From: Darryl Smith
Something I received in the mail recently from one of our Pennsylvania members:

Darryl,

Just wanted to thank you, and all the others involved, for making Advance the Colors such a good time!

I'm looking forward to next year.

Do you think a small DBA tourney would be possible? I'd consider running it if you're interested.

Thanks, again, Dennis Frank

Dennis,

Thank you very much for the kind words, it is nice to receive a positive note unexpectedly. We, too, look forward to next year's convention.

In answer to your inquiry about a DBA tourney, I think it would be a wonderful idea. If you take a glance at the membership directory, many of our members game in the ancient period, and DBA is such a great intro to miniatures type of game. I'm not sure who will be involved with next year's convention, but as far as I'm concerned, we would like your help in pulling this off.

Darryl

To the HMGS-Great Lakes Board and staff of Advance the Colors '97

I had the pleasure of attending my second HMGS-GL convention this past week. Advance the Colors '97 - despite all the problems surrounding the date and location - was an excellent convention. My experience at the 'con was great, and I hope all the other attendees share my satisfaction with the event.

I arrived at mid-day on Friday to see if the staff needed help with setting up for the 'con. I was impressed with the new location at the Holiday Inn just south of Dayton, Ohio. The facility - especially the lighting - was a great improvement over the previous year. The site has simple access to the interstate and the hotels facilities for gaming were quite good. Breakfast at the hotelssrestaurant was good, while the food at nearby T.Ts was a good value.

The convention itself was an impressive display of how HMGS-Great Lakes has grown as a chapter in the past years. I counted 38 games played, not counting the few canceled for lack of players. Though there were many ACW games provided there was a good mix of other events ranging from Seven Years War through Arab-Israeli. Greg Simpson's second day at Gettysburg game was easily the single most impressive game I witnessed, both in attention to detail and sheer size. Brian O'Leary provided yet another visual treat for the W WII gainers.

Besides gaming, the big reason I go to a convention is the dealers. I was happily impressed with the number (TEN!) and quality of the dealers in attendance. Though the number of dealers apparently meant packing them in tight, I happily put up with the tight quarters considering the great selections this made possible. My own favorite scales and periods - 1/600 naval and 15mm WWII - were very well represented by the dealers offerings. I easily spent more than 1 did at Cold Wars each of the past few years. I picked up new releases from Peter Pig's ACW naval line courtesy of the Colour Sergeant, and some new Military Miniatures 15mm W WH from Division after Division Grandiosity - Bob French's on-line hobby shop - provided a great mix of figures and the latest books us historical folks like to purchase.

Surprisingly, we had a good mix of volunteers to staff the desk this year. They did a great job and deserve a big round of thanks for their contribution to our hobby. Thanks guys! Volunteers help make our convention a reality, and volunteering your time is an easy - and visible - way to directly participate in HMGS-GL.

Certainly, there are areas we need to improve on for future events. The program really needed a map of the convention layout, and a guide to local restaurants would have been a great help to the out of town visitors.

I'm glad to see that HMGS-GL is working on securing the same local for '99. I'm already looking forward to next year.

Sincerely, Allen Ray Garber