September
Hello Hoosier pipe smokers and friends!
I hope everyone is enjoying the cooler weather, wherever you may be. In a few weeks we will be meeting at Mississinewa Cigar Company in Gas City, IN. I hope you all can make it! You can RSVP here, if you want. https://www.facebook.com/share/AZZr7bNeEPLsei3p/
There really isn’t any sort of theme this month, other than getting together and sharing tobaccos and each others company. I encourage everyone to bring a favorite blend. With September 22nd being deemed as “Hobbit Day” and me sharing a birthday weekend with Bilbo and Frodo Baggins, I am bringing a tin of 2014 Capstan Blue to pop open.
We will go over some club business, as far as future lounges for next year, and our holiday party for the November meet up. Last month it was mentioned that we were putting together a show committee, if you have any interest in helping out please shoot me an email.
See you soon, and happy smokes!
Kirk Keener
President
https://linktr.ee/indianapipeclub
July 2024
Hello Hoosier pipe smokers and friends!
I hope everyone has been enjoying their summer breaks and holidays, staying safe and spending time with their families.
We are 1 week away from our meet up at Professional Smoke Cigar Bar in Bargersville, IN! They seem very excited to host us, and I’m looking forward to checking out their lounge.
For this meeting, our Vice President and artisan pipe maker Nate King will be giving a presentation on his recent trip to France, where he was inducted into the Confrèrie de Maitres Pipiers, alongside Greg Pease.
We will also be discussing some club business pertaining to an Indiana Pipe Show. We have been brainstorming ideas on what this could look like, and will be looking for help with those ideas from club members.
Looking forward to Septembers meeting, we will bring the club more up north and meet at Mississinewa Cigar Co in Gas City on September 21st. More details to come on that.
I look forward to seeing everyone next weekend!
Kirk Keener
President
May 2024
Dear Hoosier Pipe Smokers and Friends,
I don’t have a lot for this newsletter, but I wanted to reach out to everyone with some reminders.
This Saturday, May 18th we will be meeting at The Briar & The Burley at 1pm in Bloomington, IN! For anyone who has never been, this is your quintessential pipe shop. Tins on the wall, tons of pipes, cigars, accessories. I am very excited to check it out. The only downside is, I believe it is IU’s graduation weekend. So it may be busy in the area. I heard there is a parking garage, but plan to walk a little ways.
We will be having a few raffles. Reminder, full members will receive 1 raffle ticket. Additional tickets can be purchased for $5.
Looking ahead, our July meeting will be the 20th at Professional Smoke in Bargersville, IN.
A huge congratulations to the Chicago Pipe Club for an incredible show! It was well attended by many from the Indiana Pipe Club, and I’m looking forward to future years to come.
Looking forward to seeing everyone this weekend!
Happy Smokes,
Kirk Keener
President
https://linktr.ee/indianapipeclub
April 2024
Hello Hoosier pipe smokers and friends!
I hope everyone has been well. I wanted to update everyone on a few things.
Our March meeting we had a record breaking attendance of 19 people! We also held out first annual slow smoke contest with 10 participants. Our top 3 finishers were Josh Myers (32:16), Nate Bowland (35:59), and Russ Pickett (46:37). Russ will be competing in the UPCA Slow Smoke this weekend at the Chicago Pipe Show! Good Luck, Russ!
Our May meeting has been scheduled for May 18th at The Briar & The Burley in Bloomington, IN and looking forward to July 20th at Professional Smoke Cigar Lounge.
Looking forward to seeing some of you in Chicago this weekend! A few of us in the club will be a part of the room hopping. Come find us and have a drink!
Serene Smokes,
Kirk Keener
President
https://linktr.ee/indianapipeclub
March 2024
Hello Hoosier pipe smokers and friends!
First off, I wanted to remind everyone that our March meeting is this coming weekend March 23rd at Smokers Choice in Brownsburg where we will be holding our first annual slow smoke contest! Meeting will begin at 1pm and the contest will start at about 1:30. This first year is open to everyone. But members only will be eligible to win first prize of a paid entry into the national slow smoke contest held at the Chicago Pipe Show this year. As we move forward we will have a more regulated contest that is much more like the UPCA rules. This year you can provide your pipe, but will be given tobacco, matches and a tamper.
Many of us from the club made it down to the Muletown Pipe Show, which was a blast! As a club we had a little part of a table thanks to Stacie at Mahuerin Bespoke Works. We were passing out stickers, cards and raffling off a tin of Frog Morton, donated by our friends Jesse Kulp. We managed to sell 24 tickets to raise a good amount for the club.
Looking ahead, you can plan May 18th for our meet up at Briar & Burley in Bloomington! I personally have not been there, but have heard many great things and looking forward to seeing everyone there.
Follow the link below for any other details on March’s meeting or how to become a member.
Happy Smokes,
Kirk Keener
President
https://linktr.ee/indianapipeclub
February 2024
Hello Hoosier pipe smokers and friends!
I have a lot to cover in this months newsletter but first I’d like to give a recap of our last meeting.
Copper Canyon were great hosts and were gracious enough to give us a 20% discount on all pipes, tobacco and accessories, which I think most everyone took advantage of. We had a total of 14 people in attendance and roughly 6 new members joined! During the meeting we had a blind tobacco tasting graciously provided by our treasurer, Justin Drombosky of the Pipes, Pours and Pals Podcast. The tobacco was Peter Stokkebye’s Nougat. Pipe maker Jesse Kulp from Wisconsin was also in attendance and brought a nice display of artisan pipes. It was a great time of pipe smoking and comradery among Hoosier pipe smokers.
Looking forward to our March meeting, it will be held at Smokers Choice in Brownsburg, IN on March 23rd at 1pm, where we will be having our first annual slow smoke competition. The rules for the competition are as follows.
You may use any pipe of your choice.
Everyone will receive enough tobacco to fill their pipe, provided by the Pipes, Pours and Pals Podcast and will be Peter Stokkebye’s Black Coffee.
Everyone will receive two matches provided by the Get Piped Podcast and 1 minute to light their pipe.
The person who keeps their pipe smoking the longest will win an entry to UPCA’s slow smoke contest at the 2024 Chicago Pipe Show.
Only paid members are eligible to win the UPCA sponsorship.
An alternative prize will be given to the winner if they cannot attend the Chicago show or are not a full member of the Indiana Pipe Club. The sponsorship will then be passed down to the runner up, and so on.
Planning for future meetings, the board has discussed where we will be meeting in May. Tentatively we will meet at Briar and Burley in Bloomington, IN. More info to come on that!
International Pipe Smoking Day is coming up February 20th! We are planning to have a virtual hang out on our member only Discord. If you are a member and haven’t received an invite to the server, please reach out!
If you know of an Indiana pipe shop or a cigar shop that is pipe friendly, reach out by following the link below!
I look forward to seeing everyone in March!
Kirk Keener
President
https://linktr.ee/indianapipeclub
January
Hello Hoosier pipe smokers and friends!
Happy 2024! I hope you all had a good holiday season spent with friends and family. I am very excited to kick off this year with our first club meeting on January 20th at Copper Canyon on St. Joe in Fort Wayne, IN!
We will kick off this meeting with a discussion on what the board has been planning for the future of the club and answer any questions you all may have. If you are unable to make the meeting and have something you’d like addressed, please reach out on Instagram, FB or email. Following the discussion we will have a blind tobacco tasting being provided by our pal Justin! Our featured artisan, Jesse Kulp from Oliphant Pipes will be in attendance showing off and selling some of his pipes.
We will be raffling off a Missouri Meerschaum corn cob and a few tins. Full members will gain 1 free raffle ticket. Additional raffle tickets can be purchased for $5. Non members can also purchase tickets.
Copper Canyon will also be offering 20% off all pipes and pipe tobacco for our club.
I’m looking forward to seeing everyone next weekend!
Kirk Keener
President