Strana 4
Dear Friends
Although we all are told that lightning never strikes
twice in the same spot, sometimes we feel like an
exception has been made and history does repeat
itself. Often bad history, it seems. I had exactly that
feeling two weeks ago when it started raining and
the floods came that devastated the east half of
our country. Back in 2002, just before the second
installment of E-day, conditions were very similar.
At that time, the August floods swept through the
entire country and, unfortunately, also the area of the
Pilsen shooting range, where the first E-day events
were held. Thanks to the efforts of members of the
co-organizing modeling clubs, Pilsen and Kaznejov,
the area was then cleaned up and prepared, allowing
that year’s E-day to take place on time. Today we have
nineteen more years under our belts and believe it or
not, many of those who organized and rescued E-day
in 2002 were with us at E-day this year, and many of
them were involved in the organization aspects yet
again. Fortunately, this year we did not have to save
the event or the grounds. This year's flood was again
devastating in many areas of our country, but after
twenty-two years we are much further along. Thanks
to more accurate weather forecasts, the country was
much better prepared, and Central Bohemia and
Milovice were not seriously affected. Nevertheless,
many modelers were affected by the floods, such as
those at Revi magazine in Ostrava who were flooded
out, making it impossible for them to publish the
current issue of the magazine and it also prevented
them from attending the show. Many modelers helped
during the floods, for example Pepa Choren, one of
our best modelers. The YouTuber and firefighter by
profession came to Milovice not from Most in
northern Bohemia, where he lives, but from Silesia,
where a team of firemen were tasked with helping
in the cleanup of the aftermath of the catastrophic
weather conditions. He went right back to work after
the show.
Perhaps at every E-day, maybe even at every
modeling competition not limited to the Czech
Republic, the question of what the future for modeling
holds is discussed. This year was no different. It seems
that the modeling community feels a certain sense of
vulnerability. The approaching demise of modeling
has been talked about for a long time, perhaps since
the end of the nineties. The end is in sight according
to the word on the street, sometimes it seems like
the debaters are giving the hobby a year, two at most.
In reality, however, the end is not in sight. Modelers
abound and they're having a blast. You cannot ignore
the fact that just in the Czech Republic alone, we
have a model show practically every weekend, and
in some weeks we even have two or three events.
Of course, we are in a completely different place
than we were in the 90s, to say nothing of the 80s.
The world has changed and continues to change, and
so do we. Our hobby and the industry that depends on
it are producing new and consistently better products.
When looking at what stores, admittedly mostly on
line these days, it is true that most items get not
much more than a passing glance. Still. there is no
decline in activity nor a reduction in the assortment of
product as a whole. To the contrary, we see incredible
activity and a resulting flood of new items, produced
month after month. And we at Eduard do our part. We
certainly do not smell the stench of stagnation and
subsequent extinction. We are experiencing golden
times of activity, creativity and abundance.
If we accept the theory of a famous egyptologist
and now a sitting senator, that every civilization
goes through the peak of its development and
then collapses, then we are probably experiencing
a golden age and perhaps the peak of the development
of our hobby, but I also firmly believe that we are
far from the end, that we still have a lot of cards
up our sleeves, especially technological ones, and
we still have a lot to invent, imagine, and to excite
the modelers of today and the future. I also believe
that, at least here in Europe, demographics are not
foreshadowing anything negative. In Milovice this
year, as in previous years, it certainly did not look like
a retirement home. All age groups were represented
both among the visitors and among the competing
modelers, and we old farts were definitely not the
majority. Perhaps, the vision of an early demise
ultimately comes from the older minority, because
that's simply the view of the world that older people
often have, regardless of nationality, social status,
marital status, and practiced hobbies. But here it
also seems to me that, even at this point, the model
world is not bad off. Both at model exhibitions and on
discussion forums, optimistic individuals, constantly
hungry for new things and dissatisfied with their
quantity, dominate. Which is saying something in this
day and age of abundance!
So I read Professor Barta's book on the demise of
civilizations, but after careful consideration I did not
accept his conclusions. I'd say it's because a lot of his
activity takes place in and around tombs. That view of
the world from the grave is just so... let's say, ‘specific’.
When you're in a grave, the inevitable conclusion is,
well…..inevitable.
This year, we did some video documenting at E-day,
using several cameras, and we also had several
photographers there, recording the Q and A sessions,
discussions and workshops. We will present
a complete report from the 21st year of E-day in
a special edition of our newsletter that will come out
in mid-October.
Two weeks before E-day, there was one small,
relatively short, but still important meeting.
It concerned the money we collected four years ago
in a fundraiser to support Václav Šorel, who was
fighting a serious illness at the time. Vaclav finally
lost his battle. After his passing, almost $33,000US
remained in the account of the foundation fund. This
money was transferred in mid-September to the
newly established Vaclav Šorel Foundation, which is
headed by his daughter, Magdalena Šorelova. I remain
a member of the foundation's board of directors,
along with Dr. Zdenek Šebesta. The foundation aims
to support children's modeling activities, children's
competitions, children's modeling representation
and other activities related to the education of the
young modeling generation. About the Vaclav Šorel
Foundation proper, we will provide basic information
about the activities and plans of the foundation,
contacts, conditions for using support from the
foundation fund and other important information
in forthcoming issues of our newsletter. We believe
that the foundation’s activities will also contribute to
support modeling, sowing the seeds that will help it
to remain with us for many years to come and will be
enjoyed by many generations to follow.
Well, I don’t see much of a need to go into any great
details about this month’s releases, as they have been
on sale and available for over a week now, and you
can get a good look at them below, in the pages of
this issue of our newsletter. So, I wish you all a good,
enjoyable read.
Happy Modeling,
Vladimir Sulc
EDITORIAL
INFO Eduard4
October 2024