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.

Laurel & Hardy at Their Best! - March 26th at the Mayflower Club

I don't know about you, but our last meeting in January seems like it was a long time ago. I'm anxious to get together again. I hope that you are too! For our March 26th meeting, I've selected to screen some of Stan and Babe's best films that we haven't seen for a while. I hope you agree with my selections. See you at The Mayflower Club on Tuesday, March 26th.

Our first film for the evening will be Busy Bodies (1933), In this short, the Boys work in a sawmill, but they never seem to have anyone supervising their work. They seem to just work on whatever they feel like doing. As their workday goes on, Stan seems to go out of his way to make Ollie's day as miserable as possible. How long will Ollie take it before he explodes with anger? Charlie Hall and Tiny Sanford have cameos in the film.

In their short, Tit For Tat (1935), Stan and Ollie meet up with the same characters that they met in Them Thar Hills (1934). Only this time the Boys are opening an appliance store right next door to Charlie and Mae's drug store. How will things work out? Oddly enough this is the only sequel that Laurel & Hardy ever made. The film also was nominated for Best Short Subject (Comedy) for 1935, and lost to How to Sleep (a Robert Benchley short).

In County Hospital (1932) the plot of this short is simple. Stan visits Ollie in the hospital, where Ollie is recovering from a broken leg. (Maybe Stan dropped a banana peel in Ollie's way. We don't know.) Anyway, with Stan's help and advise, Ollie's hospital stay is cut short. How will the Boys leave the hospital? Billy Gilbert is Ollie's doctor. Ollie's very funny roommate is English comic, William Austin. William Austin was born in Georgetown, British Guiana in 1884 and died in Newport Beach, California in 1975 at the age of 91.

Of course our feature for the evening will be our Tent's namesake film, Way Out West. Released on April 16, 1937, Way Out West is now close to eighty two years old and still going strong. If you don't know the plot, where have you been? But for those of you who have forgotten the plot, in a nutshell, Stan and Ollie visit the western town of Brushwood Gulch to find Mary Roberts (Rosina Lawrence) to give her the deed to her late father's gold mine. Along the way, the Boys meet the sheriff's wife (Vivien Oakland), the sheriff (Stanley Fields), the owner of the local saloon Mickey Finn (James Finlayson), Finn's wife and saloon singer Lola Marcela (Sharon Lynn), and Dinah the mule (played by herself). In Way Out West, Laurel & Hardy are not only at the top of their game in comedy, but in the film they also sing and dance!

In case, you're seeing a theme here, you're right. Both of our last two films for the evening are reenacted in Stan & Ollie. Coincidentally, Stan & Ollie will be released on video the same day as our next meeting! After our second break, before we screen Way Out West, we'll take comments from our members who have seen Stan & Ollie.

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 The Mayflower Club Kitchen. Refreshments will be sold at The Mayflower Club Bar. Free cake will be served at our second break. See you March 26th at The Mayflower Club. It looks like an entertaining and interesting evening. Hope to see you!

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


2019 Dues Are Due

Thanks to all of our members who have already paid their 2019 dues! If haven't yet, please remember that our annual dues for Way Out West Membership are due each January. We need your dues to be paid on time, so we can continue to cover our expenses for renting The Mayflower Club, purchasing hot dogs and condiments, cakes, and postage to mail our newsletters. Your dues will cover admission to all five regular meetings and a discount for our Special Event meeting. Rates are listed in the column to the right and have not changed from last year. Please make your checks out to "Way Out West Tent" and mail them to PO Box 1918, Burbank, CA 91507 or bring your check to our March meeting. Thanks for your continued support of our Tent.


Tom Hatten

I'm sad to report that Tom Hatten passed away on March 16th at the age of 92. Tom joined KTLA Television here in Los Angeles, as a station announcer in 1952. At KTLA, Tom hosted Popeye and Friends from 1976 to 1988 and also hosted KTLA's Family Film Festival from 1978 to 1992. Tom also worked at KNX 1070 Radio as their Entertainment Editor from 1978 to 2007. Last, but not least Tom was a lifelong member and friend of our Way Out West Tent. Over the years, Tom joined us at Way Out West Meetings and Banquets and Sons of the Desert Conventions that were hosted in Los Angeles. Tom was really a nice man, and we will miss him!


Notes From Our January Meeting

Our films for the evening were: That's My Wife, Twice Two, Helpmates, and Block-Heads. We had a good crowd and everyone seemed to enjoy the evening. Thanks to Bob Duncan, Bob Brauer, Bob Satterfield, Ali Sykes, and Dave Greim for doing our Tent toasts to the Boys and helping me sing the Sons of the Desert Song.


2020 Convention Registration Forms

Believe it or not, we have information and Registration Forms for the next International Sons of the Desert Convention, to take place in Rhode Island. The Pre-Convention will start on Tuesday, June 9, 2020. The main Convention will open on Wednesday, June 10th and close on Sunday, June 14th. Convention cost is $375 (paid in full by January 31, 2020) or $425 (paid AFTER January 31. 2020). We'll have the forms and more information on Tuesday.