AZ Sleuths Book Discussion Group: Old Album & Blackwood Hall

Our AZ Sleuths book discussion group met at the Poisoned Pen Bookstore in Scottsdale in May for our book discussion on the classic Nancy Drew books #24, The Clue in the Old Album and #25 The Ghost of Blackwood Hall. Overall they were both enjoyable reads for everyone. I think some members loved Old Album for the dolls and others liked the spookier setting of Blackwood Hall.

Attending were myself and my mom, Judy, Dede, Melanie, Arlene, Jackie, Becky, and Cheryl.


Jenn:)

2011 Nancy Drew Sleuths Convention Wrap Up Part 4

At 7:30, Nancy Drew Sleuths met for our mystery dinner banquet with a planned Clue game that never was completed (It was Professor Plum in the Kitchen with the Knife!), a costume contest, and our Nancy Drew gift exchange.

Nancy Drew Gift Exchange Clue Game

Gifts included Nancy Drew Clue games, framed prints, jewelry, and decoupaged items. The theme was 1950s and peacocks, so we had an array of 50s gals and gents and lots of peacock ladies plus other Nancy Drew characters lurking about.

Sleuth Dean made quite an entrance with envelopes flying as Mr. Ritter from The Hidden Window.

Peacock Ladies

Sleuth Alexa brought everyone the cutest peacock keychains too! We even managed to set a tablecloth briefly on fire…

Gift Exchange Goodies

The following morning, some had breakfast and gathered for goodbyes before we headed off for other adventures... Until 2012, Happy Sleuthing!

Jenn:)

2011 Nancy Drew Sleuths Convention Wrap Up Part 3

Our Nancy Drew convention day began with an hour of browsing and raffle ticket contemplation. We had an array of Sleuth merchandise, vintage books, and some Nancy Drew original art on display by Sleuth Jim. We began the day with Elizabeth Milias talking about Collecting Nancy, Lisa Kwong read some of her Nancy Drew poetry, and Michael G. Cornelius spoke about Vicki Barr and then made us laugh about the Crazy Eights from Hidden Window.

After a lunch break, we were treated with presentations from local author Meredith Cole who was inspired by Nancy Drew, I spoke about mysteries and hauntings behind the scenes of Nancy Drew, and Laurie Clarke talked about her experience with Antiques Roadshow in which her collection nearly made it on the show!

The Carolina Sleuths put together a neat toast to Nancy’s talents that was a hoot! Dean Burcham showed us an amazing array of books he’s found at antique malls over the years—were can I find these antique malls! Lea S. Fox, Carol Dierksen, Janet DeVries, and Meredith Jaffe were on a panel about Nancy Drew as a “Cosmo Girl” which was a response to the Bouchercon mystery convention’s panel that suggested that she was in October 2010.

Throughout the day we gave away prizes in the raffle like the 80th Anniversary Hidden Staircase Standup, signed Nancy Drew books, puzzles, and handcrafted Nancy Drew items.


To Be Continued...

Jenn:)

Nancy Drew Cafe Press Sale May. 24-26 - $3 off $30+

Nancy Drew Shop %10 off $40.00+ Sale!

WHEN: May 24 - May 26, 2011

SAVE: 10% off orders of $40+

CODE: FMAY1140

WHERE: www.cafepress.com/nancydrewshop

Be sure you're ordering from the shop page only--marketplace orders do not count for this promotion, so if you're at the main website and/or using search boxes to add items to your cart, those are considered marketplace items. You must order from the Nancy Drew shop page itself. If you have any trouble with the code--contact Cafe Press customer support (there's a phone number you can call right away) and they can help you with it.

Thanks for your support!

Jenn:)

2011 Nancy Drew Sleuths Convention Wrap Up Part 2

Friday, April 1: Downtown Charlottesville & Library Event

We began the day at the downtown Charlottesville library which would be the recipient of our charity raffle donation. We put on a Nancy Drew event and I spoke about Nancy Drew in a brief 101 introduction with some information for first time collectors and newbies to get them started on the basics all about Nancy Drew and her world and some history about the series and its creators. Then we had a treat with ghostwriter Alison Hart, who spoke about her writing and ghosting of Nancy Drew books—the process was very interesting!

She graciously signed our books and sold some of hers as well.

Everyone had plenty of free time the rest of the day outside schedule events like our stained-glass craft at The Glass Palette and our evening ghost tour.

The glass craft was so much fun and several Sleuths created peacocks. I tried my hand with a pendant and made a stick figure Nancy silhouette.

The weather was pretty chilly but the wind died down by the evening ghost tour. Both tours got to see how Frank Hardy turned out—he’s now a realtor!

And on my tour, while at the home of a famous local murder, the street lights mysteriously turned on and off. Spooky!


To Be Continued...

Jenn:)

2011 Nancy Drew Sleuths Convention Wrap Up Part 1

Nancy Drew Sleuths
& The Hidden Window
Mystery: Convention Report

A missing stained-glass window? Why, it must be in Charlottesville! And so the Nancy Drew Sleuths convened in Charlottesville, VA for their 11th annual convention from March 30 – April 3rd. They searched high and low for stained-glass windows, peacocks, and even a ghost or two. Did they solve any mysteries? Would they battle rain and snow? Read on for a few clues to this puzzler…

Wednesday, March 30: Meet & Greet

With nearly 70 goody bags to be “found” in my hotel room later that evening, I headed down to the hotel’s dining room for our meet and greet dinner at 7:30pm. Sleuths had begun arriving and I greeted them with welcome packets and everyone began taking their seats at tables for the dinner.

Following dinner, we began several meet and greet games designed by some our Sleuth Chum Ambassadors. Sleuth Amanda put together a great Bingo game that got everyone in the spirit. We gave away some prizes and then Gina, Mary, and Kelly started an internals game that had everyone having to go around and pair up with all the matching internal illustrations from a classic Nancy Drew book. Once matched, they got a clue to go find their goody bags. The answer to the code was my hotel room number. Clever!

Peacock printed goody bags included Girl Detective books from Simon & Schuster, notepads from Chronicle Books, 20% off cards from Out of Print Clothing, mini Hidden Window books by Lorraine Rogers, a peacock feather, a peacock charm, and a guide to sleuthing in Charlottesville based on Nancy’s adventure there.

Thursday, March 31: Historic Sites

Bright and early, we headed off on our bus to visit some sights that Nancy and her chums visited in The Hidden Window Mystery. First stop was Monticello, home of President Thomas Jefferson. It was a sight to behold and the setting was so apropos—very foggy and spooky. While we didn’t find any old secret passageways, there were some dumbwaiters—for wine! And the bed that Bess marveled at set between two rooms was an interesting conversation piece. We went through the home in two tours and then had some time to visit the grounds, see the gardens, and even the gravesite of Jefferson. Of course, it wouldn’t be a tour without a visit to the gift shop for souvenirs, just like Nancy! One interesting find was a clever coded wheel replica that Jefferson invented to use for sending codes during the Revolutionary War.

Our second stop was Michie Tavern, an old-time tavern where we had a delicious fried chicken lunch with all the trimmings and then toured the place. Sleuths even got a dance lesson! Video of the dancing can be seen at our Facebook page.

Our third stop took us to nearby Ash Lawn-Highland, the home of President James Monroe and what a treat—we were greeted by Monroe himself who gave a grand talk to our group before we toured the home and then the grounds. While touring the grounds, we got to see the peacocks kept at Ash Lawn-Highland. Sleuth Lea had put together a neat booklet about all the places that Nancy visits in the book that we could follow along with as we toured. There was also a clues hunt too. The gift show was overflowing with peacock items and the line to check out was impressive! Also found were old tea bricks—the kind they actually threw overboard at the Boston Party—loose tea leaves were too expensive back then!


After Monroe’s, we visited Seven Oaks—now on the market but owned by the manager of the Dave Matthews band. The Realtor, Ross Stevens, met us there and gave us a great tour and historical background on the property and nearby Mirador which was the inspiration for Cumberland Manor in the book. Dinner was at a nearby buffet to our hotel and then we met up back at the hotel for some activities and book selling and swapping.

To Be Continued...

Jenn:)

Nancy Drew Cafe Press Sale May. 10-12 - $3 off $30+

Nancy Drew Shop $3 off $30.00+ Sale!

WHEN: May 10 - May 12, 2011

SAVE: $3 off orders of $30+

CODE: SMAY1130

WHERE: www.cafepress.com/nancydrewshop

Be sure you're ordering from the shop page only--marketplace orders do not count for this promotion, so if you're at the main website and/or using search boxes to add items to your cart, those are considered marketplace items. You must order from the Nancy Drew shop page itself. If you have any trouble with the code--contact Cafe Press customer support (there's a phone number you can call right away) and they can help you with it.

Thanks for your support!

Jenn:)

AZ Sleuths Book Discussion Group:Crumbling Wall & Tolling Bell

Our AZ Sleuths book discussion group met at the Poisoned Pen Bookstore in Scottsdale in March for our book discussion on the classic Nancy Drew books #22, The Clue in the Crumbling Wall and #23 The Mystery of the Tolling Bell. They were both stories that members liked reading--but we all noticed that Tolling Bell was a bit off in the writing as compared to volumes right before by ghostwriter Mildred Wirt Benson. Most everyone still enjoyed it, though, and we also excitedly talked about a Maine convention with this as the theme book for one of our future Nancy Drew Conventions--probably circa 2016 or 2017.

Attending were myself and my mom, Judy, Dede, Melanie, Arlene, Laura, Jackie, Becky, Cheryl, Beth Marie, Sonia, Clare Marie and a flight attendant who happened to see that we were meeting and joined us for the day.

Jenn:)

Nancy Drew Cafe Press Sale May. 5-6 - 10% off $40+

Nancy Drew Shop 10% off $40.00+ Sale!

WHEN: May 5 - May 6, 2011

SAVE: 10% off orders of $40+

CODE: AMAY1140

WHERE: www.cafepress.com/nancydrewshop

Be sure you're ordering from the shop page only--marketplace orders do not count for this promotion, so if you're at the main website and/or using search boxes to add items to your cart, those are considered marketplace items. You must order from the Nancy Drew shop page itself. If you have any trouble with the code--contact Cafe Press customer support (there's a phone number you can call right away) and they can help you with it.

Thanks for your support!

Jenn:)