GrangeCon History

What’s in a Name

We are in Amish country, farm country. We tossed around a few Amish related ideas but nothing was quite right. The best, Hexacon, had been used. Then I recalled something that had happened in Ireland....

On a trip to Ireland with my family we got lost and drove through a town called Grangecon. Then we drove through it again. At this point I decided to ask for directions from two locals who were coming out of a pub. The laughingly provided the directions and this comment "all who get lost wind up in Grangecon"! Some how that sentiment seemed appropriate for a science fiction convention. And GrangeCon has a double meaning: grange is a word that refers to agriculture or farming.

How GrangeCon Came to Be

It might have been as early as 2005 that my son Paul began suggesting I organize an SF con for Lancaster. We had read a review of Hexacon 1988 and discovered that Lancaster had, at one time, hosted an SF con. Paul thought it was time for Lancaster to host one again and was convinced I was the one to organize it. He based this opinion on the fact that I seemed to be able to get at least a small group of fans together on a regular basis. Such faith!

Time went by.

In the spring of 2006 Paul began anew his campaign to get me to organize a con in Lancaster. There was no way I wanted to organize a con but a relaxacon was a possibility. I tossed the idea around with some friends but we had trouble agreeing on a date and then summer was upon us and we gave up the idea.

In Feb of 2007 Bill Brown came down to Lancaster from Long Island, NY. He had visions of arriving in a totally rural local with none of the amenities he was used to. This vision was based on the fact that I referred to my community as the sticks. When he arrived he found that Lancaster boasted all the comforts of home! I pointed out that compared to Brooklyn, NY, where I had lived prior to moving to Lancaster, Lancaster is the sticks.

Everything is relative.

Bill had booked a King Suite at the Eden Resort, just off Oregon Pike. He was wowed by the accommodations and he began talking about holding a con in Lancaster! (I think he was looking for an excuse to come stay at the Eden Resort.) Anyway, one thing led to another and pretty soon we had a relaxacon in the works.