Retiring straight to our beds we were woken by heavy rain which Wellingtonians later assured us was the first in weeks (yeah right!)

Neighbours in the Adelaide Road motel turned out to be sponsor Max Kearney from Plywood City in Auckland and Jeff Harvey and apprentice, Bredan Best from Harvey Signs and Graphics in Ashburton in the South Island, who had motorcycled up on their Harley Davidsons the previous day.

After a decent breakfast it was off to Colin and Alby Frampton’s signshop a couple of blocks down from the motel, where we were greeted by Letterheads organiser, Andrew Braddock from Signwise Industries in Wellington.

Already in attendance were apprentice Hayden Bunn from Gerald Hortons Signs in Rangiora, another South Island signshop, sponsor Peter Sherwood from Signwriters Supplies in Auckland and Greg Miller from The Sign Shop in New Plymouth.

During the next couple of hours the balance of attendees drifted in from various parts of the country including last year’s Letterheads host, Tim Webb from Law Signs in Whakatane and the first Letterheads host, Chris Field from the Field Sign Company in Auckland, who had taken the soft option and flown down that morning.

With virtually everyone assembled Andrew Braddock welcomed one and all and outlined some of the projects planned which included a community project mural of a turn-of-the-century Wellington scene, a drag race car in need of some serious graphics, foam carving materials, the transformation of a bronze casting pattern, calligraphy and the now customary sponsors beer fridge (thanks Tui Breweries).

Colin Frampton detailed the facilities and where all forms of materials could be found.  This was followed by morning tea just as the last two participants, Warren Burrows from Power Signs in Nelson and regular attendee Fred Zoutenbier from Signs and Screenprinting in Picton arrived on the scene.

It was midday by the time the first hint of colour was in evidence, some airbrush work was executed by Grant Sayer from Zodiac Signs in Hawera who elected to start on the casting pattern with Brendan Best.

Meanwhile Alan Clarke from Auckland was sketching out project work as were Tim Webb, Fred Zoutenbier and Hayden Bunn.

Stuart Velvin, from sponsor 3M New Zealand, arrived at Frampton’s and immediately cranked up the barbie and started cooking up a storm of what would become lunch.  Lamb chops, chicken wings, beef patties and tube steaks, accompanied by salads were soon consumed and work restarted in earnest.

Warren Burrows started dealing to one of the fridges, soon to be joined by Pat Duncan from Duncan Displays from the host city.  Damian Gormly from Wilsigns in Napier started an airbrush work while Hayden tried his hand at the art also.

Design student Alison Rush chose to try her hand at foam carving while tutor-in-charge of signmaking at the Whitireia Community Polytechnic, Sally Davis, along with Grant and Phil Swain from Fine Signs in Wellington did likewise.  Even Max tried his hand.  Not bad for a non-signie Max!

Work progressed on the community project for the Newtown Historical Society as Jeff and Scooter started the sepia toned graphic while others climbed into their individual projects.

Working quickly on one side of the signshop, retired signwriter and occasional polytech tutor, Bill Wellington painstakingly started creating a calligraphic masterpiece.  His disturbing ability to perfectly copy my signature upside down and in reverse had many checking the security of the cheque books and credit cards!

With a free evening ahead, Friday wound down over a two hour period as phases of various projects moved towards completion.  Many headed in to town for a meal and a not too quiet night out.

Saturday dawned overcast but the short stroll from the motel to Frampton’s via a breakfast stop saw us arrive just after 9.00am.

Before ten everyone was on deck and back into group or individual projects.  Grant and Bredan boxed on with the casting pattern.  A mixture of Phil, Julian, Grant, Jeff and Colin added to the community project, Alison started giving form to her carving of a bulldog, Greg progressed nicely with his foam work of a 1934 Ford Coupe hotrod and even sponsor Max turned his hand to creating an egg!

Fred, Mark, Alan and Chris worked individually on hand painted or airbrushed creations until lunch was bar-be-qued shortly after midday by the team from Signwriters Supplies.

The highlight of the afternoon, which some would erroneously claim was to be the clash between Supertwelve rivals the Wellington Hurricanes and the South African Bulls, was the arrival of two models for a five hour body painting session.  The presence of wives and children more than lent an air of respectability to what was to follow as one model was marbled from head to toe by Tim and Fred while Mark and Grant metal panelled the second model.

By the time 6 o’clock rolled round the work was completed and Jeff Harvey’s Harley was deemed to be a suitable backdrop to display the finished work.

Traditonally now Saturday night is prize giving night and a meal and drinks were the order of the evening at the Windmill Bar and Café in Brooklyn.  A lateish start was in order as some had drifted off to the rugby match and weren’t due back until 8.30pm.

Those receiving recognition for various feats, activities and works were “Scooter” Lissiman for his rendition of the Letterheads logo.  Also in for honourable mention were Alison Rush, Grant Sayer and Damian Gormly.

A Passche airbrush kit was presented to first year apprentice Hayden Bunn, who attempted a first time piece to discover that you can’t pull mask off of a paper substrate without the need to start from square one again, but then that’s what Letterheads in NZ is all about - encouragement, support, recognition and a willingness to both learn and teach in the spirit of friendship.

Numerous novelty prizes were awarded for various dubious reasons and not one of the twenty three participants went away empty handed.  After a meal and a few bottles of wine, and as midnight approached, people drifted off to motels, home or the bright lights of New Zealand’s capital city.

Sunday dawned a cloudless day and a slightly later start was made by most (no names - no packdrill!)  Work progressed smoothly on most of the projects although the race car got no further than the design stage for various reasons.

The now customary group photo was taken just before lunch after which those of us travelling longer distances bade our farewells promising to gather, similar to the way they undertake to meet at some future point in time at the Olympics closing ceremony, in one years’ time at the signshop of Jeff Harvey of Ashburton who will be staging NZ’s fifth letterheads meet in October of 2002.  I can barely wait!

Any event such as Letterheads is dependant on the goodwill and support of sponsors and for this thanks are due to Plywood City, Café Express, 3M New Zealand, Signwriters Supplies, Computaleta Services, Spandex, Tui Beer and others, thanks guys.