My friend Bob and I had been traveling for the bulk of the day, having journeyed from Reno and through Lake Tahoe. After being on the road for the past five days, it was kind of nice to arrive in Sacramento, where we could rest our heads in the same spot for the next four nights. We arrived around 4pm on Wednesday, June 16, 2010, at the Holiday Inn Capitol Plaza, which was about as a convenient location that one could have found. It was situated right between a shopping mall complex and the entrance to the Old Sacramento historic district. I was pretty exhausted from the past few days, so I had no qualms about retiring to our room once we checked in, getting on the internet for a bit, and then trying to doze for a few seconds.
The convention was great, but the logo could have been better
Soon word came from the lobby that many of our friends had arrived. They too were a bit winded from driving all the way from the L.A. region, so they joined me in a bit of rest, but in their own rooms. Eventually, I met up with Jimmy and David and we went downstairs so that I could actually register for the convention. I was given the goodie bag full of junky goodliness and took it back up and dropped it off. I had picked up a bunch of snacks at the grocery store in Reno, so I skipped dinner and just settled on complete junk.
Bob enthusiastically gets ready to enter this world of fun
I had seen a few scattered Sons around the hotel, starting with Ruben Garza as Bob and I walked from the parking garage to the hotel, up to and including many members including John & Janet Duff, Bob Duncan, Kathy Luhman, Flip & Eileen Lauer, Gene Sorkin, Ed Greim, Glen & Tammy Campbell, George Cook, Gino Dercola, Christopher Chubb, Dennis Moriarty and Dale Walter (seen with me at the top of the posting), Lori Jones McCaffery, Dwain Smith, kevin Mulligan, Roger Gordon, Lee & Dee MacBeath, Rick Lindner, Kathy Hess, Stan Taffel, Steve Wichrowski, Irv Hyatt, and many, many more raising the roof in the hotel lobby. But our first official gathering was a cocktail mixer at 7:00 up on the 16th floor of the hotel, in a room filled with glass windows overlooking the city. The 17th International Sons of the Desert convention had officially begun.
With Corona in hand, I circled the room, chatting it up with a select few. All the while, someone had placed pieces of paper with names of celebrities from the 30’s, mostly Laurel and Hardy-related, but not it my case. I was J. Edgar Hoover. The object was to ask ‘yes or no’ questions and try and figure out who you were. I found it easier just to remove the piece of paper and read it. Bob was Hal Roach, and he got his quickly.
Jimmy discusses the state of the ITJ with Roger. Lots of supporters. In the black. Doing well. ¡Olé!
David and me – clearly up to no good
Ed Greim attempts to choke Bob with his nametag
Jimmy and me – clearly up to no good
David jumps in on whatever is passing for a conversation between George and Bob
Bob and me – clearly up to no good
Sending greetings to Erin in South Carolina
Kathy, ever on the decline, takes it in the kisser from a fellow Son. “Here’s your paper! Here’s your stinkin’ paper!”
With fellow Ohio Sons member Rick Lindner
Off-the-cuff traditional toasts were made, Laurel and Hardy impersonators Jamie McKenna and Bill Leavy did a dance from Way Out West, but the highlight was the unveiling of a batch of picture cakes honoring the 120th birthday of Stan Laurel, which was actually on this very day.
Jamie and Bill do their best impersonations of Abbott and Costello
David and I are nearly oblivious to the unveiling of the birthday cakes. Jimmy films from the other end. Gino checks it for radiation with his device.
Close-up of one of the cakes, featuring Stan in his youthful days as a girl
The film room began that night at 9pm, but I preferred to linger in the room and just chat with old friends, then Jimmy and I hung out for a bit in David’s room. These days it always takes me a day or so to sync myself up with all of the loonies and looniness that will quickly come to pass at the Sons of the Desert conventions. This time it didn’t take long before I was barreling down that path. Even still, I didn’t stay up too terribly late. I retired to bed in preparation for the next three days of fun that would ensue.
The Sons convention will continue…
Bypass the convention and continue with 2010…
Brad, that’s Dave Greim, not Ed Greim.
Jim Harwood
July 28th, 2010
Ed Greim was the set designer responsible for placing the Laurel & Hardy photo on the TV show Friends. I often confuse the two myself.
Payson Getz
July 30th, 2010