Heisey Collectors of America 2026 Elections
Meet the Candidates
Three candidates are up for election to fill three open seats on the HCA Board of Directors.
Douglas Meister
As the president of the Kentucky Heisey Study Club, I would be honored to serve on the HCA Board of Directors.
Heisey glassware has been in my family since before I was born in Mansfield, Ohio. My maternal grandmother had about 70 pieces of Crystolite in her dining room china cabinet, consisting of serving pieces and stemware. I inherited her collection in 1981, but stored it for several years before catching the collector virus, myself.
Professionally, I have served as a campus minister at Defiance (OH) College and as a congregational pastor in Knoxville, TN and Louisville, KY, for the last 27 years. While in Knoxville, I served as a founding board member of the downtown ecumenical community ministry facility and for six years as a middle judicatory associate of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) denomination. Along the way, I have also served as a founding board member of the community ministry in Jeffersontown, KY (Louisville). At various times I have been fortunate to serve on the board of the Disciples of Christ national camp and conference center in Black Mountain, NC, on the board of a senior center in Louisville and on two regional church boards. My committee work included writing and amending constitutions and by-laws for three boards and, chairing a personnel committee for a community ministry. As a member of the Tennessee Regional staff, my areas of oversight included the work of the Tennessee regional camp and conference committee, staff and facilities. I have been a member of numerous ecumenical clergy groups where I served in various offices.
I look forward to the opportunity to share my experience working with people and organizations on the board. My love for Heisey glassware inspires me to help keep HCA a strong organization and the Heisey museum as the exceptional museum it has become.
Prairie Aster Obora
As we all celebrate America’s 250th in 2026, things look much different in our country than they did 150 years ago at America’s centennial. In 1876, a young Union veteran named A. H. Heisey was making a name for himself in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He went on to move to Newark, Ohio, and founded a company with a legacy that lives on to this very day. His company survived 61 years, in no small part due to an ability to adapt to and overcome challenges, from the Great Depression to World War II. The Heisey Collectors of America (HCA) are facing one their greatest challenges yet: how do we bring in new generations of collectors into the wonderful world of Heisey?
My name is Prairie Aster Obora, I am 24 years old, and I’m from Pataskala, Ohio (about 20 minutes from Newark and the Land of Heisey, for those not familiar). Growing up, my father collected antiques and had frequented Appletree Auction for many years — the same family-run auction house that I am now proud to work for. Yet despite my perennial interest in collecting, from “retro” video games, to antiquarian books, to literal rocks — I never learned a thing about Heisey Glass. Nobody at my school mentioned it, and even when I realized I wanted to learn about it at age 18, I quickly realized that the information available online was very hard to sort through. I was fortunate to be armed with the skills to find the books on Heisey, from the Bredehoft’s, to Felt & O’Grady, to Vogel. I quickly began to buy the glass up at Heisey Auctions hosted by HCA and Appletree, and have had the pleasure of attending and purchasing treasures at the wonderful Heisey shows at Convention many times over. Through all of this, I could not help but notice that none of my peers seem to have joined me.
It would be easy to dismiss younger people as simply not having the “right mindset” to collect fine glassware. I believe this idea to be misguided. In my own experience as a member of the so-called “Generation Z”, I have found many other young adults just like me, who want to find something they can both love and collect. But perhaps most importantly, all of us, young and old alike, want a community we can feel at home in.
At times, we can all “miss the forest for the trees”. But gone are the days of “Rodney Ripoff”, and poems about the original Heisey molds “coming home” from Imperial, and here are the days of charts and corporate jargon, with fewer and fewer words and pictures about the thing that has brought us all together: Heisey Glassware. Membership is dwindling fast, and we are all on a ship headed for an iceberg – a museum with no more visitors, and a world with no more Heisey collectors. If we do not correct our course now, we may never have another chance.
As a board member, I will use my knowledge and experience to bring the focus of HCA back to Heisey itself. Knowing many current and former members of the board and Museum Staff personally, I believe everyone involved with the HCA is driven by their passion for beautiful glassware. Armed with this knowledge, I see no limit to what we can collectively accomplish.
Eric Tankesley-Clarke
Here I am, running for a second term on the HCA board. Four years ago, my bio highlighted my background. I’ll spare you a recap of that. See the May 2022 issue of the Heisey News if you care to look back to those details.
Working on the board has allowed me to deepen insight into museum and organization operations while cultivating bonds among board members. The board elected me Vice-President each of the last two years, where building on those insights, bonds, and previous administrative experience has helped tackle the many issues coming before the board and the Executive Committee, especially in matters affecting personnel.
My committee work in HCA since 2022 expanded in new directions and enriched already established ones. The Research and Archives Committee nurtures my decades-long passion for Heisey research. The Education Committee allows applying instructional and publication experience to materials that have come before it. The Newsletter Committee gives me the chance to confront the surprising number of editorial questions that arise in producing our magazine. On the Auction Committee, I exercise my ID skills, one of many functions engaging me year-around with the extraordinary members of this committee. Between the Executive Committee, the board, and these more specialized committees, hardly a week goes by without one, two, three, or more virtual meetings, enough that some meeting attendees likely could name books seen on my library shelves behind me.
In the four years just passed, the museum has made impressive strides in appearance, operations, employment practices, community involvement, and advancing Heisey’s presence in ways large and small. I cannot take much credit for those directly. What I can be proud of, however, is promoting an atmosphere that fosters forward-looking decisions made in a collaborative way, providing the platform for them to thrive.
Four years ago, I wrote of my desire to be part of a board “embracing new ideas whose times have come, even if they change long-standing practices, while preserving that which usage has shown to work well” and doing so with “tact, kindness, and respect.” With your support, I hope to continue that course for the next four years.
How to Vote
All HCA voting members in good standing (dues paid) are eligible to vote at the Annual Meeting, which is held during the convention on June 19, 2026. Any voting member who is not attending the Annual Meeting may vote by absentee ballot.
Am I a voting member?
A list of current HCA voting members is published in the April issue of Heisey News. If you believe you are a voting member and your name is not on the list, contact the museum at: 740-345-2932.
How can I become a voting member?
A one-time $25 voting member fee entitles you to vote in HCA elections. An application is included in Heisey News or you may contact the museum at: 740-345-2932. The deadline for becoming a voting member to vote in this year’s election is Thursday, June 11 by 4:00 p.m.
I am not attending the convention. How do I request an absentee ballot?
Absentee ballots will be available beginning Friday, May 1. You may:
- Pick up a ballot at the museum.
- Email a ballot request to [email protected].
- Fax your ballot request to 740-345-9638.
- Mail your ballot request to: HCA Absentee Ballot, Heisey Glass Museum, 169 W Church St, Newark, OH 43055.
- Call Membership, 740-345-2932.
The ballot will be mailed to you along with specific instructions for voting. To be counted, your ballot must be received at the museum by 4 p.m. ET on Thursday, June 11.