An Abbreviated History of STARWARD BOUND

What is Starward Bound? It's a website. It's a group of friends sharing a common interest. It's all of these and more. It's the Science Fiction and Fantasy Club of the Miami Valley...and beyond.

Starward Bound traces its beginnings back to 1981. At that time the club was started as a Science Fiction and Fantasy club at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio.

In the early fall of 1981, Mike Kennedy started advertising for civilian and military employees of WPAFB who would be interested in starting a science-fiction club on base. The first official meeting took place in November of 1981. During the following months, a dozen interested SF fans organized the club and started it on its way.

The name, STARWARD BOUND, is actually an acronym for "Stellar Travelers of Ancient Realms, Wanderers of Alien Regions, Dimensions and Builders of Orbits, Utopias, Nebulas, and Droids". However, the shortened name has always been more widely used to refer to the club.

Two of the original members of the club are still in the area and have enjoyed the club's various activities and friendships so much that they have continued as members. They are Mike Kennedy and Mary Ann Schmidt. Two other original members have moved on to actual work in the space exploration business, and another original member, Will Conrad, is working out of the area. Nearly a dozen other current members, though not present when the club was founded, have also enjoyed the club enough that many of them have been active for several years. Many of the other original members were military and have since been transferred elsewhere. This loss of military members caused the club to become an areawide organization instead of just being a WPAFB-based club.

Over the years, Starward Bound has expanded to include members in several Ohio cities and several other states.

Club activities and projects in the past have included such things as a bi- monthly newsletter, an annual fanzine, and various special interest groups (SIGs). Some of the SIGs have come and gone as interests varied among the members. SIGs which are currently active are the Gaming SIG, the Science Fiction/Fantasy Book Readers' SIG, the Mystery Book Readers' SIG, and the "Science Fiction & Stuff SIG", which is the monthly social get-together for the club.

Other activities include going to the movies and convention trips, namely Millennicon and Marcon, A few members are on the committee that organizes and presents the Millennicon convention while others volunteer at the convention.

Besides the many friendships that have developed, many interests and activites have been supported in the club.

STARWARD BOUND is incorprated in the state of Ohio as a not-for profit organization.

This page last reviewed/updated: 11-Jul-2015 DMM