COLUMBIA, MD. --

The event, called "A Scintillation of Scions," is the first of what is expected to be an annual gathering of East Coast Sherlock Holmes groups.

"I've been to several Sherlock Holmes symposia around the country, and I thought, why don't we have something like that on the East Coast?" said Jacquelynn Morris, the head (or "gasogene" in Sherlockian parlance) of Watson's Tin Box, based in Ellicott City, Maryland.

There are any number of different fan organizations, of course, and probably those devoted to Star Trek and baseball memorabilia are the best known, but no one has been at it longer than the fans of the Great Detective, who, calling themselves the Baker Street Irregulars, started the first one in 1934. While there are informal Holmes discussion groups too numerous to mention, those sanctioned by the BSI call themselves "scion societies." They meet periodically to discuss one of the Arthur Conan Doyle tales, share some of their research, or their knockoff fiction, news, and the like. That the wine flows freely at many of these events is an incidental benefit. (It was, sadly, not flowing at this one.)

Retired petroleum geologist and oil industry journalist Peter E. Blau, originally of Pittsfield, Mass. and now living in Bethesda, Md. near Washington, D.C., gave the keynote address. Blau is noted for, among many other things, as a collector of Holmes memorabilia, including books signed by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Sherlock Holmes has been part of his life for decades.

"First, the stories," said Blau. "Conan Doyle was a great storyteller. The stories are fun. The second thing that's important is the actors who play Holmes, because there's always someone doing Sherlock Holmes."

Connecticut's William Gillette portrayed Holmes first, and continued doing so for more than 30 years. Other well-known Holmes portrayers include Basil Rathbone and Jeremy Brett. Next year brings us Holmes in the person of Robert Downey, Jr., and, God help us, Sascha Baron Cohen.

"The third thing is the Sherlockians," Blau continued. "Sherlockians enjoy what they do and get written about in the newspapers. People come to the meetings and say, 'That was fun,' and they come back. We're interesting."

It should be noted that part of the fun here is playing the Grand Game, in which we pretend that Holmes, sidekick Dr. Watson, and all the rest were real people, and that Conan Doyle served merely as Watson's agent.

To this end, John Sherwood, who lives in Chester County, Pa., says it is his job to book personal appearances by Sherlock Holmes for special events, charity fundraisers, libraries, and schools. He operates MysteryVisits.com, and it should be noted that his own resemblance to Sherlock Holmes is quite remarkable.

"It is very rare to find a group of people who actually know anything about Sherlock Holmes," Sherwood said. "Very often, people have a notion of the caricature of Sherlock Holmes, such as the Basil Rathbone notion. There is the Jeremy Brett notion, and there are much more horrible notions out there.

"A lot of people have misconceptions about Sherlock Holmes," he continued, "that he smoked marijuana in that pipe, for example."

About 60 people, including your humble editor, attended, and were treated to Blau's discussion of collecting the memorabilia. Other presentations included evidence that Holmes attended Johns Hopkins as a college student, with the signature of "S. Holmes" on a British ship manifest in 1876 to prove it, and we heard "The Hound of the Baskervilles" from the dog's point of view, along with much more.

Her first effort a glowing success, Morris confessed herself hooked.

"I'm already planning for next year," she said. "I fully intend, if they allow me, to do this next year, and I'm planning on a much bigger event."

More, much more, can be found at Morris' Web site, http://www.watsonstinbox.org.

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I also don't want to forget the White Rose Irregulars of Pennsylvania, and especially Mrs. Hudson, who could not have been more generous or helpful to me on my trip last weekend. I cannot thank her enough. Visit the Web site there at http:www.whiteroseirregulars.org.