Atlanta Conference could reveal answers to two 20-year USMCCCA mysteries
This year’s USMCCCA conference will mark the 20th anniversary of a past CC event that almost never happened. The cover of the Conference Journal reads “Jacksonville, FL September 15-19, 1999.” But Hurricane Floyd made an unscheduled visit to the Florida city Sept. 15 causing CCs on their way to Jacksonville to do an abrupt about face.
Conference Chair Jack Paxton and a team of dedicated CCs were determined to put Humpty Dumpy together again. There was a conference in 1999, but the dates for the gathering remain a mystery due to a major computer crash. (CC Secretary Chris Whiting was later able to find a November 1999 Newsletter which describes in glowing terms “a successful gathering with a good time had by all.”) First Mystery solved.
The 1999 Conference spawned a second mystery that also begs a solution. The Newsletter mentions that after the Awards Banquet, the room was cleared, cleaned and converted into the CC’s “infamous” hospitality suite.
That explains how a hotel tablecloth was available for a doodling graffiti artist to capture his or her own impressions of CCs enjoying the final evening of the 1999 conference.
The identity of the artist remains mystery number two.
It is expected that the work of art will be on display sometime, somewhere, during the 2019 meeting in Atlanta. The current owner of the tablecloth-art doesn’t remember where or how or why he acquired the item, but 20 years later during a recent housecleaning it turned up, in an unmarked box, wrapped in tissue paper and wrinkles, just as fresh as the night it was created.
It is adorned with several familiar names and caricatures from the past. It might offer just enough temptation to cause some Tribal Elders to attend the Atlanta conference to see if they are one of the subjects sketched on this mysterious piece of work.
–Tom Kerr
UPDATE: After asking Chris Whiting to give a final read to the above yarn, she found the answer to one of the mysteries:
1) the make-up conference was October 17-23. Following an old salt’s advice to never let facts get in the way of a good story the author chose to update the story rather than rewriting it. But there is still a remaining mystery to solve. Be in Atlanta Aug. 19-23 and take a crack at it.