Sopron Alliance
| Fan Club | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Sopron Alliance |
| Dates: | 1988 - ended before 1994 |
| Founder(s): | |
| Leadership: | Kathy Coy Cindy Rancourt and Julie Lounsberry |
| Country based in: | New York, NY USA |
| Focus: | Blake's 7 |
| External Links: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Sopron Alliance was an New York based Blake's 7 fanclub. They produced a newsletter called On the Rocks and also organized the relaxicon Weekend On The Rocks.
From a 1988 blurb in Freedom City Gazette #4:
The Sopron Alliance is a new Blake's 7 club which is forming in the New York City area. They propose a monthly newsletter as well as monthly meetings in the New York area, a possible fiction zine, and a convention yearbook. U.S. dues are $8.00/year overseas fans inquire with two IRCs and a SASE. Sample newsletters are $1.00 and a SASE. Make checks payable to Ms. Cindy Henry, c/o The Sopron Alliance, PO Box 6088, FDR Station, New York, NY 10150, USA.
A fan in early 1990 wrote: "Have you ever seen the scandal sheet of an East Coast Blake group called the Sopron Alliance? They are a uniquely bonkers set of admirers of the BBC's renegades." [1]
The club was known for its humor and for its parties, particularly held during Blake's 7 conventions. The most famous were the "Pajama Party in the Bar" parties, where members would wear the most outrageous pajamas to the bar and spend the evening dancing, drinking, and associating with the various convention guest stars. Fanzines and other 'fannish' media were a mainstay of the club and the conventions.
A Casualty of Time
This club suffered, alongside many Blake's 7 fan clubs, from the fall-out of The Blake's 7 Wars.
The Sopron Alliance continued to meet for quite awhile, with members coming from as far away as Philadelphia and Connecticut to the [central] New York City metro. Although the general excuse to meet was as a Blake's 7 club, the members actually consisted of fans from several genre gathering to share a love of fandom in general, sharing a drink or two, and friendship. The demise of the larger Blake's 7 fandom, due to squabbles between a group of fans and a star of the series, contributed to the lack of enthusiasm of Sopron Alliance members to continue to gather. Eventually, attendance began to wane - especially from those who had to travel to New York. Then too, fans drifted to other genre, including Star Trek and Starsky & Hutch among many others. The club lost its momentum and ceased to operate in the mid-1990's. [Source: Former member of the Sopron Alliance]
References
- ^ from The Clipper Trade Ship #66