Excited by the Amazing Announcement [VALL]

I have been sitting on this announcement for a while and I can finally talk about it publicly!

Holmes in the Heartland is back in 2020!

Our inaugural Sherlockian weekend last year was a great success, and we are excited to have another one next year.  We got some great feedback from last year's attendees and think everyone coming to St. Louis next summer is in for a real treat!

But I'm getting ahead of myself.  First things first. 

When and where is it?

July 24-26, 2020 at the Sheraton Westport Plaza hotel in St. Louis, Missouri.

Put that weekend in your calendar now.  Registration won't open until October, but you're not going to want to forget those dates.

What can you expect when you come to Holmes in the Heartland in St. Louis next summer?

Well, here's where that feedback comes in.  Last year's Holmes in the Heartland celebrated the new St. Louis Sherlock Holmes Research Collection housed at the St. Louis Public Library, showcasing some items from the collection and talking about how it came to be.  But the room wasn't open on the day of the symposium so none of the visitors actually got to see the collection.  Many people said they would be interested in seeing what St. Louis's collection had there, so we are kicking the weekend off with that!

Friday afternoon will be a guided architectural tour of the St. Louis Public Library central branch, a beautiful Carnegie library full of Beaux-Arts and Neo-Classical touches that even a novice like myself can appreciate.  Following that, we will have a private viewing of the St. Louis Sherlock Holmes Research Collection in the Rare Books and Manuscript Room of the library.  When we wrap up there, the group will take a short walk to Baileys' Range, a cool burger and ice cream spot.

Saturday will be a day full of Sherlockiana!  Another request we had was to have vendors at our next event, so get to the ballroom to check out the vendor tables before settling in for a day full of speakers on this year's theme, "Arch Enemies."

Kicking off the panel will be our keynote speaker, Curtis Armstrong.  But not to be outdone will be a great lineup of other Sherlockian speakers with their own takes on "Arch Enemies": Ray Betzner, Steven Doyle, Beth Gallego, Elinor Gray, Kristen Mertz, Dr. Minsoo Kang, and The St. Louis Costumers Guild.

You won't have far to go as Saturday's dinner will be at the Sheraton and followed by a Sherlockian game night.

But the theme is "Arch Enemies."  Shouldn't there be something about the Gateway Arch?

Yes, there should.  That's why Sunday will find you on the St. Louis riverfront and touring St. Louis's most famous landmark, the Gateway Arch!  Ride to the top, watch a movie on the history of the Arch, and check out the newly remodeled interactive museum at the Arch before wrapping up the weekend with lunch on historic Laclede's Landing.

I can't tell you how excited I am for this weekend.  The planning committee made up of members of The Parallel Case of St. Louis have come up with some really great stuff for 2020.  Come at once if convenient!