Ah, the first newsletter of the year, time to shake the sleep out of your eyes and prepare for another fun and exciting year of FFTS activities, speaking of which . . . .

The first General Meeting of the year, time to flex your Roleplaying muscles. Do not be deceived this is not your "Normal" General Meeting. Starting at 2PM will be the conventional portion of the meeting and will include the annual elections. After the formalities have been put to bed, we will slaughter the entire Board, wait, no we will have a murder mystery, yah that's the ticket. Once all the skulduggery is done and over we will be offering FREE FOOD !!!, hold the hemlock. After or during the food consumption we will commence the PARTY. So everyone bring your favourite costume to amaze your fellow party goers with. Here is a little intro for the murder mystery to give you an idea of what to expect (always expect the unexpe cted!). There will be numerous suspects (trust no one) and everyone gets to play detective (paranoia is your friend) and try to discover what exactly happened without getting killed too (you are only paranoid if everyone isn't out to get you!!). The meeti ng, by the way is at 5459 Kaye St. in Halifax if you need directions call me or Kevin/Chris at 453-2449.

You have all been invited to the famed halfling merchant, Dodger

Nab-it's, birthday party at The Home for Wayward Hobbits (run by Mugs Money).

As the Nab-it family tradition holds, Dodger will be unveiling his first will and testament to all of his friends and family. Some of you are friends from this home, while others know him from the local Necromanctics Anonymous Group, an d still others are his companions from the Big Brothers and Big Shysters Guild. Oh and of course his wife, Jessica, and his twin brother, Dag, will be there. It should be a "drop-dead" fun party because everyone loves Dodger, right? . ....

Valour held the cauldron draped over his horn as Arifax quickly tossed in all of the ingredients. Once a piece from every creature still bound to the barrier had been combined, they spoke the seven words of freedom "Exoda, Fugit, Co uratta, Rebellia, Errantium, Volare, Liberatus". With a great flash the barrier disappeared. Without even pausing to say goodbye (miserable ingrates) the zoo creatures scattered.

Valour returned to the land of the Unicorns, happy to be free. Arifax left for the realm of the Dragons, followed by Zair, relishing in their new freedom (lousy traitors). Ebon's soul was finally liberated, but he lingered nonethele ss. He would follow the Earl of Cambray home and try to free Mibbles from his zombie slavery (yeah out of the pan into the fire, hah!). Quercia had a happy reunion with her tree (ooh, it's splinters if I find it), while Boboson followed Bartholomew south as the basilisk planned out his new great temple (if looks could kill ...). Bobafet made 1300 GP on the game market and was last seen heading for Turmetti (good riddance!!). Nobody was quite sure where Dwixel or Cerebrum went, but the Dwixel population on Arith has risen significantly. Billy Jack agreed to help the King of Turmetti with his zoo, but they would be partners and Billy Jack would make sure no creatures would be kept against their own will (oh sure, help him out @#$&@!!). Lastly, Grond, An ima, Leonayr and the Trunk returned to Godsrealm where Anima challenged Battran for interfering in her sphere of influence (oh sure NOW you want to help!!). In response Battran gave her the Trunk to appease her, happy to have had his war (at my expense!)a nd he heaped rewards upon Grond. Anima retrieved Dagramar from the Trunk and restored him, forbidding him to return to the mortal world until he took up a different, less dangerous hobby as keeping a zoo (it's not a zoo it's a Menagerie, well it used to b e!).

The game went well despite only having 23 people on game, everyone had fun. Thanks to Russell for helping with the cards and to Brad for helping with transportation. The costumes were Great!

Points awarded for Dagramar's MENAGERIE

Colin Binnington 20

Chantal Boudreau 8

Brad Bradley 21+3

Gavin Carruthers 20

Mike Drysdale 20

Jeff Ells 20

Brad Filippone 20

Nathan Graves 20

Dan Henderson 20

John Lovin 21

Dave Morrison 21+3

Sheldon O'Brien 20

Jackie Pettipas 20+3

Len Purdy 20

Nicole Quickert 20

Russell Rait 22

John Reynolds 20

Gil Richard 20

Martin Sasinek 20

Kevin Sauder 20+3

Chris Stockley 20

James Tilley 20

Trish ? 5

+3 pts were awarded for drivers

Thanks to all of you who took the time to fill out our last questionnaire and give us back some feedback. Most of you seem to prefer Fantasy style games over anything else but are willing to try the "occasional" game with a differen t flavour. Only one person gripped about the price of the games and that was with regards to buying food on Three day games. We got several useful suggestions about how to increase the FFTS population which I will be bringing up at the next Board meeting. Once again, thanks for your loyal support and here is your reward.

Eddie Blake 3

Chantal Boudreau 3

Dave Chisholm 3

Wayne Chisholm 3

Mike Drysdale 3

Dan Henderson 3

John Lovin 3

Blair Morris 3

Sheldon O'Brien 3

Russell Rait 3

Dale Roberts 3 Martin Sasinek 3

Kevin Sauder 3

Chris Stockley 3

Bevan-John Rhys 27

Binnington, Colin 26

Blake, Eddie 12

Blake, John 9

Boone, Chris 9

Boudreau, Chantal 68

Bradley, Brad 61

Brennan, Bob 68

Brown, Evan 10

Carruthers, Gavin 49

Chamberlain, Sylvie 50

Chisholm, Dave 10

Chisholm, Wayne 48

Deveau, Mary 3

Dorsey, Mike 8

Drysdale, Mike 15

Dunn, John 9

Durnsford, Richard 17

Ells, Jeff 25

Filippone, Brad 94

Fox, Steve 16

Gordon, Pat 9

Grady, Johnathon 12

Graves, Nathan 36

Gray, Angela 9

Henderson, Dan 32

Hoeg, Colin 69

Kane, Todd 10

Keretscko, Bob 9

Leahey, Mike 13

Lingard, Jason 12

Lovin, John 21

McKay, Donna 6

McKenna, Markus 12

Mason, Sandra 120

Miller, David 21

Morris, Blair 28

Morrison, Dave 138

Morrison, Karalee 17

Morton, Greg 4

Murdock, Cindy 67

Noble, Tracy 12

O'Brien, Sheldon 97

Penny, Adam 5

Pettipas, Jackie 66

Purdy, Len 29

Quickert, Nicole 20

Rait, Russell 257

Reynolds, John 50

Richard, Gil 20

Roberts, Dale 81

Sasinek, Martin 31

Sauder, Kevin 79

Stockley, Chris 50

Stone, Doug 9

Tilley, James 24

Verreault, Paul 81

Zahn, Steve 118

If your name is not on this list it probably means you do not have a current membership or owe FFTS for past game fees.

The Board 1996-1997

President Cindy Murdock

Vice President Brad Bradley

Treasurer Chantal Boudreau

Secretary Russell Rait

Board Members Colin Binnington

Dale Roberts

Martin Sasinek

Chris Stockley

Steve Zahn