Minneapolis and Sherlock Holmes @ 50: Friday evening

 After Jim Hawkins and Emily Miranker gave the second and third presentations of the afternoon, a refreshment break in the library lobby occurred, and instead of getting in line, this little podcaster started to scout a fairly quiet location for recording this week's Bull Pups review of Sherlock & Co. The final result was a spot in the upstairs hallway next to the Allen Mackler recreation of the 221B sitting room -- not without a little traffic or issues, but infinitely quieter than the three stories of the main lobby, echoing with the chats of a hundred and sixty Sherlockians.

That done, the police whistle blew to announce the Friends of the Sherlock Holmes Collections annual meeting, run by Gary Thaden, the president of same. Officers were elected, the health of the Collections was pronounced as good, and some news was imparted. Tim Johnson's coming retirement as curator of the Collections loomed large in that talk, but the news that he was staying on long enough to deal with some new additions to the collections was the sweet side of that bittersweet talk. Tim has been terrific in the role, actively promoting the Collections in places many Sherlockians don't dare to tread and building an ever-better archive of Sherlock Holmes here at the university. Coming additions include Denny Dobry's well-known and loved 221B recreation and author Laurie King's papers. (As well as something else I might have forgotten after the festivities of the evening that followed.)

Ira Matesky, karaoke king, Nero Wolfe scholar, and Sherlockian force of nature, was the meeting's guest speaker and big closing act for the day. Ira spoke on libraries, the items that can be found hidden in their archives, and the missing pieces of Sherlock Holmes history that are still out there to be discovered. And if that doesn't sound like a topic where a speaker could crack up the audience a few times along the way, you don't know Ira. More importantly, Ira inspired (and shoved, gently, in his Ira fashion) those in attendance to investigate their own local libraries for materials regarding Conan Doyle and Holmes that might have found their way there from local collectors over the years. People wrote to Conan Doyle from all over the world, and he wrote back. One just never knows.

Later that evening I would despair that we had no karaoke venue to entertain ourselves, but that was not because of anything lacking in Ira's performance. I've enjoyed every talk I've heard from him. (And I'm not just saying this because I know he's going to read it.)

After that, we all broke into little groups of dinner parties. I fell in with some old favorite Canadians and Texans, for dinner and drinks at the Corner Bar, then after a return to the hotel lobby and a "Why didn't we stay at the bar?" moment, heading the the outside patio of the Town Hall Brewery for more drinks and dessert.

The ever-thinking Sherlockian Brainiac of the "younger" generation, Max Magee, had worked out that 10:18 PM is 22:18 in military time, which is the minute that represents 221B Baker Street as well as 2:21 AM might, so at that moment a good dozen Sherlockians heartily recited Vincent Starrett's poem "221B" on a Minneapolis sidewalk, possibly puzzling the locals.

At which point, I quite literally stumbled off to bed, and saved this write-up for a clearer morning mind!