We had 188 participants at the Convention and over FIFTY games over the weekend. Friday began slow but built up over the course of the day with 65 people in attendance. Games from Lion's Den's Western Gunfight to War, War & More War's World War II offerings were well attended with some seeing what was going on And then going home to get their kids to enjoy the fun. Warhammer and a variety of space games were played to the delight of the crowd. George Knapp and his Alamo was played several times during Friday and Saturday until other games needed the space which was at a premium during Saturday gaming sessions. Saturday began STRONG and stayed that way. Table space was scarce as empty tables were occupied and open areas filled with more tables being set up as demand dictated. Greg Nichols' 1901 German invasion of America as well as Darrin Manna's Age of Reason Seven Year's War/ French and Indian War, Lion's Den's World War II Skirmish, Tactical Command Games' 2000 Moderns and anything from War, War & More War were big hits with everybody. Sometimes it is not the best looking game; the best run game, the most fun game or even the most attended game that deserves SPECIAL ATTENTION And RECOGNITION But, the class with which a person or persons deal with adversity. EASY EIGHT ENTERPRISES while coming up on Friday, lost all of their convention demonstration gear and inventory in a car fire but, they came in on Saturday to play in other's games as attendees. Planned was a Keg to be tapped on Saturday Night courtesy of Easy Eight Enterprises and even after their misfortune they followed their plan by providing a unique feature to the convention by giving everyone free beer for the rest of the evening. BRAD SANDERS AND DEVON COOLEY were PROUDLY PRESENTED with the BEST OF SHOW AWARD SPRING MANEUVERS 2000 We experienced a lot of families coming in who had no idea what to expect and they were treated to pick up games geared for the total novice. I myself was busy running an American Civil War game with turn by turn Morale ( non accumulative ) while finding tables for other games, handling my vendor table and getting paper towels for the Men's Room. Steve Allie was busy doing the same as well as running the Mexican War series and World War II N Gauge several times. George Knapp's Silent Auction was a BIG HIT! He was turning away entries and anything that wasn't priced high was getting considerable attention. 20mm World War II was courtesy of Brad Sanders and Devon Cooley; Easy Eight Enterprises and some of these items got heated competition. Bid Wars settled by George amounted to about $10 to $15 results and were actively watched by more than 40 conventioneers. My hand shook as I penned a $371.00 check for the stuff that I picked up but, successfully moved most of it as well as my other existing stock as did the other vendors there. My thanks to: George Knapp, Buffalo Books Jacob Kovel, Silver Eagle Miniatures Rusty Gronewald, Tactical Command Games Harold Morgan, Harold's Old Games Mike Tatum, Annistasia's Books Darrin Loomis, War, War & More War The Products that they offered were the BEST in painted and unpainted figures, accessories and High Quality Home Grown Rules Systems. HAHMGS; Greg McCall, Mark Duncan, Darrell Drumright and the rest of that club for making this the most enjoyable Convention possible. The gamers from St. Louis and Des Moines and points West came in great numbers over to share the moment. Thanks to the workers from the Frontier Army Living History Assn. for all their hard work. And of course, thanks to those who came to enjoy themselves, the conventioneers who make it all possible. Back to Table of Contents Penny Whistle #47 Back to Penny Whistle List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2000 by Lion's Den Publications. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com