Willow Con was hosted by the WSC Fan Club, which provided events for the WSC community to attend from March 24-26. 

Murder mystery was the theme for Willow Con 2023.  

A Trailer Park Tragedy Murder Mystery dinner event was present at Willow Con on March 24. Students and participants worked to solve a murder mystery while enjoying popcorn, sodas, and other foods and beverages. 

“I have done these murder mystery dinners at another theater as an actor,” Audrey Loggins, director of the Trailer Park Tragedy event, said. “When I discovered the theme was going to be a murder mystery, I was like that’s perfect, and I have the perfect event to go along with this.” 

The event was brought to life by Fan Club and Drama Club members. 

“The overlap of people involved in Fan Club and Drama Club who were excited to be involved in an activity (Murder Mystery) that merged both of their interests,” Loggins said.  

Space Nerds in Space: A Space Bridge Simulator was one of the events hosted at Willow Con.  

“This year we are doing the space bridge simulator, which I have been working on since I’ve designed Willow Con last year,” A.J. Stashkiw-Risor, leader of the mini-war gaming fandom, said. “This is my senior project and I’m putting a lot of extra hours into it.” 

Students were able to play the simulator and interact as a team with other players. 

New scavenger hunts were provided each day for the Willow Con event. Students were able to win prizes once the scavenger hunt was completed. 

Willow Con allows a community of people to come together to celebrate fandoms they are interested in. 

Students during the miniature painting extravaganza event talked about their interest in the event.  

“It takes a lot of patients, and it may not look perfect, but that’s just the fun of it,” Dakota Gullicksen, a WSC student who attended the miniature painting event, said. 

Vendors were present in the Frey and were there all weekend. 

“This year we have a lot bigger selection of vendors, we have different events, and everyone’s favorite miniature painting room,” Stashkiw-Risor said. 

The event was hosted in the student center on campus.  

“Fan Club is taking the mantal,” Stashkiw-Risor said. “This is going to be different, this is a different convention, this is different people, different expectations, and we decided to rename it to Willow Con.” 

Some of the events at Willow Con included A Trailer Park Tragedy, Space Nerds in Space: A Space Bridge Simulator, a miniature painting extravaganza, tabletop gameplay, a cosplay contest, Dungeons and Dragons, trading card games and an anime watch party. 

“I’ve been going to Willow Con since I was five years old,” Loggins said. “It’s always held a special place in my heart.”