An Open Letter to the Fans of Beauty and the Beast from the Chambers of the Carousels & Caverns Community

Open Letter
Title:	An Open Letter to the Fans of Beauty and the Beast from the Chambers of the Carousels & Caverns Community
From:	The Carousels & Caverns Community Executive Board for "A Distant Shore", the convention organizers of the 1995 BatB convention A Distant Shore
Addressed To:	Beauty and the Beast fandom
Date(s):	Dec 5, 1994
Medium:	print, email
Fandom:	Beauty and the Beast
Topic:	The Beauty and the Beast Classic Wars
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An Open Letter to the Fans of Beauty and the Beast from the Chambers of the Carousels & Caverns Community is a 1994 open letter to Beauty and the Beast fans.

It was a print letter, as well as sent to fans by email.

The Letter

"Hello all. As you may have heard the next convention entitled "A Distant

Shore" is to be held next year in Los Angeles, July 7–9, 1995. It should be extremely exciting and a wondrous occasion. We have been receiving an overwhelming response in the way of registrations and letters of encouragement. We'd like to thank everyone for their support as we are always soliciting from our "fandom family" their expectations, ideas (new or otherwise) and comments.

However, "A Distant Shore" is going to be something new and special. Our motto for the convention is "inclusion, not exclusion". This seems to be frightening certain people (as the unknown tends to do), and for the sake of time and prevention of carpal tunnel, we are addressing this issue publicly once and for all.

Invited to "A Distant Shore" are as many celebrity guests as we can manage. Seeing as how most of them live in the area, we should have quite a few. These guests to be invited include all the writers, producers, set people, and ALL THE ACTORS FROM ALL 3 SEASONS of Beauty and the Beast. Of course, some invitations have as yet to be confirmed. But we implore you to save your postage and writing utensils, and not to bombard our office with calls and letters, thinking we might yet be swayed to a personal point of view.

We regard everyone as part of our B&B family. That means guests and all fandom whatever their tastes. We do believe we will have something to offer everyone who attends. As family, we tend to bicker and squabble and yet continue to support and love one another and to defend our family stalwartly against outsiders. Therefore, please be at peace in your hearts. We are sensitive to everyone's needs and fears, hopes and desires, and will do our very best at scheduling a phenomenal milestone in our history.

For legal reasons, we must announce here that the committee for "A Distant Shore" reserves the right to expel individuals from the convention with no refund of monies for overt inappropriate behavior.

Again, sensitivities on all sides will be protected with loving care. It would be a tragic shame if some were to miss what is shaping up to be the most exciting convention in our family's history, simply because they gave way to their fear. All we ask of you is to open your hearts to new possibilities, to things that otherwise might never be, and to please give EVERYONE the courtesy and consideration you request for yourself. Our family is something as unique and special as Catherine and Vincent's bond.

Until then, whatever your "denomination", be well, beast wishes, and thank you all for helping to keep our most special DREAM alive."

Reactions

From the 1995 vol. 2 issue of Of Love and Hope:

I'd like to publicly tip my hat to everyone over at Carousels & Caverns for putting their foot down on this issue. Speaking as someone who is relatively new to fandom, and as someone who never really understood all the ill will that the whole classic/3rd-season arguments have generated, I think it's great that this convention is not going to let its agenda get dictated by one side of that argument or the other. If I spent the time and money to get out to a convention like that, I'd be pretty well pissed if all three seasons of the show were not well represented. It's all Beauty and the Beast, and the cons should mirror the lessons that the show tried to convey. And as we know, "exclusion" was never a moral of BATB's story. Keep up the good work and stick to your guns, folks, and you'll end up with a con that EVERY fan can be proud of.

Just wanted to congratulate those in charge of the con for inviting everyone as guests from all three seasons.