KaCSFFS Picnic June 18, 2016

What: Monthly KaCSFFS Meeting and PICNIC

Where: The Writers Place

3607 Pennsylvania Ave., Kansas City, MO 64111

When: Saturday, June 18, 2016

6:00 Meeting Begins!

6:30 Latest time the meeting will end. Program begins!

Food Theme and Program: Indoor-Outdoor Picnic 

NOTE: KaCSFFS provides tableware, cups, plates, hamburgers, hot dogs, buns, and some drinks (leftover soft drinks and some alcoholic beverages from the ConSuite). 

Individual members--in this case Jim Murray and
Margene Bahm, in 2015--provide grills and their skill.

Individual members provide grills and charcoal, salads, sides, desserts, and their own additional beverages or grillables. Please see the Meeting Preview post for links to recipe ideas. 

For several decades our Annual Picnic has been held on the June meeting, so we can eat or drink any lingering ConSuite leftovers that are still good from ConQuesT, relax with friends, and recover from the work of putting on the convention. 

Indoors or outdoors, KaCSFFS cooks offer great food!

Bring indoor and outdoor games!

We'll return to a June Picnic this year, with an Indoor-Outdoor event at The Writers Place that allows our members with health issues to enjoy the party, too. 

No Picnic would be complete without games as well as food, so please bring favorite lawn games and/or tabletop games (duration: no more than 2 hours, please!) to share with friends!

IMAGES: All three photos were taken by Jan S. Gephardt, at KaCSFFS meetings in 2015 and 2016.

Early Preview: KaCSFFS Picnic returns to June Meeting!

cartoon by Alexis Gilliland

Here's ADVANCE NOTICE: Plan ahead, for the KaCSFFS Picnic!
As announced earlier, this year we return to the month of June for our picnic. Not this week, though--the Picnic will be on our regular meeting-day of June 18th, the 3rd Saturday, at The Writers Place, 3607 Pennsylvania Ave., Kansas City, MO 64111. 

We discussed venues, and although several members really wanted to return to our earlier tradition of outdoor cookouts in parks, input from other members convinced us to choose the path of inclusiveness. Since some of us have allergies, sensitivities, and limitations due to illness and/or mobility issues--AND we want everyone who is part of our community to enjoy the picnic--we will once again have an indoor-outdoor picnic.

Part of the spread at the 2013 Picnic.

Since the Picnic is a food-oriented event, it seems appropriate to offer some suggestions and resources. We will have grills going outside, leftover drinks (both alcoholic and soft) from the ConQuesT ConSuite, and tableware provided by KaCSFFS. What we need from members is everything else! 

Bring salads, sides, desserts, and anything else you care to bring and share! Here are links to some of the many resources for delicious recipes online:

Allrecipes "Picnic Recipes"
Cooking Light's "Top-Rated Picnic Recipes"
Country Living's "75+ Summer Picnic Recipes" and "15 Essential Grilling Tips"
BuzzFeed's "23 Easy Picnic Recipes that Everybody will Love," and
Food & Wine's "Top 10 Picnic Foods and Recipes" 

So there you have them: options. See you at the Picnic! 

IMAGES: Many thanks to File 770:164 and Alexis Gilliland, for the "T-Rex Picnic Chef" cartoon, and Country Living for the picnic table shot at the end of this post. The photo from the 2013 Picnic is by Jan S. Gephardt. 

Your Turkey has Spoken!

A little Thanksgiving cheer . . . 

Or not?

IMAGE: Many thanks (we think) to The Geek Goddess for this image.

KaCSFFS Halloween Party-10/19/13

The Monsters' Tea

Aaron Hollingsworth, in freaky-face!

Date: Saturday, October 19th
    Setup: 5:30 (help appreciated!)
    Party: 7-9:00
    Business Meeting: After the party
Place: The Writers Place (It’s haunted, you know!*)-3607 Pennsylvania Ave., Kansas City, MO 64111
Theme: The Monsters’ Tea
Everyone is welcome!

The party-planners in our group have outdone themselves this year.  The Monsters' Tea of 2013 has a wide range of fun things planned--no matter what your Halloween favorite-thing-to-do may be!

Many thanks to Susan Satterfield, Susan Ives, Becky Rickart, Sherri Dean, Diana Bailey, and Jimmy Hollaman, for their efforts!

Pumpkin/Gourd Decorating

Go for cute, scary, or elaborate!

We’ll have a pumpkin/gourd decorating contest with the winners to be determined by vote of the attendees. Categories:
Scariest
Cutest or Funniest
Most Ornate
Please note: if you make a traditional jack-o-lantern, no candle flames can be allowed in the Writers Place – use a flashlight or something similar, instead!

Food (of course!)
We’ll a food contest, too, with the winner determined by vote. Bring your
scariest
funniest
tastiest
dish, and a card or note describing what the dish is supposed to be (just in case we can’t tell!)
The organizers are providing punch. Otherwise, bring your beverages or coolers.

Costumes (the best part?)
Costumes are encouraged. We mean –really-- encouraged.

These are BritishFest kids, but KAXFEN can get it right, too!

If you don’t wear your own costume, a special committee comprised of Susan Satterfield, Susan Ives, Becky Rickart, Sherri Dean and Diana Bailey may, uh, decorate you with costume materials they’re bringing. Awards will be presented to:

the scariest costume,
the funniest/cutest costume,
the best science fiction costume,
the best fantasy costume,
the most ornate costume,
the best kid’s costume.


Dance Events

It won't be complete without you!

Becky Rickart and Susan Satterfield will host a Halloween “limbo” event. Warm up your backs beforehand.
And we’re told there will be dancing – can you do “the Monster Mash? – hosted by Susan Satterfield. More prizes!

Halloween Quiz
Has, unfortunately, been cancelled. (Sorry for the disappoints all.)

(And some KaCSFFS Business)
And finally, the SCARIEST thing of ALL!!! Treasurer Cindy Norton will be collecting late dues from members and/or new dues from the ravenous hordes of new members sure to descend upon this fabulous … I mean … horrible event!

(Badges will be on site and ready-to-make! Come and get yours hot off the press!) 

There will be a short business meeting after the party.  Hang around afterwards, to help clean up.

IMAGE CREDITS: Many thanks to Robin W. Bailey, for the bizarre pic of our own Aaron Hollingsworth, Kristin, of the Homespun with Love blog, for the photo of the decorated gourd, Moose Mendolia for the parenting-advice photo from the BritishFest Facebook page, and Zazzle for the illustration of the dancing monsters.

*For more information on the haunting of the Writer's Place in Kansas City,  please check out Ghost in the Mirror: Real Cases of Spirit Encounters. (Excerpt from Google Books)  

Highlights and Awards from Past Meetings

Fifteen extra minutes of fame!
In the past several months we've had a number of occasions to recognize some of our own, or join together in a group effort. This post was inspired by the Valentine King and Queen voting, at the February meeting, so let's start there!

Jo Dixon and Susan Ives are the 2012 KaCSFFS Valentine King and Queen.

Valentine King and Queen
The assembled group voted from among a number of very fine costumes, but the clear winners were Jo Dixon and Susan Ives.
Balloting and admission to the party brought in $92 and 29 food pantry items for Harvesters.

Valentine Food Item Winners
Lately, where there's food there's a contest, and the February meeting was no different. Members and guests brought some truly delectable items.

February Honorees were Bruce Marshall, for "Individual Strawberry Cheesecakes," and Mary Chambers for "Tomato/Cheese Kabobs" and "Red Velvet Cookies". Voters also gave a special Honorable Mention for Creativity to Cindy Norton, for her "Remains of an Andorrian Heart After Battle with Klingons."

Chili Cook-off Winners
At January's meeting we had our Third Annual Chili Cook-off. When the votes were tallied, the winners were Ron Davis for first place; Diana Bailey second; and Jim Murray third. 
Maybe someday we'll come out with an official KaCSFFS Cookbook that could feature the recipes that have won our various food/cooking contests . . . though perhaps we won't ask Cindy for her "Remains of an Andorrian Heart" recipe . . .


Recent Promo Photos 
Free stuff is good! And in recent months the club has had fun gathering for group shots with free T-shirts, posters, and other S.W.A.G. (stuff we all get), which prompts the film promotion company to send us yet MORE free T-shirts, posters, and other S.W.A.G. 
It's kind of like a Great Circle of S.W.A.G.

In January most of those present assembled at the Writers Place staircase to pimp the movie Underworld Awakening.  Yes, some of them are holding what look like packets of blood (it is actually colored sugar water).

In February, Party Coordinator Sherri Dean (at left) posed with prize winning cooks and Valentine royalty to promote the movie Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.

Halloween Costumes!
At the October meeting we had a great turnout of gifted costumers . . . but to our chagrin we can't find the names of the winners (We had them. Didn't record them. Augh!!). If the Halloween winners would please comment or contact the Communications Officer, we'd like to set the record straight!


40th Anniversary Honorees

Founder and former Director Ken Keller received
an Honorary Lifetime Membership.

Some of the most important awards given recently by the Kansas City Science Fiction and Fantasy Society, Inc. were announced at the September meeting, when we celebrated our 40th Anniversary of existence as an organization.


Very few Honorary Lifetime Memberships have been awarded in the group's history, but the Board of Directors decided unanimously that it was past time to award one to one of the organization's primary Founders, Ken Keller. 


Keller not only was central to founding the club, but also chaired the 1976 Kansas City Worldcon, Midamericon, and he remains an actively-involved member to this day.

The Tom Reamy Award for Excellence in Science
Fiction Endeavors was presented to Jim Murray.

Another of the group's highest honors is the Tom Reamy Award for Excellence in Science Fiction Endeavors. The 2011 recipient of this honor was our own "Dr. Paisley," James ("Jim") Murray.


In addition to these awards, KaCSFFS Awards of Recognition for Outstanding Contributions to Fhandom were awarded to six individuals: 
Cindy Norton
Ruth Lichtwardt
Diana J. Bailey
Tracy Majkol
Keith Stokes
David Sooby


Each of these has been important and active in aspects of the club's mission and function. Congratulations to all of our recent honorees!


IMAGE CREDITS: The photos of the Valentine Royalty and Ghost Rider promotion are by Jan S. Gephardt, and may be used under a Creative Commons license which specifies they may be used with credit given and without alteration; the photo of the Underworld promotion and scans of the two awards are from Robin W. Bailey, and are used with his permission.