The last (meaning both most recent and also final) meeting of The A-Haunting We Will Go Tent of Dayton, Ohio was held on December 2, 2006. At least it was the last with me as Grand Sheik. I had considered giving up my post many months ago after Carolyn and I separated, but then decided to go ahead and finish out the ‘tent year’ with our Summer picnic – and then finally, to finish the actual 2006 calendar year. I have been Grand Sheik for nearly 15 years – and presided over 136 meetings.
I still was not completely sure if I wanted to go ahead and continue into another year, but made my final decision following this particular meeting. It was the most poorly attended meeting since December,1996. I later realized that there were a couple of people who did not get the meeting announcement email and may have shown up if they had known and others had perfectly valid reasons that they could not make it.
As it was, we only had six people: Charles, Dick, Kel, Joyce (who was upstairs on the phone some of the time), Ashleigh (who slept some of the time), and me. I brought my camera to snap some photos – but never took any. I also brought the wrong Our Gang film (the wrong DVD was in the right case) so we showed Hi-Neighbor! instead of Honky Donkey. We watched three great Laurel and Hardy films: the complete color The Tree in a Test Tube, Putting Pants on Philip, and The Devil’s Brother. Charles lent me some DVD’s of a batch of silent Our Gang films to copy.
Ironically, Laurel and Hardy were never funnier. I laughed until tears welled up in my eyes during the scene where Stan is trying to assist Fra Diavolo in a robbery – after taking sleeping powders. Their comedy is simply timeless – immortal – eternally funny, and of them, I will never grow tired. In fact, one of the reasons I wanted to resign my post was that I wanted to devote more time to our Wax Apple website and magazine.
This past weekend, I composed and sent the following email to members of the tent:
Dear fellow Sons,
It was not easy, but I have made the decision to step down as active Grand Sheik of The A-Haunting We Will Go Tent. As Ollie said in Going Bye-Bye “Brief…and right to the point!”
Although I have tremendously enjoyed my 15-year tenure in this position, I no longer feel that I can devote the time or energy to performing the duty. Some of you may know that I have recently begun work on the website www.waxapple.org and soon will be following it up with the publication of an exclusive Laurel and Hardy fan magazine. So you see, my love of the boys has not diminished at all. But this, coupled with work, family, and other obligations is too much to handle at this time.
If there are any volunteers to assume the role of Grand Sheik, please let me know and I will hand the helm over to you. In the unlikely event that more than one party is interested in the job, I will mediate an election among the last roster of active dues-paying members.
In the case that there are no volunteers to take over, I will maintain the rights to resume the tent with the A-Haunting We Will Go Tent if the time comes when I would choose to continue. Until then, Oasis 154 will lie dormant.
I have sincerely enjoyed becoming friends with many of you and I thank you for your support and attendance at meetings. If the tent does not continue, I hope you all will continue to enjoy, study, and share the films of Laurel and Hardy and the Hal Roach Studios in your own way.
Until we meet again, please keep in touch.
Regards,
Brad
And so comes to a conclusion another chapter in my life. It was fun while it lasted.
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