Our Gang's "Woim" and Jim MacGeorge on the Mayflower Stage July 25thOur Gang's "Woim" and Jim MacGeorge on the Mayflower Stage July 25th
No, we haven't run out of Laurel & Hardy films to screen, but for a change our July film program will mostly feature Spanky & Alfalfa. Like a lot of you, I grew up watching Our Gang films on television. Today Our Gang films are rarely shown on television, and if they are shown, they are usually poorly edited. Fortunately for our Tent, our former Grand Sheik Bob Satterfield has been able to arrange for Sidney Kibrick to be at our July 25th meeting. Sid is best known to us as Butch's sidekick "The Woim." For our entertainment, Sid will do a PowerPoint presentation on Our Gang films and answer questions.
If that's not enough to get you to come to The Mayflower Club, our other special guest for the evening will be Jim MacGeorge. Jim wants us to be one of his first audiences to hear his new stand-up comedy act. Both of our guests are enjoying life in their late eighties!
Our first film for the evening will be Brats (1930). In Brats, Stan and Ollie try their best to get their sons (who look a lot like their fathers) to go to sleep. What could be so hard about that? Check out the furniture props for the kid's scenes. They are amazing.
After Sid's presentation and a raffle, we'll screen two Our Gang films. In Fishy Tales, (1937, a one reeler), you won't believe Alfalfa's scheme to avoid a fight with Butch. Then Spanky and Alfalfa want to play football with the gang, in Little Papa (1935). But first Spanky has to get his baby sister to go to sleep. In the film, Spanky and Alfalfa do an interesting kid's version of Laurel & Hardy, with a scene very reminiscent of Brats. Sid has scenes in both of these films.
The Mayflower Club is located in North Hollywood at 11110 Victory Boulevard. Our doors open at 6:30 p.m. and our meeting starts at 7:15 p.m. "Fisher Franks" (100% beef hot dogs) and your choice of chips will be sold from The Mayflower Kitchen. Refreshments will be sold from The Mayflower Bar. Free cake will be served on our second break. Don't miss Sidney Kibrick, Jim MacGeorge and a lot of fun. See you Tuesday night on July 25th.
Click here for a map to the Mayflower Club...
Anniversary Raffle
Our raffle at our last meeting brought the Tent close to $200.00. We have prizes for a second raffle, but if you have any Laurel & Hardy items that you think would be nice for a raffle gift, please bring them to our July 25th meeting. Remember that the more money we collect from the raffles, the better chance that we can keep the Crew Feed Meal at our Special Event very affordable. Thank you for your help.
Notes From Our May Meeting
At our May meeting, we screened Putting Pants On Philip, Perfect Day, Going Bye-Bye!, Thicker Than Water, and The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case. Big thanks to Jim MacGeorge for entertaining us once again. Thanks to Bob Brauer, Dave Greim, Dan Weggeland, Bob Duncan, Laura Reuther, Jayne Barnhart, and J.T. Tropper for helping me with the toasts and song. Thanks to Jayne Barnhart for selling a lot of raffle tickets. Thanks to all our members. You are always fun to be with.
In Memoriam - Loretta Saxon
Longtime Way Out West Member, James Saxon, sent the following memory of his Mom to be put in our newsletter. Somehow along the way, we dropped the ball. You know the routine - "She gave it to her to give it to him, but he never got it". What James wrote about his Mom is so touching that I'm not changing a word…
Loretta Matilda Saxon was a longtime member of Way Out West. She left us on Dec. 23rd, before Christmas (her favorite time of year) at the age of 83, after a valiant 16 year battle with Alzheimer's. Her son James, brought Loretta to her first Laurel & Hardy event 23 years ago. It was an instant love affair. She attended many meetings in the time that she could, and her favorite banquet was at the 94th Aero Squadron restaurant. A devoted homemaker of the old fashion type. She had many loves besides family, friends and L&H. Gardening, house plants, travel, classic country, & giving to charities to name a few. She would give anyone the time of day, no one was a stranger. With her maternal, caring spirit slowly robbed, Alzheimer's limited Loretta from attending meetings the past 9 years. Most of you never got a chance to know her…but had you, her beautiful smile, and warm heartfelt hello when she greeted you, would have endeared her to your memory forever. Till we meet again Loretta, you will be missed.
In Memoriam - Bill Burgess
I'm sorry to write that Bill Burgess, a longtime member of our Way Out West Tent and also the Early To Bed Tent, passed away in June. He was almost 85. Bill always had a great smile and a kind word for everyone that he met. I remember him, in particular, when I led a Laurel & Hardy location tour, maybe 25 years ago. It was one of the first times that I led a tour by myself. I was very nervous, but with Bill's smile and friendliness my nervousness quickly went away. Bill was also one of the four Way Our West members that I interviewed who actually met Stan Laurel in person at Stan's home. That was in June 2011. Sadly, only one of those four members is still alive. Rest in peace Bill.
L&H Festival at Old Town Music Hall
On the weekend of September 8th, 9th, and 10th, the Old Town Music Hall will present a Laurel & Hardy Festival. The Old Town Music Hall is located at 140 Richmond Street, El Segundo (310-322-2592). Their evening programs begin at 8:15 on Friday and Saturday. Their matinee programs begin at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Admission to the theater is $10 per person or $8 for people 62 or older. Each program begins with a Wurlitzer Theater Pipe Organ audience sing-along. For information about other film programs at the Old Town Music Hall, go to:
http://www.oldtownmusichall.org/films.html
2018 Sons of the Desert Convention
The final plans for next year's International Sons of the Desert Convention in Cincinnati, Ohio are coming together. Direct flights between Los Angeles to Cincinnati take a little over 4 hours and are generally reasonably priced. While our tent always has a small contingency, we would really like to see more of our members supporting the International Conventions. If you have an interest in going, we encourage you to check out the convention website and talk to us at a meeting (or email us) so we can tell you more about what to expect at a Laurel & Hardy convention. The convention website is laurelandhardy2018.com and their Facebook name is Cincinnati2018.
