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October 3rd and 4th, 2015 marked the date when a group of crazy collectors of labels and fruit wrappers gathered in Belgium for their tenth meeting. Celebrating a decade of existence, this successful great adventure started in 2006 in Nanterre and the party organized for the occasion was worthy of the event.
We are inviting you for a trip, using text and images, to make you experience for the first time or to relive our tenth meeting.
Fifteen collectors honored us with their presence:
Our local organizers:
Deborah WATHELET and her parents Véronique and Pierre (Belgium), 5th participation
Élodie DEMARETZ (France), 3rd participation, organizer of the 9th meeting in COUDEKERQUE-BRANCH, accompanied by her parents Dorothée and Jean-François
Antoine BIWER (France) 4th participation,10 years old, accompanied by his mother Isabelle
Xavier HEYTE (Belgium), 8th participation
Moniek BUCQUOYE (Belgium), 3rd participation
Marie-Madeleine MURINGER (France), 2nd participation, accompanied by Jean-Paul
Natalie VANDAMME (Belgium), first participation
Gérard BEIX (France), 8th participation, organizer of the 4th meeting in ERMONT
John VAN DROOGENBROECK (Belgium) 2th participation
Gérard BEEKEMA (Netherlands), 3rd participation
Henri DEROUIN (Canada), first participation, accompanied by his wife Diane
Jean-Pierre BERNARD (France), 7th participation
Mario GANDINI (Italy), 2nd participation, accompanied by his wife Nadia
J-Gabriel GIRAUDEAU, (France) Founder
Didier SALAMON, (France) Founder
Saturday afternoon, we had a visitor,
Marie CLAUSliving close to Courrières, in Bousval. She read an article in the July-August 2013 issue of the ”Maison Creative” magazine that talked about our annual meetings. By visiting our website, she became aware of our meeting this year. Being a collector of citrus wrappers for about 3 years, she was happy to go back home with a nice bunch of wrappers, formed in part by a donation of Pascal CASSON who could not make the trip.
But before she left, she signed up for her membership in our website.
From left to right : Marie CLAUS, Gérard BEIX, Diane DEROUIN, Xavier HEYTE, Henri DEROUIN, Elodie DEMARETZ, J-Gabriel GIRAUDEAU, Moniek BUCQUOYE, Natalie VANDAMME, Marie-Madeleine MURINGER, Antoine BIWER, Marco GANDINI, Déborah WATHELET, Didier SALAMON, John VAN DROOGENBROECK, Jean-Pierre BERNARD, Gerard BEEKEMA
Highlights of the meeting:
For the first time a foreign country, Belgium, a geographical crossroads, was selected to attract more collectors
The venue, the castle of Courrières, built in 1622, a beautifully restored building with new and functional infrastructure
The enthusiasm and hospitality of the organizers
The presence of two new collectors, a Canadian who crossed the Atlantic, and a Belgian
The pleasure to meet again, because in addition to collecting, it is sheer pleasure and friendship that brought us together today
Exceptional activities Sunday morning
A fruit wrappers exhibition world tour of 45 countries on 5 continents
The very mild weather
The defeat of the England team that faced Australia in the rugby world cup
Weak points:
The desertion of too many collectors, including many true friends (see the conclusion at the end of publication)
Traffic on the Belgian highways, roadworks, traffic jams, bad roads
Saturday, October 3, 2015
Beginning at 9:30 AM, the first collectors who hadn’t arrived the day before, showed up and took their places with Moniek BUCQUOYE closing the parade in the late morning.
It has now become a tradition that Saturday is devoted exclusively to trade, speeches, presentations of diplomas and taking group photographs. Transactions between collectors were numerous and of high quality and our Canadian friend Henri DEROUIN, who thought himself alone in the world as a label collector, amassed a stunning collection of European labels, hard to find in his country.
By mid-afternoon, the organizers surprised the two founders, presenting them with two beautiful cakes decorated with 10 candles that Didier and Jean-Gabriel blew out with great emotion.
Three collectors presented their original artworks: Gérard BEEKEMA, Moniek BUQUOYE et Élodie DESMARETZ.
The winner of the contest organized on the home page of the site, John VAN DROOGENBROCK, received his prize, a bunch of labels.
During this day, Didier SALAMON conducted interviews with participants that can be read at the end of this publication.
The exchanges continued after the evening meal with Henri DEROUIN being one of the last to leave the room.
Some rugby fans watched the England-Australia match that ended in the elimination of the host country, England, to the delight of Tintin, Didier and Jean-Gabriel.
Sunday, October 4, 2015
This has now become a tradition that Sunday morning is spent on cultural activities to abandon the hardcore collecting for a bit.
For the 10th meeting, the menu offered was exceptional.
A hot air balloon flight
Xavier HEYTE, who lives in Namur, is a passionate and experienced pilot who at the conclusion of the 9th meeting proposed to offer a balloon flight to three collectors the following year. Unfortunately, the only time that the meteorological forecast called for the weather to be just average was on Sunday morning! After some very legitimate and understandable hesitations because of safety concerns, Xavier decided to fly. It was an opportunity for collectors to assist at those long and careful preparations before seeing the balloon fly.
The lucky balloon passengers were selected as follows:
- First place was offered to the winner of the online contest. Since John VAN DROOGENBROECK was unable to attend the Sunday morning gathering, his place went to Marco GANDINI who from now on will travel from Italy every year!
- Second place was offered by the organizers to Henri DEROUIN to thank him for his presence and his arrival from Canada.
- Last place was raffled among the three participants in the original work of art contest and it was Moniek Bucquoye who has been designated by the little innocent hand of Antoine.
A light rain began to fall soon after takeoff so the flight was cut short by Xavier. But it was long enough (25 minutes) to give the selected lucky ones long-lasting and beautiful memories.
Presentation of birds of prey
The second activity was a fascinating presentation of birds of prey, the passion and now job of Deborah. For an hour and a half, we were able to approach different birds and assist in several flights where spectators, to their greatest joy, played an active role.
These two original activities marked splendidly the end of our 10th meeting. During an aperitif celebrated in the courtyard of the castle, under the sun that returned, the participants were able to show to our organizers, all their joy and satisfaction with this beautiful Belgian weekend.
After Sunday lunch there was, as always, a little touchy moment of saying goodbyes, though sweetened with a thought of meeting again for 11th Légufrufolies.
With the 10 year cycle already behind us, the founders decided in give it a rest in 2016 and change the meeting calendar.
We will meet again:
at the invitation of the mother of Antoine BIWER, our youngest participant, and partner of Xavier, our Belgian balloonist.
Interviews
Nous vous proposons ci-dessous les interviews réalisées durant la rencontre. (Cliquer sur les noms)
Number of participations in the meetings: 5
Country of origin: Belgium
Please describe yourself briefly ?
I am 23 years old and live near Namur. I am passionate about falconry and now it's my job. I just finished my education, got my diploma and am now animal keeper. Apart from the birds and the collection, I read a lot. Together with my parents, I organized this year’s 10th meeting.
Since when are you a collector ?
2010
How many items do you own?
24600 labels
Which meeting did you attend for the first time?
Authie. It was in 2009. I came from Belgium in a RV with my sponsor.
Why do you come to the meetings every year ?
I trade a lot, but it is always interesting to meet my trading partners in the flesh.
Do you plan to continue your adventure with us in the forthcoming meetings ?
Yes
Number of participations in the meetings: 4
Country of origin: France
Please describe yourself briefly?
I am 10 years old, I live with my mom Isabelle Lachaussée in Meuse. I am currently in school in CM1 class.
Since when are you a collector?
2012
How many items do you own?
Approximately 14000 labels
Which meeting did you attend for the first time?
It was Authie in 2012.
Why do you come to the meetings every year ?
I come to the meetings to exchange with other collectors.
Do you plan to continue your adventure with us in the forthcoming meetings ?
Yes and it is also my mom who will organize the next meeting in 2017.
Number of participations in the meetings: 3
Country of origin: France
Please describe yourself briefly ?
I'm 25 years old and I work in tourism, at a tourist office. I live in Grande-Synthe. I also collect stamps.
Since when are you a collector ?
2007
How many items do you own?
I do not know really, maybe more than 5,000 labels, I have not counted them yet. I also collect wrappers and hangtags.
Which meeting did you attend for the first time?
It was in Paris in 2013. I came by train with my mother. And I organized the 9th meeting in Coudekerque-Branche last year.
Why do you come to the meetings every year ?
Above all, I like to meet other collectors. I love the atmosphere during the meetings and it also, it is good to look elsewhere than at a screen which is what you do while surfing the internet.
Do you plan to continue your adventure with us in the forthcoming meetings ?
Yes
Number of participations in the meetings: 8
Country of origin: Belgium
Please describe yourself briefly ?
I am 56 years old. I live in Namur and I'm a gym teacher. Apart from sticker collecting, I have been a balloon pilot for 10 years and I attend many meetings all year round. I am also a walker and next weekend I will organize a walk
Since when are you a collector?
Around 1989 or 1990.
How many items do you own?
51000 labels
Which meeting did you attend for the first time?
It was Gondecourt in northern France. Even before the Legufrufolies meetings began, I have already attended meetings of collectors; at home in Namur, in a hotel room in Paris, at Bernard CHARPENTIER’s house in Poitiers.
Why do you come to the meetings every year ?
Above all, I love contacts with other collectors and I love to trade. What motivates me even more is a chance of finding the rare item missing from the series that I am putting together and of course the idea of giving the same pleasure to another collector. And that is still the case for this meeting.
Do you plan to continue your adventure with us in the forthcoming meetings ?
Yes and I proposed to the founders that a meeting should be organized in Namur sometime in the future.
Number of participations in the meetings: 3
Country of origin: Belgium
Please describe yourself briefly ?
I am 67 years old. I am retired. I was a journalist and a writer and I organized exhibitions of architecture and design. I live in Ghent. I have other passions such as knives, postcards showing the interiors of houses for example.
Since when are you a collector ?
I collect fruit wrappers and I started doing it about thirty years ago.
How many items do you own?
I never counted the number of wrappers that I own.
Which meeting did you attend for the first time?
It was in Authie.
Why do you come to the meetings every year ?
I just want to see other collectors, meet new people. Currently, I am looking for people wanting to work with me to write a book on oranges, through various documents where this fruit is featured.
Do you plan to continue your adventure with us in the forthcoming meetings ?
Yes
Number of participations in the meetings: 2
Country of origin: France
Please describe yourself briefly ?
I am 68 years old. I have not been active professionally since the age of 50 due to health problems. I live in Nambsheim. I also collect sugar packaging, cream container lids.
Since when are you a collector ?
About 2000
How many items do you own?
Approximately 13000
Which meeting did you attend for the first time?
It was last year in the North in Coudekerque-Branche.
Why do you come to the meetings every year ?
I come to feel the atmosphere that prevails here. I like to meet other collectors and exchange directly with them.
Do you plan to continue your adventure with us in the forthcoming meetings ?
Yes if my health will allow me to move.
Number of participations in the meetings: 1
Country of origin: Belgium
Please describe yourself briefly ?
I am 48 years old and I work as a medical secretary for civilian personnel in the military hospital in Brussels. I live in Erpe-Mere.
Since when are you a collector ?
I am a beginner since I started in March this year.
How many items do you own?
429.
Which meeting did you attend for the first time?
This is my first participation. It is through John who delivers fruit and vegetables to the hospital that I learned about these meetings.
Do you plan to continue your adventure with us in the forthcoming meetings ?
Yes, I will continue to meet with other collectors and enrich my collection
Number of participations in the meetings: 8
Country of origin: France
Please describe yourself briefly ?
I am 77 years old and I am retired from the chemical industry where I worked at Total. I live in Ermont, in the Paris suburbs, north of Paris. I am a multi-collector: cheese labels, small cars model scale 1:43, advertisements, missals
Since when are you a collector?
Année 2000
How many items do you own?
Approximately 22000 labels
Which meeting did you attend for the first time?
It was Gondecourt in the North in 2008. This was also for me the first real meeting in which many French and foreign collectors participated.
Why do you come to the meetings every year ?
I like the atmosphere there. I like to meet other collectors, many of whom are now more than mere collectors but friends.
Do you plan to continue your adventure with us in the forthcoming meetings ?
Yes, for long as I am healthy because I am now 77 years old and I do not wish to come if I have to use crutches. But for now all is well.
Number of participations in the meetings: 2
Country of origin: Belgium
Please describe yourself briefly ?
I am 50 years old and I am a merchant of fruits and vegetables. Our family has been doing this job for 5 generations. I live in Ghent.
Since when are you a collector?
I started the collection in March 2014
How many items do you own?
About 5600 labels
Which meeting did you attend for the first time?
It was last year in Coudekerque-Branche.
Why do you come to the meetings every year ?
To meet people, see other collectors. It is a small family and it's nice to meet people with whom we exchange from behind the computer all year.
Do you plan to continue your adventure with us in the forthcoming meetings ?
Yes
Number of participations in the meetings: 3
Country of origin: Netherlands
Please describe yourself briefly ?
I am 52 years old. I live in Achthoek. I work for a security firm which manufactures safes for banks.
Since when are you a collector?
I started at the age of 16, I already had 4000 labels then.
How many items do you own?
I do not know exactly. I pick up between 20 and 40 new labels every week. And I still have 40 kgs of labels to sort, classify.
Which meeting did you attend for the first time?
It was Authie in 2011. This is my third participation.
Why do you come to the meetings every year ?
I have long believed that I was the only person collecting fruit labels. Today I meet other collectors so it is to my advantage to come to these meetings.
Do you plan to continue your adventure with us in the forthcoming meetings ?
Yes
Number of participations in the meetings: 1
Country of origin: Canada
Please describe yourself briefly ?
I'm 69 years old and I'm a French Canadian. I live north of Montreal in Rose-Mère. But during the Canadian winter season I live in Florida. I'm a retired railway employe where I was responsible for track maintenance. I also collect bookmarks, key chains and pins. I also traveled the world a lot.
Since when are you a collector?
1990
How many items do you own?
Over all these years I picked up 14500 labels, just by myself. I had never done exchanges until today.
Which meeting did you attend for the first time?
This is my first meeting. I never thought that other people could collect those labels. It was actually the son of Diane who found your site on the internet and when I realized we were so many I decided to come and see what it’s all about.
Do you plan to continue your adventure with us in the forthcoming meetings ?
Yes, I hope to come to future meetings depending on the dates and my ability because I live in two countries and it takes a lot of preparation.
Number of participations in the meetings: 7
Country of origin: France
Please describe yourself briefly ?
I am 77 years old. I am retired. I was a statistical engineer. I live in l’Ile de Ré in Bois-Plage. I am also passionate about contemporary art and gardening. I am also a yoga teacher.
Since when are you a collector?
I started around the year 1980. But the effort was not too serious. I really started collecting in 1991.
How many items do you own?
I have about 21000 labels and 1900 hangtags.
Which meeting did you attend for the first time?
It was the fourth in Ermont.
Why do you come to the meetings every year ?
I love these moments of meeting and sharing with other collectors.
Do you plan to continue your adventure with us in the forthcoming meetings ?
Yes
Number of participations in the meetings: 2
Country of origin: Italy
Please describe yourself briefly ?
I am 54 years old. I live in Milan. I work, as does my wife Nadia, for the Italian Post Office. I also collect stamps from Italy, France and the Order of Malta.
Since when are you a collector?
230 years, from 1995.
How many items do you own?
7730 labels
Which meeting did you attend for the first time?
It was last year in Coudekerque-Branche in the North. I am the first and so far the only Italian participant.
Why do you come to the meetings every year ?
I found many friends. I can trade with other collectors. I have already exchanged over the internet with Gabriel.
Do you plan to continue your adventure with us in the forthcoming meetings ?
Yes! (yes pronounced with a big smile)
A lighthearted moment among friends
The tenth meeting of label and fruit wrapper collectors marks the end of a cycle. Ten years of life of a small association that in reality is not one, it is a success. During this decade we promoted great meetings, visited various regions and thanks to our local correspondents we could bask in the warmth of friendship and conviviality. We could also raise awareness of this amazing and original passion.
This anniversary should constitute, in the spirit of the founders and organizers, a meeting that exceeds all others by:
- The choice of a new country, for the first time in Belgium,
- The exceptional location in the beautiful castle of Courrières, built in 1622, fully restored and offering amenities and logistics of high quality,
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- The passion and energy deployed by three Belgian friends who, since 2013, carried this project in their heads. Déborah, Véronique and Pierre WATHELET have spared neither their efforts nor their time to make this event a reference point among the other 9 events
- From the organizational point of view, the two exceptional Sunday morning activities, i.e. hot air ballooning and falconry, have enhanced the uniqueness of the 10th meeting even more.
This was to be a big beautiful birthday party ...
We just forgot one thing ... to have a party requires to have organizers (they were present) but above all of the participants.
The choice of Belgium, the crossroads of many countries since 2008, should enable the Belgians, the Dutch, the Germans and the French, to come in droves. But it is clear that even our most loyal supporters and friends have sadly failed us. The original enthusiasm shown with the announcement of the scheduled anniversary meeting after Coudekerque-Branche has given way, for some, to cruel and incomprehensible silence.
Similarly, some last minute cancellations, giving excuses more or less justified, put our Belgian organizers in a difficult position. We must not forget that organizing a meeting requires material resources in infrastructure and logistics. There are then, inevitably, financial consequences that can only be resolved using personal funds of our Belgian organizers.
Everyone can argue his or her case citing money, date, location, lack of time, etc. etc. However, from one year to another, the date is known so successful planning is possible as some could get here. Then finding a last-minute excuse for not coming is not very fair to those who devote themselves, body and soul, to the organization because under the circumstances we are not talking about just any meeting, we are talking about the tenth. We were sincerely hoping to have over thirty collectors for the investment to be profitable.
We know that these words will not please everyone but we take full responsibility for them because it is only the truth that hurts. Even our small world of collectors has become a selfish and passive consumer behind a computer screen in front of a wonderful program available for free. Because, if indeed the site, developed by Jean-Gabriel is a great tool, it will never replace a handshake, a smile, a conversation, laughter, sharing a good meal and a good glass of wine.
Déborah, Véronique and Pierre were legitimately very disappointed and dejected as they felt abandoned. But they did nothing wrong because they made those who participated happy.
“The absent is always wrong” as the saying goes. This is even more true for the 10th meeting.
Didier and Gabriel, founders.
100th Légufrufolies, Courrière (Belgium), 2015, october 4 and 5th