FESAC ANNUAL CONFERENCE 2013 – CLERVAUX, LUXEMBOURG

Société des collectionneurs d’armes Lëtzebuerg

Dear FESAC Members, Observers and Consultants ,

We have the pleasure to invite you to attend the FESAC annual conference

held in

Clervaux, Luxembourg

PROGRAM

29^th May to 1^st June 2013

Wednesday, 29^th May 2013: Arrival of delegates

Transfer from airport to the “Hotel International” in Clervaux

http://www.interclervaux.lu/

If arrival in groups (6-20 people): possibility of transfer by bus

Groups up to 5 people transferred by individual cars (service by SCAL members)

Alternative: Taxi or bus from airport to train station – Train to Clervaux – Bus shuttle to hotel. Please note that additional costs could occur.

Dinner served in restaurant’s steakhouse until 21:30 – cold dishes available after 21:30.

Thursday, 30^th May 2013: Day visit & V.I.P. meeting

08:30 – Departure from hotel (bus)

09:00 – Arrival in the city of Diekirch
09:30 – Welcome speech by Mr Roland Gaul, curator of the national museum of military history

– Pit Kaiser: presentation of the representative from the Ministry of Justice.(open)

13:00-14:30 lunch hotel victor hugo

afternoon:

15:00 visit of the castle of Vianden

18:30 - Return to the hotel
18:30 – Dinner at Restaurant “Da Lonati”

Spouse program:

Visit of the historical museum Diekirch and castle of Vianden

Friday, 31^st May 2013: Congress
09:30 – Start
11:00 – Break
13:00 – Lunch at “Arcades”
14:00 – Resuming of congress proceedings
15:30 – Break
18:00 – End
20:30 – Gala dinner – Gala room “Le Clervaux”

Spouse program:

Visit of the Clervaux castle – “The Family of man” by Edward Steichen

Possibility of wellness program at Hotel

Saturday, 1^st June 2013: 20^th birthday celebration FESAC and visit of museum “M3E”

08:00 – Departure
09:30 – Arrival at museum “M3E” – Welcome speech by Mr Polfer, Director and Mr Reinert, Curator, presentation of the representative from the Ministry of Justice.(open)

09:50 – Visit of the museum
12:00 – End of visit – Surprise FESAC celebrations

13:00 – Lunch at Youth Hostel Luxembourg city
14:30 – “Special guns” visit at the national museum

20:00 – Luxembourgish typical Dinner,

Spouse program:

Guided tour of museum Grand-Duc Jean

Possibility to assist the birthday celebration

Afternoon possibility of visit of the National Museum

Return to the airport OR return to Clervaux + 1 night (Sunday return)

See next page

Total costs, per person, hotel ( double room) included :

3 nights stay (Wednesday to Saturday): 465 EUR

4 nights stay (Wednesday to Sunday): 565 EUR

Please advise on the following:

1. Hotel: number of guests per room

2. Number of nights to book

3. Arrival times at airport (if applicable)

4. Number of guests traveling in groups

5. single rooms available, information on demand

Please note that a second advance payment of…300…. EUR has to be wired to our account as soon as possible.

Account information:

IBAN: LU 54 1111 2300 9410 0000

SWIFT: CCPLLULL

In case of problems with the money transfer, please contact our cashier Marco Evers at evers@vo.lu

Any other question?

pitkaiser@hotmail.com

00352 661100260

Thirty FESAC Board members and Observers have gathered in Ploesti, Romania for the 19th Annual Conference. The host organisation “ANCA”  set up an interesting programme for the delegates. A full report will be online next week.

FESAC will be present at this year’s edition of the Internationale Waffenbörse that takes place between the 8th and 10th April in Sinsheim. Several Collector organisations from Austria, Belgium, Finland, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway and the United Kingdom will offer a showcase of their activities and efforts towards sensible arms legislation. Additionally the FESAC stand no D44 shall feature a display by the Smith & Wesson Collectors Association (SWCA) and the Smith & Wesson Historical Foundation (SWHF).

The International Conference on Heritage Arms (10 to 12 September 2010) was hosted by the Societe des Collectioneurs d”Armes Letzebuerg (SCAL)

FESAC Board members, national delegates and observers met in the Wellington Room at the Royal Armouries on Friday 4 June for the Annual Conference. Chairman Stephen Petroni opened the meeting and thanked this year’s British hosts and in particular fellow board member Ken Hocking who organised the event. The Board members went through an extensive agenda after approving the Minutes of the previous conference that was held in Terni, Italy. Following a discussion addressing FESAC’s growth, set-up and plans for 2010/2011, the Board proceeded to hear the country delegates reports on the current situation in their respective countries. A report was also read regarding Article 10 of the UN Protocol that the EU’s JLS wants to transpose into a Regulation and which could have an adverse effect on firearms kept for collection purposes. At the end of the meeting the Board re-elected Stephen Petroni as Chairman, Albrecht Simon and Deputy Chairman, Hanny Spruijt as Secretary and Pit Kaiser as Treasurer. The day was concluded with a pleasant dinner on board a canal boat.

On Saturday 6 June participants were treated to a series of lectures at the Royal Armouries:
“The End of Armour” by Thom Richardson, Armouries staff
“The Birmingham Gun Trade” by Professor David Williams, Loughborough University,
“The Development of the Machine Gun” by Stewart Taylor, Member of HBSA
“The Royal Armouries” by Graham Rimer, Academic Head, Royal Armouries

These were followed by a tour of the Armouries during which participants could appreciate the exquisite exhibits and the methods used to display them. The day came to a fitting end with a banquet in the museum and an address by the Chairman, Graham Rimer and Ken Hocking.

FESAC launched its brochure  on Friday March 26, when a copy of the German language version was presented  to Dr. jur. Hans Scholzen, President of the VDW (Verband Fur Waffentechnik und –geschichte) at the IWB, the International Arms Fair in Sinsheim, Germany, by FESAC Chairman Stephen Petroni and Secretary Hanny Spruijt. The brochure has been printed in four languages: English, German, French and Italian. Copies have been distributed to the various members countries.

FESAC’s participation in the Sinsheim fair met with significant success and the fair organisers have kindly invited the Foundation to participate in the next edition of the fair on 9-10 April 2011.  FESAC’s presence in the fair is now set to be an annual feature in Sinsheim and plans are underway to organise activities aimed at both FESAC members and regular visitors to the fair.

FESAC represents a focal point for European arms collector societies that have, as their main objective, the encouragement, guidance and proper regulation of their members’ interest in collecting, preserving and researching arms.  The Foundation recognises private collectors’ significant contribution to the preservation and study of our common European heritage – hence its commitment to support their activity, which it considers to be complimentary to the obligations of the curators of existing national collections. After all, many great public collections owe their origin to accumulations by knowledgeable private collectors.