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The 8th Legufrufolies Meeting took place in Paris on Saturday, Oct 5 and Sunday, Oct 6, 2013 in a beautiful hall on Avenue de la Grande Armée, just a few steps from l'Arc de Triomphe.
It is thanks to artistic connections of Max DANA and his foundation " The New Eye " that this weekend's gathering could be held in such a beautiful place. We therefore want to thank the generosity of Madame Christiane PEUGEOT, writer and artist, and a descendant of the founder of the Peugeot Company, who opened the doors of her exposition hall to us.

I. Participants of the Meeting, 17 collectors were present:

1 - The faithful soldiers with several participations on the clock:

• Max DANA , our dean and master of ceremonies in Paris, accompanied by his wife Helen (3rd participation)
• Alain SQUADRELLI (5th participation)
• Xavier HEYTE (Belgium - 6th participation) accompanied by his partner Isabelle (3rd participation). It's great Xavier, but after three participations you can ask her to marry you at the 9th meeting !
• Michel HAINAUT (3rd participation)
• Gerard BEIX (6th participation)
• Nicole GAY (2nd participation)
• Jean- Pierre BERNARD (5th participation)
• Pascal CASSON (3rd participation)
• Moniek BUCQUOYE (Belgium - 2nd participation)
• Antoine BIWER , at 7 years old, the youngest participant (2nd participation)
• Didier SALAMON (8th participation)
• Gabriel GIRAUDEAU (8th participation)

2 - The new members, first participation:

• André HOUARD
• Alice and Loïc DESPRES
• Elodie DEMARETZ with her mother Dorothée
• Francine HOENICKE

3 - There were three passing visitors who recorded their names:

• Maxime CHAMONT
• Françoise LESAGE
• Jean-Claude DEBERGUE


From left to right : André HOUARD, Jean-Claude DEBERGUE, Mme DEBERGUE, Isabelle BIWER, Antoine BIWER, Elodie DEMARETZ, Dorothée DEMARETZ, Didier SALAMON, Nicole GAY, Xavier HEYTE, Gabriel GIRAUDEAU, Francine HOENICKE, Pascal CASSON, Max DANA, Alice DESPRES, Loïc DESPRES, Hélène DANA, Michel HAINAUT, Jean-Pierre BERNARD, Gérard BEIX, Alain SQUADRELLI

We had the pleasure of hosting:
• Helen FABRE and Christian BONIFACE who had specifically chosen this weekend to visit a friend in Paris and thus be able to meet us on the same occasion. Didier had a chance to exchange fruit wrappers with these collectors from Nîmes once before, prior to the meeting.
• Mr. and Mrs. ASHBAUGH who in anticipation of a household move came to offer their small collection to serious collectors.

II. What we liked about the Meeting:

• The exhibition hall and the surrounding rooms.
• The presence of Mr. CHAIX (nicknamed for the occasion "the Picasso of the labels") who uses labels to create original and beautiful works. He exhibited about twenty of his works to coincide with the Meeting.





• A very friendly, family-like atmosphere more in keeping with the spirit of our first meetings at Gondecourt and Ermont. Although the hall was much smaller than in Authie, it was conducive to exchanges between people as well as exchanges of labels.
• The presence of new blood and young collectors who will take over in the future when Gabriel and Didier are kept warm in their wheelchairs.




• The interactive demonstration of the new website by its designer Gabriel who answered many questions.
• The visit at the Place de la Bastille market on Sunday morning when the label collectors were able to exercise their hunting skills in sometimes hostile environment.










• The Italian Sunday lunch bought by Max, with its ham to rival all the fine food shops of France; the preparation and impeccable service of Francine and her husband.
• The works of art prepared by the participants that competed well with works of Mr. CHAIX



Fruit baskets , composition : Max and Antoine
Label collages : Gabriel , Xavier , Elodie
Fruit wrapper collage: Pascal Didier
New art, body art: Francine
Subject: André

The jury, composed of Madame Christiane PEUGEOT, Mr. CHAIX and Jacques GOUPIL (the artistic advisor to "The New Eye"), deliberated and unanimously voted to award two prizes that will go down in the history of the legufrulabelophiic art :

• First Prize, Legufrufolies 2013 : André HOUARD for his suitcase made with citrus crates.
• Special Jury Prize, 2013 Gironde Prize : Francine HOENICKE for her T-shirt decorated with labels. Madame Christiane Peugeot nevertheless made it clear that the First Prize eluded her only because the shirt could not be machine washed.







• The gesture of Nico VERSCHUREN who sent many banana labels prior to the meeting that were split into lots and distributed to participants.
• An improbable encounter of two condom wrapper collectors, Francine and Dorothée, in the same place and at the same time.
• The reassuring presence of a retired oncologist, Max. You never say never, it's better to plan ahead!

III. What we did not like:

• Only two countries, Belgium and France, were represented
• The absence of true friends: Lindsey, Nico, Rony, Wojciech, Deborah and Veronica. We missed you guys!
• The presence of numerous pits in otherwise delicious olives served by Max on Sunday afternoon.
• The newly promoted (captains, see below) that did not toast us with champagne.
• Regular visitors who did not sign up for meetings.

IV. Follow up to the 8th Legufrufolies:

• All participants who were still only legufru soldiers were promoted to "sergeant."
• After training initiated by Gabriel on the subject of the new site, three brand new captains were appointed: Gérard, Nicole and Xavier, the first Belgian legufru captain. Gérard, with some help from general Michel and captain Nicole, successfully posted his first labels.
• The next meeting, the 9th, is booked for the first weekend of October 2014. While it is too early to reveal its location, we do not doubt the effectiveness of the two ladies in charge of the mission who will either succeed or be shot.
• The meeting of 2015 is already planned because it will be the 10th anniversary of legufrufolies . The organizers hesitate between Beijing, Sydney or New York .......
• We are grateful for the many messages of thanks and appreciation that motivate us to continue our work for many years to come.


Max, Gabriel and Didier thank you for coming to Paris and invite you for the 9th meeting on Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th, October 2014, somewhere in France.

Some photos