1976 - 1985
Some members of the Club de Modélisme de l'Ourthe (CMO), whose meetings take place in Tilff, are creating a new association closer to their home, called Jemeppe Modelism.
Some members of the Club de Modélisme de l'Ourthe (CMO), whose meetings take place in Tilff, are creating a new association closer to their home, called Jemeppe Modelism.The first official meeting is held on Tuesday 19 October, in the media room of the local library of the Château de Courtejoie, in Jemeppe-sur-Meuse. The members present at this first meeting are : Jean-Claude Paquot, Antoine Joris, Hubert Baba, Pierrot Fryns, Daniel Joris, Michel Maes, André Sauvenet, Jean-Claude Bonniverd and Jean Thomas, the latter representing the local authority, which made the room available to the new club. These meetings are held on Tuesday evenings, from 8pm to 10pm, until 2004... 1976 sees Jean-Claude Paquot appointed as the first president of the club, which also becomes a section of IPMS Belgium.
Since April, the members of the club are involved in the organisation of a series of public audiovisual projections which explain the creation of a model. In May, the club is invited to take part in the opening of the Cultural Centre at the J. Merlot residence in Seraing, in the presence of local councillors and the honorary president of our association, Marcel Boedt. May also sees the creation of the club's library, financed by the club. On 24 and 25 September, the club organises its very first exhibition (an event that will become an annual event from 1978 onwards) on its premises at the Château de Courtejoie, and then in October takes part in its first outdoor purely model-making exhibition in Tilff. Hubert Baba, well known in Jemeppe and beyond as a salesman at ‘Disques Renier’, is elected as the club's second president; in the years that follow, he attracts a host of new members to the club who were just looking for one record or another! In 1976, the club becomes a section of
IPMS Belgium.
The club is growing, particularly with the arrival of a number of young members. A second exhibition is held at the Château de Courtejoie in September, in the presence of Minister Guy Mathot. During the year,
the club also exhibited in Aywaille, Brussels (National Convention IPMS Belgium), Sclessin and Retinne, where the first seven trophies won by our members were brought back. Finally, 1978 also marks the appearance of the first stickers designed to boost the club's treasury.
Our third exhibition takes place in September, again at the Château de Courtejoie, with, as main piece, the magnificent work of Messrs Molle and Lemineur, members of the Liège Marine Club, who will also be doing us the honour of attending several meetings during the year. The club is also taking part in exhibitions in Hamoir, Brussels and Ligneuville that year.
This year is marked by outdoor exhibitions in Evegnée-Tignée, Brussels, Charleroi, Hamoir and Marche-en-Famenne, as well as our fourth exhibition in October at our usual premises.
The club has invested a lot of money in purchasing equipment to better showcase its members' work at exhibitions, and this no doubt explains the first increase in the membership fee, which has risen from 100 to 150 Belgian francs a year...
The club's fifth exhibition is held in October. Jean Lens, a talented miniature artist, is elected the club's third president. Since the start of the year, a fortnightly internal competition rewards the youngsters who present their finished models at the weekly meetings. The club takes part in an outdoor exhibition
at Voroux-Goreux.
Our sixth exhibition takes place in October, and several members bring home the club's first trophies from the Angleur exhibition/competition. The club also contributes, with special creations, to the ‘Herstal avant les Usines’ exhibition, and to an exhibition at La Gleize.
The annual membership fee is increased to 200 Belgian francs. Following our seventh exhibition in October, the club, which was struggling to shake off a certain languor, elects the young Bernard Libert as its fourth president; he will breathe new life into the association. This year, the club will be taking part in the Diepenbeek and Angleur exhibitions.
Under the leadership of the new president, the number of visits to and participation in external exhibitions is rising sharply, and for the first time the annual exhibition has a theme, that of the ‘40th
Anniversary of the Liberation of Liège’, to which many members are contributing. This year, the club is taking part in exhibitions in Liège (Caserne Fonck), Amay, Bastogne, Nivelles and Diepenbeek.
Between several ‘punitive expeditions’, as the new president used to say to motivate his troops, to Ampsin, Tienen, Genk, Flémalle and Mons, the club organises its 9th exhibition in September on the theme of ‘The War in the Pacific’.