dreamshark | Entries tagged with mnstf

There was a little snow on the pumpkin, but it was still a great meeting/party! 44 people signed in, including a few random strangers who stopped to admire Richard's Halloween display and got invited in. We had the firepits going in back and a few people braved the cold to partake in the outdoor portion of the proceedings.

The Masque of the Red Death masques up. Only in Minnesota does the Red Death show up in a snowmobile suit!

Minions!

And here's me, in a costume that is mostly hat, but a costume nonetheless.

More outdoor festivities, as Richard stokes the main firepit. That's one of my neighbors in the foreground.

Our first "picnic meeting" of the year went off swimmingly at the Crosby Farm Park fire pit in St. Paul (Feb 26). Yes, we had an outdoor meeting in February in Minnesota. The weather was cooperative, with sunny skies and temps peaking in the low 30s. There was enough breeze off the river to make even the mild temps a little chilly, but some of us stuck it out for the whole 4 hours. Thanks to Matt for organizing it and to everyone who attended.

This was not the plan, but somehow it turned out that the only two in-person Minnstf meetings this year (other than picnics in a park) were at our house, hosted around a backyard fire circle. Both were well-attended and highly successful. We had 38 signed-in attendees, so it was really bustling. But I can't prove it because once it got busy I completely forgot about taking pictures. This very nice shot of Dean and Laura shows the venue (as well as the obvious fact that Dean was born to live in the 19th century) but you'll have to imagine the other 3 dozen attendees. Thanks to all that attended! I hope we will still manage a few more meetings in this calendar year, but that remains to be seen.
ETA: by "we" I meant Minnstf in general, not just my household!

Crossposts: https://dreamshark.livejournal.com/577665.html

Yesterday we had the first Minnstf Picnic since The Before Times, and it was a great success! 35 people signed in, which qualifies as a Large Meeting in my estimation.

Thanks so much to our indefatigable hostess, Linda L, who applied a great deal of imagination and effort to the project. Her most remarkable innovation was 21 pre-made bag lunches, EACH ONE HAND LABELED WITH ALL INGREDIENTS! Yikes! There was a grill going and other people brought snacks so there was plenty to eat. spiderplanet graciously lent two of her lovely drink carafes so there was ice water and lemonade as well as the ubiquitous pop. I am falling in love with those carafes and seriously thinking of buying a couple myself, as I have been unable to find any in the trash.

We rented one of the more historically interesting (and expensive!) picnic shelters in the Minneapolis Parks system: the historic Beards Pleasance Pavilion (designed by the inimitable Harry Wilde Jones and built in 1904). It's a bit primitive by modern standards, but stately and sturdy and beautifully situated on the site to catch the lake breezes. Because of the cost we only rented it for a half day (4-10pm) but that turned out to be plenty of time. Linda brought a few lamps for the last hour of gaming, which was a good idea. However, the gamers were resistant to the idea that it was going to get dark and started their last game in a location that left them finishing up in what certainly looked like "dark" to me, so the lamps only got used during the packing up phase of the picnic. Still a nice idea, and one that extends the usefulness of the afternoon shift in the park rental calendar.

The only picture I remembered to take was this remarkably mediocre one of the gaming tables. It doesn't really catch the full ambiance of the picnic gathering, but does give you an idea what the shelter looks like.

Crossposts: https://dreamshark.livejournal.com/567325.html

This is the first in-person Minnstf meeting since March 2020. The weather looks pretty good: 10 degrees cooler than yesterday, no rain, less humidity, gorgeous blue skies. Ten more degrees cooler would be nice, but this should do. I'm a little nervous about entertaining for the first time in so long, but excited. It sounds like a lot of people are coming.

I'm kind of assuming that any local people who would see this have already seen the postings on natter and Facebook, but just in case, here's the details.

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DATE Sat, June 12.

TIME 4 pm - midnight (or later if we feel like it)

HOSTS: Richard Tatge and Sharon Kahn

ADDRESS Dream Park (4002 Pillsbury Ave S, Minneapolis)

FFI sharon.kahn@gmail.com

First in-person Minnstf meeting since March 7, 2020!

This will be an indoor-outdoor meeting with the following COVID-related policies

Masks will not be required outdoors regardless of vaccination status
Anyone can use the bathroom, but if you are not fully vaccinated you are requested to wear a mask and not to linger indoors
Indoor socializing (without masks) is open to anyone who is fully vaccinated. Honor system - no documentation required. Our household is fully vaccinated.

Outdoors we will have the back patio and a new portable gazebo to provide protection from sun, mosquitoes, and light rain. Music and smoking on back patio.

DIRECTIONS: Dream Park is a large gold house with red and brown trim on the SW corner of Pillsbury and 40th St, which is about halfway between Lyndale Ave and I-35W. If approaching from the north, take the 35th/36th St exit. From the south take 46th St. exit. Construction on I-35W is entering its umpteenth year so you never know for sure, but last time I checked both of those exits were open.

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If you're new to Minn-StF, you should know that our "meetings" are actually parties. The business meeting (5-15 minutes of announcements) will typically be between 5-6pm. We encourage people to bring snacks or drinks to share at the meetings, but that's not required; hosts will provide some food and drink.

Crossposts: https://dreamshark.livejournal.com/565070.html

Since nobody scheduled a Minnstf meeting for today, Richard and I are going over to Dreamhaven to hang out in the sun on their expansive outdoor patio (aka a wide spot in the sidewalk outside the back door). They'd love it if some other fans wanted to drop by as well.

Crossposts: https://dreamshark.livejournal.com/558278.html

HOST: Kevin Austin

As is customary, this MnStf meeting has been moved from its usual Saturday location to coincide with New Years Eve. It is both a party and an official meeting. Since it is a New Years party, it starts in the evening and runs until the New Year pops.

To attend meeting, open Discord App on computer or smart phone. Navigate to MnStF and open the #general text channel. There may also be something going on in the General voice channel.

This is our 9th virtual Minnstf meeting. It counts toward voting eligibility, but only if you sign in!
Sign in by opening the mnstf-meeting-attendance channel and entering your real name (i.e., a name that will be recognizable to the Minnstf Membership Secretary) during the time slot announced for the meeting.

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For those who are not yet members of the MnStf Discord server the invitation link is: https://discord.gg/g9hSkc3 .
Info on Discord for MnStf members
https://stfnal.com/discord/ FFI: discord@mnstf.org

Crossposts: https://dreamshark.livejournal.com/548499.html

DATE June 1, 2019

TIME 4 pm - 11 pm

HOSTS: Richard Tatge and Sharon Kahn

ADDRESS Dream Park: 4002 Pillsbury Ave So, Minneapolis MN 55409

FFI: 612-827-3228 or email sharon.kahn@gmail.com

Big house with plenty of room for gaming and/or music. No pets, smoking outside. Weather is looking promising, so back patio with fire pit and smoking area should be open. No grill (unless someone wants to bring one) but Richard will have his usual assortment of savory stews, including his famous oyster stew.

Crossposts: https://dreamshark.livejournal.com/485090.html

The most important Minnstf meeting of the year is about to happen! At least according to the Minnstf Bylaws, which require just one official meeting a year for the purpose of electing the Board of Directors. You are eligible to vote if you have attended a total of at least 7 Minnstf or Minicon meetings during the year. If you are eligible you should have received a ballot by now. If you have not, please contact Laura Krentz, our Membership Secretary.

Whether you are a voting member or not, the voting meeting is usually a lively meeting, so please come! Ballots are due by 4:30 pm, but can be dropped off in the box on our porch at any time before the meeting.

This year the meeting date falls between Pi Day and St. Patrick's Day, so we are officially encouraging people to bring pie and whatever you think of as St Paddy's Day food. We are cooking corned beef and cabbage, and will probably provide at least a little pie.

Location: Dream Park: 40002 Pillsbury Ave S, Minneapolis

Parking: Odd side of Pillsbury or 40th Street are both fair game

Time: Officially starts at 2 pm, most people show up a little later.

But remember, ballots are due by 4:30

Your Hosts: Richard Tatge and Sharon Kahn

Crossposts: https://dreamshark.livejournal.com/481707.html

We're hosting the Mnstf Halloween Party this Saturday (Oct 28) at Dream
Park, 4002 Pillsbury Ave S, Minneapolis. It's right on the corner of 40th
and Pillsbury, and believe you me, you can't miss it. If you have never
seen one of Richard's famous Halloween Displays you should at the very
least drive by, preferably come in and join the party: 2pm until late. No
pets, smoking outside. There may be a fire pit on the back patio if there
is interest and it is not actually raining slush.

Costumes optional (although some sort of clothing is strongly encouraged -
it's going to be a chilly night). Hope to see you soon!

Sharon, Richard and Thorin

Crossposts: https://dreamshark.livejournal.com/463906.html

I'm planning to bring a couple of old laptops to Fallcon to use for displaying pictures - during the memorial on Sunday and maybe earlier if there is a good place to set up the laptops. Please bring your favorite pictures OF Dave or BY Dave.

If people bring pics on a thumb drive we can load them onto one computer to make a slideshow. Actual physical printed pictures would be wonderful too.

The memorial will be 5pm on Sunday at the Decongestant hotel, but will not require a membership to attend.
Location is the Hilton Bloomington, 3900 American Blvd W.

Crossposts: https://dreamshark.livejournal.com/462489.html

Minnstf has lots of other meeting-like things every year, but this is the Voting Meeting, the only actual official Annual Meeting required by the by-laws. Even if you are not eligible to vote you are welcome, of course. It's usually a well-attended meeting. Or you can just drop your ballot off in the box on the front porch.

4002 Pillsbury Ave South, Minneapolis