Grand Council / Costume Mixer / Mystery Banquet / Dealer Emporium
Saturday, December 2nd, 2006
Following the great Pee-Wee victory and day in the sweltering Georgia heat at the Golf Hall of Fame, we were all ready for some indoor activity. That afternoon saw the Grand Council meeting, a gathering of Sons to discuss ‘business’ matters at hand. For the second year in a row, there was no business – as most of the Sons are too bored, complacent, or old to care about much any more. So we voted on the next convention. Our choices were Sacramento, Detroit, and Amsterdam. Since Amsterdam promised to be an extremely costly trip, I voted for Sacramento. Read the rest of this entry »
The trip that I took with my family to Florida in 1975 is what I call a ‘lost trip’ – almost completely obliterated from my parents’ memory and photographic records. Each of the vacationers remember small bits and pieces, but no one can conjure up a clear picture of much about this trip. In fact, even the date of the trip comes into debate. If it weren’t for Bill and Dottie, I would have no photos from the trip at all. Despite the cloud of mystery, it remains a very important trip in my life as it was my first visit to Disney World, a theme park that I would become almost obsessed with over the years. This fascination was mostly based on the enthralling nostalgic memories of my first visits to the park. 
On Thursday morning, July 13, the convention activities convened at the nearby Georgia Golf Hall of Fame and Botanical Gardens, which was a short walk across the street from our Mariott hotel in Augusta. The area was beautiful with appropriate decor including a classic car display and wood crafted signs with the names of Laurel and Hardy films on them placed around the gardens. Also on display was a giant reproduction of a mousetrap that all conventioneers were asked to sign. Of course, after everyone signed it, the hosts realize that the marker they supplied was not permanent and we all had to sign it again (see picture at bottom of page). 
The 15th International Sons of the Desert Convention kicked off officially on Wednesday night, July 12, 2006. Bob, Ashleigh, and I had made our own excursions to Atlanta, Americus, Plains, and Warm Springs before our initial arrival in Augusta. Then travelled along with some Sons on the two pre-convention trips back to Americus and Plains and then to Savannah to see the area. Now we were back at home base in and Augusta ready to dive into the convention activities. 
Following our daylong trip to Savannah (which followed two trips to Plains and Americus and one to Warm Springs), Ashleigh and I were pleased to be able to take a few hours of our Georgia trip to just sleep in, relax, swim, and take in a few sights leisurely.