Today was the much-anticipated Father's Day Celebration at The Tobacco Hut, and we had a nice turnout. I'll do rollcall in a moment, but first a shout out to Darryl G and Lou for putting everything together. Darryl supplied wings, chips, pretzels, peanuts, and even adult beverages. Lou - well, Dotty - supplied delicious homemade cookies. I brought in a tray of pinwheel-rollup-appetizer things that Paula picked up at Target.
We had quite a few in attendance this afternoon: the aforementioned Darryl and his son Greg, Joe K, Vic, Peter G, Box Ed, Major Ed, Preacher Jim, Barry C, Tarpon Cop Scott, Kevin & Paul (don't know their last names, but see them from time to time), and another guy of whom I don't know his first or last name.
Vic was kind enough to bring in a supply of homemade liverwurst. A friend of his in upstate New York makes it and Vic brought in a tube(?) of it. What is the "unit" that liverwurst is sold in? Sleeve, tube, carton...? I don't know. Anyway, Vic brought it in with some crackers and Joe made a beeline to it. There wasn't much left by the time the party ended, so it was definitely a hit.
Before I go on, I had to figure out how liverwurst is sold. I mean, you say "block", "round", or "wedge" of cheese, or by the slice. I realize you could just indicate that you wanted, say, 8 oz. of liverwurst. But what was the actual package called? As always, Google is my friend. Apparently, it is called a "chub." So what Vic brought us was a chub of liverwurst. Now I went to the dictionary and discovered that a "chub" is also the "common name for Leuciscus cephalus, a thick-bodied European river fish with a gray-green back and white underparts, popular with anglers." Are you reading this, Scott R? The next time you're in Europe, make sure to fish for chubs.
We also had two new arrivals at the Hut today to enjoy the festivities, Alan & Daphne. They've been in before, but this is the first time they've stayed for awhile, at least on a Saturday. Wanting to give them a proper introduction here on the blog, I was careful to ask for the spelling of Alan's name, but I was remiss in asking how Daphne spelt her name, so I'm assuming it is "Daphne". I believe there are other ways to spell it, like "Daphnie", but hopefully I've gotten it correct. In any case, the name is an old one, originating in the Greek language and means "laurel tree". I knew it was of Greek origin, but had to look up the meaning. Sorry Alan, I have no idea where your name comes from or what it means! BTW, Alan and Daphne, I usually send out e-mail notices when the blog goes out so, if you want, send me your e-mail addresses and I'll add you to the mailing list. Hope to see you both again soon.
Ohioans were in abundance today at the Hut - Alan, Box Ed, and I are all from Cleveland, Lou is from Columbus, and I believe Joe was born in the Dayton area. Daphne, Vic, and Barry are all from New York. Peter, of course, is from Bahston, as in "pahk the cah in Hahvahd Yahd."
When we speak of who was here today, one immediately thinks of who wasn't here. Three notable absences include Steve B, Tom L, and Adrian R. Steve was probably busy with work or Miss December, Tom indicated earlier that he was busy with his son at a hockey tournament, but Adrian. Apparently Adrian has no problem showing up during the week, but when I am there on Saturdays, he's suddenly a no show. The last time we played chess, he beat me three games in a row, and I've been anxious for a rematch. I've said tongue-in-cheek lately that he's not been in attendance on Saturdays recently because he wants to hold onto his crown, but now I'm convinced of it. C'mon Adrian, where the hell are you?
Also hope to have seen Paul V today - he's always fun to talk to and is extremely knowledgeable on a myriad of subjects.
Scott R was absent but he's slowly making his way to upstate New York, so he gets a pass. I know he wanted to be here for the party and was hoping to master the "be in two places at once" trick but hasn't mastered it yet. Leave the magic to me, Scott!
Mike G actually made an appearance from Tennessee. Well, not an actual appearance, but one by phone. Knowing that Lou was giving away free cigars for the event, Mike called hoping that would be enough to score a free one or two, but no dice. Apparently Lou didn't even give him a raffle ticket for a chance to win a prize. Sorry, Mike, maybe if Lou has an extra hat he can mail it up to you. Good to talk to you, by the way.
The party started at 1:00, but Joe and I had the same idea and that was to arrive about an hour early to secure good seats. I got there about noon and Joe shortly thereafter. Darryl and Greg were already there so, in fact, we were just able to get our traditional seats. Thanks to Greg for letting the old man (Joe) have the comfy chair.
I gave out some more of Clipper Pens and hope to secure some orders for them. Kevin looked at it and said, "Oh, Scott (R) has pens with this logo on them". Great, no orders from Kevin now as he'll be buying from Scott - LOL!
I finished up Paula's website this past week for her new line of paper bead bracelets. Peter's wife Stacey likes the two she bought a lot and will be selling a few of them at a local restaurant they frequent. Take a look at the website and if you'd like a bracelet for your wife, mother, girlfriend, sister, aunt, grandmother, daughter, etc., let me know. They make great Mother's Day gifts too - start shopping now for next year!
As many of you know, Joe's son James K got married recently. They apparently had a lovely wedding on Davis Island (of course, we wouldn't know since none of us got invited for some reason) and their wedding was featured in the most recent issue of Tampa Bay Weddings Magazine. Shot by Ashley Brooke Photography, the magazine put a nice piece together about the event. Here's a link to Ashley's blog and the article on their wedding. Great article, and fantastic photography...my only fear now is that James's head will grow even bigger now that he's been featured in a magazine.
Alas, there were only two pipe smokers in the room, Box Ed and me. I was smoking some Tinder Box Reserve 1928 in the Cassano pipe I got in Boston a year ago and Ed was enjoying some of Lou's Baker Street in the meerschaum I gave him. Baker Street has it all, great taste if you're the smoker and a wonderful room note if you're nearby inhaling the light, slightly sweet aroma.
Congratulations to Preacher Jim who just purchased a 1978 Corvette. It sounds like it's quite the hot rod and hopefully he'll drive it to the Hut next time he comes up. Would love to see it. I might even pray that I get to drive it around the block!
Thanks to everyone who came out today. I think we all had a great time and thanks again to Lou and Darryl.
Cheers!
- Bob
P.S. Joe took a couple pictures with his iPhone and was supposed to send them to me. As soon as he figures out how to send them, I'll post them here.
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