TOPS Fifth Thursday Meeting

It seems like we just had one of these, but I'll never turn down a Fifth Thursday TOPS meeting.

Scenes from a Bentonville Pipe Club

The Ozark Pipe Smokers held the inaugural meeting at the new Romeo's Uptown Pipes & Cigars. We had a lucky number (13) in attendance with room to spare, and we didn't even need to utilize the "front porch" area. The club's record attendance was 17, and the new shop feels more than ready for that many and more, without feeling as crowded as even the more sparsely attended meetings at the old shop. Look below to see the spacious accommodations in action.

The benefits of contributing

At Thursday's meeting, I announced an incentive to encourage my brothers and sisters of the briar to contribute to this humble blog. Between now and the next meeting of The Ozark Pipe Smokers, contributors will be entered into a drawing for an unopened pouch of Edgeworth Ready Rubbed.

In case you missed it ...

Smokers packed into the lounge at Romeo's Downtown Pipe & Tobacco Co., a nice mix of old friends and new. And amidst the talk of failed tobacco taxes and advanced fly fishing techniques, there was a lengthy conversation about cellaring and aging. While we understand our questions more clearly, we definitely didn't find any answers.

Pipe Club Preview

So once again we're preparing to gather, choosing the right pipes, the right tobacco, the right anecdotes. We are rapidly approaching the time each month we set aside time to meet to share leaf and lies with good smoke and better friends. And it seems like a lot has happened since the last time we met.

Time to man up

I received a pouch of tobacco in the mail today. This is one I always wondered if I'd try. Frankly, I kind of wondered if I was man enough to smoke it. Well, the time has come to find out. Let's face it: This ain't just any tobacco. This is Mixture No. 79.