alma sent out twenty cards to people in the area who they knew were coin collectors.

 The doors were to open Tuesday evening, Jan. 16th, 1962 at 7 o’clock with displays, drawings, auction and refreshments.  That afternoon three dozen fancy doughnuts, coffee, cream. & sugar was purchased.  It was a cold, dark, rainy evening.  They had some misgivings about how many would come out on such a night.  At six o’clock they went down to setup tables, when they got there their were people all ready milling around.  It so crowed they had to open another room and go out and buy more doughnuts and make a larger pot of coffee at the Behtel Baptist Church across from the library.  133 people showed up for the first meeting, that rainy and dark evening.

                           March 1962 - they had 79 Charter members