Quartzite Mini-Con Brings Pop Culture to Chewelah

The convention, organized by Nancy and Steven Cross, is a first-of-its-kind event for Stevens County.

“It was Steven being insane honestly – no one else is crazy enough to try this,” Nancy joked. “It’s just the crazy Cross family working on it right now.”

The Quartzite Mini-Con isn’t about corporate booths or big-name celebrities. It’s about community.

“We don’t really have a goal honestly,” Nancy said. “We wanted to just have something fun that celebrates the ‘nerdy’ side of life. There aren’t a lot of opportunities for people who love fandoms, TTRPG [tabletop role-playing games], fantasy, etc., to express their love of it.”

This year’s event will feature a mix of fantasy and local flair.

“We have mostly fantasy authors who will be there doing signings, and one romance author,” Nancy said. “The vendors range from a custom hat bar, coffee samplings, D&D [Dungeons & Dragons] dice, 3D prints, local artists’ work, comic books, and custom TTRPG maps. We also have the Friends of the Loon Lake Library coming out to offer a great selection of fantasy and sci-fi books.”

Many participants are expected to hail from the region.

“Almost all of the businesses are from the surrounding communities,” Nancy said. “We did reach out to a couple of friends from other states to come in and bring specialty items such as The Man Behind the Comics and Will-o-Wisp with her amazing collection of carved rock figurines, crystals, and pendants.”

For fans of dressing up, the cosplay contest offers prizes of $50, $25, and plaques for top entries.

“We don’t have categories this year as we don’t know what the turnout will be,” Nancy said. “However, next year, if this event goes well, we hope to have youth and adult categories separate from one another.”

Fantasy gamers can join D&D one-shots run by two local dungeon masters: Kody, 19, and Mickey, 25; both asked for their last names to be anonymous.

“A menacing chaotic goblin and an unexpecting, seemingly sweet chaos coordinator,” Nancy described. “We’ll have sheets and pencils available, but we recommend bringing your own dice. You can create a level 1 or 2 character, or use one of our pre-made sheets.”

Magic: The Gathering and Pokémon fans will also find a home at the convention. It will be open play, but there will also be experienced players on hand to run the games and offer assistance.

The Quartzite Mini-Con is free to attend, with organizers instead encouraging attendees to bring nonperishable food donations for the Chewelah Food Bank.

“It is paramount,” Nancy said of community involvement. “There is no way around it. The community is what makes or breaks any event. We hope people see this as something unique and come to take a look.”

While there won’t be workshops or panels this year, the Cross family hopes the Mini-Con can grow into a recurring event.

“Unfortunately, this year there are no [workshops],” Nancy said. “We’re doing this pretty much by ourselves and with our own cash. If the event takes off, we hope to offer those types of con experiences later.”

For Steven, the excitement is simple: “To see the creativity of people’s costumes and hopefully their excitement of being able to have a pop culture experience in their own backyard.”

Nancy added, “I can’t wait for the kids in the community who love gaming, fandoms, fantasy, etc., to have a place to come hang out, shop around a little, and get their first comicon experience, even though it’s a little smaller than most.”