Klein’s Korner: The Hobby Keeps Us Strong in the Face of Adversity
Like most of you I was shattered emotionally by the events of the past week. Several incidents in this country involving hate have dominated our national discourse. Now, this column is not designed to give opinions on the events. There are many writers far better to talk about politics than I am. However, if you have read my columns both here and in Sports Collectors Daily, I am obviously Jewish. My great passion in promoting shows is the one I, with considerable assistance from the Adat Chaverim brotherhood, run for my synagogue and from which we use our monies to give back to the Jewish community,
One of the great joys in running the show for the synagogue is the card collecting universe. Not only in DFW but all around 
this area comes together to help us raise money. We’ve had dealers tithe their earnings to us; we are blessed with donations to the extent where we need a storage unit for all our cards as well as my office. We are blessed with all the people who come together and put aside any differences for the one-two days we run the show. Just as last year with the Texas Navy who helped so many people affected by Hurricane Harvey, no one looks askance at us for being Jewish in the southern tip of the Bible Belt. Instead, they know we have no administrative costs and 100 percent of our profits get funneled back to the community.
Now, I always say one of the reasons I run card shows is to let us gather as a community and have interpersonal communications in our shared hobby. After this weekend’s events, I’m personally convinced that the more I can do to bring us together and share our collecting experiences, the better off we are as a hobby. We had such positive energy after the National Convention. That type of energy is what I hope to bring going forward.
This is Kin Kinsley showing off his purchases after one of our Adat shows.
But, there is good news. I never mentioned this but the first day we took our five-year old great nephew to his new school those five-year old kids as one rose up and almost in unison said: “It’s a boy“. They had no concept of race or anything else. Just a new friend for them to make who was a boy. I will cherish that memory as well as how much kids like being kids and don’t see anything with nuance. So come to my (or my friend Kyle Robertson’s Frisco) shows. Share the experience of how much fun there can be in talking about sports and cards with like minded people.
Thank you as always for reading. We’ll go back to happier topics in the next column. With election day coming up, no matter who you support, please go out and exercise your right to vote. I did on the first day of early voting here in Texas.
For more from Rich Klein, give him a follow on Twitter @sabrgeek.
Klein’s Korner: The Hobby Keeps Us Strong in the Face of Adversity
- Klein’s Korner: The World is Not Ending - December 8, 2021
- Klein’s Korner: The Hobby is Truly the People - July 12, 2021
- Klein’s Korner: Record hobby history - April 6, 2021