CECE Celebrates Non Sport Update Magazine

Over the weekend, my friend Paul Maiellero, who also happens to be the hardest working man in Chicago, put on his 9th annual Chicago Entertainment Collectors Expo show in Carol Stream, Illinois. Paul put on this show every Fall, tirelessly giving everything he's got to make it a wonderful event for fans, his guests, and his staff. Now that it's Monday and the 2009 show is a wrap, I'd like to think Paul is taking the day to relax and maybe get out and enjoy a beautiful summer day (until we hit September 21, it's still summer in my book). But I'm sure he's not going to do that. He's probably already hard at work planning his next years show which is going to be a HUGE event to say the least!

I've known Paul for a few years now and have been lucky enough to be a guest at his shows. He's a wonderful person with a heart of gold. Amidst all the planning and scheduling, Paul always manages to have a few tricks up his sleeve. He never passes up an opportunity to let people know how much he values them. Much of the proceeds of Pauls show supports the Pediatric Oncology Treasure Chest Foundation (www.treasurechest.org). This organization provides children with cancer an opportunity to pull a toy (or reward) from a treasure chest every time they go in for treatment. This is an organization Paul tirelessly supports through fund-raisers such as art auctions or celebrity dinners which fans can attend.

Aside from supporting the Treasure Chest Foundation at his show again this past weekend, Paul also honored Harris, Roxanne, and Marlin Toser for 20 years of Non Sport Update magazine. The Tosers are well known in the trading card industry as the folks behind Non Sport Update Magazine. If you're into Star Wars trading cards, or Star Trek, any really any kind of entertainment trading cards (aka non-sport), you've undoubtedly seen the magazine. In 2007, I illustrated a collectible variant cover with a Star Wars theme. As part of the celebration, Paul turned my cover into edible art, which I thought was pretty cool.



Throughout the year I will continue posting updates and announcements about Pauls 10th Anniversary show. In the meantime,
if you'd like to learn a bit more about the Chicago Entertainment Collectors Expo, please visit their site here.
http://www.nonsportcardexpo.com/

And if you want to check out Non Sport Card Update magazine, hop over to www.nonsportupdate.com

And lastly, if you'd like to support the Treasure Chest Foundation, please visit http://www.treasurechest.org/. You can donate your unused toys or make a monetary donation through their site.