Laurel and Hardy Society Sons of the Desert Way Out West Tent Los Angeles
  Home     Gazette     Archive     Volume 51-Number 5 Search   Help  

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.

Saturday Night Meeting on October 13th at The Mayflower Club

For our Special Event meeting in October, we've decided to do one thing in a different way and one thing that we've never done before. The thing that we're doing in a different way will be offering a full hot dog dinner, buns and side dishes, for only three dollars! Side dishes include, beans, macaroni salad, potato salad, chili, grated cheese, chopped onions, sauerkraut, pepper rings, and chips plus the usual condiments. The Mayflower Bar will be open for drinks.

The thing that we're doing that we've never done before will be a screening of an official movie trailer for a film that has not yet been released in the United States. That English film is Stan & Ollie. The film is a dramatization of Stan and Babe's last tour to England. After the screening of the trailer, Bob Duncan will take the stage to ask for some of your opinions on what you saw. Hopefully we can start a discussion about the film.

Our opening short film will be Me and My Pal (1933). While Ollie is at home preparing for his wedding, Stan arrives and gives Ollie a large jigsaw puzzle. Stan says that the puzzle will give he and Ollie something to do together, after Ollie gets married. Of course, Stan immediately opens the puzzle box and begins to put the puzzle together. James Finlayson co-stars in this short as Ollie's future father-in-law, oil magnate Peter Cucumber.

In Come Clean (1931), the Hardys are planning a quiet evening alone that is soon interrupted by the unexpected arrival of the Laurels. Despite the Laurels sudden arrival, things seem to be working out okay--until the Boys go out to buy ice cream and decide to help a lady in distress. Mae Busch is the lady in distress, Gertrude Astor plays Ollie's wife, and Linda Loredo plays Stan's wife.

We will end our program with Laurel & Hardy's Laughing '20s (1965). This feature film is a compilation of Laurel & Hardy silent films, produced by filmmaker Robert Youngson. The film is narrated over a comical and musical background. Laurel & Hardy star in the film, which also has snippets of just about every co-star that the Boys ever worked with in silent films. Youngson made a number of these feature film compilations (most featuring Laurel & Hardy), which helped bring a revival of silent films in the 1960s. The work of Robert Youngson is highly regarded and the film is a joy to watch.

The Mayflower Club is located at 11110 Victory Boulevard in North Hollywood. Meals will be served from 6:00 to 7:00 and our meeting will start at 7:00. Cake will be served on our second break. This is a regular meeting. No reservations are required in advance, and admission is free to members who have paid their 2018 dues. We hope to see you on Saturday night!

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


Happy Birthday Jim MacGeorge

We want to wish Jim MacGeorge a very happy 90th birthday on October 15th. Jim has been a frequent guest at many recent meetings, and he was in attendance at our tent's very first meeting in 1967. We wish him well on this special birthday, and hope to see him soon at an upcoming meeting.


Notes From Our July Meeting

At our July meeting, we screened County Hospital, Oliver the Eighth, Laughing Gravy, and A Chump At Oxford. We had another good turnout, but not just for the film program, but also because it was Lori and Colin McCaffrey's last Way Out West meeting. If you haven't heard, Lori and Colin moved to Nevada last month. While we hope they will visit us at some future meetings, they will no longer be in regular attendance. Kris and I have known Lori for forty-four years and Colin for over thirty. As they say "time flies, when you're having fun." We'll miss them, and I'm sure that a lot of you will too. Thanks to Alan Cowen, Bob Satterfield, Rick Greene, Jayne Barnhart, Victor D'Agostino, David Webb, Dave Greim, and Bob Duncan for helping me with the toasts. Finally, thanks to Anne Tyszka for the beautiful hand-made Laurel & Hardy quilt that you made for Lori. That was pretty cool!


From The Grand Sheik

When Kris and I attended our first Way Out West Banquet, our son Jimmy wasn't even a year old. That was 44 years ago. At our first Way Out West Banquet, besides meeting Director George Marshall, T. Marvin Hatley, Babe London, and Darla Hood, to name just a few, we met Lori. A little later, Lori became a good friend to me and Kris and vice versa. I've figured over the years with Lori, we have attended twenty Sons International Conventions together, I estimate more than forty Way Out West Banquets, and at least 225 regular Way Out West meetings. That's 470 functions. Then, if I count Forth of Julys and New Years' parties, we've had with Lori and Colin, the total easily meets 500 get-togethers. Over the years, Kris and I have shared a lot of great times with the McCaffreys. We love them both. We'll really miss them. Good luck, Lori and Colin!


L&H Festival at Old Town Music Hall

On the weekend of November 23rd, 24th, and 25th, the old Town Music Hall will again present a Laurel & Hardy Film Festival. The Old Town Music Hall is located at 140 Richard Street, El Segundo (310) 322-2592). Their evening programs begin at 8:15 on Friday and Saturday. Their matinee programs begin at 2:30 on Saturday and Sunday. Admission to the theater is $10 per person or $8.00 for people 62 or older. Each program begins with a Wurlizer Theater Pipe Organ audience sing-long. For information about other film programs at the Old Town Music Hall, go to: www.oldtownmusichall.org