As a child, I always enjoyed playing with toy soldiers. My ex-brother-in-law, David Bridenbaugh, taught me the rules to chess, my first war game, when I was about 17. I was soon steadily beating him, and he quit playing me (I am a poor chess player, but he was TERRIBLE). In the autumn of 1971, I joined the Sioux City Chess Club and met Russ Gifford, Jim McIntyre, Bob Reynolds, Tom Gaul, and others. Bob introduced Russ, Tom, and I to Risk, Feudal, Jutland, Blitzkrieg, and a few other classic Avalon Hill board games.

In 1973, Jim McIntyre mentioned he had noticed an item in the newspaper about a group of people that were going to be playing some games at the Martin Apartments. Russ, Jim, Tom, and I walked down there. We were introduced to Pete Bosworth, Jim and Steve Lurvey, Mike Owen, Larry Armin, Andy Hoffman, Bob Irelan, and Joel Nurre who were playing a game of Chainmail. Russ and Jim left shortly afterward, but Tom and I stayed and played. The next day we played Tractics, and I was hooked. I soon developed a preference of miniature and role-playing games over board, card, and live action role-playing games.

I became a member of the Great Plains Game Players, attended most of their events, and became acquainted with the other players of the Sioux City, Vermillion, Sioux Falls, and Brookings areas. I slowly assembled a sizable army of Starguard miniatures and Minifigs fantasy figures. I hosted several of the G.P.G.P. Sioux City events at the meeting room of the Equitable Federal Savings & Loan building and became a Game Master for a number of role-playing campaigns.

After Jim Lurvey left the area in 1979, gaming in the area died down. In 1983, Russ, Mike Bohlke, and I heard about a war gaming convention down in Lincoln, went, and were fairly disappointed by it. As we were driving back, we kicked around the idea of how we could have put on a much better convention. When we were playing in the first Sioux City Grand Prix Speed Circuit Tournament in 1985 (only Russ and I played in all ten of the annual tournaments, and I won the Championship in 1991), various ideas about a convention were discussed, and Russ organized the first Sioux City Games Convention at the Sioux City Hilton
Hotel. I continue to attend M.A.G.E. events and conventions and lend my support to them.