Convention, Events, News, Upcoming event

SBCS CONVENTION 2026 – Registration, Hotel & Schedule

tarunverma82

SEPTEMBER 11 to 13, 2026

It is that time of the year when passionate collectors of Souvenir Buildings meet annually, to reconnect & revive their old bonds, find opportunities to add new gems to their collection, trade/swap or part away from their long cherished treasures, tour the city landmarks from the eye of a souvenir building collector, tour the collections of fellow building collectors and above all to have fun.
Please find below the details & registration form of this year’s convention in Philadelphia, PA taking place on Sep 11 -13, 2026, being hosted by our newsletter editor, Don Semler.

REGISTRATION FORM

CONVENTION HOTEL
The Warwick Rittenhouse
220 S 17th Street, Philadelphia PA 19103

Hotel reservations at special convention rate of $194.00 per night (King and Queen beds available, plus tax) starting Wednesday September 9th thru Sunday September 13th and must be made by August 10th or a higher rate will apply.  
Note: Rate includes Free Wi-Fi, Hotel Valet Parking is $55/night; (other less costly neighborhood parking options starting at $34 to be announced)
Use the following website link direct Hotel Booking Website to reserve your room:
Book your group rate for Souvenir Building Collectors Society

More about Hotel & its location:
Our convention home base, the Warwick Hotel is located a block from Rittenhouse Square in Center City. The hotel has recently completed a top-to-bottom renovation and change to the Marriott Bonvoy branding.

“Center City” is Philly-speak for downtown and Rittenhouse Square is in the heart of the 19th, 20th, and 21st century commercial district as the city grew westward from its historical 17th and 18th century roots along the Delaware River. Members will get a taste of modern Philadelphia that has grown beyond familiar Liberty Bell area sightseeing. It’s a particularly vibrant area of restaurants and retail, and very convenient to the afore-mentioned museums and parks.

SCHEDULE

THURSDAY, SEP 10
(EARLY BIRD OPTIONS)

  • Afternoon
    • Tour of City Hall Tower
    • Tour of PSFS Tower (recently restored as a posh Loews Hotel)
  • Evening
    – Informal dinner together TBA

FRIDAY, SEP 11

  • Morning
    • 10 AM: Visit to Jason Lempieri’s South Philly Home’s souvenir building collection and studio. (informal lunch possible in the Italian Market area).
  • Afternoon
    • 1 PM: Visit the collection of Jon Merwine at his home in Bethlehem, PA
  • Evening
    • 6:30 PM: Reception and Show & Tell with light food/beverage at historic Carpenter’s Hall in Independence Park

SATURDAY, SEP 12

  • Morning
    • 8 AM: Setup for those with reserved Swap/Sale tables in the hotel ballroom.
    • 9 AM: SBCS Annual Business Meeting.
    • 10 AM: – Noon: Swap/Sale at the hotel (Tables are available on the REGISTRATION FORM ). If-It-Fits-It-Ships” boxes will again be available this year.
  • Afternoon
    • 1:30 PM: 2 hour Downtown Walking Tour of Center City hosted by the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia. Focus on Center City buildings, featuring buildings with many souvenir replicas. (meeting point TBD after a suggested lunch at Reading Terminal Market) (Limit to first 25 responders.)
    • Late Afternoon: Wine Happy Hour/collection viewing at Anne Kane’s home (two blocks from our hotel)
  • Evening
    • 6:30 PM: Banquet, Raffle & Auction

SUNDAY, SEP 13

  • Morning
    • 11AM-2PM: Visit the collection of Don Semler at his home in Swarthmore, PA & light brunch at Don’s home.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

  • Special Convention Pricing for First-Timers – $120.00
    • Open to ALL SBCS Members who have NEVER attended a convention)
    • This rate includes all tours, meals and the 2025 commemorative building.
  • ½ Day Registration – Business & Swap Meet/Sale – $ 40.00
    • (Includes full table for swap meet and business meeting, but NOT the special commemorative building or Banquet. )
  • Take home a unique commemorative building of Philladelphia
  • And More Surprises

Payment Instructions are on the REGISTRATION FORM

Please find below the excerpt from the Spring 2026 SBCS Newsletter, about the SBC Conventions, 2026:

Buildings, Events, Monuments, People, Upcoming event

WELCOME TO SBCS

Bookend Collector

The Souvenir Building Collectors Society

A souvenir building is a three-dimensional, miniature version of an actual building, monument, statue, bridge, dam etc.   Souvenir buildings trigger a memory of a building or a structure, a time, a place, or perhaps a person.

SBCS is a Meeting Place for Souvenir Building Collectors, where you get to connect to a huge & diversified group of Souvenir Building Collectors and learn about thousands of Souvenir Buildings & even grow your collection.

Join our Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/47920772123

#ConnectMoreToCollectMore

Upcoming event

Upcoming Zoom Session

buildinglady

Sunday March 15 at 2PM to 3:30PM Eastern Time!!!!

If you joined us during the last set of Zoom Sundays you’ll remember how much fun they were.

If you’ve never been, please consider taking the time.

See you fellow members, join the show and tell, ask questions, share information!

Mark Fine is our Zoom Host.

The link will go out around the 14th.

Please join us for the first of the Zoom Sundays leading up to our

Philadelphia 2026 Convention in mid September.

Buildings, Convention, Monuments, Upcoming event

2026 SBCS Hotel Info

buildinglady

Book your group rate for Souvenir Building

You will find the information for your online reservation link below. If you have questions or need help with the link, please do not hesitate to ask. We appreciate your business and look forward to a successful event.

Event Summary:

Souvenir Building Collectors Society

Start Date: Thursday, September 10, 2026

End Date: Sunday, September 13, 2026

Hotel(s) offering your special group rate:

  • The Warwick Hotel Rittenhouse Square Philadelphia for 194.00 USD per night – Last Day to Book : Monday, August 10, 2026

Upcoming event

Upcoming Zoom Session

buildinglady

Sunday March 15 at 2PM to 3:30PM Eastern Time!!!!

If you joined us during the last set of Zoom Sundays you’ll remember how much fun they were.

If you’ve never been, please consider taking the time.

See you fellow members, join the show and tell, ask questions, share information!

Mark Fine is our Zoom Host.

The link will go out around the 14th.

Please join us for the first of the Zoom Sundays leading up to our

Philadelphia 2026 Convention in mid September.

Convention

SBCS Convention Online Registration

tarunverma82

This year’s Annual SBCS Convention will be held in the  Buffalo, PA from June 16 to June 19, 2023.

To submit the fees & registration form for Online Registration, please follow the following steps:

Fill out the Registration form and scan or take a photo of the completed form.
Send the “Total Remitted” amount to kaisbell@yahoo.com by http://www.paypal.com 
Send the receipt of the above payment (email or screenshot) and the scanned copy or photo of the form to Chris Spry/SBCS at chris.spry@outlook.com

OR

PLEASE SEND THIS FORM WITH YOUR CHECK MADE OUT TO “SBCS” TO:

Chris Spry/SBCS 2023
5350 Playa Vista Drive #28, Los Angeles, CA 90094-2503

Upcoming event

April Sunday Zoom

tarunverma82

It has been around six weeks since we had out last Sunday Zoom and Mark is back with another exciting Sunday Zoom for us building collectors. Let’s get to know more about it from him

Sunday Zoom – April 10 – 2PM EST

Zoom Sunday is one week away.

All members, old and new, are invited to join. Joe will be sending the link. This month’s Sunday Zoom will feature stories of some of our members “First Convention.”

There will be reminiscences and stories about meeting new people; tours; show & tell; swap meets; auctions; and raffles. For those who have yet to experience a First Convention this will be informative and eye-opening. Great fun all around. Maybe it will convince you to make the trip to SBCS 2022.

I hope to see you on Sunday, and then again in Pittsburgh.

Mark Fine – Toronto

SBCS MEMBERS ONLY!

Invitations will be sent out via Email.  If you are not a member and want to join us, here is a link to the membership application. 

Here is a quick peek from February Sunday Zoom

Upcoming event

Souvenir Buildings make way to Local History Museum in Michigan

tarunverma82

When we as collectors are putting together a collection, a thought of showcasing our collection to friends, family and rest of the world often crosses the minds of most of us. Therefore we invite people to our home to see our collection(/s), SBCS Conventions & SBCS Zoom calls being a couple of those golden opportunities . Thanks to the social media, it has become much easier these days to share our passion. However having our collection being displayed at a museum or a public display is one of the best ways to let a much bigger section of community see our prized & precious congregation of souvenir buildings.

One of the long time members of Souvenir Building Collectors Society, Wynn Wikman has made us proud by getting part of his collection displayed at local history Museum, Tri-Cities Historical Museum in Grand Haven, Michigan. Here is a quick glance of the how tall & beautifully his collection shines in there.

Wynn’s collection at Tri-Cities Historical Museum in Grand Haven, Michigan.

Here are a few words from Wynn sharing interesting facts about himself , why & how he got into collection of Souvenir Buildings and how his stunning & hand picked collection made its way to the Tri-Cities Historical Museum.

I have been a collector all my life, I started collecting souvenir buildings about 20 years ago. As an architecture aficionado I like the ability to hold a building in my hand and take in the whole thing at once. As a sculptor I appreciate the 3D form of these replicas as well as the artistic license some of the makers have taken in their creations. As a history buff I am interested in the time or events these objects represent, as well as the history of the replicas themselves. As a traveler I enjoy the memories these souvenirs give for places I have visited. I also like the variety of structures represented and the ability to create new cityscapes on a shelf.

I have a small part of my collection (less than 100) on display at a Tri-Cities Historical Museum in Grand Haven, Michigan.  I included basic information about each of the replicas on display.  I arranged a shelf with a souvenir building timeline ranging from a grand tour obelisk replica to a One World Trade Center replica, a shelf with Michigan buildings, a shelf with US buildings, a shelf with foreign buildings, and a shelf with a variety of buildings made from materials other than metal, the Souvenir Buildings Miniature Buildings book, the latest SBCS newsletter, and the text below.  The pictures are of set up and Michigan buildings I have on display.

Some background to the display.  I saw a Facebook post from the museum about their then current Community Curators display asking if anyone had a collection they wanted to share.  I told them I did, and we scheduled a time frame for my display.  I found out I had 5 shelves to work with.  I then decided to dedicate one shelf to a historical overview of souvenir buildings, one to Michigan structures, one to United States structures, one to foreign structures, and one to souvenirs made with other materials than metal along with books, SBCS newsletter and other paperwork.  Most of the structures that I chose to include were vintage metal pieces, since those are the ones that interest me the most.  I selected a wide range of types of structures and locations.  I did not just include my best pieces, but ones I thought would be interesting to someone who was just being introduced to souvenir buildings.  I limited myself to 18 per shelf because I was able to include information about that many on a printed page that I mounted behind the replicas.  I included a key to what was on each shelf that listed what the structure is, where it is, the time frame that the replica was made and the material the replica was made from.

Enjoy a walkthrough of the individual shelves

Upcoming event

Coming up!!! Feb 2022 SBCS Zoom Meet up

tarunverma82

SBCS MEMBERS ONLY!

Invitations will be sent out via Email.  If you are not a member and want to join us, here is a link to the membership application. 

Our Zoom meeting host , Mark Fine is back with this season’s first Zoom Sunday and following are the details straight out from his pen :

It will be on Sunday February 20, 2022, at 2PM EDT.

Our First-of-2022 Zoom Sunday Special Guest Speaker will be none other than the renowned Mississippi Pediatrician and our host at the SBCS Jackson 202One convention, Dr. Steven Chevalier.

Steven has always been a collector. (Does that sound familiar?) As a child he collected sports cards, comic books, and stamps. Steven started collecting souvenir buildings with his son Ethan in 2003. He also collects contemporary art, and books, and is a die-hard Rush fan.

Steven and Ethan attended their first convention in Toronto in 2012.

Nine years later Steven hosted the SBCS Convention in Jackson, Mississippi.

And the topic? A surprise! We’ll just have to tune in find out.

But one thing is for sure that you will get to see a lot of SOUVENIR BUILDINGS , some of which might be the ones which you might have not seen ever before.

Zoom details to follow in the mail of SBCS Members. Stay tuned!!!!

Put that in your calendar folks. You will not want to miss it!

Stay well and healthy

Here’s how SBCS Zoom Meet ups bring smiles on the faces of souvenir building collectors.