Tag: announcements

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Extraordinary! Exciting News! Mark Calendars! Alert Friends! Send Emails! Inform the Watsonian World!

The Society is pleased to announce the debut of the First Annual John H Watson Society Canonical Treasure Hunt.

The First Annual John H Watson Canonical Treasure Hunt will involve a lengthy search through the Canon and scholarly material requiring Watsonian Seekers of Truth to sort through a large body of data in order to arrive at the point where the Canonical Treasure is to be found and identified.

Our treasure hunt will involve encryption, obscure references, geographic and biologic inferences, people, objects, dates, and all manner of Watsonian and Holmesian/Sherlockian knowledge.

Be cautioned! It will not be simple. The First Annual John H Watson Canonical Treasure Hunt may well take you weeks to sort out the answer . . . perhaps months. This will make the Musgrave Ritual look like child’s play. You will be required to hunt through the literature, both the Sacred Canon and the related scholarship of the past seventy years.

And there will be prizes! The first Society Charter member to email the correct answer will receive a fine first British edition of  The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes donated to the Society by an anonymous member. Other categories of winners will also receive handsome donated prizes.

And now for the Rules:

1. The Annual John H Watson Canonical Treasure Hunt will be posted on the Society’s website at the Quiz Page at exactly 12:00 Noon (Pacific) on Thursday, 1 August 2013.  All participants will have an equal opportunity relative to time and access. The Canonical Treasure Hunt will end upon submission of the first correct answer or on Monday, September 2, 2013 at 12 Noon (Pacific).

2. The Annual John H Watson Canonical Treasure Hunt shall have four categories: Charter Members, Non-Members, Founding Members and Students. One winner from the Charter Members shall be determined and one winner from Non-Members shall also be determined.  A winning Founding Member will be determined, as well. Founding Members may not compete in the Charter Member category. The Student winner may be a member or non-member, but must be enrolled in a high school, college or university of higher learning. The Charter Member winner will receive a first British edition of  The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes ( a $1,000 value). The Non-Member winner will receive a six-year membership to the Society (a $120 value). The Student winner will receive an Honorarium of $250. The Founding Member (Directors) winner shall have the satisfaction of knowing the answer submitted was correct.

3. The winners will be determined by two criteria: 1) Correctness of the final answer; and 2) Time of receipt of the correct answer by the Society via email at info@johnhwatsonsociety.com .  Winners in all categories will be posted on the Society website. NOTE: The final answer will consist of identifying the ultimate Treasure, but will also require answering correctly all questions leading up to the final answer.

4. All matters concerning the Canonical Treasure Hunt, the contest, the answers, and the determination of the winning answer will be the sole decision of the John H Watson Society Directors. The only purpose of the Annual John H Watson Society Canonical Treasure Hunt is to encourage scholarship and a deeper understanding of the writings of John H Watson, M.D.  All prizes have been donated to the Society by anonymous members.

The Society encourages its members to inform as many people of this First Annual John H Watson Society Canonical Treasure Hunt as possible. We also encourage other scion clubs and organisations to let their members know of this unique and exciting event. And, we would hope the Sherlockian, Holmesian and Watsonian media worldwide find it a worthy effort for featuring prominently in their reportage.

And so, we announce the First Annual John H Watson Society Canonical Treasure Hunt and ask you to spread the word and return promptly at noon (Pacific) on Thursday 1 August 2013 for the revealing of the mystery!  The game IS afoot!

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The Debut of the Quiz Page

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Welcome to the Quiz Page!

Each day, one of our Watsonians will ask a question for the members to answer, discuss, refute, or otherwise ruminate on, as we further the knowledge and scholarship of the writings of Dr Watson.

Any and all members may simply click on “Comments” and add their questions, answers or contribution to what can be an enjoyable daily exploration of any number of topics. Remember how much fun “Word Power” was in the Reader’s Digest?  Well, Quiz Page can be even more fun because we all have an interest in the same topics. But, it begins with you, the interested and supportive member of The John H Watson Society. We can all have some fun and participate for a few minutes each day, or we can just be a “journal” society (which we are already). Let us commit to being both; after all, John H. Watson was a man of action and intellect.

So, please… please… please… come here often and think of the many unanswered questions you have about Dr Watson, Sherlock and Mycroft Holmes, or any of the vast catalogue of characters who inhabit the greatest canon of literature ever known.

The first question is posted by the boy in buttons who is seen above in the illustration. His question: “Who are the people in the illustration and what story are they featured in and what is taking place in the scene?

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Two New Features Added to The Society Website

Today the Society has added two new features on the website: Quiz Page and Watsonian Limelight.

Quiz Page is what you might expect: a quiz blog for ALL members to post questions, Canonical conundrums, and topics for exploration, explication, and examination. It is meant to be a DAILY stop for a bit of intriguing Canonical conundra and active participation by all.

Watsonian Limelight will highlight a member of the Society each month and provide all of us greater illumination of the member’s accomplishments, interests and creativity. The first limelight is shown upon the Life of Col. Ted Schulz, BSI “The Amateur Mendicant Society” and Founding Member Emeritus of The John H Watson Society.

These are YOUR pages. Please contribute, participate, and assist in the daily, ongoing dialogue that can add so much fun and pleasure to our shared lives of interest in the Watsonian and Sherlocklian milieu. You only have to click on “Comments” and you are in The Game, and, truly, “The game’s afoot!”

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Chair Confers Bull Pup Monikers to Members

After weeks of great deliberations, deep Canonical studies, and other arcane and mystical consultations held within the ethers, the Founding Chair of The John H Watson Society, Prof. Don Yates, has conferred upon all members their “Bull Pup” monikers. Each members is given a bull pup moniker in order to keep green forever Dr Watson’s companionship of a bull pup, as yet unnamed, as related in A Study In Scarlet.

With this historic and weighty responsibility successfully concluded, the Membership Director has caused Membership Certificates to be engrossed with the proper monikers, authenticated by the Chair, and dispatched via the morning post to all members forthwith.

Members will find their Society monikers in quotes next their names in the Society listings found on the Membership Information and the Society and Editorial Board pages of the website.

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Society Listed on Sherlockian Who’s Who, Sherlockian.net and Sherlocktron

Thanks to the respected Sherlockian, Alexis Barquin of Sherlockian Who’s Who, The John H Watson Society has taken its place among the many U.S. Societies listed on this extremely helpful Internet website for identifying Sherlockians and Sherlockian societies and clubs. Truly a labor of love, the site features countless organizations and individual Sherlockians and their numerous affiliations. To view the Society’s page, please see:  http://www.sh-whoswho.com/index.php

Thanks to Mr. Chris Redmond, the Society has been listed on Sherlockian.net
http://www.sherlockian.net/, one of the most comprehensive Internet sites for all things related to Dr. Watson and Sherlock Holmes. If one explores the depth of Sherlockian.net, one rapidly comes to realize the enormous efforts Mr. Redmond and others are making in providing an aggregate hub for all things Sherlockian. The Society can be found on the Societies page, under the category “Special-Purpose Societies.” The Society extends its appreciation and admiration to Mr. Redmond, a renowned and long-time Sherlockian for his courtesy.

And, thanks to the legendary Mr. Willis G. Frick, the Society has been listed among the vast resources found on one of the oldest of Sherlockian Internet sites, Sherlocktron: http://www.sherlocktron.com/. Here, you will find access to Peter E. Blau’s Scuttlebutt, the pre-eminent monthly newsletter of all things Watson-Holmes-Doyle and 1895.

These three websites are invaluable resources for not only the Society members, but all those interested in the Sacred Canon and the activities surrounding our many and varied interests. We salute the faithful “Keepers of the Game” who publish these in-depth, informative websites and who spend countless hours sifting, synthesizing and presenting the Baker Street news and developments from around the world.

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Charter and Student Memberships Established

The John H Watson Society announced the creation of Charter Memberships to be given through December 31, 2013.

Also announced are Student Memberships to be given at no cost to full-time or part-time students enrolled at an institution of higher learning. A reduced subscription cost for the Society’s journal will be the only charge for students.

Details for both membership categories will be found on the Society’s website on the Membership Information page.

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Awards and Prizes of The Society Established

The Society has announced the establishment of three annual Awards and one annual Prize for scholarship, research and creative writing pertaining to John H. Watson, M.D. and his contributions to the literary genre of Detective Fiction.

The Yates Award, named for the renowned translator and Sherlockian scholar, Prof. Donald A. Yates, PhD, BSI “The Greek Interpreter,” The Napa Valley Napoleons of S.H., seeks to recognize works of scholarship in translation to further the dissemination of Watsonian research and scholarship worldwide.

The Pollock Award, named for the renowned Sherlockian scholar, editor and author, Prof. Donald Pollock, PhD, MD, The Five Orange Pips, seeks to recognize works and research concerning The Hound of the Baskervilles, arguably John Watson’s finest book.

The Col. Ted Schulz Award, named for renowned  late Sherlockian Col. Ted Schulz, BSI, “The Amateur Mendicant Society” and judged by the equally renowned editor and Sherlockian scholar, Michael H. Kean, PhD, BSI “General  Charles Gordon,” The Diogenes Club of the Monterey Peninsula, seeks to recognize original creative writing concerning John H. Watson, M.D.

The Blau Award, named for the renowned Sherlockian scholar and journalist, Peter E. Blau, BSI “Black Peter,” S.H.S.L., The Red Circle of Washington, D.C., seeks to recognize works of journalism, communication, and ephemera of Watsonian and Sherlockian Scions and clubs.

The Taylor Award, named for the renowned bookman and librarist, Bruce Taylor, NVNSH, seeks to recognize excellence in library building and book collecting within the Watsonian and Sherlockian milieu.

The Watsonian Prize, an annual, endowed scholarship prize of $500 is awarded by the Director of Publishing and Editor-in-Chief, Joanne Yates, PhD., to an enrolled university student writing the best scholarly article pertaining to John H. Watson, M.D. to appear in the official journal of the Society, “The Watsonian”  during each publishing year.