Alamo City Con

Star Trek Convention
Name:	Alamo City Con
Dates:	November 13-20, 1977 (eight days?!)
Frequency:
Location:	San Antonio, Texas
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Alamo City Con took place in 1977 in San Antonio, Texas at the Tropicana Hotel.

Two of the guests of honor were Walter Koenig and Grace Lee Whitney. The fan guests of honor were Jean Lorrah and Jackie Lichtenberg.

It is unknown if it had other media focus, but there was a large Star Trek contingent, including a Kraith Affirmation Ceremony.

Con Report

There was no reason to believe this little Con would be any other than the usual standard Texas one, with the giant dealers room a big tail wagging the tiny planned-program dog. So when I agreed to meet folks over there who lived a lot nearer, we all lugged along plenty of zines, scrap-books and slides to entertain each other, if it came to that. But somewhere along the way, to our delight, the planners had excellent fan input — and Alamo City Con became almost a fan-Con, with fan GoH writers Jean Lorrah and Jackie Lichtenberg putting on cost absorbing panels, and even an impressive Kraith Affirmation. This is not to say that there were not the usual attractions of cast guests, costume call, trivia contest, and even a dance Saturday night; but for the serious fen, having the guest-writers separated the sheep from the goats. Con-wise, Grace Lee Whitney and Walter Koenig were their usual low-key modest selves, mingling with the crowds and cheerily participating in everything they were asked to do ...this added to the feeling of one big happy ST family that was present in this gathering. It was hard to tell how many folks were in attendance, as although badges were seen to number above 1000 by Sunday, none of the film rooms held more than about 400, and I suspect that a lot of guests were coming day by day and registering. It was held at the Tropicana Hotel, really more of a hotel, with rooms very comfortable and I thought reasonable, with Terry Martin's/my nice double going for $29.00 a night.

It was a ten-hour drive for me to S.A, on Thursday, but I had Terry 's company from Houston on, Jean Lorrah had written that she and Jackie would be arriving Thursday night, and the Con flyer premised the action would begin Friday (no registration time mentioned) , so we were all set to have a great time when we cade it to the desk for check-in about 6 pm. We thought. The desk told us no one connected with the Con was anywhere on the premises, and that only two other guests had arrived. We were told Jackie and Jean would be arriving shortly. So we opted to unpack, catch the local ST hour, and make our appearance at the hotel restaurant at a fashionable hour. We soon repaired to the lobby tc await the arrivals of friendly faces...or t-shirts, or Spock buttons...anything to indicate that we were not alone in suffering the curious stares of the normal hotel population. Bulletins kept arriving from the airport-planes delayed, connections missed, and it was not until after 9 that Jackie and Jean finally arrived, friendly and cheerful as always, but slowed by fatigue and bothered with all the delays. We fell on them with glad cries of joy, but it was clear that they needed not rap sessions, but good bed rest, so we saw them off to their rooms and gloomily returned to ours to read zines and try fitfully to reach the one Con helper we knew, just to be in touch with somebody. To no avail, however, probably had her phone off the hook that night.

We did catch up with her the next doming, and established our room as a place where she and her friends could flop for a quick rest or zine-read in between their regular jobs. We also found out to our horror that registration would not begin until 4 p.m., and that no programming began until 6. This left another long day to be filled, with not even a program to study and plan from. Thanks to the ingenuity of our next door neighbor, however, by noon a program had been bootlegged for perusal — with the promise that it was on its way to Jackie and Jean's room. Which it was, but not before we had learned 14 hours of ST episodes were scheduled and numerous showings of the blooper reel, 12 old movies varying from

[much snipped, do to the inability to read the terrible mimeo, but there is a LOT about the Kraith Affirmation Ceremony led by Lichtenberg: includes filmy chiffon dresses, flickering candles, sunset, chalices, music, and sinking to the floor].

In November, 1977 I was to come face to face with Walter once again. I attended a con in San Antonio and found myself in the most peculiar position of hoping that he remembered me and hoping that he didn't because of the demise of the project. Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on your point of view, he had such a head cold that he couldn't have remembered his mother's face, let alone mine. I say depending, literally, because one minute I was intensely relieved and the next I was feeling miserable because I had told everybody that I knew him personally (?). In psychological jargon it's called "approach avoidance conflicts." In plain English, it's the pits. It was a yuck weekend to start with. Saturn was in my sixth house opposing Uranus, retrograde in the 12th with major T-square, no less!

By the middle of the day, despite the valiant efforts of my friend, Janice Hrubes, I couldn't help feeling bad. I had attended his talk session and sat in the front; he had seen me but did not recognize me. At first I was relieved.

Then Jacqueline Lichtenberg took me over to his autograph table and introduced us. He smiled, said hello, was very polite, but still no recognition. I went back to our table and the tears started. That's when Janice took me to our hotel room, forced straight Scotch down me and gave me a pep talk as well as a good scolding. When at last she had coaxed a small smile out of me, she took me in tow back He left the door wide open by unspoken, but mutual, consent,. That way if he grabbed me I could run or if I grabbed him he could run. Then we got down to work and both forgot to be nervous. What a fantastic intellect! He's not only an exceptionally fine actor, but a marvelous teacher. I'll never be able to thank him properly for all the help he gave me, not only on the project, but my acting as well.

[a lot of angst and sadness about not being recognized]

By this time Janice had gone on a personal vendetta to get him to remember me. Between a sermon on how they (the Stars) meet so many people they can't possibly hope to remember their faces, she was muttering vile imprecations on his head. Every chance she got she threw us together. She even went so far as to throw me in an elevator he was entering - when I wasn't going anywhere!

If we'd been two sticks of wood, she would have rubbed us together until a spark of recognition flared in his head cold.

Now staying with four other women in the same hotel room has a few advantages, like all the night gab sessions, a wide variety of makeup to borrow; but the chief drawback is the door. It never stays closed. Or should I say, it has a tendency to fly open at the oddest times. I was completely stripped in preparation for dressing for Jacqueline Lichtenberg's Kraith Affirmation when the door flew wide open. I looked up to yell at whoever opened it to close it, and saw Walter quickly jerking his head away and darting straight ahead. If one spark of recognition had flared in his eyes at that time, they would have had to list the cause of death as Total Humiliation. Somehow, I dressed and attended the Kraith.

The last day, at the last possible moment, he remembered me! Walter was standing outside his room with his bags, waiting for a porter, when we came out of the Dealer's Room. Janice, who never gives up, dragged me over for a friendly little chat. His eyes lit up with recognition. "Aren't you the girl from Baylor? Marsh?" I didn't trust myself to say anything. I just nodded up and down 1ike a crazed jack-in-the-box while the grin went from ear to ear.

My cup ranneth over - so did Janice's mouth! She suddenly remembered she didn't have an autographed picture of him and made him promise not to leave until she got one. She was off and running back into the Dealer's Room while I was left alone to sway from one foot to another - smiling like a benevolent pixie. (Gulp.)

My fears were completely ungrounded. Walter didn't say a word about the project and we chatted as if two days had passed since Dallas instead of two years. Janice came back and handed over a still to be signed, then passed me one as well. She thinks of everything!

All good things must come to an end. Walter's porter arrived. He left, and soon it was time for us to leave as well. We piled into my car with a small mountain of luggage and our mementos. I had the snapshot she took and the still he autographed. I had the new friends I made at the con and a painfully embarrassing memory of a door being thrown open. After seeing me in the altogether, doesn't he have to marry me or something? After all...

it is the Code of the Hills...isn't it?