In March 2005 Consonance turned Sweet 16, and a glorious Con it was! We had 155 attendees (including 8 kids) and a fabulous program lineup. Bob Laurent and Colleen Savitzky were honored as our founding father and mother while unbelievably delicious cake was consumed in a con-suite celebration on Friday night. The concert smorgasbord offered many textures and flavors, all delicious and satisfying. Indeed, our several guests were as different from one another as guests could possibly be, from vintage filk-diva Juanita Coulson to urbane newcomer Terence Chua, from nouveau-beatnik Adam Selzer to Hard rockers Rand Bellavia and Adam English. And then there was Blake, who actually has a masters degree in music and isn't afraid to use it. The festivities continued without pause, and on Sunday ended with a rollicking rock jam and a "Dead Squid Filk" that seems to have been one of the high points of the Con.

As usual, the Largest Concom In Filk did a superb job of planning and running Consonance; as Yogi Berra might have said, "We couldnta done it widout us". And the very good news is, except for Lynn Gold who is taking a year off to get her broadcasting career off the ground, we'll all be back. James, Alan, Colleen, Jo, Karl, Kitty, Seanan, Mary & John, Heather, Chris & John, Mud and Dave, Kristoph, Maya and Lee -- Here we go again!

Our intrepid Finance Guy (Alan) has just signed a contract assuring that we will be able to return to the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Milpitas in 2006, on the first weekend in March (March 3-5). It's close to the San Jose airport. The staff likes us and they come to our concerts. The hotel has great function space. The beds are exquisitely comfortable. And if you can't afford hotel food, there's that great food court right next door...

And we have guests! Midwestern old-timer Bill ("the Grim") Roper is no longer so grim, now that he's teamed up with Gretchen. With lots of new material and a gift for improv, they'll make fantastic GOHs. Puzzlebox, a long-time favorite West-coast group, has agreed to reassemble itself so its members (Paul, Taunya, Alisa and Luis) can be our Toastmasters. Seanan threatened dire and unspeakable acts if we didn't bring Chris Conway over from England, so we asked him *real nice* and he's agreed to be our International Guest. And Interfilk, which has a knack for sending just-the-right-person to just-the-right-con at just-the-right-time, has done it again: Marty Coady Fabish will be their gift to us this year.

And while you're thinking about Consonance, why not send in your membership for next year? See our web page for complete instructions.