AER: Klingon Ball, 2008
What a show!!! We had some serious participation. The first Ball, it was difficult to get anybody onto the dance floor. The second Ball, some got out there. This time, we were darn glad that we had a large dance floor.
As usual, there was an assortment of costumes and uniforms. The winner of both Most Unique and Best Female Costume went to Squeeze for her 19th Century Minbari outfit. This was Setai Delynn's dress outfit with a terran 19th Century bustle/boning added. Best Male was won by Ripar for his TV quality uniform. Most humorous went to Charlie for his whateverthatwas. The statement was that it was not so much for the outfit as it was his presentation of the outfit.
I don't remember the culinary winner for Best Flavor. Sorry. However, Mrs. Gizmo won two awards for her Dragon Delight. This was a three dimensional dragon of food.
We were entertained by our Binars. KC sang a song that she wrote for the "Wolf Pack". Then the Binars did the theme from ST:E together a capella.
Then there was a period of jokes. This was a Night at the Improv, klingon style. Nobody was injured, regrettably.
This time, there was some real, Ball Room dancing. The membership of the IKV Melota is being taught how to waltz by Charlie and Ann. Charlie teaches dance and got many of our guests out on the dance floor during the evening. He and Ann also did a tango as a show in and of itself. An impromptu auction occurred with Squeeze winning a dance lesson on the floor and Charlie getting latinum notes stuffed in his britches. There was other high participation dancing with folks filling the dance floor and singing along with the tune or filking the tune while dancing.
Door prizes were serious business. They were well worth it and we had enough that we had to give multiple items at a single drawing. There were various bottles of Bloodwine, Firewine and other liquid entertainment. Many hard items were given away. T-shirts, books, videos, knifes, etc.
Auction got down and dirty. SHADO equipment from the old 1970s show U.F.O., LOTR glasses, SW posters, pewter and plastic figurines added to the items. The two really hotly contested items were a privately commissioned stain glass window of the ST:TOS trifoil, and a Bloodwine bottle signed by Chancellor Martok. This bottle was signed last July at BabelCon.
A bunch of goodies were raffled off. A lot of "soft" items came with a kicker such as a 30 minute massage at Body Works or gift cards to Home Depo.
Besides having a bang up time with a head count of 37 present, the event raised 635$ cash, 307 pounds of non-perishable goods and clothing, and an honest to goodness microwave oven. This is going to the Safe Haven of Tarrant County.
I believe that there were representatives of all of the following present:
Wolf Pack
Orac
IKV Bayou Serpent
USS Trinity River
USS Joshua
Strength and Honor
Cdr. Salek Sutai
Ship's Brewer
September 6,2008 was the date for the IKV Melota's 3rd annual Klingon ball in Arlington,TX. All proceeds went to benefit Safe Haven of Tarrant county,a shelter for abused women.I had been wanting to attend one for a couple of years and this year I got lucky enough that it didn't fall on a date too close to anything else I had planned.
I arrived the night before after a 4 hour drive and was graciously given room and board by Salek and sQueezinart. The day of the ball began around 9am with me helping several Melota members decorate the room that was rented at Lake Arlington. A service I was happy to provide.
After several hours of decorating we got into costume and the ball started around 6:00pm. There were members from 2 Klingon ships and at least 2 feddie ships present.
Everyone was given a packet that contained a game,voting slips for various trophies,and other trinkets. There were door prizes that ranged from Salek's bloodwine to Trek books,a raffle with about 15 donated items,and a silent auction with many very nice items.
I personally donated 2 Star Wars posters,4 limited edition Star Wars 3-D prints,and a bottle of my bloodwine signed by J.G. Hertzler. There was much food and some of it was judged by the attendees for originality,flavor,and appearance.
After eating,everyone did their own thing for a while,getting to know each other,taking photos at the prom-like arch with nebula backdrop which were printed out and given to you on the spot,and dancing. I hate dancing but even I was dragged onto the floor (literally) a few times.
I demonstrated a form of klingon dance that no one had seen. It's similar to riverdance but you move your arms and keep your legs stationary,just the opposite of riverdance.
Charlie Rodriguez of the Melota should have gotten a trophy for best dancer and even gave a few lessons since he teaches dance. At the end of the night trophies were handed out for the following:
Best Male costume: Ri'Par of the IKV Bayou Serpent
Best Female Costume: Donna Whitaker for her 19th Century Minbari outfit
Most Original costume was also won by Donna
Most Humorous: Charlie Rodriguez
Food awards were as follows:
Best Flavor was won by Liz Weber of the Melota for her "Maroon Monster"
Best appearance and most original were both taken by Lynn Alcala of the Melota.
But the whole reason for the ball wasn't just to have fun. A total of $635 was raised along with 307 pounds of non-perishable items clothing, and even a microwave. Qapla to all involved and thanks for the invite,I had a great time!
Cmdr Ri'Par sutai-bortaS
IKV Bayou Serpent CO and ship's brewer
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