Gateway Mid-America Toy Show 2018

This toy show is not just a toy show, but a place where I see friends and make memories.  We meet up with the Elliotts and plan our upcoming Florida getaway.  There is the Saturday night dinner with friends that has become a standing tradition, and then there are the custom toys and the layouts.

This show encompasses some of what makes this hobby the best.  We set up here and at Sublette, otherwise, we are visitors, not really part of the fabric of the show.  Some of the highlights of this year included enjoying being across from the ever fun Angotti’s, seeing Roy Lee Baker receive a hall of fame award and seeing the  “We Love Roy Lee” cookies a friend had made for him.

Niles Sharp as always had a cool memorabilia items that caught attention.  There was a furnace salesman sample at the auction headed up by Aumann Auctions that was very cool.

Layouts were amazing, Darrell Cox had a John Deere dealership with patio tractors set out front, Peter Jarden, a nine-year-old from nearby Bunker Hill created a barn out of wine corks withthe help of his grandma, and Vernon White stole the show with his amazing trailers built with the assistance of life experience.

One layout had an amazing bridge over a river that could have been an album cover for “Bridge over troubled waters” and there was also a winter scene that reminded me that winter can be beautiful.

Best of all, Keith and I connected with friends and this year even a bit of family that came out to enjoy this one of a kind show!