As I write on 31 December 2018, I find it hard to believe that it is 40 years since I attended the BBYO National Convention 1978/1979, my second National Convention.
I took loads of black and white photographs at that 1978/1979 convention – four rolls of film by my reckoning. At some point, someone must have taken some photographs for me:
On 31 December 1978, Jeffrey Spector, who is sadly no longer with us, was installed as the National president for 1979. Although I didn’t know it then, some months later I was co-opted onto Jeffrey’s National Executive to edit the magazine for the last few months of 1979. It was an honour and privilege for me to have worked with him (and others of course) in that capacity.
There’s loads that I’d like to write about this convention and other BBYO happenings, but I think I should consult with others before delving into details.
One abiding memory of this particular convention is the extremely cold and snowy weather over New Year that year. Some scallywags took full advantage:
You can take the lad out of South London…
My diary for the three days (29 to 31 December) simply reads:
29 December: CONVENTION
30 December: SHEER
31 December: MAGIC
Whereas my diary entry for 1 January 1979 reads:
1 January: Return from convention. Cold – both sorts.
I feel immensely fortunate that I had the opportunity to share my youth with the terrific bunch of people I met through BBYO.
The Flickr album link that follows (the picture below) takes you to all the black and white photos I took and/or that were taken on my camera during that convention. Trigger warning – there are more than 140 pictures:
