The Beginning of 1985

Welcome Back, folks, I've been scanning like crazy geting ready for the storm that was SoonerCon, beginning in 1986.  Here we have the beginning of 1985, when the planning began...

1985

Officers for 1985 are: President Tamara Baker; Vice-President Mark Alfred; Treasurer Mike Hodge.

At the first meeting of the New Year, it is decided that STAR will have a merchandise booth at the Mediæval Fair in April. Proposed items for sale include finger traps, rats on a stick, necklaces, and fuzzy dice. GG covers are assigned through August. The January GG includes reviews of current flicks (Dune, 2010, City Heat), and the first instalment of Bob Higgs’ “Remember the Heroes, a Super Hero Adventure Story.”

Compare October, 1984, when STAR OKC had four members, with this list of paid members who attend the February meeting:

Mike Powell
Tamara Baker
Mary Powell
Mark Alfred
Brandon McKay
J.R. Daniels
Cory Furse
Bob Higgs
Mike Hodge
Tammy Bothel
Denise Reedy
David Stone

(plus visitor Gerrod [sp?] Hardwicke) Not a bad little increase.



Time Capsule: The February GG has its first (of many) striking covers by the talented artist (and new member of STAR) Robert “J.R.” Daniels. Demonstrating the wide range of mem¬ber interest, this issue’s contents run the gamut from reports on the next STAR TREK film, to Part 1 of Prez Baker’s series on “The Regulation of Comic Books,” and the first GG look at upcoming conventions (another tradition alive today).

Much of the March meeting concerns the possibility of fundraising by selling concessions at the Fairgrounds or elsewhere, and a discussion leading to a list of 27 possible names for a Con that STAR might someday throw. Among the maybes are Connexion, Control, Convulsion, Convoke, Conclave, Concept, and — next to last, right before GalactiCon — the odd title SoonerCon. This last proposed name is marked with an arrow, but so are Prose and Con, and QuasiCon.

Much of Spring, 1985 is taken up with making items for sale at MedFair, and various concession fundraisers at the Myriad. Also, a tradition begins of scheduling a “second meet¬ing” every month that isn’t a business meeting but a party or other “fun thing.”

A member / contact phone list from March-May includes the first appearances of the names of future STARs Claire Stephens and Syd Henderson.

The April GG features an April Fools cover by Mark Alfred, complete with a mirror-reversed masthead. Titled “Special Movie Sequel Preview Issue,” it features silly captions and cobbled-together pictures, such as one showing Spock mindmelding with Dr. McCoy, who has the head of the Elephant Man. Along with various continuing columns, this issue also includes the first contribution by new member Veronica Blochowiak, a story called “Soul on the Rocks.”