Icepengwyn sad news

[littlefrog]

Not sure how to get the news out there, but my 'co-conspirator' Alex Challis has suffered a very severe health setback Thursday evening and will not be filling any orders any time soon. He sells on e-bay as 'icepengwyn'. If you have ordered from him in the last week or so, please contact me directly. I don't know what his speaking schedule might be, but I assume he has talks lined up. If you are one of those talks, contact me and maybe I can cover. Alex sometimes sells at shows using my business name (Littlefrog Farm). This isn't exactly correct (it is much more informal than that) but it is close enough - and I will try my best to honor any commitments he may have made.

Today I and Kristen (from New World Orchids) went to his house and we each took about half of his plants for safe-keeping. There were some plants that did not survive, but not many - it has been unseasonably hot and dry here in Michigan the last few days - I think we got to the plants in time to salvage the vast majority. We would both be happy to ship any outstanding orders, but we have no access to his e-mail to know what those orders might be. Bear with us while we try to sort this out.

At this point Alex is in a medically induced coma and from my understanding of the situation more likely than not to make some sort of recovery - hopefully a complete recovery. I'm not the right kind of doctor to make those calls with confidence though, and it will definitely take some time. I tend to refer to him as a 'force of nature', if you've met him you know what I mean. I hope to give you better news soon.

Rob

 

[Lanmark]

I'm so sorry to hear this. I hope he will make a full recovery.

 

[troy]

He has my prairs!! I always got great stuff from him

 

[Happypaphy7]

Sorry to hear about this.
He is among the best sellers. Everything I have bought from him has been nearly perfect!

I hope he gets better.
Also, I hope someone gets his email info to take care of any ebay business in good order, so as not to get some angry buyers who are not aware of what is going on with him.

 

[littlefrog]

Sorry to hear about this.
He is among the best sellers. Everything I have bought from him has been nearly perfect!

I hope he gets better.
Also, I hope someone gets his email info to take care of any ebay business in good order, so as not to get some angry buyers who are not aware of what is going on with him.

I know so little about Ebay that it is scary... I've never gotten into that racket. Is there a way to notify people without having access to an individual seller's account? If there is I'll be happy to do that.

Given enough time I could probably hack his e-mail account (he has used my computer before and at one point I may or may not have had those skills, I plead the 5th). I just don't have the time. I guess it means I should probably give somebody my passwords or some way to get them, just in case it happens to me. I'm getting to the age where I could be gone tomorrow, I just don't like to think about it.

 

[Chicago Chad]

At this point Alex is in a medically induced coma

Alex is good people. I always found his sense of humor in line with my own. Thanks for taking on his plants and trying to make good on the orders. Most of his customers are repeat orders and should be relatively easy to find here and through our members. If anyone asks me I may refer them your way, but I am sure that they will be more than understanding.

He was as passionate about trains as orchids and every show I saw him at he was off to hit some old, half abandoned yard to scope out any passing through.

Hope he finds himself some peace.

 

[NYEric]

Man, a fellow orchid and N-scale train nut! My best wishes for his recovery. Thanks for being responsible to his customers also.

 

[Happypaphy7]

I know so little about Ebay that it is scary... I've never gotten into that racket. Is there a way to notify people without having access to an individual seller's account? If there is I'll be happy to do that.

Given enough time I could probably hack his e-mail account (he has used my computer before and at one point I may or may not have had those skills, I plead the 5th). I just don't have the time. I guess it means I should probably give somebody my passwords or some way to get them, just in case it happens to me. I'm getting to the age where I could be gone tomorrow, I just don't like to think about it.

You have to get log-in information from him or whoever else knows, and then contact all the buyers about the hold up.
Otherwise, some people might start getting angry.

 

[jacqi]

E-bay page

I just checked his e-bay page and there are no orchids listed. It's just trains
and a book.

 

[MattWoelfsen]

This is awful news. I will keep Alex in my prayers. He has been very good to me and my orchid society--coming to visit us once a year and bring beautiful and amazing plants. I hope he recovers. He has such a great sense of humor about growing, collecting orchids. Is it possible you can get ahold of ebay, explain what happened and see if they can help fulfil any of Alex's orders? I have checked his plant auctions and they all look like they have either been sold or expired.

 

[littlefrog]

This is awful news. I will keep Alex in my prayers. He has been very good to me and my orchid society--coming to visit us once a year and bring beautiful and amazing plants. I hope he recovers. He has such a great sense of humor about growing, collecting orchids. Is it possible you can get ahold of ebay, explain what happened and see if they can help fulfil any of Alex's orders? I have checked his plant auctions and they all look like they have either been sold or expired.

If there are no outstanding orchid orders I'm not going to worry about it. I couldn't do anything about train stuff anyway, I don't know a caboose from a hole in the ground and have no idea where he keeps that stuff.

 

[cnycharles]

god bless him, sounds serious and i wish the best for him

 

[SFLguy]

The last plant he sold was on the 11th


Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk

 

[ksriramkumar]

Wishes and Prayers for a speedy recovery.

 

[SlipperFan]

I'm sad to post this, but Alex died this morning. I don't know all the particulars, but apparently he had massive brain damage, so recovering wasn't an option. Alex was a gem, a valued and key member of the orchid community here in Michigan. His passing leaves a huge void here.

 

[Linus_Cello]

I'm sad to post this, but Alex died this morning. I don't know all the particulars, but apparently he had massive brain damage, so recovering wasn't an option. Alex was a gem, a valued and key member of the orchid community here in Michigan. His passing leaves a huge void here.

Please post an obituary if one is available. Condolences to his loved ones.

 

[troy]

The cycle of life, I hope he is blessed in the afterlife!!

 

[abax]

Condolences to his family. I hate seeing great orchid people disappear from our lives.

 

[NYEric]

Our condolences to his family. R.I.P.

 

[cnycharles]

Very sorry to hear