The Dunedin Letterheads meet held at Miller Studios at the beginning of November set another new benchmark in attendance figures with a crew of forty seven attendees plus John Jordan returning from Australia to take another gold class and, for the first time, a guest from America in the form of Mike Meyer from Mazeppa, Minnesota bringing the total up to 49 among which many were attending for the first time.

Fifteen people took to the glass class which had some additional assistance this year from Jeff Harvey which enabled John Jordan to spend more time with the first-timers. It was good to see apprentices trying their hand at this satisfying but quite demanding skill.

Other projects included the customary beer fridge which was being created for Speights (who else in Dunedin!), and of course the Ralph Hotere artwork which was destined for the Port Chalmers restored Museum on completion.

Pete Jenkins brought along a wide range of Oamaru stone and a willingness to show others some of the tricks of the trade in stone carving. This too led to first timers having a go, amongst them was sponsor Signwriters Supplies' Tom Logan who excelled in his first attempt. Airbrushing projects were also high on many participants' agendas and various works of art were created over the long weekend.

After a decent feed of pizzas at the end of the day Friday night saw the laser strike next door to Millers getting a good work out as did their bar facility. For many it was a late night.

Nelson's Alex Burnett spent a good couple of hours demonstrating paint effects, pitching in at the last minute when the local effects man had to cancel. Participants were treated to an entertaining presentation with plenty of opportunity to try effects themselves. I've never seen hardboard look so rusty before!
The days in Dunedin allowed for a break or two in the projects with tours to both Speights brewery and the Cadbury factory. By all accounts these were both welcome additions to the programme.

Miller's opened up their neon shop and let those who wanted to try their hand a glass blowing and bending have a go after some tutelage. Once you've seen an expert at work in the neon shop and then attempt the same basic skills yourself you have a new respect for craftsmen!

The now customary body painting was staged over a full afternoon with one male and two female models although the finished work made it hard to tell the difference if the models were viewed from a distance as the male ended up 'female' and vice-versa for one of the ladies.

An evening function 'off-site' meant that everyone had a chance to freshen up before the bus came to take all and sundry of to the Shoreline for a three course feed and a live band. Most headed into the Octagon after this to sample some of Dunedin's famed night life. Again many had a late night, in fact one or two had no night at all!

Sunday was very slow to start and this meant that many didn't make it to Millers in time for the group photo. Ralph Hotere came in to see his artwork in a finished state and to sign the work. He was impressed with many of the skills exhibited by the 'L/heads'.

As the morning wore on many with long drives ahead of them, like the Nelson/Blenheim/Picton crew, made their farewells and headed homewards. Warren Burrows from Power Signs Nelson raised his hand to host the 2005 event which was gratifying.

Mike Meyer and John Jordan were thanked for their presence and support and then it was lunch time and time for the pinstripe race track to be dusted down for some serious sword play.

Come 4.00pm the last of us headed to the airport in a shuttle bus, full of the joys of having attended yet another Letterheads meet and satisfied in the knowledge that of all the new attendees we met in Dunedin we'll be seeing many of them again next year in Nelson. The brother/sisterhood continues to grow - the torch is being passed on.