CloverCon 2024 Recap:
Wow! It’s been almost a month since CloverCon happened! I have put away most, but not all, of the bits & pieces that crowded my porch & my life! So, every year (not counting the missing Covid years) how does the Anime & Manga Club keep stepping up? Well, we don’t re-invent the wheel; we just grease the wheels that already work. With our marvelous mix of panels, improv & drawing workshops, video & table top games, manga library, labyrinth, & anime screenings, we also have a gym full of artists & dealers, plus Clover Café & the Cosplay Catwalk Contest. Although this year we added upstairs in our Game Room several more table top ones to the schedule, because why not? Hey, the more the merrier!
So, why do we do it? Well, because we love our people (our tribe), we keep on keeping on. It’s never perfect, but it does speak to our heads, hearts, hands, & yes, our health (BTW all in our 4-H pledge!). We love the whole long process that becomes CloverCon as it promotes Japanese traditional & popular culture. Our stepping stone convention attracts young adults who love to cosplay plus some families that also play in our multi-verse. We are the little con that could!
A grateful thanks goes out to our Somerset County 4-H’s encouragement of our annual event, which also promotes 4-H as a great youth development program. 4-H is a brilliant & inspired collective of deep interests. Their whole mission is to have youth discover their “best self” as they learn to actively cooperate in whatever interests them the most. Besides our Anime & Manga Club aka Village Hidden in the Clovers, it’s a coming together of several 4-H clubs: the Chinese Culture Club, Role 4 Initiative: Dungeons & Dragons Club, Game On! Club, PhotoBombers, & Clover Ensemble. I want & need to thank everyone & every club that helped again to make this another successful fundraiser for our 4-H Anime & Manga Club because we all really benefit in the long run. Oh yeah, the more the merrier indeed on this shared adventure!
Good News: Mark your calendars for May 18, 2025 when we open our doors & hearts for the next CloverCon!
Sincerely,
Betty sensei
CloverCon is Less Than a Month Away…
There’s less than a month before we do the “thing” we call CloverCon. It’s been happening since 2011, so this will be the 12th year (barring the missing years of Covid; if only we could forget).
Now, Clover Baby Baby knows how to run amok in their pre-teen years trying to act like a teenager? Am I their parent, their patient kind mentor, or just a wise old friend? Lots of musings inviting themselves into my mind as I try to get back to sleep at 1:30am. Do my musings amuse you? While working on the words for our printed con program, I see that I’m not reinventing any wheel there. If it works, why fix it? But there are some new or re-newed areas to look forward to:
A Photo Booth will be set up in the alcove beyond the gym curtains. Have fun with getting some candid photos of you in your cosplay outfit. No worries if you haven’t come in costume, there will be some choices on a nearby coat rack thanks to our club members sharing some bits and pieces from their own closets. Try some on for your phot op, then return it to the rack, so others can enjoy their new “look”!
Here’s something really new for the con. FANGS game (fandoms, associations, and genres survey): Are you interested in psychology? In genre preference? How you might score in creativity or openness? Well, we have the game for you! Please join us for a quick game style psychological survey to help broaden the depth of our knowledge on genre preferences. Take short assessments and win stickers and other goods! Complete all 4 surveys for a chance to win a bigger prize!
If the quiet of the Manga Library is not your idea of fun, go outside to play some games like volleyball. Let out your inner child to just soak up the sun as you run about chasing the ball. The weather may just well cooperate with this plan. Wouldn’t that be nice for all of us inside and out?
The Clover Labyrinth has gotten a “facelift” thanks to the efforts of the club members & leaders. Almost every brick was pried out, then its grassy footprint was trimmed to stop the lawn from swallowing the labyrinth. Since it’s always hungry must it be fed? The nearby benches’ patio was also tended to with more gravel, so now the whole area looks loved and again. So go and seek out the labyrinth to walk its sweet grassy path to its center and then out again. Recharge your “batteries”, then return to the wonder that is CloverCon!
I look forward to seeing members past and present as they step up to help with this great effort to show you all a good time as we get the Clover out! Go Team Otaku!
With much love and caring,
Betty Sensei
Spring Has Sprung?!?!!!
March is almost done with us by getting the jump on April showers. Last weekend the club went up to LG Cook 4-H Camp, where we happily survived the all-day rain on Saturday despite our disrupted sleep routines. Surprisingly we didn’t talk much about CloverCon, but kept snug & dry in the Winter HQ cabin laughing, eating, watching anime, & playing Smash Bros. Some of us did a lot of crafting with beads & sewing. One of our leaders brought his sewing machine to finish most of his Jedi tunic for a future cosplay. Bring it on! CloverCon! Here are more highlights to shine:
The Artist Alley Waiting List is now at 7 with one who got bumped up to join the Alley due to an artist’s cancellation.
Dealers Area is now also full with 5 vendors including a new one offering cosplay props & collectibles. See the complete list under About the Con: Artists/Dealers.
A returning guest is Lex Winter with his fabulous panel on Godzilla, King of Monsters, telling its life story by highlighting the good & bad plot lines depicted in films starting with its Japanese roots.
A new table-top game demo upstairs is BattleTech using detailed minatures of the 12- meter tall BattleMechs to introduce this exciting sci-fi adventure.
Magic the Gathering plays their cards thanks to Retro Lotus.
Other clubs in 4-H getting into the action: Chinese Culture continues in the Clover Café, Photobombers roam around with permission cards for cosplayers’ info, Clover Ensemble present improv games, Drawing & Sketch help with the Drawing Workshop, & Game On! hands out games from the mountain of choices upstairs.
I’m looking forward to seeing how Clover Baby Baby grows & expands into its preteen years.
But it’s not just about the con, other future events include a Ren Faire & a Table Top Game Day!
Wheels with wheels!
-Betty the sewing sensei