Martin Grams: Mid Atlantic Nostalgia Convention 2022 Recap

The 17th annual Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention has come to a close. It is with pride that I deliver the following report in three sentences: Best. Convention. Ever.

Like a good movie involving hundreds of talented individuals, once every so often everything -- and everyone -- hits their mark. The slide show presentations were above average with diverse subjects including three from author Robert Matzen: the 1942 plane crash that killed actress Carole Lombard, James Stewart's World War II career, to Audrey Hepburn's charitable career.

Yours truly presented a slide show on The History of Sergeant Preston of the Yukon, which will be presented again via Zoom at the Metro Washington Old-Time Radio Club in December. (Anyone who wants to see the presentation can e-mail me for a link before the December meet.)

The charity auction broke a record raising money for children with treatable cancer.

Celebrities from all ends of the spectrum arrived to sign autographs and pose for photos with fans. Nancy Kovack, who worked with Vincent Price, Kim Novak, and Elvis, and appeared in such classics as Jason and the Argonauts, The Outlaws is Coming, Diary of a Madman, Tarzan and the Valley of Gold, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Get Smart, Bewitched and many others proved to be a national treasure... even though she flew in from Italy to attend. Linda Gaye Scott, who played roles on Lost in Space, Batman and The Green Hornet made an appearance, bragging how she was the only person on The Green Hornet to kick Bruce Lee's butt. Sharyn Wynters attended, also a villain on Batman, but also a killer robot who, alongside Linda Gaye Scott, took over a theme park in Westworld.

Jamie Farr and Loretta Swit attended together, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the premiere of M*A*S*H on that Saturday evening, complete with cake and a live radio interview. Melissa Gilbert reminded us that in a world full of Nellies, we should all be like Laura. Jimmie Walker cracked jokes all weekend, Bob Eubanks signed autographs for fans for the first time at any convention, and Sam Jones proved he was Flash Gordon with his thunder buddies for life mantra that made everyone love the life they have. Truly motivational.

Beverly Washburn from Old Yeller, Laura Cayouette from The Green Lantern, Greg Evigan from B.J. and the Bear, Linda Thorson proved she could be among The Avengers, Mindy Cohn from The Facts of Life proved she was even more popular for voicing the role of Velma on Scooby Doo, and Constance Towers impressed everyone with her spry ability to move about at her age and with an impressive memory -- we should all be so lucky.

During the Saturday night dinner banquet, we surprised actress Linda Gaye Scott with a stage performance of The Witch's Tale, for which her grandmother played the lead back in 1932. A recording of that radio broadcast does not exist so we re-created the drama on stage complete with radio scripts, microphones and sound effects. This was under the direction of Don Ramlow, who was directing his 500th performance.

Vendors had so much available for sale it was amazing. But don't take my word for it. Enjoy the photos!