The Best Fourth of July Weekend Ever!
Tuesday, February 19th, 2008
In 2005, I was far from being the outdoorsy type. I loved to sit around and watch telelvision and eat mostly – especially in the heat of the Summer months. I could usually be dragged to family gatherings, and of course I still loved vacations, but for the most part, I liked the cool indoors much better than the sticky outdoors. But the Fourth of July weekend of that year somehow was a notable exception. I still recall the fondness I had for all that we were doing and that weekend as a whole. Read the rest of this entry »
Henry Brandon became one of the staples of the Sons of the Desert conventions throughout the 1980′s. Although one of the kindest and gentlest men you would ever hope to meet, the Sons took his role as the evil Silas Barnaby in Laurel and Hardy’s Babes in Toyland to heart. Everytime he would enter a room, he would be greeted with scores of boos and hisses. I always wondered if that would eventually get on his nerves, but he was always a great sport about it and treated the Sons member like they were long-lost family at his convention at his five consecutive convention appearances. 
The Fall of 1976 is virtually lost to the ages. There appears to be no recorded evidence of my fifth birthday, Halloween, or Thanksgiving. I’m sure that having a new child roaming around stirred up enough excitement and picture-taking opportunities for everyone. Just so Denise doesn’t get too cocky in thinking that she is much younger than me, this proves that there existed black and white snapshots of her as a baby as well. 
As I mentioned in my previous posting about the trip that Lisa and I took to Minneapolis for the Block-Heads Tent 30th Anniversary gathering, one of the major drawing points to get me there was the good chance that Gordon “Porky” Lee from the Our Gang series would be attending as a special guest. Living in Minneapolis at the time, he rarely made any appearances at collector shows or meetings in California – and he had yet to be invited to any Sons of the Desert conventions. I thought that this might be my only chance to get to meet one of my all-time favorite Little Rascals. 
I met Heidi Maynard during my junior year of high school. She was already friends with