Winkie Convention Countdown: 24 Days to Go

Hey, everybody, if you read the comment on yesterday's post, you'll probably figure out that I've gotten some of my dates wrong. It was bound to happen, as I've been to thirty of these things. I'm afraid I'm not always going to be totally accurate. I'll just try to get close. Also, you may have noticed that I've been sort of going in chronological order. That was my initial goal, but I'm going to have to backtrack and go back to Wawona in 1983 for my next entry, as I remembered a big old chunk of stuff that happened there. The big event for me was that for the first time, I entered the costume contest. As I was going down with Karyl, I got to stay at her place the night before we took off. And we concocted a costume for Fess, from Merry Go Round in Oz. And why Fess? Because that year was Merry Go Round's twentieth anniversary, and the special guests were the authors, Eloise Jarvis McGraw and Lauren Lynn McGraw*. I'd already met Eloise at an Oogaboo Rendezvous (it was quite a day, I'll have to tell it some time), but this was Lynn's first big Oz event ever, I believe. So, getting back to my costume...Let's see, if I remember right, it was sky blue tights, red shorts, a big billowy white shirt, and a Peter Pan-style cap. The best part, however, was that Karyl whipped up a little Flittermouse, which was pinned to my shoulder. (I still have that Flitter, resting proudly on my shelf with several other dolls Karyl has created.) I think the McGraws were amused at my costume, as well as Leigh Avila dressed as Emeralda Ozgood from their other, more recent book, The Forbidden Fountain of Oz. I know there were quite a few pictures taken of Leigh and me with our "parents".

The other big memory I have of 1983 was the Friday evening entertainment, an Oz version of Family Feud. I was recruited for the Hopper team, and poor Lynn McGraw, who is not much of an Oz expert despite being a Royal Historian, was on the Horner team. It was fun, it was raucous, and we annoyed a retired judge who was staying in the suite above our meeting room.

*Yes, I know she was originally credited as Lauren McGraw Wagner on the cover, but by that time, she'd changed marital status and was using her maiden name, as she did on the second Oz book she co-authored with her mother, The Forbidden Fountain of Oz, as well as the later Books of Wonder reprint of Merry Go Round. Now, to further confuse things, her name is Inana McGraw.