Who and What Are we?

What is WagonCon?

In 2015, a few friends decided it would be a “dam” good idea to run a gaming convention in The Dalles, Oregon. Why did we think this? Well, we are Crazy Gamers™ of course! Thus the idea of WagonCon was born. Since then we have had a few board members come and go but the desire to showcase gaming in the beautiful Columbia Gorge lives on.

Holding the First WagonCon event in May of 2016, as of the end of 2024 we have held 13 different events under the WagonCon Banner. 7 WagonCons, 5 Camp WagonCons, a game night at Kainos Pizza, and a learn to game event at the Wahtonka Community Charter School.

We really do hope that all of you will join us for our next WagonCon event!

WagonCon: Our main event, two and a half days of Role-Playing Games, Board Games, Miniature War Games and Collectible Card Games. We have had held Magic the Gathering Tournaments, concerts, and escape rooms over the years. One never knows what we might events the next year will bring.

Camp Wagoncon: Two days and a half days of gaming out in the wilds! This combines both the love of gaming with the great outdoors and camping.

Who are we?

WagonCon’s board are a group of individuals who love gaming and what to share that love with the world. We are all non-paid individuals who work hard to bring the Columbia Gorge a great gaming convention experience. Over the years we have had several members who have helped us along the way, our current members are listed below.

Aaron Leach

Aaron joined us in late 2019. A multiple time attender of WagonCon we greatly appreciate his energy and enthusiasm.

Denise Harwood(AKA The Iron GM)

Denise Harwood has loved games since she could use a computer or shuffle a pack of cards and has been addicted to Dungeons and Dragons in particular since 1993, when she first saw a 2nd edition character sheet.

She has played many other systems, spent time in MMOs and hours over board games, but Dungeons and Dragons remains the place she calls home. Although she now lives far away, she travels home for WagonCon to help run the convention, see friends and be a general menace.

Matt Buckley (AKA Philosopher of Star Alignment)

Matt Buckley started slaying dice and throwing dragons at the ripe age of 10 years old. Playing as a Human Wizard in the Basic Red Box D&D set. Then he was given a copy of the original purple box with dice you filled in with crayon. History has never recovered. Now he’s a gamer who loves fantasy, sci-fi and urban Gothic horror. Matt has played D&D, Rifts, Hero’s Unlimited, Vampire (Classic and World of Darkness), Savage Worlds and WEG systems to name a few.

Life long gaming has been his escape, passion and drug of choice. Currently Matt is a Megaversal Ambassador for Palladium Books who has been running Rifts games at various conventions including GameStorm, GenCon and the Palladium Open House.

Phillip Morris

Phillip is a long time member of The Dalles gaming community. One of our original Potion of Immortality badge holder he joins us with years of management and gaming experience. He was elected to join the board as a Board Member at Large in 2024.

Justin Kramer

Justin has been playing tabletop games since the mid 90’s, starting with 2nd Ed. D&D and White Wolf’s Vampire: The Masquerade. He has been hosting, or playing, a game every week for the past 21 years. Justin enjoys long walks in dark corridors without darkvision, the smell of a fresh gelatinous cube in the morning, and lovely sunsets with dragon silhouettes dotting the horizon.

Justin has been a resident of The Dalles for over 20 years. He has lived in various places from Kansas westward, and has found none to be as beautiful as the Columbia River Gorge. Justin has been attending WagonCon since its inception, and joined the board as Treasurer in December of 2019.

Sherry Parker (AKA Halfling)

Sherry Parker has been an avid gamer most of her life. She started with classic board games and discovered RPG games, thanks to her brother, in 1989 with the release of 2nd Edition AD&D. Much of her time at the table has been as the GM and she has run a variety of games, though her current favorites are Legendary Lives and Horror Rules.

All told she has run and played in far more games than we have space to list here with a special place in her heart for all one-book-wonder games. Additionally, her love of board games has led to a large family collection of board games. She enjoys attending gaming conventions such as GameStorm and WagonCon, as well as Sci-Fi/Fantasy conventions like Orycon where you can see her show off her costuming skills.

Michael Middleton

Michael is a has been playing game and attending large gaming conventions for years. He also has worked with several professional non-profits as a board member and advisor. He was elected to the WagonCon board in 2024 as Vice Chair in 2024..