Long Island Herpetological Society Cancels Annual Expos

Much to my dismay, the Long Island Herpetological Society announced, today, that it was cancelling its 23rd annual reptile expo and will not have the same type of shows in the future. I went to the very first show and all others since with the exception of one or two when I was away for work. I even went to the one in November 2011, when I was at the tail end of my cancer treatments, when I looked and felt more like a walking dead man than I care to remember. Oh well, as they say, all good things come to an end.

Besides it being a big letdown that the 23rd annual show was cancelled, it is also a major disappointment for me that apparently all future such LIHS expos were also cancelled; although, they may continue a much scaled down (no pun intended) version without vendor sales.

I also am sorely disappointed in another way. The 24th annual show likely would have been held this coming fall. (The 23rd show, the one just cancelled, had been scheduled for November 2012 but was rescheduled to this April after Tropical Storm Sandy devastated much of Long Island.) Well, I had planned to attend the one this coming fall, as I had the previous ones, but with one big change. The change was to include me traveling down to Daytona Beach for the National Reptile Breeders' Expo in August. I had been planning on buying a good number of herps there, keeping them through the fall and then selling them at the LIHS 24th annual show. Then, I was planning on donating all of the proceeds to the LIHS. That was as good an excuse as any to include the National Reptile Breeders' Expo on my bucket list. In preparation, I already made reservations (just a few days ago). The fact is, I had to pay for the airfare in advance but now the trip seems less than pointless. At least I purchased the travel through Southwest Airlines and can change the reservations without an additional fee. Too bad though that I did not know about this just a bit in advance.

Now, I have to let my son know the bad news. While he has not attended a monthly meeting of the LIHS in a while, he often attended the annual shows with me and would help out at my table. In November 2011, I could not made it though the door let alone to the show site had he not brought me there and helped me to get inside.

Oh well, such is life. The longer you live, the more you see the things you enjoy go belly up.

All the best,
Glenn B