WondayCon
| Convention | |
|---|---|
| Name: | WondayCon |
| Dates: | 1974-1975 |
| Frequency: | |
| Location: | Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan and other venues |
| Type: | fan-run fan con |
| Focus: | general, Star Trek: TOS, Science Fiction |
| Organization: | Wayne Third Foundation |
| Founder: | |
| Founding Date: | |
| URL: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
WondayCon was an informal con hosted by Wayne Third Foundation, a student-run fan club and other student fan clubs.
How Many, and Numbering
There were at least five of them, and to make it more confusing, they started their numbering at "zero." The means that "WondayCon 1" is actually the second con.
Because the numbering of these cons are so confusing, their relative con reports can be confusing as well.
WondayCon 1 (the second con)
November 16, 1974
WondayCon 1 (the second con) Con Report
This was a very enjoyable, relaxed minicon, held at the Student Union on the campus of Wayne State University. There were Star Trek episodes, a couple of panels, movies and a thoroughly demented, wild auction for KWest*Con held between the evening movies.(The K-Con Committee wishes to thank the HDG peanut gallery cheering section for their aid in goading the bidders to higher prices.) We got a chance to meet friends and talk, buy a few of Joan Winston's goodies, gag on food from the machines downstairs, trade convention and Harlan Ellison anecdotes and generally enjoy ourselves. (Sharon counts learning to eat with chopsticks as one of the benefits of the event) The W3F hopes to repeat the event either in January or April.
One of the notorious HDGang-sters, Patti Peters, managed to crack her head on the floor and here's hoping that she's thoroughly recovered by now and as scrappy as ever.[1]
WondayCon 2 (the third con)
unknown date, sometime before February 1975
WondayCon 2 (the third con) Con Report
Wonday Con 2, held in the very shadow (on the NE side) of the Ambassador Bridge between the US and THEM, might better have been called Weirdy Con. This third in the series (yes, I can count; they started at 0) of microcons held quarterly by the W3F and its hangerson had some of the strangest attendees—my humble self not excluded. The attraction was less that of the program and guest (who didn't show) than that of the members. There were the panels, the first where Greg Hagglund and Stephen E. Clarke lectured futility on ST technology, and the last, where Carol Lynn, Patti Helmer, Cy Chauvin, Mary Brenner and I made a stab at discussing Ursula K. LeGuin's article in a back issue of Vertex, but what with the audience including Greg H., Ann and Bob Asprin in Dorsai drag, Roger Gregory and Mike McCleary from the Stilyagi Air Corps, and other such types, we got onto World War Two, the inevitability of history, "The Wasou, Palestinians, and other fun subjects. Likewise, the Art Show in itself was nothing much—two artists and Todd Bake—whereby $10-tops-changed hands. A couple of ST episodes, a short by Bradbury, and Nosferatu (rather a staple) wrapped up the rest of the program, and then the Charlie Cops kicked us out. But the real con—da true nitty, as dey say, gritty--is in the people. This is the Age of Michigan Fandom again, the Renaissance of the Slan Shack. Wayne Third Foundation, Terran Council, Stilyagi Air Corps, Waldo & Magic Inc., the Order of St. Liebowitz are the center of the virus. The lower Lower Peninsula is ours, gang; we march on Mackinaw in the morning. Then it's overland to Duluth. After all, what's Minneapolis got that we ain't got? A'sides sense, that is.[2]
WondayCon 4 (the fourth con)
Paula Smith read What Henoch Did aloud.
WondayCon 3 (the fourth con) Con Report
WondayCon 4 (the fifth con)
July 26, 1975 at West Town Park in Amherstburg, Ontario.
WondayCon 4 (the fifth con) Con Report
In the tradition of "The Party that Thinks It's a Con," this latest event in the Wondaycon series of minicons might be called the "Con that Thinks It's a Picnic'.' This picnic-convention took place July 26, 1975 at West Town Park in Amherstburg, Ontario. Activities during the day included a costume contest, with a Kelly Freas print, signed by Kelly himself especially for this event, going to the winner, and visits to nearby Fort Maiden Historical Park and Museum. The picnic menu included everything from hamburgers and charcoal broiled corn on the cob to superb egg sandwiches and fresh watermelon. And antigravity proved no mystery at all to the individual who figured out how to ascend the park's spiral slide...backwards! Evening brought a" beautiful sunset on the Detroit River (really!), after which everyone retired indoors as the insect life took over. View screen malfunctions forced cancellation of the slide show, and rumors of visiting Scalosians were quickly dispelled when the culprit was identified to be a defective fan belt in the projector. No matter though, as filksinging filled the evening and continued on into the early morning hours of Sunday. Best of all, Wondaycon IV provided an opportunity for friends to get together and see each other again, even if for only a few hours in the afternoon or evening.[3]
References
- ^ Sharon Ferraro in Menagerie #5
- ^ con report by Paula Smith in Menagerie #5 (February 1975)
- ^ by Steve Clarke in A Piece of the Action #31