Shore Leave 40 To Celebrate Its 40th Anniversary
4 min read
This summer, Shore Leave will celebrate its 40th anniversary. The annual convention takes place July 6-8 this year, and features three actors of interest to Star Trek fans, plus five other guests from shows such as Eureka, ER, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., X-Men, Warehouse 13, Smallville, The Vampire Diaries, and Dark Matter.
The one and only William Shatner will be appearing on Saturday, the 7th. The other Trek guests are fan-favorites Aron Eisenberg and Chase Masterson from Deep Space Nine, which of course is celebrating its 25th anniversary.
Other guests include:
- Ming-Na Wen (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Eureka, ER) Saturday only
- Shawn Ashmore (X-Men, The Following)
- Allison Scagliotti (Warehouse 13, Smallville, The Vampire Diaries)
- Alex Mallari Jr. (Dark Matter, Insomnia, True Justice)
- Melissa O’Neil (Dark Matter, Lost Generation, Rogue)
All of the guests will be doing photo ops, with prices ranging from $45.00 to $80.00. There will also be group photos; a Eureka combo (Wen and Scagliotti), a Smallville combo (Ashmore and Scagliotti), a Dark Matter combo (O’Neill and Mallari Jr.), and a Deep Space Nine combo (Masterson and Eisenberg). All but the Eureka combo will cost $70.00 each while the Eureka combo will cost $90.00.
Shore Leave is a fan-fiction writer’s dream, with plenty of workshops to learn new writing skills. One workshop is for young adults (12-19 years old), and is led by Trek authors Robert Greenberger, Aaron Rosenberg, Peter David, Russ Colchamiro, Michael Jan Friedman, Glenn Hauman, Mary Fan, and Kelli Fitzpatrick.
Two other writing workshops include Writing Historical Fiction (Howard Weinstein, Richard White, Steve Wilson), and the Annual Shore Leave All-Kinds-of-Writing Workshop (Weinstein, Bob Greenberger, Dave Galanter, Bob Jones, and Kelly Meding). In this two-hour workshop which will take place on Saturday, the authors will cover scripts, novels, short stories, comics, and non-fiction.
Friday night at 10 PM the writers, artists, and science guest will meet in the long hallway in front of the ballroom. This is your place to buy books or to bring your own to be autographed by your favorite authors. Those authors in attendance this year include Rigel Ailur, Lorraine Anderson, Derek Tyler Attico, Diane Lee Baron, T.A. Chafin, John Coffren, Russ Colchamiro, Greg Cox, Kathleen and Peter A. David, Keith R.A. DeCandido, Mary Fan, Kelli Fitzpatrick, Michael Jan Friedman, Dave Galanter, Phil Guinta, Robert Greenberger, Glen Hauman, Heather E. Hutsell, Amy Imhoff, Jim Johnson, David Mack, Mike and Denise Okuda, Susan Olesen, Joshua Palmatier, Scott Pearson, T.J. Perkins, Roberta Rogow, Aaron Rosenberg, Jenifer P Rosenberg, Dayton Ward, Laura Ware, Howard Weinstein, and Steven H. Wilson.
The science authors include Stephanie J. Slater, Timothy F. Slater, and Ray Villard.
You can see why the Meet the Pros is such a popular event!
Fans of science will be able to attend panels including Wayne Bird, Stephanie J. and Timothy F. Slater, Ray Villard, and C. Alex Young. Plus – weather permitting, there is stargazing and sungazing. Last year, your reporter was able to look at the sun (safely) close up for the first time.
One of the main events of the con is the Shore Leave Masquerade. Open to all, from children to adults (sign up before 3:30 on the Saturday of the Masquerade by the latest); this is the place to show off your artistic costuming skills and your acting skills. Most contestants do some sort of little skit and over the years, there have been some amusing ones. The Masquerade is held on Saturday night at 8:00 PM in the ballroom.
Other things to do or see include having your picture taken at the Tardis Photo Booth (fee required), sing and dance at Vic’s Place, listen to the Boogie Knights and Luna-C bands, play games with fellow fans at the Game Room, attend the Filk Concert, and the Chaos Filk event, dance Saturday night after the Masquerade at Ten-Forward, attend panels, learn how to be a better doggie parent, watch films, shop in the dealers’ rooms, or learn basic self-defense with Keith R.A. DeCandido. For the little ones, or teens, there are separate panels and events.
Shore Leave also holds events to benefit charity. This year, the beneficiaries of these events will be No Kid Hungry, and the Atlantic K-9 Vest Fund. Food will be collected for the Maryland Food Bank.
This year’s Shore Leave will take place at the Delta Hotels Baltimore (former Hunt Valley Inn) and the deadline for early registration is June 15. At-the-door registration will be limited to 1,500 fans.
Prices are: $95 for the weekend ($100 at the door), $40 for Friday only, $75 for Saturday only, $20 for Saturday evening only (to view the Masquerade and to hang out in Ten Forward only), $45 for Sunday only. There are discount prices for teens and children five years old and older; children under five years old attend free with a paying adult.
For more information, head to the link located here.
Video courtesy of the Baltimore County Public Library.
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