Minneapolis and Sherlock Holmes @ 50: Thursday Night

In the past fifty years, the University of Minnesota based Sherlock Holmes collection has made a lot of friends. So when its golden anniversary needs to be celebrated, like any golden anniversary, you're going to see a lot of that family and friends showing up from all over the place. The initial limit was set at one hundred and sixty attendees, and that number of spots sold out months ago. So if a person was to sit in the lobby of the Courtyard Minneapolis Downtown all day today, they would be apt to see an array of notable Sherlockians from across the decades.

The Courtyard was a Holiday Inn the last time it was held here, I think. I missed at least one of the prior conferences held here, so I'm not sure, and I'm hoping the next few days fills in some of my memory gaps in what's gone on here in the last fifty years.

Tonight was a nice welcome reception at the hotel, where folks got to say hello, pick up a handy name badge to help with those names you might have forgotten, maybe have a slice of pizza and get something to drink. A charades game was organized and played, but with well over a hundred people re-connecting at the same time, we weren't entirely focused on it. Winners got a nice "SHERades" badge, and eventually we all had the chance to pick one up.

A lot of catching up went on, a lot of "Oh, I brought something for you!" things passed back and forth, some organizing of outings like some carloads headed for a local speakeasy for the more ambitious or a simple "We're headed over to the bar next door" for the less energetic (along with a few "I have to rest after a full day of travel"s). Since most of us just got here today from various distances and modes of travel, motivations varied. Me, I had fought afternoon traffic to get to an early screening of Deadpool & Wolverine at a local multiplex, so I wasn't as up for getting back in a car.

Tomorrow the serious program begins, but as one quickly learns going to Sherlockian events, the best part is just hanging out with other Sherlock Holmes fans, and we're definitely there already. I have a feeling that Facebook is going to be getting an influx of photos of actual Sherlockians, but for tonight, i'll just leave you with a photo of a badge and a button. The weekend doesn't start until Friday, does it?