Banquet in PA

On Friday 17th October, 2008 I had the pleasure of attending the semi-annual Sons of the Desert Banquet sponsored by the Two Tars Tent of Philadelphia. I have been to several of these banquets and they are always fun to attend. It was held at the Cannstatter Club in northeast Philadelphia. The banquet room comfortably holds about 85 Sons and all of the seats were filled. Roger Gordon, the Grand Sheik, hosted the banquet, with the able assistance of many of the tent members. The evening started with a social hour - time to meet up and chat with old friends in the Sons. Next there was a wonderful special presentation by Irv Hyatt, Grand Sheik of the Blotto Tent of New Jersey. Irv's presentation was The Laurel and Hardy Victory Tours, and showed some really great slides and movies about Laurel and Hardy's early 1940s tours in the USA - some of this information had never been seen at a Sons meeting. Irv has done some great research into these tours and is in the process of writing a book about them. The audience really enjoyed this presentation. Then, after the usual Sons toasts, we were all treated to the very famous Cannstatter German buffet, with plenty of food selections and as much as you wanted to eat - always a delight. Next was a highlight of the evening when we were treated to a comedy play by the Bacher Boys (brothers Danny and Josh), who are professional actors who perform throughout the USA and recently in Europe. They performed the comedy that they wrote about The History of Comedy. It was very entertaining and a unique experience. Thanks to the Bacher Boys for taking the time to do this. I might mention that Danny Bacher has a wonderful collection of original, highly collectible items, directly related to Laurel and Hardy, and that both Danny and Josh have been fans of Laurel and Hardy since early childhood. We then had the opportunity to watch Bacon Grabbers (1929, silent) and Brats (original 1930 version, sound). And, in tribute to the multi-talented actress Eddie Adams, who was from the Philadelphia area and who passed away several days ago, we saw a short clip of her in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, one of the funniest comedies ever made. All of the films were introduced by Paul Kreft, a member of Two Tars, who truly is a film historian and provided some wonderful background information about the films we saw. During the evening, I was honored, along with Irv Hyatt and Grand Sheik Cliff Sawyer, with a plaque for the work done for the Sons organization, and I thank the Two Tars Tent for that recognition. The Two Tars Tent is already planning its next banquet, to take place in April, 2009. Anyone interested in attending can contact Roger Gordon at rogie2230@aol.com. Don't wait too long - it's always a sellout. Gino Dercola