Golden Glowless Club

Oct 11, 2007

Dear John,

The Board of Directors of Golden Glow of Christmas Past (GGCP) has received various complaints detailing events involving you. Specifically, members have complained of threats, verbal abuse, and harassment, as well as unprofessional dealings involving antique Christmas merchandise. Members of the Board have experienced some of this conduct first-hand. The Board has determined that these actions violate the GGCP’s Code of Ethics.

As you know, the Code of Ethics sets forth standards of conduct for GGCP members, including the following:

* to conduct myself so as to bring no reproach or discredit to the Club, or impair the prestige of the membership therin.

* to base all my dealings on the highest plane of justice, fairness and morality

* to fulfill all contracts made by me, either oral or written, to make prompt payment upon delivery and to return immediately any item that is not satisfactory.

2) The Code of Ethics begins by stating that membership in the GGCP is a privilege, not a right. Both the Code of Ethics and the GGCP bylaws state that a member violating the Code of Ethics may be removed by the Board.

The Board takes these complaints against you very seriously, and as a result, the Board does not plan to continue your membership in the GGCP. Since your membership term is close to finishing, this will take effect starting January 1, 2008. In addition, as of January 1, 2008 you will not be able to participate in any GGCP sponsored activities, including the yearly convention and the on-line discussion group.

If you wish to provide any information for the GGCP board to consider before making this decision final, please provide a written response to the above address postmarked no later than October 31, 2007. The Board will consider your written submission and communicate its final determination to you. The Board cannot share any additional details regarding the complaints made against you to protect the confidentiality of those making the complaints.

Please understand that the Board, acting in good faith, is striving to act in the best interest of all the members of the GGCP. Any harassment or threats directed at the Board members or general membership of the GGCP related to this matter will not be tolerated.

Regards,

Kim Knight, Chairperson

The Golden Glow of Christmas Past

CC: Board of Directors

3) I responded in part with the following letter on Oct 25, 2007.

Please be advised that there is little for me to respond to since none of the allegations are delineated or substantiated. It is too bad that the cowards who made the accusations don’t have the courage to have such documented. I call upon the Board to make the accusations public. And I call upon those who made the accusations to come forward.

Without documenting the exact offenses I cannot defend myself. I categorically deny that I have ever threatened anyone. What were the threats for??? Why would I even need to threaten anyone? And what in the world did I threaten them with?

We all know the only complainers are Board members, unless you were able to convince some members to make bogus complaints.

In terms of using unprofessional dealings involving merchandise I haven’t a clue what you are referring to. I might suggest that you and the other M7 members look up my ebay dealings whereby I have sold over 300 (now 500) items and never have been accused of any “unprofessional dealings”. Nor have I ever been advised by any board member or received any notice of such behavior.

Why didn’t those individuals complain to me personally? And what did I do that was unprofessional?

I am confident all club members will see thru this for what it is: a vindictive, mean spirited, attack by some M7 members. No one who knows me is going to believe any of this.

Maybe it is time for the Golden Glow members to find out what you people really do to people who disagree with your policies.

For the M7 to accuse me of these crimes and to expel me from the club prior to my ability to defend myself with due process indicates to me that there is a conspiracy by the M7 to have me removed.

John Lightner

Kim Knight responded in a letter back to me on November 12, 2207. Here it is:

The Board of Directors of the GGCP has received your letter dated Oct 25, 23007. The Board did not receive compelling information to change our previous position and as a result, the Board will not support your continued membership in the GGCP. Since your membership term is close to finishing, this will take effect starting January 1, 2008. In addition, as of January 1, 2008 you will not be able to participate in any GGCP –sponsored activities, including the yearly convention. Participation in the online discussion group has been terminated as of November 12 due to previous exchanges involving you that required moderator intervention.

……

Regards,

Kim Knight

4) These are the facts so far that are indisputable.

If you read Knight's the first letter again you can see that this was nothing more than a very amateurish attempt to discredit me and ruin my reputation. And that it was simply a conspiracy concocted by a few members of the M7 who had issues with me.

In par 1 Kim Knight states that I made multiple threats to multiple members. In par 4 she states that my actions were over events from “previous” years. Apparently, I not only threatened multiple members and ripped off multiple members but that I had a history of doing these things over many, many years.

In par 4 she states that the “Board takes these complaints against me very seriously”.

In the June 2010 issue of the Glow magazine there is a section called the Code of Ethics. It starts on page 13. On page 14 under the Grievance Policy it states, “If the BOD receives three (3) complaints about a member’s ethical conduct, the Chairperson of the BOD will address a letter to the offending party outlining the grievance. The member will then have 30 days to resolve the dispute to the satisfaction of both parties, or risk losing his membership. This obviously means that the party making the complaint must make his/her name known to the offender yet in the letter to me Kim Knight states that the “Board cannot share any additional details regarding the complaints made against me to protect the confidentiality of those making the complaints.”

So it appears that Kim Knight and the rest of the M7 aren’t aware of the Code of Ethics. How does one correct a problem with a member if you don’t know who the problem is with? The hypocrisy here is self evident.

In the original letter Kim Knight states that I had, “unprofessional dealings involving antique Christmas merchandise.”

Since the only thing I have ever sold to any member(s) is antique glass ornaments or my book and the fact that she includes the word, “dealings” and "merchandise" clearly implies that I have cheated multiple members over a period of years in multiple transactions.

Kim Knight and the rest of the M7 back then are damnable liars and worse. They are fools to think that the members can't see through this thinly veiled attempt to discredit me with lies.

Knight states that the M7 takes all this, “very seriously”. Well, folks here is the problem with all that.. First, I have NEVER, EVER received any letter, phone call or email or been contacted by any M7 or other BOD members at any time regarding the accusations in the letter to me, nor have I ever received any warning letters of any kind about my behavior or business dealings with members. I wonder why not?

Could it be that someone on the M7 made the allegations up?

The president of the BOD the previous year was Michael Ciancio. I had a chance to run in to him at the Columbus convention in May of 2008. I also ran in to Dave Eppelheimer and Terry Weesner at the same convention, all previous board members. I asked each one if the Board had ever received any letter from any member complaining about any threats or transactions from me. They each said no. One would think that Mr Ciancio the former president in 2007 would certainly have heard about any complaints that year.

The M7 members at the time are nothing more than contemptuous, morally corrupt individuals who not only abused their power and violated the Code of Ethics of the club but they have severely damaged the image of the club with their actions.

They are hypocrites and frauds and frankly unless they can produce an iota of evidence to substantiate their claims (what claims?) they should all be kicked out of the club as I have been.

I ask everyone to ask themselves is it fair to have someone libel you , slander you, try to ruin your reputation and you have no right to defend yourself against the charges or even know what the hell the charges are?

Is it fair to deprive someone of their livelihood and at same time refuse to divulge either the accusers or specific accusations? Does that make any sense to anyone?

These people acted like little Hitlers thinking that they could make up the rules as they went along. And the truth is they did because no one called them on it.

But people did call them on it as word spread. David Eppelheimer, a well respected “lifetime” member sent the M7 a letter on March 6, 2008. Here is the letter in its entirety:

5) Greetings Friends. I have recently received an email from John Lightner. I have forwarded portions of it to you below. I had spoken to Tony Johnson regarding what happened to John. At that time I spoke to Lillie on the phone, and hit a wall…she could not tell me anything due to it being BOD business. I respected her stance, although I disagreed with it at the time, and disagree with it even more in light of the current mood.

So you guys, what is going on? I have a high regard for you all. I sincerely do, and I assume I don’t need to even tell you that. However, I hold Tony and John in high regard too. I am aware of John’s intense nature. I was one of the first folks he spoke to at the last convention after his run in with Steve and Jack. I have heard his side of that story. I was pretty direct with him at the time regarding proper respect for volunteers. He did not let me off easily for sticking up for Convention hosts. I persevered, however, and he agreed with me on the condition that had his concern been taken more seriously, his behavior might have been more tempered. That would have made me bristle too. He related that Jack had insinuated that perhaps he, John never had a feather tree in the first. I am not filling in all the details I was told at the time, because I assume you all have discussed that situation, at least the involved hosts’ side of the story.

Obviously, that discourse is not the reason for his membership being terminated. However, Lightner claims he does not know why, and the BOD refuses to tell him. I am inclined to side with him, because the BOD member I spoke with would tell me nothing, either. As a former Board member I do not believe I would NOT be willing to discuss my decisions WITHIN the Board with concerned members NOT on the Board. Anyone who is elected to an elected position is answerable to those who elected them. Besides, this is the Golden Glow, a club, not a clique, nor privileged society. It is a community of folks with a common benign interest. So again, what is this all about?

Please forward this to any board member I omitted or other member you feel should receive this.

Dave Eppelheimer

Here is the reply from Kim Knight dated March 20, 2008

Dear Dave,

Thank you for your email to the BOD.

This letter is in response to your email. The BOD is striving for the GGCP to thrive and to grow. Attracting new members and retaining current members is critical to that goal. In order to achieve this goal, the GGCP must foster an environment where all members find the club satisfying and enjoyable.

The BOD would prefer not to have to take action against any GGCP member. However, when the BOD is presented with a significant number of severe and substantiated written complaints about behavior that is not consistent with the GGCP Code of Ethics the Board will take action.

All the steps taken by the Board were reviewed and approved by both the entire Board and its legal counsel.

In response to your question on sharing the specifics regarding the John Lightner situation, the Board takes the privacy of all parties very seriously. While detailed feedback has been provided to Mr Lightner as a result of specific actions, these details will not be shared with the general membership to respect both John’s privacy and the privacy of other’s involved. This is a right we feel all members expect.

The incidents referenced in your email and the attachment you included from Mr Lightner, as well as the behaviors documented in the December 19, 2007 emailing from John Lightner to the club members continue to be in conflict with or violate the GGCP Code of Ethics. Support of these behaviors by other Golden Glow members will continue to reinforce to Mr Lightner that these behaviors are acceptable. The Board feels these behaviors are unacceptable and are not in the best interest of the club.

Kim Knight

Cc: Board of Directors

6) So now we know for sure that there were “multiple letters of complaints”. And that the complaints are, “ severe and substantiated”. We also know, that the M7 believes in stifling free speech. We also know that every single one of the M7 approved of expelling me out of the club even though not one of them questioned me about ANY of the multiple threats, abuse, harassment and unprofessional dealings with multiple members. Not one contact.

Kim Knight says the threats were serious and significant yet no police reports were made? I would think if they all took it so seriously that the police would have contacted me, no? I am still waiting to hear from any police department about any severe and substantiated threats.

And what about the multiple written complaints outlining all those unprofessional dealings with members? How does one go about fixing a complaint if they don’t know a complaint exists? Does anyone wonder why no one sent me any letters? Why would someone who got cheated by me not send me a letter or an email? Why would “multiple written complaints” be sent to the M7 but not one letter was sent to me by any member? Could it be because there weren’t any or the ones that were sent were bogus made up by M7 members to cover their asses?

Kim Knight in her letter to Dave Eppelheimer said I received “detailed feedback about specific actions”. Kim Knight is a liar. Ask her to provide any other letter she sent me. She cannot do it because they never sent me anything.

The emails sent by me to members were AFTER Kim Knight and the M7 revoked my membership.

Kim Knight, Michael Rhoades, Steve Wilt, Jack Maroski, Lillie Ghidiu, Tony Annese and Steven Daniel are liars plain and simple. nbsp; Kim Knight probably thought I would not get a copy of her reply to Dave Eppelheimer and straight out lied to a former board member.

Since I had been out of the country for the better part of 2005 and 2006 and 2007 I would love to have the specific dates these actions of mine took place. I wouldn’t doubt that they were completely made up and that some of them were when I was not even in the country.

There were many others who sent letters on my behalf. Apparently, there were so many that the M7 started replying with a form letter with the identical response. The GGCP loses its credibility when any member of the BOD can simply make up a bogus claim and lie to the members about evidence being substantiated just so they can kick a member out of the club who they do not like.

There was at least one member who alledgedly had a conversation with Ms Knight wherein Ms Knight allegedly threatened her with expulsion in the club if she continued to support me and question the M7’s motives.

Some members to my dismay have quit the club over the situation.

Some have asked why I have not sued the club. The reason is simple. For most of the past five years I have lived abroad. You can rest assured that if I was living in the USA a lawsuit would have already been filed. And if I do proceed I can only hope that the same attorney the club consulted is still the club attorney because any attorney who approves of an organization making false claims with no evidence, no supporting documentation whatsoever, phantom accusers who remain nameless; a M7 who violates their own bylaws and a M7 who made absolutely no effort to question me about any specific allegations is someone I want to take on.

And while membership in the club may be a privilege, I believe that the laws of our country trump the bogus proclamations of M7 members with agendas. Everyone accused of anything in this country gets his day in court. But not if you are a member of the GGCP and on the hit list .

The truth is the aforementioned M7 members have little interest in promoting the club. They are only interested in preserving their own illusion that they are the sole proprietors of their own fiefdom. They are akin to the most viscous dictators in the world. They allow for no questioning of their motives, rules or decisions, inept, unprofessional or illegal as they may be. And whoa to those who bring any scrutiny upon them. In fact, they are ones who do the threatening and harassing.

In order for the M7 to expel me one would think it had to have been done at a Board meeting unless they all just got together during a potty break and decided to do it. So there has to be a record. Since it was Board business there has to be a record of the minutes of a meeting whereby a vote was taken to kick me out. All members have the right to a copy of the minutes. And the record must reflect the, “significant number of severe and substantiated written complaints” including the multiple criminal offenses of unprofessional dealings involving antique Christmas merchandise”, which can only mean I either accepted money for an item and never shipped it or the item shipped was defective and I did not return the money or replace the item. And I didn’t do this just once but multiple times over the previous years according to the M7.

Over the years I have had business dealings with the following club members: Michael Abrams, Jerry Arnold, Kathy Bass, Betty Bell, Jeanne Bertoia, Barbara Brunner, Gary Heidinger, Scott Bullock, Tom Cabela, Paula Champion, Mike Ciancio, Dave Eppelheimer, Mike Eschelbach, Vincent Gibbs, Mike Girard, Stewart Gregory, Robert Iwamasa, George Johnson, Bob Kubicki, Monica Laethem, Bob Loncar, Bob Merck, Mario Pecunia, Malcolm Rogers, Greg Spatafore, Bill Steeley, Mary Story, Scott Tagliapietra, Margrit Utz, Jo Wagner, Terry Weesner, Darryl White, Pat White, Larry Zink.

And this doesn’t count the hundreds of collectors who are not members.

My apologies to anyone I left out. And these are just the glass ornament transactions not including the hundreds of books sold to members.

I guarantee not one of these glass collectors will ever say I cheated them. In over 500 transactions with Ebay I never had a buyer complain I cheated them.

So I have to ask the M7 who did I cheat? There aren’t a lot of glass collectors left.

Now, I really had no clue why the M7 terminated my membership. But upon reflection I think I now do know. And it is much more sinister than I had imagined. I will present the facts and you can choose to decide for yourselves.

7) It all started at the Lancaster convention in 2006. A white feather tree of mine was stolen. I went to security and reported it missing. The night manager was called at home and he verified he had in fact helped me unload my items and remembered the white feather tree. The next morning after waiting for the manager of the resort to contact me (he never bothered) I went to Jim Morrison the co-host and explained to him what had happened. He told me to report it to Steve Wilt, the other co-host and a man I had never met nor spoken with. I found him with Jack Maroski and explained what had happened. I suggested that in all likelihood a member had found it and kept it. Steve Wilt said no member would do that. (There were five thefts that I am aware of at that convention) Keep in mind this is AFTER the night manager substantiated my story to security. Steve Wilt said to me and I quote, “Well how do we know that you really had a feather tree”? “We really don’t know if you brought one here”. I admit I lost my temper and swore at him. His response was that, “you are out of the convention”. Jack Maroski chimed in that they would re-imburse me for the convention fees.

Jack wasn’t even a board member. And who the hell gave Steve Wilt the sole power to kick anyone out of the club? This is the arrogance of these people who run the club. They think they can do what they want, when they want and to whom they want and if you question them they attack you or threaten you or in my case expel me. And they get away with it because there is no process that the club has for any oversight or apparently any redress. This cabal of evil, morally corrupt and arrogant individuals all protect each other.

Kim’s letter to Eppelheimer said the M7 decision was unanimous. How could 7 people most of whom I had never met nor spoken with make a decision to expel me from the club, violate the club Code of Ethics themselves and yet no one bother to contact me and confront me with these multiple unprofessional dealings? It is beyond belief unless they conspired to do it.

Well, they don’t know me very well. If they paid any attention what it took to finish the book and the hardships I had to go thru to persevere they would never have tried to con the members this way.

Because I’m not going anywhere until they get kicked out of the club.

I refused to leave and as the word got out to the members Wilt came up to me the next day and said he was just kidding. No, he wasn’t kidding.

This is the same convention where the hotel had no elevators, no accommodations for people with wheel chairs and where almost no one could find their rooms. It was a joke. If you took a poll it would be right up there with the worst convention accommodations and service in the 25 year history of the club. And two years later they gave it to them again. Amazing.

During the open meeting of members when some of us started to question the decision Rhoades cut off the mikes and shut down the meeting.

There is only one entity that could have benefited financially from having the convention at the same place which in my opinion and others was a dump.

Michael Rhoades several years ago at the Minneapolis convention during the club meeting where some members were complaining about a few things suggested that instead of complaining the people should do something constructive for the club. At that moment I decided to do my book. But four years later when the book was completed, Michael Rhoades and Tony Annese did all they could to keep the membership from even knowing that the book was in existence.

I spent the next four years of my life traveling around the country and Europe photographing collections. I spent nearly 6000 man hours (I kept a journal) on the project. I spent 50K of my own money to do it with no guarantee I would sell one book. I wanted the book, “Christmas Rarities” to become the standard for all books to come as a reference guide. You can all Google my name, John Lightner, or the book, “Christmas Rarities” and read all the reviews and judge for yourself the results of that massive effort.

It has been showcased in major magazines; had countless reviews done by national newspapers and antique publications and even discussed on Good Morning America in the Chicago market. I’ve had offers to do countless lectures. I’ve sold thousands of books in a niche market.

When the book was near completion in June of 2007 I sent an email to Debbie Knight who put the newsletter together that I would supply photos of the book pages to help promote the book. I specifically reminded her that she must include all copyright information on any photos that were used which would mean including the name of the book under the copyright laws. Two years earlier, at another convention, Ms Knight had violated the copyright laws by taking a photo using my equipment and then publishing the photo without my knowledge or permission. To my utter amazement she used the photo on the cover of the club magazine.

Well, we patched that up and she asked for the photos of the book and I sent them. But when I got my copy of the newsletter the photos of the book were there but there was no mention of the book. They just mentioned that the photos came from my collection which was not true either. I could not believe it. She had clearly violated the copyright laws yet again after my having repeatedly reminding her of them which since she is a PAID professional not a volunteer she should know the copyright laws.

I am not the only one that has complained to the BOD that their photos were getting stolen. Barbara Brunner in a post to the website in a very nice way said that someone had lifted a photo off her website and used it in the newsletter without asking permission which is not only a copyright infringement but plain stealing. I responded to her that what happened to her was peanuts compared to what happened to me. Unfortunately, because whoever set up the website didn’t know what they were doing the response that I thought went only to Barbara went to all the members. Even though what she said was true and what I said was true I still apologized to Debbie Knight about it. Anne Sizemore, the moderator suggested to me in an email that I should be honored that the BOD used my photos. She also suggestged in the same email that since I had a book coming out maybe I should shut up about what happened with the copyright situation. She must have had a crystal ball somewhere. Clearly, there are a lot well intentioned people who do not realize that some people like Ms Brunner or myself are in business and that we may have spent thousands or tens of thousands of dollars to set up our businesses and that to reproduce a photo or a picture without asking permission or to print a photo without giving the proper copyright information is the same as stealing. It is also against the law. And for a paid professional to do it is inexcusabble. These folks have had 25 years to get it right and for some strange reason they apparently do not have a clue or don’t care that people have a right to have their photos copyrighted.

At the convention I asked Debbie what had happened and she told me that she was specifically told not to mention the name of the book. I asked her who told her to not do that and she wouldn’t tell me. (I guess she had something to hide) but I then asked her who her boss was and she said Michael Rhoads the newsletter director. I confronted Rhoads and he told me that the club is not required to include that info which is ridiculous. I later sent him an email outlining my astonishment that he intentionally took out the name of the book.

Keep in mind that the sole reason of my supplying the club with the photos was to help market the book as well as let the membership know the book was going to be at the convention. Not to mention the name of the book made the photos worthless.

Michael Rhoades sent me an email back on July 31, 2007. He stated that, “because we do not sell our publication publicly, we are not held by the same guidelines that commercial publications are.” He also admitted in the email he specifically told Ms Knight to use it only as a photo with no copyright info. Anyone who believes that I would allow them to use the photos without mentioning they came from the book knows nothing about copyright laws..

Debbie can say she told me but she cannot supply any email supporting her because none exist.

Professionals work very hard and many make very little money doing what they love to do. To steal their work is contemptuous. And to knowingly do it out of spite as Rhoades did it is truly disgusting. Rhoades also said in the email to me that to include the name of the book would be an endorsement of the book. How ridiculous is that?

Rhoades went out of his way to tell Debbie not to include the name of my book. If that was policy which is wasn’t, why was it necessary to tell her?? She would have already known not to do it.

A former newsletter editor told me that was BS. But the real question is why in the world wouldn’t the M7 want the members to know about the book? When George Johnson did some of his books the BOD let him use the display room after hours to photograph ornaments for his book. And rightfully so. His books are great books for general information.

To show you how bogus Rhoades’comments are I refer you to the club website where they list two dozen member companies with links. That is okay but to include the name of my book isn’t okay? Come on. Michael Rhoades vindictively and specifically instructed Ms Knight NOT to mention the name of the book. And this is a Board member whose job it is to promote all things Christmas.

Article II on page 11 of the June issue of the newsletter states, “The purpose of the GGCP shall be to promote, develop and stimulate interest in the historical and educational background of antique and collectible Christmas items, and to arouse interest through the newsletter, exhibits and conventions as to the enjoyment of collecting and sharing information about Christmas memorabilia.”

I guess "Christmas Rarities", the only reference book published on rare, antique Christmas ornaments with hundreds of photos of ornaments never published before doesn’t qualify.

On August 7, 2007 Kim Knight sent me a letter in response to my email to Rhoades of July 31. Here it is in its entirety:

8) Dear John,

This letter is in response to your July 31, 2007 email to Michael Rhoades, which you subsequently directed to the M7. The purpose of this letter is to inform you that there will be a notice in the August issue of The Glow stating the following:

June 2007 newsletter correction: The photographs on the photo page and the back cover are from John Lightner’s new book “Christmas Rarities”.

Kim Knight

Two months later I got the kiss of death letter. Anyone see a correlation there??? Why bother with a correction, which btw did my book no good at all because the convention was over by then, if Rhoades was correct in stating they don’t have to include copyright info? I wonder if they consulted the same club attorney on that?

My point is the M7 decided somewhere around then to expel me plain and simple.

They didn’t bother to apologize, insead they were setting me from that point on. The dates just fit too well. Let’s accuse Lightner of being a crook and simply expell him.

The only thing I ever did to piss off Michael Rhoades was to turn him down when he tried to have sex with me at his home. Each to his own but I am not gay. And his collection of great glass he said he had amounted to one ornament worth photographing. It was a total waste of my time driving all the way out there. I did get to hear a lot of gossip about Brenner and Christopher Radko and a few others but nothing worth putting in the book. I guess if you are a M7 member it is okay to gossip and criticize others behind their backs, but if you send an open email to the M7 that violates the Code of Ethics.

Maybe someone might want to give a copy of the purpose of the club to Messrs Rhoades and Annese. And why do I want a copy sent to Mr Annese? Here is why:

At the same convention in Columbus just before the main meal where everyone is present I ran in to Tony Annese the president of the club. I had never met him or spoken with him. I introduced myself as the author of the book which he was aware of and I asked him if he would mention to the audience that the book was here. Dozens of people had been emailing me with anticipation about the book. Mr Annese said he would not mention the book because that would be an endorsement. I said, “Tony, I am not asking for an endorsement just simply let everyone know the book is here.” He said he would not do it and when I told him I would ask another member to do it he said he spoke for the entire BOD and no one would do it.

Keep in mind they ran my photos in the newsletter even though no one knew they were from the book. They would of known of course if they had simply added the copyright as stated. But here was Mr Annese doing all he could to keep the members from even knowing the book was at the convention.

I was incredulous. I went back to my table where I was sitting with Barbara Brunner, Gary Heidinger, Margrit Utz, Mario Pecunia and a couple who names I do not recall. I repeated what Annese said to me. They too were incredulous. I am not asking them to back me up but if Annese denies it which is likely being the liar he is ask any of them if they recall the conversation.

At the Lancaster convention a year earlier the BOD was running special busses to Jim Morrison’s Christmas museum but they couldn’t even mention my book?? I guess that wouldn’t be considered an endorsement running busses to the museum and making up a brochure and reminding people to go.

Even though the museum doesn’t have much in the way of antique Christmas it is a wonderful place to visit and “should” be endorsed. But according to both Rhoades and Annese the club doesn’t do endorsements. Of course, the two dozen businesses of members on the website wouldn’t be endorsements either right?

And it isn’t just the website. Look at the back of the 2010 directory. There are 23, count them, companies of members listed. Now, that wouldn’t be considered an endorsement would it Michael or Tony? These two characters are either incredibly disingenuous or incredibly vindictive along with the others of the M7.

These are the leaders running the club. Let’s consider how marketing saavy Mr Annese happens to NOT be. I told Tony that since I was a member of the club and had endorsed the club in my book that every time I did an interview or article I would mention the club. He said he didn’t care.

I wonder how much free publicity I could have given the club with all the print done about the book. Remember the letter Kim wrote to Dave Eppelheimer about how concerned the club was in making it grow and thrive? Well, this just shows that to be a Board member of the Golden Glow club intelligence is not required. I made a suggestion to Rhoades and Annese that the club could post an auction on Ebay for next to nothing and in the description of the ornament they could point the viewer to the website. This is free advertising. How many members would it bring in? Who knows, but the fact is these people have little minds with little agendas . And the only real agenda is to stay in power. And for what? Simply to make themselves look important.

This isn’t about me. It is about the sharing the knowledge of Christmas. It’s about helping to make available information on the history and traditions of Christmas Past. Why wouldn’t the club want to get behind any project whether it is a book or research or whatever where a member invests considerable time and or money to document, promote and teach others about Christmas, whether it is myself or any other member. It is a crime for Rhoades and Annese to say they can’t tell people about the book. Just look at it on its face. It makes no sense whatsoever and in fact in violates the spirit of the club as well as the purpose of the club.

These are spiteful, vindictive, narcissistic, arrogant individuals who would rather punish the entire Christmas community than accept their own flaws by removing someone from the club who dares to disagree with them about the way things are being done even if it is illegal.

My book didn’t need the club’s endorsement to be successful. As I have said Google my name or the book and you can see for yourselves that it is now the standard by which all documentary Christmas books will be measured against. (Probably because there aren’t any others like it). I only sold a few hundred books to club members so that isn’t the point..

Some of these individuals who get re-elected every other year or so have little or no marketing ability. They are the same old folks doing the same old boring things year after year. if someone steps on their toes they hit you back with a hammer.

9) I asked before what has the club accomplished in 25 years for the entire Christmas community? . Why hasn’t the club invested in purchasing as many books on Christmas as they can find for research? They should have created a library by now of books and articles and interviews. And has the club ever considered buying a site for the conventions held every year or at least opening its own museum?

I would be willing to bet that the majority of members would endorse at least the feasibility of these things. And I am sure that they would probably even contribute items to house in the museum. But most of the M7 have no ability to look ahead in doing positive things for the club. They only do things to maintain control. They think of themselves before they think of the club.

Michael Ciancio was the most innovative Board President in years yet he couldn’t even get re-elected. And he was pro after 1965 stuff which I totally disagree with. Very strange indeed that he didn’t get re-elected .

The club leadership is stale. The membership is old. The long time members are leaving or gone. You can do a study and see that. I sent a letter to Kim Knight prior to getting kicked out for some data to help determine why long time members are leaving. I was attempting to write a statistical research report on the subject . She didn’t even bother to reply. If the idea doesn’t come from these little people they do nothing. I think the first thing a newcomer would notice is the feeling they are in an old folks home.

It is a shame to see the same old stuff every convention from the same old collectors. New members would have new things and younger members have younger ideas. Some of them might even be an improvement. One former Board member told me some these old timers don’t want any young members in the club because you can’t control them. That fits right in with their whole vision of self-importance.

Okay, so who have I pissed off so far? Well, let’s see: Kim Knight, Michael Rhoades, Tony Annese, Steve Wilt, Jack Maroski and a couple of other minor players. Is there any common denominator here? Yep, they are all current or former Board members.

But now, let us get to the really serious stuff. The GGCP has a member who was convicted of being a child predator. He is a "lifetime member” in good standing of the club and an eminent author. In fact, Mr Rhoades is the first person to tell me this story. nbsp; You can go to the Wisconsin website at www.wicourts.gov where his entire case is submitted along with all the charges. I have decided not to print the individual's name since it is common knowledge who he is. The individual pled guilty to two misdemeanor and one felony charge. He is a convicted felon and must report until 2022. The felony charge statute is 948.055 which states that there was a forced viewing of sexual activity with minors. The charges included involvement with three males. The number of dismissed counts is staggering. And you can read for yourself why they were dismissed. The prosecuter dropped the ball.

Why do I mention this sad situation? Well, according to the bylaws of the club, any member of the club who brings reproach or discredit to the club will be expelled from the club. This individual is a convicted felon. I have been convicted of nothing but I was expelled. I guess being a child predator is an acceptable behavioral trait for membership. Certainly, if it got out to the major newspapers that an eminent author on Christmas and its history and traditions was a convicted felon for child abuse it would not bring any unwanted attention to the club. Nah. Especially since the M7 knew about it and has known about it all along and done nothing about it. Maybe someone should bring it to the attention of the newspapers and let’s see all the positive print it will bring about. I am certain it will increase membership unlike a one of a kind book which has no value to increase membership.

Someone anonymously sent me every single newspaper article concerning the individual from day one. I forwarded the copies to the M7 members. And because they are liars each and every one of them, another member of the club sent a registered copy of the copies to Kim Knight. My questions and his were never answered.

By now I think everyone should get the message. The M7 are frauds. As Eppelheimer’s letter suggests inversely, the Board of Directors of the Golden Glow Club is a clique, shrouded in mystery, an evil cabal where stuff is done in the dark. They are vindictive animals waiting and picking their spots to pounce.

But let’s go further here. At the Minneapolis convention where there were five robberies or thefts in rooms one of the culprits got caught. Keep in mind both Wilt and Maroski stated club members do not steal from other club members. Well, ask Monica Laethem about that. She caught him (them actually). The member confessed and while they didn’t print his name the fact he was removed from the club was printed in the newsletter.

I was the one who told Steve Wilt he should make an announcement to all the members to watch their stuff. He didn’t want to do it because he said it would scare the collectors. Mike Ciancio finally had to do it after the fourth theft occurred. If you talk to the old timers they will tell you something gets stolen at every convention.

Astonishingly, no mention of my ouster has ever been printed.

In a newsletter in 2008 Kim Knight wrote that she and the Board wanted to thank the many members who supported them in their decision to expel me. That is very interesting since according to the letter Knight sent me no one would know what the charges were in order to protect everyone’s privacy. Kim Knight’s lies are almost as big as she is.

How could any member approve of what the M7 did without knowing ANY of the facts? I don’t concern myself with the senile.

There are situations to show how hypocritical the BOD is. I hate to say this but there are more than a few disreputable dealers in the club. Some of these people if I were to name them no one would believe me. The M7 knows who they are and they do nothing. I am talking about dealers selling fake kugels, fake Santas, mixed and matched Santas as original, glass ornaments being repainted and sold as original and a lot of other stuff as well. It has been going on for years.

10) I’m just going to mention something that happened to me. Many years ago I bought a huge collection of kugels. The dealer is a very well known club member. I spent about 40K for the collection and the only thing I asked the dealer was did he guarantee that they were antique German kugels? He guaranteed me they were all legit. I eventually tried to sell a duplicate kugel on Ebay. I received an email telling me it was a fake made in India. Long story short I flew to India at great expense and found the fakes hanging from a ceiling in a store the person told me they would be in. He was supposed to meet me but couldn't make it. It was a shot in the dark. A needle in the haystack but I photographed them and bought several for $20. When I returned to the US I confronted the dealer and only after I threatened to expose him did he reimburse me thousands of dollars for the fakes.

Later on thru years of research, I learned that most of the kugels brought in to the USA came from two guys who independently went to Asia to bring them in. Thousands of these kugels were sold by a dealer now dead, Richard Wright. The dealer I bought my kugels from was a good friend and business dealer of Richard Wright’s. The guy who exposed the fakes to me also knew both Richard Wright and this dealer. My attempts to contact him years ago failed. He never returned my phone calls. Interestingly enough a few weeks ago a kugel collector friend of mine told me he almost bought a kugel that was posted on Ebay. He was a little suspicious of the kugel and he contacted the seller. The seller said he got it from the Richard Wright estate. I saw the kugel and it is from India in my mind. This was the final piece of info I needed to confirm Wright sold fakes from India. Now did he know they were fakes? I guess we will never know will we???

Did the dealers who bought the fakes from Wright know they were fakes? Well,…………..

The other dealer who is still alive deals out of England. In my opinion he has in the past sold fakes on Ebay. I confronted him once and he denied the kugel he was selling was fake. Since I bought the same mold for $20 and his sold for $300 or so you decide. Years earlier the same mold would have brought thousands. The buyer was a club member. I tried to warn him with a phone call but it was too late. He knows who he is. Other fakes have sold for thousands of dollars.

When I was convinced that a group of dealers knowingly were selling these fakes in the club and on Ebay I contacted a few major collectors some in the club. One member suggested I keep my mouth shut as it would destroy the value of kugels if this got out. Regretfully, I did not go public but I did contact the collectors that I knew and informed them. When I photographed collections for my book every single kugel collector had at least one fake kugel in their collection.

There is another member of the club who sold fakes for the guy in England since the 80’s when the main shipments came in. I know for a fact because the dealer told me he was his USA contact and I bought one of these fakes from someone who did not know it was a fake. I did not know it was a fake until after I bought it from her for a large sum of money. Many considered this individual to be a kugel expert at the time although she told me she never considered herself as such.

If I told you who this member is you would all fall off your chairs. And I do not know if he knowingly knew they were fakes or not so I am not accusing him of that nor am I going to print his name, but when you look at hundreds or thousands of kugels and all of a sudden you find one that you have never seen before you must become suspicious.

My attempts to get him to discuss this with me failed as well. He refused to meet with me.

I would tell all collectors of kugels not to buy any on Ebay. 99% of them are fakes. And Ebay does nothing about it. This is where the GGCP comes in. When you look at the club what has the club done in terms of advancing all things Christmas as a club? Over the past 25 years I don’t see a thing except for the convention itself. But the convention is kinda a mute point now.

The newbies don’t know but the reasons the club was founded and the principals established in the beginning are long gone. In the old days only antiques being 1944 or older could be sold at the conventions. Now, you can sell junk from any age. It took the club 10 years to create a website and a chat section which is monitored by the way. Say something the BOD doesn’t like and you can get kicked off or kicked out of the club. Big brother is always watching you.

One former member Tony Johnson, actually built his own website and listed some the fakes on it as well as listing the sellers of these fakes. He mentioned this in the chat room and instead of thanking him he got reprimanded. I guess it is better to let the crooks keep selling their fakes than to point them out.

How many people know that letters to the editor are never printed or least they hadn’t been for many, many years. Why? Because some Board members didn’t like getting criticized. I wonder how many big corporations care not what the stockholders think?

And look at these BOD members. They are pretty much the same old same old people. It makes one wonder if the elections are rigged which brings to mind one election in 2008 I think where Mike Ciancio the president of the club couldn’t get re-elected the next year. One can only wonder about the fact that many people in the states surrounding his didn’t get the ballots in time to vote may have had something to do with it. The response to the complaints was, “Hey we mail them all out at the same time”. So after 20 years or so of mailing the newsletters no one has figured out that mail can take longer to mail to certain states than others. Amazing.

There are other situations that got me in hot water with some M7 members. When Ciancio got elected in 2007 before he even took office a letter with 30 signatures on it asked him to resign. I wanted to post the letter but Mr Ciancio said he no longer had the letter. It was a vituperous letter from some members including some past and present BOD members who knew nothing about him but who were upset that Mr Annese didn’t get elected President.

There is a certain element of the club that thinks it is better than the other members.

The GGCP is really not at all about the membership doing good for the greater good of the club. It is mainly about each individual getting the best of the deal. The facts are that most of the deals are made days before the club opens its doors to the members. Dealers show up days before hand to buy and sell the good stuff. There hasn’t been any great glass for years with a few exceptions.

And I do not exclude myself from the practice. Once I learned the ropes I showed up a few days early myself.

I understand that the members that do come once a year aren’t interested in the politics of the club because they come to buy or sell or look for a few days and go home. I understand all that. But some of us are really interested in the long view of the club. Kim Knight talks about retaining and bringing in more members but she and the likes of the M7 have done more damage than good. She is a hypocrite as well as a proven liar. Kicking people out of the club who disagree with you is no way to retain experts in certain areas. The turnover in membership is staggering. Members with 10-20-30-40 years of glass experience are slowly dying out. It is not for me to say why but if you asked them it is mainly due to the politics of the club. In the middle 90’s there was a schism and many left the club. The real collectors lost out. The club let in orns up to 1965. I defy anyone including Merck or Brenner (let’s not use him) or Johnson or myself to be able to show the difference between a mold made between 1945 and 1965 and the same mold made from 1965 on. You can’t do it. Most good glass collectors can tell the difference between molds made prior to 1945 or so but not after. And even then the so called experts make big mistakes, which is why forcing the great glass collectors out the door with their politics and back stabbing etc etc only hurts the club.

11) Let me give you all some examples. 2007 was my last convention. I had brought what I thought was a one of a kind mold with me of an orn I had bought on Ebay. It came from Germany on German Ebay. I had seen the same mold only with a clip. I showed it to threee expert glass collectoros one of whom was chairing a workshop on how to spot fake orns. All three said they thought it was legit. A week or so later there were 12 of them on Ebay. It was clearly a fake; a good one but a fake none the less. Recently, a very well known member posted a helmut on Ebay that most collectors know to be a fake from Germany. A fellow collector pointed it out to him. I had bought four of them on Ebay years before and there must have been a dozen or more sold on Ebay. Now, no one would ever accuse this person of knowingly selling a fake ornament. Somehow, even he got taken. It can happen to any collector. That is why you let people discuss things they disagree with you about. But not in the GG club. Disagree and you get on the hit list.

These people with their own agendas violate the bylaws consistently. Just to point out a few: Article III of the bylaws which can be found on page 80 of the latest directory states that, “The GGCP shall be non-sectarian and non-political in its views”, yet they endorsed the invasion of Iraq at the 2002 convention and they pray before the main meal. With all due respect to my friend Steven Beach, where is the rabbi or the Buddhist or the Hindu or the Muslim or the Atheist or even the Agnostic?

Some of us old folks want to get progressive and bring in new younger members. Just look at the average age of the club members. I think it is about 80. And I was one of them but it is a shame to see the same old stuff every convention from the same old collectors. New members would have new things and younger members have younger ideas. Some of them might even be an improvement.

At the end of the day when you look at what I have done for the members with time and money spent on the book, traveling to India to track down fake kugels, my website and my relationships with hundreds of collectors over the years I do not think my behavior is indicative of cheating anyone as the M7 imply in the letter they sent to me.

The BOD can lie about the issues, they can slander me, they can libel me, they can try to ruin my reputation, and they can kick me out of the club. But one thing they can’t do is provide any evidence of any of it because they made it all up.

The GGCP has hundreds of great individual members but these M7 aren’t among them. And unless and until a full investigation by a committee of members looks in to this despicable action by despicable individuals the stench over the entire club and what it stands for will stay on this website.

I call upon all the members of the club to demand a full and impartial investigation of the facts. The letters have to be there. The minutes of the meetings have to be there. All the allegations they claim are substantiated have to be there so unless it was all lies it ALL has to be there. So go ahead and make it all public for all the members. I want to be exposed for what I did. I just want the right to defend myself as anyone would. I have nothing to hide. Do they? Thanks for your time. Enjoy the convention in Milwaukee. I will miss not being there.

The actions of the M7 have cost me tens of thousands of dollars in sales at the conventions I have missed, but the most important thing I have lost is the ability of seeing my old friends in the club and sharing with newcomers my experience and knowledge.

The hundreds of collectors who know me know this was a fabrication by those M7 individuals. And now the people who don’t know me can decide for themselves who is telling the truth and who is lying.

Here is a copy of a recent email I received from a former Board member:

“Greetings, John,

Perhaps with a new board you can get your grievances addressed. I am in the middle on this, having high regard for all individuals involved, yet a bit insulted, not getting any of the past Board members willing to discuss the nuts and bolts of the chain of events and the motivations behind them that lead to their controversial decision. It makes no sense to me that you are banned from membership and a convicted sex offender is still embraced as a life time member. I can accept that Glow membership is based on a code of ethics, but when the board uses that code to bar your membership, but says that a felony is not an infraction of the same code, I am concerned. We have young people who attend our events, so at the very least some statement should be made. Either you should be reinstated by the current board for lack of transparency in the past board's actions, the specifics of your case should be made available to any concerned member, or the Code should be changed to eliminate this discrepancy in the board's level of enforcement of good character.”

If the BOD can prove I cheated members fine kick me out but if the M7 made it all up they should get kicked out. You can’t have it both ways and call yourselves a club with integrity.

Sincerely,

John Lightner

Feel free to email me at jlightner1@gmail.com with your comments.