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[All photos were taken by me, RFY, for this post!]
The inaugural gathering of The Novelty and Conversation Club was scheduled to begin at 7:00 P.M. (Pacific Standard Time) at the Mill City Grill in Longview, WA, USA, Earth. The event was announced through a Faceboot group post, and somewhere near 100 individual entities were sent electronic invitations. A few people shared the event on that social media platform, and of those invited (it was billed as a “public” event, so anyone was allowed to come), 3 indicated that they were “Going” and 20 claimed to be “Interested.”
The venue is an interestingly decorated building---I’m GUESSING built sometime in the 1930s, as many of the building on “Commerce Avenue” in Longview were constructed in the ‘20s and ‘30s, but I could easily be wrong. The décor is an “up-scale logging” aesthetic, with lots of woods, saw blades, and vintage tin signs around the walls. It’s actually quite cozy and inviting as an environment, with a cool vibe and visuals to enjoy.
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Our group met upstairs in the bar-slash-lounge area. Mariah and I arrived 15 or 20 minutes before the official start time and snagged a large “bar” area, made from a single slab of tree flesh that had been polished and varnished to within an inch of fracturing reality. The bar itself was long enough to seat 10 folks around it, rather comfortably, on tallish bar stools.
Besides Mariah and I, (officially the “hosts” for the event, although we were going for more a low-key, chat, have a few drinks mood, as opposed to a regimented "meeting" vibe,) seven other folks either attended or dropped by the table for a few seconds to say “Howdy!” Most of us ate pizza or the sweet-potato fries (with blue-cheese and bacon) appetizer or had a burger or salmon or some other meal. The food was good. (I don’t like blue-cheese, but I’m told that the folks who had the sweet-potato fries found them incredibly enjoyable!)
The topics of discussion included general chit-chat, catching up, babies (our older daughter, Frankie, is due in just a handful of weeks,) and ideas for future excursions. Mariah and I brought two books, Weird Washington and Weird Oregon---both by Jeff Davis and Al Eufrasio---to help think of local-ish attractions and destinations that might be exciting to visit. The two destinations that we discussed most were Enchanted Forest (just south of Salem, Oregon), a fun amusement park, with walk through attractions and a few rides; and the other was Marsh’s Free Museum in Long Beach, Washington---the home of the famous gaff, “Jake the Alligator Man.” Jake’s “Birthday” is being celebrated in August, and Mariah and I (at least) are planning to attend!
Overall, our meeting was a great time! It was nice to catch up, the mood was friendly, and the atmosphere and food were good. (If you check out the page for the event, there are a couple of photos from the festivities in the "Discussion" section, which were taken by my older daughter, Frankie!) The folks who I talked to afterward all seemed to have had a very good time, and (I THINK) everyone is looking forward to the next gathering in about a month. (Several folks sent messages saying they would have liked to attend, but that they had other obligations, in one case a serious injury, but they were hoping to come next time!) We aren’t sure WHERE the next gathering will be, but I’m sure it will be fun wherever it pops up!
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To commemorate this auspicious event, I (of course) created a limited edition “Attendance Card” for people who came and wanted one. I printed 24 cards, and then hand numbered (0 to 23) and signed the backs of them. Of the cards, I kept #0, and I gave away #s 1 through 8! The rest, (9 through 23), as was my intention from the start, I DESTROYED in an act of performance art. The destruction is documented below!
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It was oddly satisfying! (I might make a collage piece out of the scraps---I haven’t decided yet…)
Anyway, that is my full report on the First Gathering of The Novelty and Conversation Club. I declare the event a ROUSING SUCCESS! Those who came seemed to enjoy themselves, we had some good food, and perhaps our next event will add a few extra bodies to the number in attendance! (If not, Mariah and I will undoubtedly still enjoy ourselves! It’s kind of what we do!)
---Richard F. Yates
(Primitive Thoughtician and Holy Fool)
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