I think everyone is appreciative of the effort that goes into a successful Convention such as Recon. And while most folks know the primary players, such as our Convention Director Chuck Kennedy (his nickname “The Mouth of the South@ wasn=t earned for nothing) it is nice to recognize all those behind the scenes who pitch in so you can enjoy the show. From Left: Julie Doble, Ray and Heather Phillips, Marc Rebhun, and PJ Condray (small dog out of sight to PJ’s left.) PJ Condray. I can’t imagine a show without PJ. She has taught countless volunteers the right way to run the desk and the show. She always is looking for ways to do things better, quicker, and with less effort to ensure our players, game masters and dealers have a smooth registration. If there were one person I would point to for the success of our Cons, outside of Chuck, it would be PJ. Heather Phillips. Heather stepped in this convention to fill in for another regular who couldn’t attend. Without word one of complaint she weathered the storm of registrants who mobbed the registration desk and brought order from chaos. She also served as an unofficial translator when several of her countrymen showed up at registration (The Americans and British, a like people separated by a common language -- Winston Churchill). She did all this while maintaining a wonderful sense of humor. Jeannie Kennedy Little did Jeannie know that becoming involved with Chuck carried the penalty of adopting all us miscreants. From the beginning Jeannie asked What can I do to help, what do you need for me to do. I am sure, by the time of the show, she is sick of hearing about it yet if she is, it doesn’t show. Whether it is registering folks, answering questions or even such glamorous tasks as tabulating a current count Jeannie does so with class and style. Kimberly Mason Kimberly had to be “thrilled” her dad volunteered her to help out at the front desk. Yet she is another member who pitched right in to get the job done. She quickly picked up the routine and was running the desk in no time. There was even a very spiritual and philosophical conversation which she led at the front desk, and one which still remains unanswered and will need to be pursued at Hurricon; A Is there such a thing as a perky Goth? “* *Granddaughter calls herself a “Happy Goth” for whom the uniform seems to be black with Polish crimson or lime green trim. (also Ed.) Scott Presley, Nicholas and Cassandra Cardarelli When the Lakeland Role-play Guild agreed to become a part of our Cons, they also volunteered to help out. Well help out to me is maybe help put programs in pre-registration packets or help organize the registration desk. Don=t tell these folks! I don=t know if you noticed, but at Hurricon 2004 the three of them were running the desk by themselves, no South staff, in order to give the rest of us a break. This show we had repeated offers from Nicholas and Cassandra to do whatever needed being done. They seemed almost disappointed we had a few extras Helpers@ this time. Scott made the mistake of stopping by when we were busy and short-handed and was quickly drafted since he had already run the desk, no training needed. You wouldn’t have known we had imposed on him; he really seemed pleased to help out. Cant say enough about these three and the Guild=s contribution to Recon and Hurricon. Julie Doble Did you like the fact that the registration desk opened on time for Hurricon? Thank Julie, it wouldn’t=t have without her help. Like the fact you are getting new membership cards? Once again thank Julie (with help from PJ of course). The fact she is one of our game masters hasn’t stopped her from pitching in and helping out. Julie has the Can do@ attitude which mirrors that by our other volunteers. Give her a task and get out of the way! A special thanks to our Board of Directors but not for the reasons you may think. Each and every Board Member stopped by the desk numerous times to check on us and see what they could do to help out. A special thanks to Ray Phillips. Several times we had to impose on Ray to watch the desk or do some small task. Ray=s attitude is like that of the board, if its for the members and the Con count me in. I am leaving out countless others who have helped in ways large and small and I would hope they forgive me. It does indeed take a village to put one of these on so remember to thank the village residents. From your humble village idiot, Marc Rebhun Marc’s view, naturally, doesn’t include himself, since he is in the middle of it al looking out.. But it is obvious to the rest of us that he is vital to keeping the whole operation moving. Ed. Back to Rebel Yell No. 30 Table of Contents Back to Rebel Yell List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 2005 by HMGS South 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