As strange as it may seem, it's time to make plans for the 4th of July weekend. At least, that is, if you'd like to run a game as part of the HOT Project at Origins 2005, June 30- July 3, in Columbus. The deadline to get your games into the Preliminary Events Listing is Jan. 10 -- just a couple weeks away. As most of you are aware, the Historicals Origins Team is one of our chapter's most successful recruiting efforts. Under the direction of Pete and Jodie Panzeri, historical miniatures have grown to be a major component of Origins, each year. Our own board member, Steve Smith, is returning again this year as HOT Director. He has an article in this issue about the benefits you receive at Origins as a Great Lakes member. The most important thing for our gamemasters is -- that as the designated Host Club -- we receive our weekend badges for HALF of the "gamer hours" that other HOT GMs do. So now it is even easier to get in free for the weekend! And it is through the efforts of our Great Lakes game masters, in the trenches running games, that our chapter receives the most benefit. Through our excellent historical miniatures events, board gamers, roleplayers, card gamers, etc., are exposed to the fun and pageantry of our niche of the hobby. I've stressed it enough before (so that you guys can likely recite it along with me), but these Origins attendees are fertile recruiting ground for HMGS. Each year, I see our chapter sign up new members that find out about us by attending Origins. And sometimes it takes only one recruit to go home and show his buddies The Herald each time it arrives, for a whole new Great Lakes enclave to start to grow. Just ask our thriving West Virginia contingent! I still remember chatting with Todd Smith while I was working the HOT Desk and signing him up. Look at the dividends -- he and his buddies, Nick Gillispie and Buck Chrzanowski, regularly drive up with even more members of the WV contingent for Warband, Warparty and ATC. Growth and success comes through good people, and with Origins' size and attendance, you can bet there are a lot of Todds, Nicks and Bucks out there for us to recruit. So, now is the time for all the gamemasters who have supported HOT so well in the past -- plus any inspired new ones -- to rally to the Origins drumbeat. What game would you like to run this year? Is there a project you've been working on and feel that Origin's stage will be the right place to showcase? Make your plans for July now, write up the event description, and send it in! Back to The Herald 62 Table of Contents Back to The Herald List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2005 by HMGS-GL. This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com