Well gang its almost time for Advance The Colors. By the time many of you get this Historicon as well as Warparty!, will already have taken place. Where has the year gone? I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Rich Smethurst and his bunch of crazy gamers in Cincinnati for taking the bull by the horns and running Warparty! this year. Because of your work we could have the con earlier -- this year, rather than early next year. Thanks again, guys.

We also need to thank David van Hoose, our own VP and Advance the Colors Convention Director. He's doing a wonderful job, and if you have ever wanted to volunteer for anything, now's the time to do it. Drop Dave a line at his e-mail address or call. We can always use volunteers so please step up and lend a hand.

One thing that is nice to hear is a compliment. I called on Tom Dye of Minifigs to inquire about some of his miniatures, and he told me that in his opinion, Great Lakes and Pacific Northwest are the two chapters that have the most active membership in HMGS. That's great to hear. I'm continually amazed at how well we do with our volunteer staffs. I'm also amazed at the degree to which local groups are willing to go out of their way to host cons and other events and travel to each others little cons. My hats are off to the Colby's and the Pro or Con guys, and to all of you that make this endeavor work for us.

We are doing a great job, but we can always improve. We can always use folks to help us out, too. Right now we need some people who are willing to volunteer and spend some time helping out the recruiting committee. Darryl Smith has had to leave his post as Recruiting Officer due to a promotion at work (congratulations on the step up in the world), so that slot is open. I'm acting as the board point of contact. Any of you out there, who have wanted to help out, now is the time.

We also need recruiting ideas. We have several excellent ones that are listed in my report in this issue. If any of you have any other good ones, please drop us a line, either on the mail list, via e-mail, through the U.S. Postal Service, or even call us. That's what we are here for. We are doing a great job, let's keep up the good work. Now on with the gaming!