Friday, May 13, 2022

HOWARD DAYS IS 1 MONTH AWAY!

One month to go for The Best Two Days in Howard Fandom!

We've "finalized" the Howard Days schedule as best we can and you can see it by clicking on the "EVENTS" tab up top. Of course, nothing is truly "final" until HD 2022 actually gets here, but we hope you can plan accordingly with what we're showing here.

Some additional information, reminders and suggestions are what we have for you now.

Please note our previous post where we ask for your help in donating items to the Silent Auction, to register as early as possible for the Banquet, postal cancellation souvenir info and The Whole Wide World showing.

As this year there are number of anniversaries in the World of REH, we note how it's been 40 years since the first Arnold Conan movie, Conan the Barbarian. This previously undetermined panel slot goes to Paul Sammon and his entertaining presentation of his involvement with both of the Arnold movies.

Another added guest is Joel Bylos, the CCO of Funcom, who will give us some up close looks at the World of Conan video games.

There will be REH gaming in the Cross Plains Public Library as well, where table-top and role playing games will be presented on a limited basis by some notables in the REH gaming industry. Information on that will be available in the Pavilion of Friday morning.

We need to remind everyone that when you make a purchase in the Gift Shop or win a bid at the Silent Auction, you must pay in cash or with a check. There are several ATM machines available in Cross Plains. (You can bring your own checkbook!)

2022 finds us at the 90th anniversary of Howard's masterpiece poem, Cimmeria. For the last several years, we've read Cimmeria in multiple languages, stanza by stanza, from Bob Howard's porch. And we will certainly continue this tradition, but this year, the poem will be read completely in each language, rather than stanza by stanza in all the languages. We will interspace each language in between other Howard poetry read in our open mic setting.

We will have more announcements and bits of information in the now few weeks until Howard Days. If you are still on the fence about coming, know that Texas is a big state and there's plenty of room. Also, everything at HD is FREE, except for a seat at the Banquet! And those seats are going fast, so be sure to register right away so you can enjoy great food, a Guest of Honor speech from Fred Malmberg and helping Project Pride with your bids at the Silent Auction!

Hope to see you in a month's time! It will be here before you know it!

Y'all come.


Tuesday, May 3, 2022

Howard Days Happens Next Month!


Howard Days will be happening in a little over five weeks! We hope you can join us at the Robert E. Howard Museum in Cross Plains, Texas on June 10th & 11th for The Best Two Days in Howard Fandom! It will be here before we know it!

Here are several announcements and comments for all attendees

COME FOR DINNER AND A MOVIE!

It has just been announced that on Friday night at dark, the City of Cross Plains will present an open-air showing of the movie THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD at Treadway Park, which is just west of the Howard Museum. This ties in nicely with the Celebration Banquet as a dinner and a movie date! Come and see this award-winning film about Robert E. Howard and Novalyne Price. Details will follow.

GAMING AT HOWARD DAYS!

The final details are still being worked out, but REH gaming will take place at HD 2022. The Cross Plains Public Library will host table-top REH games on Friday and Saturday and there will be CONAN role-playing games in the meeting room at the Methodist Church on Friday. We'll get you the specifics as we get closer to the event.

POSTAL CANCELLATION SOUVENIR

The official Howard Days Postal Cancellation is available only on Friday, June 10th and we've been reminded to inform you that while the Cross Plains Post Office is open from 9 am to 4 pm, they will be closed for lunch from 11:30 to 12:30. Here is the 2022 stamp.



SILENT AUCTION ITEMS NEEDED!

One of the very best events that happens during Howard Days is the Silent Auction of Howard & related items, held in conjunction with the Celebration Banquet on Friday night. 100% of the proceeds from this auction goes to Project Pride and the year-round maintenance of the REH Museum and it can only happen with your generous donations!
So now is the time for you to go through your Howard collection, decide what items: books, paperbacks, magazines, comics, fanzines, artwork - all kinds of Howard and Howard related stuff that we all have - and donate to the Silent Auction.
You can send your donation to REH Silent Auction, c/o Project Pride, POB 534, Cross Plains, TX 76443 or bring your items to the Gift Shop at the House during the day on Friday (or Thursday).
You'll be helping out Project Pride with ensuring the Legacy of Ol' Two-Gun Bob Howard, plus you'll be making room in your collection for the items you win in the Auction! WIN WIN!

AND SPEAKING OF THE CELEBRATION BANQUET
As we've mentioned before, the only real cost at Howard Days is the $25.00 fee for a seat at the Celebration Banquet. Every other activity is presented for you AT NO COST! As in: FREE!
Your 25 bucks also helps pays for coffee & donuts Friday morning, the Hot Dog Lunch at noon on Friday, all the water & pop in the giant cooler at the Pavilion and also the Saturday BBQ.
As tickets usually go fast for the Banquet, make sure you get your reservation early by sending your $25 per person to the address listed above or you may Pay Pal to Projpride@yahoo.com. Seating is limited to 150 and is always sold out, so make your reservation right away!

More announcements are forthcoming as we get closer to Howard Days.



Thursday, April 21, 2022

SEVEN WEEKS UNTIL HOWARD DAYS!



Bob and Patches will be waiting for you!

 Well, all right! HOWARD DAYS 2022 is coming up fast (SEVEN WEEKS! Where did the time go?) and we're in the process of getting everything ready!

The schedule is 90% set (we're still waiting on confirmation for one panel and our gaming venues), so it's time for you to make your plans to join us at the Robert E. Howard Museum in Cross Plains, Texas on June 10th & 11th. And we've even got stuff going on Thursday the 9th!

The dual themes this year are The REH Influence on Gaming (role-playing, table-top/board games and video) and the 90th anniversaries of Conan, the Cimmerian as well as two Howard masterpieces: Worms of the Earth and the poem Cimmeria.

Fred Malmberg, President of Heroic Signatures (formerly Cabinet Entertainment), will be our Guest of Honor this year. Fred was instrumental in introducing both Conan and role-playing gaming to the people of Sweden and has carried on those activities in the U.S. for over 20 years now. Come hear him speak at the Celebration Banquet.

All the usual HD events will be happening: the Robert E. Howard Museum will be open on Thursday, Friday and Saturday; you can tour the museum at your leisure or have docents tell you all about the house where REH lived and wrote. The Alla Ray Morris Pavilion, adjacent to the House, is available for the entire weekend as the main meeting place for all attendees.

 The Gift shop in the House is well-stocked with incredible REH items. The Cross Plains Public Library is open to show their collection of original REH typescripts and Weird Tales & pulp magazines. The REH Foundation Press will be set up to sell Howard books and we'll have tables for dealers of REH/related merchandise set up in the surrounding yard. Bus, Walking and Grounds tours will be made, panels will be given, a special souvenir postal cancellation stamp is available on Friday and a Hot Dog Lunch will satisfy your hunger Friday Noon. 

We'll have a Celebration Banquet on Friday night, where hundreds of REH items will be shown for the Silent Auction that takes place at the Banquet. Saturday night brings us the Sunset BBQ, where authentic Texas barbeque will make you glad you came!

We're planning on having REH gaming over the weekend too. Role-playing and board games will be presented (and a cornhole game in the yard!); stay tuned for more information on logistics for the gaming.

But best of all, the Howard Days weekend is all about REH Fellowship. You can meet Howard Fans from all over the world: France, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Germany, Japan - and of course, the good ol' USA - who gather in Cross Plains to celebrate the Life and Legacy of Robert E. Howard.

More detailed information is available if you click on the tabs at the top of this page. We're looking forward to seeing you in Cross Plains in just SEVEN WEEKS! We guarantee a great time!

Y'all come!



Monday, March 7, 2022

Three Months Until Howard Days!


With the cold of March still in the air, it's time to think warmer thoughts! And there's nothing better to warm yourself than the hot Texas sun of June and Robert E. HOWARD DAYS!

We hope you'll be able to join us June 10th & 11th at the Robert E. Howard Museum in Cross Plains, Texas, for another exciting Howard Days, filled with fun, fine folks and fellowship! (And hopefully, not so much alliteration!)

2022 finds us with another dual themed event. We'll examine the REH INFLUENCE ON GAMING as well as celebrate the 90th Anniversaries of Conan the Cimmerian first story, as well as Worms of the Earth and the poem "Cimmeria", two of Howard's masterpieces. Fred Malmberg will be our Guest of Honor and we hope to have lots of surprise guests as well!

Registration is beginning soon. We've had to up the cost of the Banquet seat to $25.00 per person this year (the first price hike in NEARLY 20 YEARS!) You can register via mail at REH Days, Project Pride, POB 534, Cross Plains TX 76443 of via Pay Pal at Projpride@yahoo.com.

Please remember that all the activities at Howard Days are presented at no cost (FREE!) except for a seat at the Friday Banquet. Your money will help offset the cost of a Hot Dog Lunch and a BBQ dinner, so that's a great deal!

Pretty much all the information you'll need for Howard Days can be found by poking the little tabs at the top of this page. We've posted our basic schedule with activities and panels and will be updating this page on a regular basis as HD draws closer. We've also got a Howard Days Facebook page to ease with the information, so check that out as well.

Hope you can join us June 10-11 for our big Howard Family Reunion. Y'all Come!

Tuesday, February 15, 2022

Howard Days 2022 Guest of Honor is Fred Malmberg!

 Howard Days, Project Pride of Cross Plains and the Robert E. Howard Fountain are happy to announce that Fred Malmberg is the Guest of Honor at our 2022 event.

We hope you can join us at the Robert E. Howard Museum in Cross Plains, Texas, this June 10th and 11th for the Best Two Days in Howard Fandom! With our dual theme this year of the REH Influence on Gaming and Anniversaries Galore: Conan, Cimmeria, Bran Mak Morn and the first Conan movie), you can expect a great two days chock full of events, tours, panels, signings, awards, readings and fellowship - and don't forget the great Texas grub!

Scheduling information is being updated and will be posted very soon, so stay tuned and make plans for a fun two days of Howard Fellowship!

Plus, you'll get to hang out with one of the more important people in the world of Robert E. Howard and Conan these days, Fred Malmberg! Hope to see you there!

Fred Malmberg, hailing from the icy north (Sweden), has been a fan of Robert E. Howard since his teens, and was notably the first publisher of Conan in the Swedish language. He played a major part in the Swedish game boom of the 1980's, utilizing intellectual property across games, publishing and entertainment. Since acquiring the rights to Conan in 2002, and the rest of the REH estate in 2006, Fred has worked internationally with the comics, game, toy, and entertainment industries, bringing Conan and Howard to a broader audience than likely ever before, in particular through computer games, Such as the Age of Conan and Conan Exiles games from licensee Funcom. Currently, he is serving as an Executive Producer of a Conan entertainment package at Netflix, and heads up the Heroic Signatures team in Los Angeles.


Saturday, January 22, 2022

Happy Birthday, Ol' Two-Gun Bob!

 


Happy 116th birthday to Robert E. Howard, author, poet and an American and Texas original. We hope everyone reads a favorite Howard story or poem today while enjoying a libation of choice. Raise your glass to the incomparable Robert E. Howard!

And while we're celebrating anniversaries, Robert E. Howard Days (June 10-11) will feature the 90th birthday of Howard's Conan the Cimmerian and the writing of two of his masterpieces: Worms of the Earth and "Cimmeria", the poem that inspired Conan.
We'll also be marking the 40th anniversary of the first movie, Conan the Barbarian.

Details of this and more happenings at Howard Days are forthcoming and will be found here and on Facebook. Hope to see you there!

Monday, December 13, 2021

HOWARD DAYS 2022 is June 10th & 11th!

 

As the cold winds begin to blow here in December, our thoughts turn to the warmer (usually MUCH warmer) days when we meet up at the Robert E. Howard Museum in Cross Plains, Texas, to celebrate our annual gathering.

Robert E. Howard Days returns on June 10th and 11th, 2022. This is just our initial notice and will be short. However, if you're looking for a delayed gift for Christmas, why not treat yourself or a loved one to a trip to the REH Museum, the world's best destination for fans of Ol' Two-Gun Bob Howard?

The theme for HD 2022 is Howard's Influence on Gaming (think Role-Playing games, board and table-top games, card games and video games). Plans are being developed to present a program that will appeal to both brand-new and veteran gamers. Our Guest of Honor, Frederik Malmberg, is a life-long gamer and currently is head of Heroic Signatures, a subsidiary of FunCom, the folks who run the CONAN EXILES video game.

And if that's not enough, y'all come and help us celebrate the 90th birthday of Conan the Cimmerian! There will be cake!!!

We'll have more announcements and information coming around New Year's, but we wanted to tease you just a little here.

So start making plans to come to Texas in June. All the regular happenings and programming seen here under those little tabs above will still be happening, so treat yourself to a good Helping of Howard in 2022.