Laurel and Hardy Society Sons of the Desert Way Out West Tent Los Angeles
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The Brushwood Gulch Gazette is the newsletter of the Way Out West Tent. It is published six times a year, shortly before regular tent meetings. Members receive the complete printed edition in the mail. The online edition features most of the articles found in the printed version, minus photos.

80th Anniversary screening of Sons of the Desert Next Meeting

Join us on Tuesday night, December 10th to celebrate the anniversary of one of Laurel & Hardy's most popular films, Sons of the Desert, and to get into the holiday spirit with your friends at Way Out West.

As I'm sure most of you know by now, Sons of the Desert was added to The National Film Registry in 2012 and is now housed in The Library of Congress. What some of you might not know is that Sons of the Desert was released on December 29, 1933, making 2013 its 80th anniversary year.

To start off our evening's film program, we will screen The Brave Tin Soldier (1934). This sentimental holiday color cartoon is based on Hans Christian Andersen's "The Steadfast Tin Soldier." The cartoon includes a cameo appearance of Laurel & Hardy and other Hollywood stars.

In Below Zero (1930), on a cold wintery night (maybe close to Christmas), vagrants Stan and Ollie find a wallet in the snow and decide to finally enjoy a decent meal, for a change, at a nearby restaurant.

On a cold snowy night (that has to be close to Christmas), the Boys find themselves with a dog in their room in a "no dogs allowed" boarding house managed by cranky landlord, Charlie Hall. This version of Laughing Gravy (1931) is three reels long and includes a completely different ending from the ending that we've ever screened before.

No, Sons of the Desert doesn't take place anytime close to Christmas. But as I said before, Sons of the Desert is one of Stan and Babe's most popular films and now is also one of their most honored films. You all know the plot, the Boys lie to their wives and the wives find out the Boys lied. Besides showing Laurel & Hardy at their best, the film also has outstanding supporting performances by Mae Busch and Charley Chase. Finally, if you've never seen the film with an all Sons audience, now's your chance and you won't regret it.

The Mayflower Club is located at 11110 Victory Boulevard in North Hollywood. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Our meeting starts at 7:15 p.m. "Fisher Franks" (100% beef hot dogs) with your choice of chips will be sold at the Mayflower Club Kitchen. Refreshments will be sold at the Mayflower Club Bar. Free anniversary cake will be served on our second break. Join us on December 10th, for a good night of fun!

To all our members: Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and thank you for all your great support and turnout for all our Tent activities in 2013. May 2014 be a great New Year for you and all your families!

Click here for a map to the Mayflower Club...


Mail in Your Dues For 2014

Once again we encourage our members to mail their dues payment directly to our Grand Vizier, Lori McCaffery. That way we can shorten the long check-in lines that we normally have in December and at our first meetings of the year. Our dues are unchanged from 2013. Please make out your checks to "Sons of the Desert" and mail them to Lori McCaffery, 4313 Woodland Avenue, Burbank, CA 91505. All members who mail in their 2014 dues by January 1st will receive a post card that you may exchange at a future meeting for any style bumper sticker we have at our sales table.


Canned Goods For Maude Booth Family Center

For many years during the Christmas season, our members have donated canned goods to the Maude Booth Family Center of North Hollywood. Again this year, we are asking our members to bring one or more cans of food per person to our December meeting for donation. In lieu of canned goods, we will accept cash donations. Every little bit helps, even if it's just one can or a couple of dollars. Thank you for your continued generosity! For those who would normally pay a door charge, you will receive FREE ADMISSION, if you bring canned goods worth at least $5.00.


2014 SOD International Convention In Hollywood

As most of you know, Bob Satterfield (three-time former WOW Grand Sheik) will be hosting the 2014 Sons of the Desert International Convention in July 2014, right here in Hollywood! To get all the information about the Convention and to sign up to receive regular updates by e-mail go to: http://www.laurelandhardywood.com/


Babes In Toyland At The Old Town Music Hall

Laurel & Hardy's Babes In Toyland will be featured at the Old Town Music Hall in El Segundo on December 13th, 14th, and 15th. For more information on The Old Town Music Hall, go to: http://www.oldtownmusichall.org/films.html


Notes From Our August Meeting

In August, we screened all the Laurel & Hardy films where they played dual roles. The three films and their dual roles were: Brats (their own kids), Twice Two (each other's wives), and Our Relations (their identical twins). Just to keep the theme going for the whole evening, we also screened Charley Chase's Four Parts in which Charley played his three twin brothers, his sister, and his four twin babies. Way to go Charley!

When Kris and I watched Four Parts for the first time before our August meeting, we realized that the ocean view park, where the film ends, looked very familiar. Armed with computer printouts from scenes in the film, we soon visited Point Fermin Park, one of our childhood parks in San Pedro. I'm happy to report that all the printouts we had matched with what we saw on the film, and I got to share my photos with our members in August. The irony of the whole thing is that Point Fermin Park is only about 2 miles from our house.

Our members generosity came through again in August, as our Tent raffle give us $139.00 to donate to UCLA's Laurel & Hardy Preservation Film Fund. Thanks to Bradford Ray, Jayne Barnhart, and Bob Duncan for helping me with the raffle.

Thanks to Dave Griem, Jayne Barnhart, Ken Runyan, Bob Brauer, J.T. Tropper, and Bob Duncan for helping me with the toasts and singing The Sons of the Desert song.


Notes From Our October Special Event

Our October Special Event was themed on Laurel & Hardy's The Devil's Brother (AKA Fra Diavolo). Since the location of the original Fra Diavolo opera, on which the film was based, was Italy, we started the Event off with an Italian meal. After the meal, Bob Duncan and I did the toasts and led our members in singing the Sons of the Desert song. When our members first arrived for the evening, they were given a list of trivia questions about Perfect Day, our first film of the Event. After we screened Perfect Day, Bob Duncan gave the answers to the trivia questions. During the Event, we gave lessons on how to do the "Finger Wiggle," had a "Kneesy, Earsy, Nosey" demonstration, and judged who had the best costume for the Event. Our second and final film for the Event was, of course, The Devil's Brother

Congratulations to Mark Villavino and Kerri Jackson for having the best costumes for the Event. Thanks to Allen Megarit for his "Kneesy, Earsy, Nosey" demonstration. Kudos to the Hopkins (Debbie and Tom) and the Schneidmillers (Dorothy and Richard) for providing and making all the great decorations for the Event. You guys are great!




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