Mike Griffith - May 21, 1965 - February 26, 2025

 This weekend was going to be one a big trip back down to the Lehigh Valley for Mepacon 48 in Allentown.  New con site, tons of games, lots of faces old and new.  Unfortunately, with one child with a block of AAU basketball, and the other in the school musical, I drove nowhere in that direction.  

As I ate breakfast, I got a text from my friend Gerry.  He's one of the old guard of gaming in Allentown in the late 80's.  Nowadays, we only meet the the con, peruse the auction, gripe about bids and buyouts, and wax nostalgic about the good old days.  I figured he was texting to see if I was making it, and if not, if there was anything to snipe at during the auction. 

Alas, that was not the case.  

When the obituary for Mike Griffith appeared in late February, it mentions his career as a professor of communications, it dives into his love of writing poetry, and his collection of radio serials.  Outside of a love of playing board with his long-time partner, Sharon, there's no other mention of gaming at all.  For some of us, he was one of the most well-known gamers in the region throughout the 90's.

Mike had worked as an assistant manager at Imagination Workshop in Phillipsburg, NJ in the early 90s, moving over to New Frontiers in Phillipsburg Malls, and ultimately ran his own store, Griffon Games, in Wind Gap, Pennsylvania from 1997-2000.  I happened to be along for the ride with him at the latter two stints.

While he knew his products and ordering, it was organizing conventions where he was best known.  He was a member of the Lehigh Valley Gamers Association (LVGA), but original hosts of Lehicons, in the early 90s, but when they disintegrated, he eventually took over.  

His Bogglecon one-day conventions, usually held at the Wind Gap American Legion, were perfect one-day conventions for just over 100 people.   There was a nice blend of RPGs, board games, and usually a nice Battletech table or three.  He tried to institute conventions that hosted CCGs at the same time (CardCon), and a few other ideas, but the twice a year traditional con was always a winner.  

Many folks tried to duplicate the impact of Bogglecon on their own scale.  Many were forced to admit it wasn't as easy as it looked, most lost money, one turned a profit, and one I assisted with broke exactly even.

With the success of the one-days and his network of friends and volunteers, he was able to host three or four 3-day Lehicons in the mid to later 90's.   

When Mike own Griffon Games, he began having significant health issues, leaving me to the run the store.  The health issues were one of the reasons the store ultimately closed, and with the store, the ability to run cons was nearly impossible.  

Luckily a group of friends loved the Bogglecons so much they took up the mantle of running a one day show of their own, the Mid-Eastern Pennsylvania Gaming Convention, hence Mepacon was born. 

After trying to reconcile the closing of the store, I fell out of touch with Mike and he moved to New Jersey, and outside of the most random notes on Facebook, we hadn't communicated.

After talking with Gerry, it appears his health woes worsened over the years, but he was still doing the things he loved up until the end. 

Mike making an appearance at Mepcon 25, Clarks Summit, circa 2013.  Standing next to Ed Lehman, the man who took over the mantle and led to the establishment of Mepacon.

Mike was an avid gamer, a great gamemaster, a fun GM for new players, and was the reason the there was a tight knit gaming community in the Lehigh Valley during the 90's.  Most importantly he was a friend I will remember fondly and miss dearly. 

Mepacon 49 is this November 14-16, 2025.

Mepacon 50 is next April 17-19, 2026.  

It's less than 24 hours since I received the belated news, but I'm already scheming for ways to celebrate Mike at the cons...