mini-mace originated as an idea between Ron McClung and Jeff Smith to bring their two favorite things together - eating and gaming. Justus events, mostly due to necessity, have had some element of food involved. MACE has had the MACE café as well as the Grinnin` Goblin. mini-mace was intended to be a little sampling of that for local gamers to the High Point/Winston-Salem/Greensboro area.
The first mini-mace was September 20th, 2003 at Camelot Feast in Greensboro, NC. We had 40 to 50 people some out to the first ever mini-mace and it was a blast. We had a good variety of board games and role playing games – a mall sampling of games we normally have at MACE.
We had thought we had found the perfect home for our new concept but unfortunately fate had other plans. The restaurant burned down and so it left mini-mace homeless. It was not until 2006 that we found another home for mini-mace – the Golden Corral in Hanes Mall, Winston Salem. This has been the primary home for mini-mace ever since. Each year, we have consistently had 50 to 60 gamers come up and play games. Much of the gamers are pick up board games but some games are also scheduled. From RPGA, Legends of the 5 Rings CCG tournaments to a variety of board games, mini-mace has continued the tradition of good gaming in the Carolinas.
In 2009, Justus attempted to plan aspin-off event in the Greenville-Spartanburg area called mini-mace south. Unfortunately, we did not get enough pre-registrations to continue with the event, so it was cancelled. We still look for other opportunities to host a mini-mace events in the Carolinas. We just need a restaurant that has a large semi-private room, a buffet that serves breakfast, lunch and dinner and a manager’s contact name and phone number for us to arrange things.
