What's Happening
in the
LITTLE WOODEN SHED
NOTES FROM THE CUEMAKER'S WIFE

January 1, 2011 - - The New Year -
The end of 2010 was a rough one.  In November, Gene's father went to the hospital for about a week.  Right after he came home, Gene's mother had a stroke and spent over a month in the hospital.  Shortly after she returned home from the hospital, Gene's father passed away, on New Year's Eve.  So, the old year finished up a bit hard, but the new year holds new and exciting opportunities and we intend to take advantage of as many as possible.

Our 2011 theme will be "All About Custom Orders."  Due to a shift change in early 2010, Gene had little time to work on cues and got behind on a few orders.  He is finally finding more time in the workshop.  Gene intends to spend 2011 working primarily on new cue orders and repairs, so there will be very few Crown Cues built in 2011 that are not specifically ordered by a customer.  However, we are looking forward to working on all the incoming orders.

September 25, 2010 - - The Blonde Challenge #2 -
At 2:00 pm today, Gene will match up with Josh Smallwood of Tulsa for a 9 ball match to 7 ahead.  Loser goes blonde.  But, wait!  This time is different! IT WILL BE BROADCAST ONLINE!!  If you're local, drop in to watch the match and take a ticket... You might win a door prize.  If you can't be here, stop in at the FREE live stream at ustream.tv/channel/tulsa-qspot  See you there!

July 22, 2010 - - Gene was unable to get loose from his day job for the Southern Cue and Case Show that was going on during the Gem City Classic (same pool hall) in Marietta, GA.  So, I (Renee') took the cues to the show.  It was my first big trip by myself since my heart attacks and I fall asleep much more easily now, so I had to be careful and stop more often.

The show was interesting.  I enjoyed seeing some of our cuemaker friends and other good friends in the industry.  However, it was strange not seeing Dennis Dieckman, Barry Cameron, Chris Byrne and Jim Griffin with the International Cuemakers Association group.  One gets used to seeing all these guys together during events and to have so many not present at the same time was odd.  We all survived it, though.  I hope these guys know they were missed!

I stopped to see our youngest son and his wife in Jacksonville, FL, before turning westward and heading home.  On the way back, I stopped at The Corner Pocket at 2206 Front Street in Meridian, MS.  It was quite late when I finally arrived, due to having to stop and sleep more often than I had anticipated.  But, Brian keeps the place open late.  The bar tables are only 50 cents a game and they are in good condition.  I enjoyed playing some pool and having a little competition, before I returned to the road.  I had also planned to stop by Miss Q's at 2404 5th street (only a few blocks from The Corner Pocket), as they are some fine folks we know from Sneaky Petes on past trips.  (They finally got a bigger place!)  But, being so late, I decided to get some sleep before moving closer to home.  I look forward to stopping at both places during future trips, though.  Meridian seems to be a town full of good folks who love to play pool, which is why we usually re-route our trip a little, so we can take a fun break from the road and be around folks who remember us.  Brian - Thanks for some good competition during my short visit.  Please tell Eddie thanks and that next time I pass through, I hope he'll be around for a game or two of One Pocket.

We are always looking for more places to stop and play some pool, when we travel -- especially family pool halls.  If you know of a good place to stop, write and let us know.  We also enjoy sharing our experiences with others who might be traveling that way.

We finished up our local Fun League at the Q-Spot, this evening.  Time to sleep, before the next season starts on August 17th...

March 19, 2010 - - The Super Billiards Expo... We've been in town since Monday night.  We've had a great time, meeting lots of folks from the AZBilliards forum and more of the trick shot competitors that we've wanted to meet for the past couple of years.  The 14.1 Challenge across the aisle from us has been quite a busy event!  We've seen Corey Deuel, John Schmidt, Mike Davis, to name a few.  We got to watch the live stream of the artistic pool for a while on Thursday night.  Tim and Jamey are doing pretty good!

February 9, 2010 - - WOW!  What a great One Pocket tournament!  Aaron "The Anvil" Bolling from the Jacksonville, FL area, came in to play some competitive one pocket and he did a great job!  He only received his new Crown Cue a few days before the tournament and had very little time to adjust to it, but he played his way through a few good matches, before his time was up.  We are looking forward to some great competition in the future of this young man!!  Sylver Ochoa plowed his way to the top of the heap and took home the first place trophy.  We had a great time watching the matches and meeting so many folks.  Renee' got more autographs in her new autograph "book."

Be sure to pick up a February issue of Stroke, Rackem or The Break magazines at your local pool hall, so you can learn more about the artistic pool players we sponsor.

February 4, 2010 - - As many of you know, we have been talking up the T-Town Classic One Pocket Championship at Magoo's in Tulsa, that we were planning to help sponsor for this weekend.  The event has begun and will be online off and on through Sunday.  Unfortunately, tonight is the only "free" live stream.  We all understood the stream was to be free, but they have changed it to pay per view.  Tonight is free, but Friday and Saturday are $10 each and Sunday is $20.  However, if you buy Sunday, you get Friday and Saturday free.  We are still planning to sponsor as we told you we would be doing.  For Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the stream is expected to begin at 10 am, Central time. &NBSP:If you get to log on, we'll be glad to see you, there.  We probably won't be in the chat much, as we will be watching on the big screen at the smoke free pool hall we frequent, due to Renee's smoke allergy.

January 22, 2010 - - This weekend, Crown Cues is proud to be a sponsor of the USBA Regional Qualifier Pendennis Club Louisville Ky, presented by Professor-Q-Ball’s Promotions.  There are some great 3 Cushion players in the mix.  If you're wanting to learn more about 3 Cushion, watching the streams is a great way to help.  There will also be an archive of Tom "Dr. Cue" Rossman's performance from last night.  (If it's not there yet, it will be there, soon.)  Hope to see you, there!

January 14, 2010 - - Today, Scott Lee (The Traveling College of Billiard Knowledge) is going to be at the Broken Arrow, Okla. Salvation Army Boys & Girls Club for a couple of hours.  We will also be there.  We stopped by last night to make sure all the cues are in good order.  Josh, from One Billiards in Broken Arrow, dropped in and leveled the pool tables for the club, last night.  We hope there will be a good number of kids there for the event.

Tomorrow, our 5th grandchild will be born.  We are anxiously awaiting his arrival.  This weekend and next week will probably be very busy for us.

January 6, 2010 - -

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December 11, 2009 - - This weekend....Check out the Northern Lights Shootout in Rugby, North Dakota on FREE live stream at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/OTBnTV-Live.  It's scheduled from the 10th through the 13th of December.

Gene is working very hard on the recent cue orders.  Christmas is coming and we're hoping everyone will remember it takes a few days to fix up their cues (with your preferred weight, tip and ferrule, etc..) and then get them sent to you.  So, be sure to buy your cue as soon as you can, if you want it before Christmas.  Our special 15% off holiday sale only lasts until midnight on New Year's Eve.  That's $15.00 off every $100 and it adds up, quickly!  Catch it now!

December 5, 2009 - - This weekend....USBA Regional Qualifier at the Hall of Fame Billiards in Warren, Michigan.  Event runs from December 4-6, 10:00am start at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/usba-warren-hof

Also, we're running our end of the year holiday sale, now!  From now until 2010, we are offering 15% off all cues... finished, in-progress, or custom ordered... playing cues, masse' cues, jump cues, jump / break cues, carom cues, even cues put in layaway!  Cues make great Christmas gifts and when you can get $15 off every $100, the savings adds up quickly!!  Browse the site and see for yourself!

November 23, 2009 - - Wow!  What a fabulous weekend!  To those of you who were at the Artistic Cup III, congratulations for a job well done and thanks for being there.  The event wouldn't have been the same without you!  To those who, like ourselves, had to stay home and watch, wasn't that an awesome show?  We've waited a long time to see artistic pool LIVE on a free stream.  It was certainly worth the wait!  Congratulations to our very own Jamey "Sharpshooter" Gray for a 2nd place well-earned!!  And, congratulations to Rodney “The Preacher” Fontaine, who won the certificate for $450 toward a Crown Cue of his choice, including the option for a custom designed cue!!  We look forward to hearing from Rodney.

Thanks and a huge pat on the back go out to Tom and Marty Rossman for organizing this great event, to Ray Hansen for driving up there and bringing the event into our homes as it happened, and to all the sponsors of the event and the stream.  We hope next year's Cup IV will also be online and there will be new talent in the mix, too.  To view this year's event, which is still online, go to www.ustream.tv/channel/drcue2009

November 17, 2009 - - According to the latest news, Cue & A Promotions (Ray "Bigtruck" Hansen) will be covering this year's Dr. Cue Classic Artistic Cup III on November 20, 21,& 22 and Cue-Dean-E International Talent Search on the evening of November 21st.  As promised, it is a FREE live stream for all to see!

Be sure to watch the Artistic Cup and find out about the great holiday specials we have for this year!  If you have been wanting to buy your sweetie that special pool cue for a gift, now is the time to act!!

November 6, 2009 - - Some exciting things are happening in the pool world, right now.  3 Cushion has recently joined the ranks of online streams and it looks like the Artistic Pool will be close behind, as The Dr. Cue Artistic Cup III has potential for being live streamed.  So, cross your fingers, because some things are in the works...

Watch for Crown Cues to have some interesting articles in the next few issues of The Break, Rackem and Stroke magazines.  Also, watch for us to sponsor some live streams for some major competitions, including the Artistic Cup III.  Big things are happening for Crown Cues, so stay tuned!!

One of our sons has recently been told he has cancer, but they haven't yet been able to identify the type of cancer he has.  We are hoping they manage to identify the cancer and get rid of it, very soon.  Until all is well again, we will have the grandchildren quite frequently.  Please keep our son and our family in your prayers, as we all take on this monster.

September 16, 2009 - - Check it out!  Jamey Gray is competing in the 2009 TRICK SHOT MAGIC event at the ESPN Zone, in Las Vegas, NV.  Good luck, Jamey!!

We are leaving for Tallahassee, Florida, TOMORROW!  nbsp;We will be at the US Open Qualifier at Pockets Pub on the 18th, 19th, and 20th of September.  We hope to see you, there!

August 31, 2009 - - When the tornado destroyed our large workshop, it also damaged the roof of our little wooden shed and has let in lots of rain, since then.  We've had it covered with a tarp and finally got up there to put new roofing on, this past week.  It's almost finished.  We still have to trim the edges.

Great news!  In the Ultimate Trick Shot Challenge, at Las Vegas this past week, we understand Jamey Gray took 2nd place and Tim Chin tied for 3rd place.  We heard Jamey gave Andy Segal a real run for his money and almost took the 1st place title, himself.  Congratulations to both these guys for meeting the challenge head-on!  We are proud to have them representing Crown Cues!  You can read more about the competition in the September issues of The Break, Rackem, and Stroke magazines.  Check them out online, or get a hard copy at your local pool hall.  I prefer to get my hands on a hard copy, so I can refer back to it, whenever I want to.

We added some new pages to our website and already have some folks sending in info to be listed on the Customer and Artistic Pool pages.  Bear with us and Renee' will get your listings online, soon.  We have been busy with our annual Summer Melt Down Sale, fixing the shed roof and making changes to our website.  Today is the last day of the sale and it is usually very busy.  Renee' has a lot of stuff to ship, today.  If you want to be listed, go ahead and send in your picture and other info and Renee' will get it online, soon.

We are about to embark on another trip!  It will probably be our last trip of the year.  We will be at the US Open Qualifier at Pockets Pub, in Tallahassee, FL, on the 18th, 19th, and 20th of September.  Click here to read a thread about the event.  We are looking forward to meeting some of the folks we have talked to on the live streams and some of our customers who live in the area.  On our way back to Oklahoma, we plan to stop back by Sneaky Pete's Game Room on Poplar Springs Drive, in Meridian, MS.

July 23, 2009 - - We've been trying to travel more, this year, as Renee's health gets better.  In March, we exhibited at the Allen Hopkins Super Billiards Expo in PA.  In July, we displayed our cues at the 1st Annual Southern Cue and Case Show that was held in conjunction with the Gem City Classic, at Marietta, GA.  We plan to be a part of both of these events for years to come.

On our way home from GA, we detoured a little and decided to stop in at Sneaky Pete's on Poplar Springs Drive (a little south of North Hills St.) in northern Meridian, MS.  What a great little place!  We were glad to find a family pool hall to spend a little time at.  If you're ever going through Meridian, MS, stop by and tell them that Gene and Renee' from Crown Cues said hi.  Whenever we go back that way, we'll be sure to stop in, again.  (When we were there, they said they were looking for a larger building for their pool hall, but they are planning to stay on the same road -- probably a little north from their current location, if possible.)

We are planning to head down to Rusty's Billiards in Fort Worth, TX on August 9th.  That is our 23rd wedding anniversary and we decided to spend it at a spectacular event that is fairly local to us.  Well, it's only about 5 or 6 hours from here, anyway.

Keep your eyes on our New Cues page!  Gene built some beauties to display in GA and we are about to get them online for you to check out!  We've had some unexpected things come up, which delayed our getting them posted online.  Thanks for your patience.

Gene is still working in the little shed.  It will probably be 2010 before we can rebuild the workshop.  Here's a pic of him working in the little shed, this afternoon.

May 9, 2009 - - Renee' has been quite ill, since about 2-3 weeks after returning from the Super Billiards Expo.  This has slowed things up a bit, but she's finally getting better and catching up.

Keep your eyes open for more playing cues on the New Cues page, soon.  Gene has also been working on a few cues he hopes to have ready in time for the Southern Cue and Case Show, on July 11th, as well as a few custom orders he has been working on.  As more future event attendances are planned, they will be posted on this page.

All of the walls and roof, and much of the other debris from the tornado has finally been removed.  Some tree damage still has to be cut down and removed, also.  It helps that so much of the debris removal has finally been done, although it has been a slow process, with Renee' being sick and so much rainfall over the past month.

We almost forgot to mention that Gene is now making jump cues.  He hopes to have the first ones online, soon.

May 4, 2009 - - The economy is in a major slump and we realize we are not the only ones having a tough time, whether a tornado created the problem, or the economy did it.  Either way, we have to rebuild.

TORNADO!!

About December 8, 2008 - -    Late at night, on December 8th, 2008, a tornado wiped out our cue workshop. (Click here to see the damage.)  We managed to save most of the supplies, but the building was a total loss.  Fortunately, Gene has been able to temporarily move to a much smaller building for his work, although much of the needed supplies have been moved to storage, or have taken over the house.  Insurance is only going to cover about half of the replacement cost.

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