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Karen Angulo steered the Pirates of Fenzance in a shipload of activities during LoneStarCon 2, the 1997 Worldcon in San Antonio, Texas. Covert Beach and his crew signed up 240 new attending, 24 supporting, 12 child members, and processed 60 conversions at our fan table. They handed out almost four cases of our second progress report and sold over 50 of our colorful limited edition "Pirates of Chanur" t-shirts.
by Judith Kindell
Bucconeer once again had a Treasure Hunt at the Worldcon! Fans of all ages explored LoneStarCon 2, following clues and seeking new adventures as they completed their maps by gathering stamps, stickers, and information.
Bucconeer congratulates the people who completed the Treasure Hunt and won prizes in our daily prize drawings:
Johnny Carruthers, Gerald Collins, Jared Dashoff, Donna Jones, David Kushner, Stephanie Lasley, John Maizel, Lynda Manning-Schwartz, and Benjamin Massoglia.
We thank LoneStarCon 2 for allowing us to post our clues and the San Antonio restaurants that donated gift certificates: County Line Barbeque, La Fogata, Rio Rio Cantina, and Schilo's Delicatessen. I would personally like to thank Mary Bentley, Elspeth Burgess, Sam Lubell, and John Pomeranz for helping to create the clues.
Join us in Baltimore for the bigger and better Bucconeer Treasure Hunt!
by Quinn Jones
On Wednesday, August 27th, Karen Angulo's crack team of party specialists departed for San Antonio. Our relatively smooth flight came to an end shortly after we crossed the Texas border. Our plane jostled and dipped, yet the crew acted as though nothing was happening. At first we were concerned, then puzzled, but we soon figured it out—everything really is larger in Texas, including the air molecules.
The Hugo Nominee's Party was on Saturday. We had balloons, paintings of "failed" Hugo designs, and lots of food set out. Our centerpiece was a large round table entirely covered in our specially made (three inch tall) chocolate Hugos for each nominee and/or acceptor. It was amazing the relish some took in biting the head off their rocket. A photograph of the chocolate Hugos appeared in the October issue of Locus.
We also had a small, yet very shrill, group of revelers sucking the helium out of our balloons and...singing show tunes! (To all of you—you know who you are—we promise there will be more helium balloons at Bucconeer!)
The room was packed but with the food, alcohol, and chocolate, no one minded. The Japanese Seiun Party across the hall graciously provided our guests with highly prized "headbands". By 3:30 a.m., we had to beg the last of our revelers to leave. What? No—not to sleep, rather to make it to the hot tub for the 4 a.m. opening!
Thanks—again—to Claire Eddy, Tor Editor, for her greatly appreciated donations to our party. A special thanks to Captain Morgan and those parties who kept us supplied with soda as the morning rolled in. We'd also like to know the identities of those responsible for floating on our doilies in the the smoker's room. [Huh? – Ed.]
Sunday, our pirates on tropical vacation theme party went quite well! Michael Nelson worked the door and didn't scare off anyone with his loud print ensemble. Kitty encouraged merriment and forced food upon all who entered. I worked our stuff-you-need-to-buy table and sold pirate goodies. Rikk kept the crowd happy with his concoctions in our flamboyant Captain Morgan's hurricane glasses. Bob MacIntosh took memberships from those still not registered. And Krissy placed Captain Morgan temporary tattoos on all who stood still long enough.
There were the "Hula Guys" (Joe Campbell please call, we have photos you don't want the public to see), hat dancing, and t-shirt give-aways.
Monday, the Bucconeer–Chicon 2000 Dead Crab Party was hosted by our fearless leader, Karen Angulo, who allowed us a night's liberty on condition that we return to help clean. We happily agreed and went out to dinner on the Riverwalk. At our return, we began the early morning shutdown of the last semi-official party of LoneStarCon 2.
by Lance Oszko
Friday night, the cauldron of Chesapeake Chili-filled with savory spices, succulent tender crab, and secret ingredients passed down from centuries of preparing Salmagundi (grand pirate feast)—had been bubbling for hours.
Captains Lance Oszko and Lisa Ashton-dressed in tropical blue and burgundy velvet pirate garb—put forth our presentation in the Con Suite. Ably assisted by Raymond Snyder and Arwen Rosenbaum, we soon overtook our competition. Urging the crowd to join Bucconeer, support the library (cookoff beneficiary), and fill their heretofore unknown craving for pirate cuisine we plied them with tattoos and chili.
Our endeavor was met with approval and gusto. Fen came back for seconds and thirds. Money poured into the collection jar, even outright donations. At the close of the chili cookoff, we had raised a record $102 for charity.
by John Pomeranz
The world premiere of The Pirates of Fenzance attracted a boisterous and appreciative crowd. Bucconeer's morality play about a group of fun loving pirates that tries to take over the Worldcon put a fannish spin on Gilbert and Sullivan. In fact, we think we heard Gilbert and Sullivan spinning (in their graves) during the performance.
The show told the story of young Frederic, torn between his duty to the Pirates of Fenzance and his love of serious scientifiction. In the course of the tale, Frederic encountered the very model of a Fannish Individual, not to mention the Party King and the lovely young Mabel.
By the end of the show, Frederic had gotten the girl, the Party King had lost his clothes [Should we print a photo of the Party King in his Loony Tunes underwear? – Ed.], and the Fannish Individual reminded us all that...
We share a common bond that's ill-defined and almost mystical;
Each of us in some way is a fannish individual.
by Judith Kindell
Who makes everything possible at a Worldcon? Volunteers, of course. Those brave souls who devote their time and energy to make Worldcons successful are the unsung heroes of Worldcons.
To show appreciation for these efforts, Bucconeer hosted a Volunteer Tea on Sunday afternoon for LSC2 volunteers along with people who have volunteered for Bucconeer.
Peggy Rae Pavlat spoke to the crowd about our plans for Bucconeer and talked a number of people into filling out the Dreaded Bucconeer Volunteer Form.
If you want to join us and volunteer for Bucconeer (or think you have, but did not receive our holiday card in January), please contact Gina deSimone at vols@bucconeer.worldcon.org or our postal address for a copy of the Dreaded Bucconeer Volunteer Form.
LoneStarCon 2 Chairman, Karen Meschke, handed over the Worldcon gavel to Peggy Rae Pavlat on Monday. Elaine Brennan, LSC2 Emergency Holographic Volunteer Coordinator, was returned to Bucconeer relatively intact. And the LSC2 armadillo "Chaz" was shanghaied by pirates Bob MacIntosh and Michael Nelson for the Queen of Fenzance, Shirley Avery.
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