Author: Jane Albright
A past president of the International Wizard of Oz Club, Jane is a life-long Oz fan. She's attended Oz events around the country regularly since 1974 and amassed an Oz collection that ranges from antiquarian books, original artwork, and ephemera to children's playthings, posters, and housewares. In addition to speaking frequently about Oz, Jane has contributed to the Baum Bugle, written for Oziana, and loaned Oz material to numerous public exhibitions. She received the L. Frank Baum Memorial Award in 2000.
Winners of the 2024 Oz Club Contests
The International Wizard of Oz Club announced the 2024 winners of our annual art and writing contests Saturday, Sept. 28 at Oz, the National Convention held in Charlotte, North Carolina. Fred Otto Prize for Fiction First Place: The Fairy King in Oz Jesse Jury Mount Vernon, WA 98273 Second Place: The Final Fate of the Phanfasms Aaron Solomon Adelman Pethaḥ Tiqwah, Israel C. Warren Hollister Prize for Non-Fiction First Place Ozma’s Enduring Appeal 120 Years Later Leighton Suen Staten Island, NY Second Place Puzzle Adventures in Oz Tyler B. Wright New Haven, MO Rob Roy MacVeigh Prize for Art First PlaceA Gathering of OziansRob LauerSuffolk, VA Second PlaceGlindaDavid Valentin Forest Hills, NY Thanks to all those who entered. Contest submissions have been forwarded to the appropriate editors for consideration in future Oz Club publications.
2024 Oz: The National Convention
Important Links for 2024’s Oz, the National Convention Event schedule for participants (both Oz Club and CharlOz), PDF CharlOz day-by-day plan (with thanks to our colleagues at CharlOz), PDF Friday evening trivia at the Market at 7th Street, jpg Give to the convention’s present and future and enjoy a face-to-face dinner with an Oz-lebrity! Click here to “Give What You Can” for an extra-fabulous time at this year’s rooftop gala dinner! Click here for the full schedule of exclusive Club-only events and incredible CharlOz presentations! Imagine the excitement of CharlOz 2024 together with all the Oz Club fun and camaraderie you know and love… and now imagine that’s coming true! We are THRILLED to be a part of a citywide celebration of Oz—a dream for all of us! Remember, to be a part of the larger CharlOz event, you will also need to complete the separate CharlOz registration. Many CharlOz events are free to the public but will require registration and tickets. CharlOz planners will be contacting all registrants closer to the event dates about reserving tickets for various events. From our centrally-located hotel, we are steps away from CharlOz events on Thursday evening as well as events throughout the day on Saturday and Sunday. Friday events will take us away from central Charlotte, but Club convention registration fees include the cost of a 24-hour light rail pass. The DoubleTree by Hilton Charlotte City Center is our convention hotel and location for the Oz Club programming and gala dinner! A special group rate is available per night if booked by August 26 for the dates September 27-29, 2024. Make sure to mention that you are part of the Oz Club/CharlOz group on the phone or use promotion code WOZ online for the special rate. Hotel Front Desk: 704-335-5400, Monday through Friday, 8am-4pm. Booking website: http://tinyurl.com/IWOC2024 Your convention registration fee gives you Dorothy’s Adventurer Pass, which combines CharlOz public activities with the exclusive Club convention programming and will make the experience of CharlOz a memory to treasure forever! To make this as easy as possible, we’re also offering the option to select—a la carte—exactly what you want to make your experience at CharlOz exactly the way you want it! With Dorothy’s Adventurer’s Pass, you know you have the best deal out there. You’ll have the convenience of prepaid transport on Charlotte’s LYNX light rail; a ticket for a showing of MGM’s Wizard of Oz live with classic score; enjoy a rooftop gala dinner with all your Oz Club friends, new and old; bid on amazing Ozzy treasures at the annual Oz Club auction; receive a fee-free gift card to many of Charlotte’s most-delicious restaurants and coolest spots; and enjoy Oz Club programming, including special guests Randy Schmidt (2024’s Mysteries of Oz documentary) and Michael Raabe (2023’s Oz: The New Musical)! And, as we get closer to the big day, we’ll be sharing more information about options for meals and other fun activities for when you’re in town as well as some surprise special guests for our rooftop gala dinner! Please note: As of Monday, September 16, registration for the gala dinner has closed. As of Wednesday, September 18, registration for the symphony performance, light rail pass, and gift cards is closed. Finally, to make this event a little extra special, we have two fabulous clothing options: t-shirts as well as limited-edition hoodies! These will only be created for the 2024 convention in Charlotte, the Queen City, and we think you’ll love having a wearable memory of one of the Ozziest weekends ever! Can’t wait to see you in Charlotte, and to keep up with the latest news, make sure to check us out on Facebook and on Instagram! For any questions about registration or the convention, please reach out to convention chair Leah Barber at [email protected].
Blair Frodelius
Our 2023 L. Frank Baum Memorial Award recipient, Blair Frodelius, is well known for his work to support Oz fans in several ways. He created TheOzIndex.com database of more than 1,600 published books related to Oz and Baum to, “enable Oz and Baum collectors to more fully understand the incredible influence that these books continue to have on modern literature.” Regular updates add new books of value to Oz fans and scholars as they are published. For his Daily Ozmopolitan (https://ozmapolitan.wordpress.com/) site he has gathered, organized, presented, and archived Oz news from around the world for more than 17 years. Fans can have Oz news updates emailed directly to them through this tremendous resource. Blair first joined the Oz Club as a teenager in 1977 has been an active volunteer. He’s been our webmaster, our digital news editor, and he grew our Facebook page—through more than six years of his daily posts—to nearly 8000 followers. You will see him as a contributor to the Baum Bugle, and performing on our convention and YouTube channel. Whether he’s reading an Oziana story on the YouTube channel, narrating a production for a virtual event, or answering questions for local media, he’s been a great help to our Club efforts. Examples of his convention work includes the role of Easton in a staged performance of Baum’s Tamawaca Folks, interviewing special guests Charles Santore, Eric Shanower, and Roger Baum, and performing alongside Bob Baum in dramatic readings of L. Frank Baum’s correspondence with his publishers. Blair’s prominence as an Oz fan followed his early participation in Club conventions on the East Coast, often attended with his wife and any number of their six children. The public festivals in Chittenango are right in his back yard, taking him from it’s musical stage to the cases of the All Things Oz museum where he’s loaned material for displays. His 2023 L. Frank Baum Memorial Award honors these decades of service and lasting contributions to the work and purposes of the Oz International Wizard of Oz Club.
Oziana 2022 available now
Oziana 2022 features the fiction of Bob Baum, great-grandson of Oz author L. Frank Baum, and a wonderful team of Oz illustrators. This is the first time Bob’s original writing has been collected in one volume; we are so pleased that he offered to work with us on this issue. We’re also delighted to bring you the work of these illustrators, some of whom are returning to Oziana for the first time in decades. Bob’s stories are historical fiction tales that relay what happened–or might have happened–to inspire some of our favorite Oz characters. Illustrated by Oz fans, edited by Gina Wickwar, and published by the International Wizard of Oz Club, this annual collection continues the Club’s 50-year tradition of encouraging authors and illustrators to create their own stories exploring the Land the Oz. In this issue you’ll find: How I Meet the Scarecrow: As Related to Me by L. Frank Baum, Illustrated by Donald Abbott Young Frank and His Imagination: Hot Off the Press, Illustrations adapted from Dick Martin A Moment in Time, Illustrated by Rob Lauer Early Morning Coffee with Matilda, Illustrated by Dave Kelleher Dinner at the Del, Illustrated by Autumn Rose Frodëlius Memory Scraps, Illustrated by Bill Campbell and Irwin Terry The Trunk in the Attic, Illustrated by Mel Vavaroutsos Oziana 2022 is available now from The International Wizard of Oz Club as a print-on-demand softcover book through Lulu.com. Priced at $8.50 (plus tax/shipping) click here to order.
Virtual Oz Art Show Tonight, Nov. 12
If you make Oz art, own Oz art, or would simply enjoy seeing the Oz art of others, join us on Zoom tonight for an informal evening of Oz art. Saturday, Nov. 12 at 8 pm (Eastern) Click here to enter our event: Go To Zoom It’s been months since we held a virtual get-together and we’re overdue. Artists among us are invited to show your work. Collectors with original art are encouraged to share something treasured. Those of us with lots of people are cautioned to be selective so no one dominates this show-and-tell program. I’m certainly no artist, but within my collection, I find everything from original published Oz illustrations and fine art to whimsical ceramic pieces, wall decor, handmade dolls, mosaic work, jewelry, woodworking, stained glass… All kinds of things I happily call “art.” Talented Oz fans are a rich source of creativity; let’s see what delights you. See you tonight!
Join fans in LA to “Get Happy”
June 11 in Los Angeles Oz Club members and fans will be gathering at the Wiltshire Ebell Theatre to attend “Get Happy: 100 Years of Judy Garland.” The exhibit has long been a labor of love for Garland collector and Oz fan Scott Hedley. I can’t do it justice; please read all about the exhibit at its website: https://www.judygarlandexhibit.com/ I’ll be in town that weekend for the launch of the new Judy Fragrance, a Friday evening event also held at the historic Ebell. While I am honored to represent the Oz Club, I won’t be alone in representing the Oz community. Personal Oz friends coming include Sean Barrett (The Land of Oz NC), Victoria Calamito (Oz Talk, The Oz Vlog), Ryan Jay (Oz Talk, Ryan Jay Reviews), Walter Krueger (Wizard of Oz Collectors United), EmKay Shrader and Tara Tagliafero (Down the Yellow Brick Pod), and Tiffany Sutton (Follow the Yellow Brick Girl). Quite likely others I just don’t know to expect will be there, too. With us converging on the Ebell Friday night for the fragrance party, it only makes sense to see Get Happy together Saturday morning—and to encourage other area fans to come, too. As people come and go to suit their schedules, it’s likely breakfast, lunch, or both will slip into the schedule. I’ll be making a straight line to the Academy Museum Saturday afternoon. My own tickets are for 3 pm. A Sunday evening film showing of The Wizard of Oz at the Hollywood Forever cemetery is awfully tempting, too. They’ve organized a walking tour of the cemetery with signage marking the graves of many people with whom Judy worked professionally. https://cinespia.org/event/the-wizard-of-oz-2/ Now that in-person Oz gatherings are possible again after two summers of so many cancellations, I look forward to making every moment of this fun weekend count! If you can make time to spend some of your Saturday celebrating Judy’s 100th birthday with us, do! It should be a memorable way to hob nob with your fellow wizards!
David Moyer: 1929-2022
David Moyer, a long-time member and friend of the International Wizard of Oz Club crossed the shifting sands April 12. David’s contributions to Oz have been far-reaching. As a volunteer, an actor, a lecturer, and more he’s been an asset to the Club, our conventions, and our publications for decades. You can read a bit more about David’s Oz interests and Club support in the L. Frank Baum Memorial Award recipients section of our website; he received the award in 2006. His obituary is online here if you’d like to share photos or memories with his family and friends. The Spring 2022 Bugle was on its way to press when we learned of David’s death so there wasn’t time to prepare a tribute to him, but I expect we’ll have one in the Autumn issue. I hope his Oz friends in the central New York area will be able to attend his service Saturday, May 14 (10 am) at the Moyer family plot in Phoenix Rural Cemetery, 126 Chestnut Street, Phoenix, NY. 13135. While those far away find your own way to honor his memory — wear a fez, hug a Beagle, re-read his 2002 essay in the Bugle about the Baum’s trip abroad, or raise a toast of lacasa in the name of this dear friend.
The Women of Oz – our next virtual event
Zoom link for tonight: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85924142247 In recognition of Women’s History Month, we’re heading To Oz! to honor some of its wonderful women of Oz. We have a recorded interview with Sally Roesch Wagner about Matilda Joslyn Gage, whose personal character and convictions inspired so many of L. Frank Baum’s strong women, and a presentation about Ozma by Oz Club vice president Ryan Bunch. Bring your thoughts! Contemporary Oz author Philip John Lewin (The Witch Queen of Oz, The Master Crafters of Oz, The Spellcasters of Oz, “The Thompson Girls in Oz”) leads a discussion about presenting traditional Oz characters for modern readers — and creating new ones — with an emphasis on women. We’ll add show-and-tell of your favorite Oz character dolls of Oz women, and ….well, probably something else no one’s suggested yet! Join us Saturday March 27 at 7 pm (central daylight savings time). We’d love to see you there. A link will be added to the top of this public blog once we’ve opened the Zoom room. For those of you who are Oz Club members, you can find that info ahead of time in our activities section.