Happy Birthday, Fanderson
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Happy Birthday, Fanderson
by hazel » Wed Sep 14, 2011 9:15 pm
On Thursday 20 August 1981, a group of people met at Pinewood Studios to thrash out the structure of what we now know as Fanderson – The Gerry Anderson Appreciation Society. Approved by Gerry himself (for the use of his name, the new club promised to pay him one bottle of wine a year) and by the ITC (no wine…), Fanderson grew and prospered.
Thirty years later, on Saturday 20 August 2011, a rather larger group of people met at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Marlow, not a million miles from Pinewood, to celebrate that inaugural meeting. There was rather more than one bottle of wine. There was also, as this was a birthday party, cake.
This event was not a convention. That was made very clear in the advance publicity – it was a social event, and the Anderverse guests were not there to “do a turn” – they were there on an equal footing with all of us. Nevertheless, it is hard to keep people like David Graham, Shane Rimmer and Matt Zimmerman from performing. And very pleased I was to see that, too!
I was particularly pleased to be able to chat to Mike Noble, TV21 artist, having missed talking to him at the Sector 25 convention in 2006. Never in a million years would I have ever dreamed of discussing the advisability of being an accountant with Matt Zimmerman (Alan Tracy is an accountant? Does not compute).
In proper birthday party style, there was a barbecue out on the back lawn of the hotel, and I found myself chatting with a nice woman while waiting for my baked potato. I introduced myself, we shook hands, and she said “and I’m Mary. Anderson.” Gerry himself is looking rather frail these days, but nevertheless, we had a pleasant chat.
The party was well-attended – about 100 people were there, I think. It was a treat to get together in a purely social atmosphere; pleasant for the committee, too, not to have to rush around all the time, organising things.
As several of us waited for our taxis back to the station the following morning, we discussed the event, and thought that it would be an excellent idea to have more one-day social gatherings like this. An full-blown convention is a nightmare to organise, and much of the time, what convention-goers want is a chance to have a drink and a chat with fellow fans and maybe a few of the people who created the shows that we all grew up with and still dearly love. I’d go.
(My pictures: http://www.spectrum-headquarters.com/ga ... ?album=245 )
Thirty years later, on Saturday 20 August 2011, a rather larger group of people met at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Marlow, not a million miles from Pinewood, to celebrate that inaugural meeting. There was rather more than one bottle of wine. There was also, as this was a birthday party, cake.
This event was not a convention. That was made very clear in the advance publicity – it was a social event, and the Anderverse guests were not there to “do a turn” – they were there on an equal footing with all of us. Nevertheless, it is hard to keep people like David Graham, Shane Rimmer and Matt Zimmerman from performing. And very pleased I was to see that, too!
I was particularly pleased to be able to chat to Mike Noble, TV21 artist, having missed talking to him at the Sector 25 convention in 2006. Never in a million years would I have ever dreamed of discussing the advisability of being an accountant with Matt Zimmerman (Alan Tracy is an accountant? Does not compute).
In proper birthday party style, there was a barbecue out on the back lawn of the hotel, and I found myself chatting with a nice woman while waiting for my baked potato. I introduced myself, we shook hands, and she said “and I’m Mary. Anderson.” Gerry himself is looking rather frail these days, but nevertheless, we had a pleasant chat.
The party was well-attended – about 100 people were there, I think. It was a treat to get together in a purely social atmosphere; pleasant for the committee, too, not to have to rush around all the time, organising things.
As several of us waited for our taxis back to the station the following morning, we discussed the event, and thought that it would be an excellent idea to have more one-day social gatherings like this. An full-blown convention is a nightmare to organise, and much of the time, what convention-goers want is a chance to have a drink and a chat with fellow fans and maybe a few of the people who created the shows that we all grew up with and still dearly love. I’d go.
(My pictures: http://www.spectrum-headquarters.com/ga ... ?album=245 )
"You can use the Oxford Comma if you want, but I choose not to associate myself with that kind of depraved and godless lifestyle"
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hazel
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by doc gold » Sat Sep 24, 2011 2:50 pm
Wow! Congrats!! Sounded like fun, with 100 people there!
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doc gold
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