Although Bucconeer was still nearly two years away, the Pirates of Fenzance were active at L.A.con III reminding people of the fun and adventure awaiting them in Baltimore in August of 1998.
The Bucconeer Fan Table saw brisk business with over 200 people stopping by to purchase or convert memberships in Bucconeer, along with all the people who stopped by to pick up Progress Report One, report a change of address, or just learn a little more about Baltimore and Bucconeer. In addition, a number of people purchased the limited edition Pie-Rats of Fenzance t-shirt (with artwork by Joe Mayhew) or the brand new black and gold Bucconeer t-shirt (with artwork by Hannah M.G. Shapero). Our Fan Table was also the starting point for the Bucconeer Treasure Hunt. Congratulations to those hardy souls who successfully completed the Treasure Hunt! For those of you who missed it, look for the new Treasure Hunt next year at LoneStarCon2.
L.A.con III held an Ice Cream Social Thursday night and Bucconeer sponsored one of the booths. When deciding what carnival game was consistent with both the L.A.con III rat theme and with promoting a Baltimore Worldcon, the natural conclusion was Baltimore Rat Fishingña popular annual event. Unlike the Baltimore event, our contest involved fishing for plastic rats and the lucky contestants could keep what they caught. Rat fishing proved so popular that it was reprised at our party Saturday evening.
Knowing how Worldcons depend on the work of volunteers, Bucconeer hosted an afternoon tea party for those hard-working individuals who volunteered to work at L.A.con III, Lone-StarCon2, or Bucconeer. It was a pleasant three hours where volunteers could sit, relax, have a little iced tea or punch, and chat with our Captain, Peggy Rae Pavlat. (And if she talked you into volunteering to help Bucconeer, that is her special charm!)
The highlight of Bucconeer's activities at L.A.con III was the party we hosted Saturday night. House of Seagram's in Los Angeles donated Captain Morgan Rum so we could serve the wonderful Pink Thingie Punch, White Whale, and Rum and Coke that have been the trademark of so many Pirate Parties. As mentioned before, we had the Return of Baltimore Rat Fishing. We also had door prize drawings every half hour, with lucky winners taking home dinner-for-two certificates from local restaurants, some terrific books, Captain Morgan t-shirts, hats and cups, Star Trek and Star Wars toys and puzzles, and Bucconeer t-shirts.
I would personally like to thank Jane T. Sibley for providing the artwork for our Bucconeer badge stickers and all the people who made all of these activities possible. I hope you had fun helping and I look forward to seeing all of you at LoneStarCon2 and Bucconeer. Bucconeer would like to thank House of Seagram's in Los Angeles for donating Captain Morgan Rum for our party Saturday night. Bucconeer would also like to thank the following for donating prizes for our Treasure Hunt and Door Prizes:
| Broadside 2 | Bucconeer |