CloverCon and Medieval Jubilee Updates
November: Please check out the website for updated dates, open applications for panels, artist & vendor tables, and more!
Our Lucky 13th CloverCon would have been our 15th year, but we had to wipe out the 2 missing years thanks to the amnesia of covid times. So, it was another day-long community event of making memories at our “little con that could”! We always try to mix it up a bit by adding in some new with the old! There were some new panelists in the Conference Room and new artists and dealers in the gym joining our steady regulars. Along with Manly Battleships explaining the history of Fan Parodies and the delightful Jon Turner delving into Miyazaki’s anime of the “Boy and the Heron”, we had the return of Mary McLaughlin with her guest telling us the hidden meanings of Japanese folk tales. One Piece and Fairy Racing Live were also presented by our guests letting others into their separate and speedy worlds.
I’m always trying to figure out why folks keep coming to our small, but steady, con. As a family friendly event in our 4-H Center, it opens up the multiverse of this pop culture to others old & new. It’s a place where one can mingle with others as they shop for cool stuff and eat yummy foods and snacks and watch or be a part of the Cosplay Catwalk Contest. One can play and win at games upstairs and down, or just relax in the manga library and the screening room. It’s our version of a place where there is no pressure to conform and, yes, be like a child again! The club members and leaders are already starting to plan for CloverCon 2026 on May 17. We continue to look at what worked and what needs to be improved as well as welcoming talented folk and new ideas for the delight of all the attendees of our “little con that could”!
Branching out this year, we ran our first ever 4-H Medieval Jubilee on Saturday, Oct. 4, 10am-5pm. This fundraiser benefitted the Somerset County 4-H Association, who owns and runs the 4-H Center and freely allows us to have CloverCon and now our new interactive event within the greater Renaissance Fair world. Besides visiting various artisans inside and outside at the “Goblin’s Market” on a warm Autumnal day, we performed in “The Virtuous Heir” of Greenfield in the kingdom of Cloverdom created by the Clover Ensemble Club. A jolly good time for all of us! Other clubs involved were the Master Chefs at the “Knight’s Niblings” café, Role for Initiative D&D in the “Dragon’s Den” TTG room, On Target Archery at the shooting range, and the Photobombers as our roving photogs. Our guests included Society for Creative Anachronisms with their arts and crafts plus Willow Tanner with her guided improv on Medieval Stagecraft. Mark your next year’s calendars for October 25, 10am-3pm as we’ll be running it again both bigger and better with even more family-friendly activities! Since the 4-H motto is “To Make the Best Better”, we aspire to that idea in everything that we do!
Betty a.k.a. Good Queen Bess
Donate to CloverCon! + reminder about early registration
Hi all! Apologies for the confusion >_< if any of you were excited to register as artists or dealers but couldn’t find the registration links, they are now live! Registration for artists and dealers for CloverCon 2025 runs from now to April 1st, 2025.
Attendee registration will open on January 1st, 2025, and closes on May 1st, and we are all excited for next CloverCon on May 18th 2025 (As a reminder, pre-reg is half off :3 $10 vs $20 at the door registration!)
To make this CloverCon the best it can be, we are requesting donations! These donations will also go towards building repairs of our lovely Ted Blum 4-H Center. Attached is a flyer with more information, and the Sponsors page also has some details on donating to CloverCon.
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