Stargate (Star Trek: TOS con)

Convention
Name:	Stargate
Dates:	1984-1985
Frequency:	at least twice
Location:
Type:
Focus:
Organization:	London Group of the William Shatner Fellowship
Founder:	Kay Stagg
Founding Date:
URL:
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Stargate was a one-day Star Trek mini-con held in London.

1984

March 31, 1984

It was less than a year ago that the London Group of the WSF came together for the first time and decided to hold a one-day minicon for Bill and for the charity. (The charity of the London Group is the Diamond Riding Center for the Handicapped which had been approved by Bill a few months ago.) We went ahead despite the fact that none of us knew what we were doing!! We didn't realize the hard work, the planning and the worry that holding even a one-day con involved. But we think we did it right, because 114 people turned up on the day and as a group we made £437. Can't be bad! We are donating £200 of it in Bill's name to the Diamond Riding Center for Handicapped People; we have ordered our own secondhand duplicator so that we can print our own zines and the rest will go towards next year's minicon. Yes, we plan to go through it all again.

For us the con started on Friday evening when we spent hours climbing ladders which wobbled alarmingly every time we laughed, which was often; testing out the mike (Fiona was not happy about that); and the mammoth task of preparing all the food (thanks to Barbara and Sharon, you were marvelous!)

Then there were badges to make, videos to check, artwork to arrange, chairs to put out; but, despite all the hard work, it was FUN. By 2 A.M. we decided that legs and brains were not going to hold out much longer--in fact, all our brains had packed up and gone to sleep 2 hours previously. However, the excitement, worry, anticipation and hard floors proved too much--very little sleep was had by any of us. So, hollow eyed and haggard, we staggered down at about 6:30 A.M.

to see that our handiwork of a few hours past had paid off. We were surrounded by pictures and posters of Bill--it gave us all a good start to the day.

All the last minute things were finally done and STARGATE opened on time to the sound of Bill's voice saying "Space--the final frontier .... " and the music from the series. Fiona and I said our opening "speeches", then breathed a sigh of relief and galloped off the stage, glad that our appearance "up front" was over. Ian was our Master of Ceremonies for the rest of the day. There were three different film programmes, slide shows and, of course, playing the audio tape which Bill had recorded for us, which everyone seemed to enjoy immensely. The Charity Auction proved to be very popular and we had 24 really lovely items which had been donated by various people, including, of course, the beautifully signed photograph from "The Wrath of Khan" which Helen had sent over on Bill's behalf. There was some determined bidding for this, but it finally went for £26, the highest amount for a single item in the auction. Altogether we raised £l04 just for the Charity. I couldn't believe it, when I totaled the amount up the first time, my adding being abysmal anyway, but when Steve, our treasurer confirmed it, the whole of the London Group were practically dancing with joy!

The London Group table did very well, too. We sold pens, pencils, copies of Bill's audio tape, photos and of course, copies of our very first zine. We had 50 copies printed and had only 3 left at the end of the day. (We are reprinting the zine and taking the copies, as well as all the other items we had for sale, up to the next big Star Trek con in Msnchester.)

We all felt that by this time everyone was having a really good time--the London Group certainly were!! There was a relaxed and happy atmosphere and.we felt we had made e lot of new friends and to us, that is what the Fellowship is about.

A buffet meal was served at 8 P.M., prepared by our own 'chefs' and the con developed a distinctly party atmosphere.

The con closed about 10:30 P.M. and the group relaxed (collapsed!) in front of a video to watch the episode of "Hooker" that had been shown and recorded earlier in the evening. There on screen was the man who had made ell of the hard work, worry, sleepless nights on hard floors, headaches, panics and fun possible. THANKS BILL!!

Very special thanks to the London Group who all worked so hard and so enthusiastically to make STARGATE a success. Would We do it again? YES! We're planning it already.

1985

March 30, 1985 at the Kenneth Black Memorial Hall, Wimbleton, London.

There was a buffet party in the evening. Proceeds from the con went to the Diamond Riding Center which "catered to physically and mentally handicapped riders" age three and older.