Kevin Standlee (kevin_standlee) wrote,
Kevin Standlee
kevin_standlee

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Behold the Gavel of WSFS!

Back in 1994, recognizing that there was no ongoing symbol of continuity of authority between Worldcon committees, I went to Feather River Office Machines, a small office-supply store in Yuba City, California, and spent a small amount of ConAdian (1994 Worldcon) money to buy a gavel. (I was lucky; I don't recall ever seeing a gavel ever again in an office-supply store.) This gavel passed from Worldcon to Worldcon for years, although for a long time it actually lived with me between Worldcons themselves because we kept putting off getting it engraved. In 2002, we finally got around to getting it engraved, and it could then live with the individual Worldcon committees after its ceremonial hand-off at the Closing Ceremonies. Then, somehow, between the 2012 and 2013 Worldcons, it got lost. It may actually be buried in a box of Worldcon stuff somewhere, but it's not currently accounted for. LoneStarCon 3 agreed when I asked to fund the purchase of a new one, and a few days ago I finally got around to ordering it from The Gavel Store. No, we didn't get the New York Stock Exchange Gavel, the 24-inch Great Gavel, or The Mallet of Loving Correction.

Gavel of WSFS
It's a fairly standard 11-inch gavel with sounding board and engraving.

Gavel of WSFS
It does make a very satisfying clunk when struck upon the sounding board.

There's an "all hands" meeting of the Sasquan Committee in Spokane the last weekend of May, and I'll carry it up there and deliver it to Sally Worhle, the chair of the 2015 Worldcon. I'll have to get it back from her after the Sasquan opening ceremony for my use during the Business Meeting, then return it to her for her to deliver to next year's Chairs at the closing ceremony.
Tags: "business meeting", worldcon, wsfs
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  • 16 comments

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    Mid morning today, I had a number of errands to run locally. The first was to drop off a parcel that was a return merchandise item for Kayla. To my…

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