Friday, December 4, 2015

25 More Days of Old Time Radio Christmas: Day 4 - All is Bright (the story of Silent Night)

Made it to day four!  And I am going back to the CBS Radio Workshop - one of the best programs from the late 1950s.  Once again, I am showcasing more Christmas themed shows from Old Time Radio's golden age.  Here is a link to all the 2014 OTR Christmas entries.  If you have Sirius/XM, you can listen to Greg Bell's Old time radio channel (#148).  He does a great job of showcasing great holiday themed episodes, especially as we get closer to Christmas and the end of December.

173/365/903 (December 1, 2010) - Wanda under the Christmas Tree
Wanda the cat under the Christmas tree (2010)

Well, here we are on December 4th and instead of having someone play Santa, I thought I would go in a different direction.  Last year, I showcased the Hallmark Playhouse's version of the way the Christmas masterpiece Silent Night was written.   This year, I am tapping the telling of the story from a slightly different point of view.  In All is Bright, The CBS Radio Workshop tells the story on how the song Silent Night became the loved and well known Christmas song that it is known today.

The CBS Radio Workshop continued the tradition at the network to produce some of the most innovative programs on radio.  The program was intended to provide a link back to the Columbia Workshop days and Norman Corwin and provide amazing drama "dedicated to man's imagination, the theater of the mind" In 1956, CBS returned to the airways with a program that would cement their network as the home for innovation.   Starting in January 1956, the CBS Radio Workshop would be on the air for 86 episodes through September 1957.  The CBS Radio Workshop was designed not to be commercially lucrative, but to find a place where the network could put on cutting edge works that might not match with a sponsor's goals.  The 30 minute program started out with a two-part adaptation of Huxley's Brave New World and featured many original and adapted programs.  These features great radio talent and special effects that were the best in the business.

The episode we are featuring today is titled All is Bright.  It starts aboard an ocean liner on Christmas Eve.  A big band on the ship entertaining the guests on the liner start playing Silent Night in a big way.  Upon hearing this, an older guest on the ship beckoned them to stop.  Turns out this guest was a famous conductor who was well versed in the way that Silent Night should be played.  It is a peasant song - one without pretension.  It was even called the song from Heaven.  What they proceeded to do was not to talk about how the song was written, but how it was spread from a small Austrian village to be one of the best known Christmas songs ever.

Sid Garfield of CBS Radio wrote an article in the January 9, 1957 edition of Variety (p102) called "Please State Previous Experience."  This article was about giving young writers in radio a break.  He wrote"
Paul Roberts, executive producer of CBS Radio's Workshop, for example, is consistently sympathetic towards inexperienced writers, no matter how dubious or nonexistent their credits.  This hospitality has paid off.  Just recently, an obscure scriptist named Henry Fritsch sent in several bare outlines of notions he felt, if developed, would enhance the Workshop series.  
One of these ideas was All is Bright, I think you will agree with Garfield that taking the chance on this script idea was a great idea.  I hope you enjoy this beautiful story behind this beautiful song.


    25 Days of Old Time Radio Christmas (from 2015) & Other Links

    25 Days of Old Time Radio Christmas (from 2014)
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    Thursday, December 3, 2015

    25 More Days of Old Time Radio Christmas: Day 3 - Christmas Story from The Mysterious Traveler

    Made it to day three!  Once again, I am showcasing more Christmas themed shows from Old Time Radio's golden age.  Here is a link to all the 2014 OTR Christmas entries.  If you have Sirius/XM, you can listen to Greg Bell's Old time radio channel (#148).  He does a great job of showcasing great holiday themed episodes, especially as we get closer to Christmas and the end of December.

    Holland-Fawcett Family Christmas Party (2010)
    Santa paying a visit in 2010
    Well, here we are on December 3rd and for the third consecutive day, I found a story of someone playing Santa Claus.  But actually, if you listen to all three, you will notice that they are very, very different.

    This entry is from The Mysterious Traveler, a great old time radio series focused on the supernatural.  This series was broadcast on the Mutual Radio Network and recorded in the studios of WOR in New York City.  The show was the brainchild of Mutual Network's Robert Arthur and David Kogan.  They also produced other series including Dark Destiny, The Strange Dr. Weird and The Sealed Book.  The Strange Dr. Weird was a 15 minute show sponsored by Adam Hats, and often was a trimmed version of a story on one of their 30 minute series.  The Sealed Book is one of my favorites - despite being pretty campy!  I will definitely write about that later.  The series was directed and co-produced by Sherman 'Jock' MacGregor.  Each episode of the Mysterious Traveler starts off with the following introduction:

    This is the Mysterious Traveler inviting you to join me on another journey into the realm of the strange and the terrifying. I hope you will enjoy the trip! And that it will thrill you a little, and chill you a little. So settle back and get a good grip on your nerves - if you can!

    The Mysterious Traveler was played by Maurice Tarplin, a very well known radio actor.  Tarplin also played the often frustrated Inspector Faraday on Boston Blackie, one of my favorite Old Time Radio series.  His wonderful voice sets the mood so perfectly on the show, though he is only on air in the beginning and end of each episode.  In each of these episodes, strange and mysterious happenings take place.  There would be an explanation offered, if there was one!  The show was so popular that it even inspired a series of comic books that started in 1948 (that are also on the Internet Archive) and a magazine starting in 1951.

    This Christmas story starts with a down on his luck man, named Steve Ferrell, who ended up playing Santa Claus is a huge way!  He was in Seattle with few prospects and even less money.  By chance looking through the classified section of the paper (think Craigs List) when he found a personal ad from Paul Harris.  Paul was looking for someone to share a drive to New York City - no expenses needed!  Steve jumped at the chance to get a free trip to New York City and off they went.  On the long car drive, they talked and talked and talked.  Steve learned a great deal about Paul Harris and why he was heading to New York.  Turns out that Paul Harris was recently contacted by a grandfather he never met.  The grandfather, who was estranged from Paul's parents, was getting older and wanted to connect with his only living heir.  But then an accident in the Allegheny Mountains cost Paul his life, but spared Steve.  So in a moment of seizing the brass ring, Steve, who was not hurt badly in the wreck, decided to move forward in Paul's place.  No one ever met Paul in New York City, and there was an inheritance on the other end.

    As he struggled to keep up the act, Steve (as Paul) fell in love and realized that he found something better than the inheritance that he might get.  Without giving the story away, he decided that playing Santa Claus would be the best way to win the girl and save the day.

    Christmas Story (December 25, 1951)





       25 Days of Old Time Radio Christmas (from 2015) & Other Links

      25 Days of Old Time Radio Christmas (from 2014)
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      Wednesday, December 2, 2015

      25 More Days of Old Time Radio Christmas: Day 2 - The Innocent Santa Claus (This is Your FBI)

      We are moving along with more Christmas themed shows from Old Time Radio's golden age.  Here is a link to all the 2014 OTR Christmas entries.  If you have Sirius/XM, you can listen to Greg Bell's Old time radio channel (#148).  He does a great job of showcasing great holiday themed episodes, especially as we get closer to Christmas and the end of December.

      Holland-Fawcett Family Christmas Party (2014)
      Santa Visiting in 2014
      This is Your FBI was a long running radio show on the ABC Radio Network (also known as the Blue Network before it spun off from NBC) that spanned from 1945 to 1953. The show was endorsed by the FBI and they shared case files with the show's producers - making the stories all "from the files of the FBI." The stories are really well done and provide scenes showing not only the execution of the crime, but also the way that the FBI solved it. Each story opened the same way -

      "The official broadcast from the files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The incidents used in
      tonight’s Equitable Life Assurance Society broadcast are adapted from the files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. However, all names used are fictitious, and any similarity to names of persons living or dead is accidental." 
      - From Derral Cheatwood Images of Crime and Justice in Early Commercial Radio—1932 to 1958 Criminal Justice Review March 2010 35: 32-51,

      I showcased this series earlier this year for my lighthouse radio series.  In this episode from December 21, 1951, a down-on-his-luck vaudeville actor realizes that he cannot be choosy any longer about which roles he takes.  Fred Harper was a huge name in vaudeville, but the years were not kind to him or his act.  Despite the encouragement from his daughter, the vaudevillian slowly realizes that his options, especially if wants to feed his family, are few.  Harper's agent spells it out - $25 for being Santa or nothing else.  So he begrudgingly takes a job as a Santa Claus for a Christmas party.

      But along the way, he becomes a patsy in an armed robbery with jewels as the desired good. The FBI was able to determine that it was Fred Harper since he was hired by the party to play Santa.  But when they paid him a visit in his hotel, Fred Harper was no where to be found.  When they tracked him down, they found that he had two pieces of the stolen jewelry in his pockets.  Harper insists he was knocked out, and completely innocent.  It is up to the FBI to find out if Santa is really innocent.  Along the way, they learn something every actor suspects about their agent! 

        25 Days of Old Time Radio Christmas (from 2015) & Other Links

        25 Days of Old Time Radio Christmas (from 2014)
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        Tuesday, December 1, 2015

        25 More Days of Old Time Radio Christmas: Day 1 - Honest Harold's Christmas Party

        So here we go again...I want to create more blog entries for my OTR Christmas Series.  Last year - I went 29 days - and barely scratched the surface with great number of programs that are available.  Here is a link to all the 2014 OTR Christmas entries.

        If you have Sirius/XM, you can listen to Greg Bell's Old time radio channel (#148).  He does a great job of showcasing great holiday themed episodes, especially as we get closer to Christmas and the end of December.  But with a fool's ambition, I am going to try to get an entry out a day.  I will probably miss one or two - but I will make up by the end of the month...that is the plan at least.

        Facepalm (Christmas 2000)
        Santa visiting in 2000.


        Honest Harold is a classic radio comedy starring Harold Peary. In fact, it is often called the Harold Peary Show through its relatively short lived run in the Golden Age of Radio. It started in large part from a contract dispute that removed Harold Peary from his own show, The Great Gildersleeve. Gildy was a character that Harold Peary developed from a stint on the Fibber McGee and Molly show in 1938. By 1941, he had his own show, The Great Glidersleeve on NBC. This might be the first spin-off show. In 1949, he decided to leave NBC and join CBS. He tried to take his show with him, but Kraft would not let him go. So with this, The Great Gildersleeve stayed on NBC (with Willard Waterman taking over Peary's role) and he started a new show. It was was called The Harold Peary Show (or Honest Harold). The show only lasted one season (38 episodes). Peary plays a radio personality in a small town. His show is called (as you might guess) Honest Harold. From the Internet Archive: "The show was about an older, unmarried guy, Honest Harold Hemp, who lived with his mother and nephew and did a radio homemaker's program. The townsfolk think of him as somewhat of a celebrity, but his girlfriend, Gloria, who works at the station, knows better."



        In this Christmas episode from December 20, 1950, Harold organizes his club's Christmas party for the town children. Harold wanted more than anything to be the Santa for the party. He even had to run in a club election to get it. When Harold won the right to be Santa Claus, he could hardly contain his enthusiasm. But when he met an old timer who wanted to be Santa, and needed some second and third chances, Harold had a change of heart. The episode ends with a lovely rendition of Oh Come All Ye Faithful from Peary. Before too long, I will have a Gildersleeve episode to share as well.
        Here are some links to programs relating to The Harold Peary Show:

          25 Days of Old Time Radio Christmas (from 2015) & Other Links

          25 Days of Old Time Radio Christmas (from 2014)
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          Wednesday, November 25, 2015

          Cooking with Don Ameche - The Elgin Watch Company's Thanksgiving Specials (Old Time Radio)

          On this day before Thanksgiving, I wanted to share a wonderful item that you can listen to as you are preparing your meal at home.  I will be doing the same. If you have Sirius/XM, you can listen to Greg Bell's Old time radio channel (#148). He has a number of great Thanksgiving-themed programs available this week. You can also get a large number of these programs at a variety or resources on the web.

          Scenes from John Wayne Airport (Orange County, California) - Sunday July 15, 2012

          One of the really cool shows I discovered a few years ago are the Elgin Seasonal Specials for Thanksgiving and Christmas in the 1940s. The shows were sponsored by the Elgin Watch Company of Elgin, Illinois. Starting in 1942 for the soldiers overseas, the Elgin Holiday Specials were two hour programs that featured the brightest stars in radio and the movies. Heard on these programs is Bing Crosby, Mario Landa, Jimmy Durante, Bob Hope and were all hosted by Don Ameche. These shows are a combination of songs, skits and other performances that capture the best of radio.  The Internet Archives has five total shows (see the link below). Also, given that the program runs 2 hours, Greg Bell does not schedule them on Radio Classics.  So that means if we are going to listen to these great programs, we need to be a bit more proactive!

           Here is a link right to the two Elgin Thanksgiving Holiday Shows on the Internet Archive:

          Elgin's 6th Annual Thanksgiving Show (November 27, 1947)

          Elgin Thanksgiving Day Greeting To America. November 27, 1947. CBS net, KQW, San Jose aircheck. Sponsored by: Elgin Watches. "The Sixth Annual Elgin Thanksgiving Day Greeting To America." The first tune is, "It's A Grand Night For Singing." Jimmy Durante and Garry Moore perform together for the first time "since getting shows of their own." "News Scoops From Hollywood," Candy Candido appears as "Mr. Ripple." Fifteen-year-old Mary Jane Smith sings. Sir Lancelot sings a calypso watch commercial! Larry Storch does impersonations. Margaret Whiting and Vera Vague join Jimmy Durante singing a clever original parody about a possible woman president (to the tune of "Feudin', Fightin' and Fussin'"). The Page Cavanaugh Trio sings a delightful Elgin commercial to the tune of, "The Lady From Twentynine Palms." Bob Sweeney and Hal March drive to the studio (don't ask them what an "Oh, For Goodness Sakes" sandwich is). The winners of the SPEBQSA competition sing barbershop harmonies. Yehudi Menuhin plays "Habanera" by Sarasate (accompanied by his sister on the violin). He then plays a duet with another violinist...Jack Benny! Artie Auerbach does an Elgin commercial as, "Mr. Kitzel. Cathy and Elliott Lewis are featured in a well-written story about a housewife's last day. Good radio! "A Child's Thanksgiving" features Red Skelton as, "Junior, The Mean Widdle Kid." After he says grace, Clem Kaddiddlehopper finds himself in one of the Elgin watch commercials! Allan Jones, Louis Silvers and His Orchestra, Jimmy Durante, Garry Moore, Candy Candido, Mary Jane Smith, Sir Lancelot, Larry Storch, Margaret Whiting, Barbara Jo Allen, The Page Cavanaugh Trio, Al Viola, Bob Sweeney, Don Ameche (host), Ken Carpenter (announcer), Hal March, The Doctors Of Harmony, Yehudi Menuhin, Jack Benny, Artie Auerbach, Betty Wright (writer), Cathy Lewis, Elliott Lewis, Red Skelton, Verna Felton, Lurene Tuttle, Pat McGeehan. 1:59:31. Audio condition: Excellent. Complete. (Line-up from the Radio GOLDINdex)

          Elgin's 7th Annual Thanksgiving Show (November 25, 1948)

          Elgin Thanksgiving Day Greeting To America. November 25, 1948. NBC net. Sponsored by: Elgin Watches. "The seventh Annual Thanksgiving Day Greeting To America." The first tune is, "Cosi, Cosa." Dean Martin is introduced as a promising "newcomer" and "a star of tomorrow." Don Ameche (host), Mario Lanza, Garry Moore, Jimmy Durante, The Mills Brothers, Barbara Jo Allen (as "Vera Vague"), Andre Previn, Bob Hopkins, Jack Benny, Frances Langford, Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Red Skelton, The Elgin Orchestra, Robert Armbruster (conductor), Ken Carpenter (announcer), Earl Levy (producer), John Christ (producer), Ed Helwig (writing supervisor), Frank Nelson, Artie Auerbach, Lurene Tuttle, Verna Felton. 1:58:54. Audio condition: Very good to excellent. Complete. (Line-up from the Radio GOLDINdex)
          In my house, I do much of the cooking and so I love to have these old programs playing in the kitchen.  This year, we are over at the in-laws, but we are making sides at our house.  So you can be sure that on Thanksgiving morning, I will be cleaning, cutting, cooking, etc. with Don Ameche and friends providing the entertainment and encouragement!  

          Here are additional Thanksgiving themed shows available on the Internet Archive:
          For more reading, check out my other Old Time Radio blog posts:
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          Monday, November 23, 2015

          Old Time Radio - John Dehner Centennial Celebration


          CBS Columbia Square (Hollywood, Los Angeles, California) - October 31, 2013
          CBS Columbia Square in Hollywood, California (October 2013) .  This was the home of the CBS's radio studios in Hollywood.  More importantly, it was the home of Gunsmoke and other leading programs from the network.
          Today we celebrate the centennial of one of the most prolific actors from the golden age of radio: the great John Dehner.  On November 23, 1915, John Dehner was born in Staten Island, New York.  John Dehner was not only a regular on radio programs, but was also accomplished on both television and film.  But surprisingly, there is relatively little written about him.

          According to his obituary from the Washington Post (published on February 10, 1992, six days after his death in Santa Barbara, California), they pointed out that he was educated in Paris and served as an animator with the Walt Disney Company after entering show business through the stage in New York.  At Disney, he worked on Fantasia and Bambi among other projects.  Like so many men during the 40s, he served in the U.S. Army during World War II.  Upon his return to civilian life after the war, he started his career in radio.

          According to the RadioGOLDINdex, John Dehner appeared in 874 programs.  To put this in perspective, big names put up big numbers of programs.

          • Joseph Kearns (1160)
          • William Conrad (1141)
          • Robert "Bob" Bailey (709)
          • Howard McNear (1000)
          • Lawrence Dobkin (917)
          • Jack Webb (463)
          This is really nice company.  

          I wanted to showcase a few episodes that I love from John Dehner.  There are a lot to choose from.  Of the 480 Gunsmoke episodes, John Dehner appeared in 223.  And almost always, he was the mysterious villain.  When my wife and I are listening to Radio Classics on XM 148 and we hear John Dehner on Gunsmoke - we are pretty sure he is the bad guy!

          Dehner has such a distinct and sophisticated voice.  He often played the elder statements, the aristocrat, or the dignitary from another country.  He was a mainstay in the stable of actors that were called on regularly for CBS where great programs were being produced through the early 1960s.  I am sure that he was a regular at the studio above and that everyone there knew his name.  If they did not know his name, they certainly would have recognized his voice!

          While mostly a supporting character, he was given two shows on CBS where he was the star.  One will be featured below (Frontier Gentleman).  The other is Have Gun Will Travel, where he played Paladin.  I am still trying to get into this series - it is just not my favorite.

          The Librarian (From Frontier Gentleman - October 5, 1958)

          The Frontier Gentleman was a late radio series from CBS that starred Dehner as J.B. Kendall, a correspondent from the London Times who traveled to the American West.  This is the opening of the series (which would run from February through November, 1958):

          Herewith, an Englishman's account of life and death in the West. As a reporter for the London Times, he writes his colorful and unusual accounts. But as a man with a gun, he lives and becomes a part of the violent years in the new territories. Now, starring John Dehner, this is the story of J. B. Kendall, Frontier Gentleman...
          The story called "The Librarian" finds J.B. Kendall meeting a widower who moved to the territory out west with her husband who recently died.  The woman, who was a librarian, found herself back at her house after traveling east to get medical treatment for her husband.  Even though he died, she returned to the land to honor his sacrifice.  What she found was a claim jumper, a Confederate soldier who was not interested in leaving the land.  J.B. Kendall works with a local posse to get the claim jumper off.  The group disbands when the librarian reports that the claim jumper had left.  But did he?



          The Constable (From Gunsmoke - May 8, 1954)

          Gunsmoke is one of the series that hardly needs an introduction.  It started in 1952 as a western series for adults.  So popular, it spawned a television series and lasted on radio until 1961. This episode has always been one of my favorites.  John Dehner joins the Gunsmoke regulars as Rantz, the head of a a Texas cattle herd that just came into Dodge.  The episode opens with Chester and Matt Dillon talking about how they took care of rowdy cowboys that rode into Dodge that day.  Rantz threatened to not return to Dodge City and that made the business leaders nervous.  The business leaders gathered to encourage Marshall Dillon to go easy on the cowboys - they cannot afford to lose the business.  When the business leaders hire a Constable and tell Marshall Dillon to leave the cowboys alone, chaos is the word of the day in Dodge.  Only the strong hand of Marshall Dillon can restore order.


          The Laughing Matter (From Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar - June 11 through 15, 1956)

          If anyone knows my tastes of Old Time Radio, you know I love Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar.  I especially love the multi-part episodes that ran from 1955 through 1956 when Bob Bailey became the star and title character of the show.  These five part marathons are a staple of XM 148 - Radio Classics with host Greg Bell.  The best part of these multi-episode stories is the ability to expand the plot and dig deeper into the characters.  The conversations are more revealing and are less driven by exposition to get points out in a short program.  These stories typically cover 75 minutes and that is fantastic for some of these mysteries.

          John Dehner was in a number of Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar episodes as a big actor at CBS (where that was recorded).  In the Laughing Matter, John Dehner plays Actor and Comedian Charlie Burton - who is in Mexico where he life was threatened.  Turns out, the problem is not finding someone who wants to do in 'lovable Charlie Burton,' but finding someone who DOESN'T want to kill him!  
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          Wednesday, September 23, 2015

          My Favorite Yogi Berra Story

          We learned this morning that Baseball Hall of Fame Member Yogi Berra passed away at age 90.  And while living to 90 is great in anyone's book, Yogi Berra's passing will make so many people sad today because he was a truly great person who make you feel better just knowing him.  The kid who grew up in the shadows of the St. Louis Cardinals, became of the iconic members of great New York Yankee teams in the late 1940s, 1950s and early 1960s.  He was an active player on 10 World Championship teams (all with the Yankees) and would also coach on three others (the 1969 Mets and two Yankee teams).  And while you would never say that he was as good a ball player as the Yankee greats Babe Ruth, Lou Gherig, Joe DiMaggio, and Mickey Mantle, none of them (I suspect) could hold a candle to Yogi's warmth and charm as a person.


          Scenes from The Otesaga Hotel for Hall of Fame Weekend (Cooperstown, NY)
          Looking so young at Hall of Fame Weekend in 2009 - my last year on the Hospitality Crew
          From 1996 to 1998, I was fortunate to work at the National Baseball Library of the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.  I was the head of technical services for the library, managing the development of the ABNER online catalog and also building the archival collection.  It was a great two years that I will always treasure.  The big event at the Baseball Hall of Fame was the the induction of new members of the Hall.  This takes place at the end of July and involves all people who work at the Hall to take on a new responsibility for that weekend.  As someone who was good with databases and computers, I was assigned to the Hospitality Suite at the Otesaga Hotel.  This is the beautiful resort hotel in town that serves as the headquarters for the Induction Weekend events.

          Scenes from The Otesaga Hotel for Hall of Fame Weekend (Cooperstown, NY)
          Otesaga Hotel over Hall of Fame Weekend, 2009
          Working on the Hospitality team was great.  We were right in the middle of the activity and we had the ability to interact with the special guests and Hall of Famers.  However, even in the time before selfies - we were very careful never to ask for autographs (it was against Hall rules - you would be fired), or pictures, or really anything.  We were there to serve.  The role of the Hospitality Desk changed just before I got there - and the focus was places squarely on our role and purpose to make things right.  To this day, a great deal of what I believe in running a library comes directly from my time on the Hospitality Desk.  Though I left the Hall in 1998 to move to Michigan, I came back to work Hall of Fame Weekend every year from 1999 to 2009.  Those were wonderful years.

          My favorite Yogi story....actually, I am pretty proud of myself for this.  I remember one of the crew shaking he head early one morning after he ran into Yogi who asked him when the 7am breakfast was going to take place.  We all had those moments.  He was genuine and lovable.  He was always nice and pleasant to the Baseball Hall staff - especially the Hospitality crew.  But more than that, he was one of the most recognizable Hall of Fame members alive.  Through all his television and commercial work, practically no one there would not recognize him immediately.

          I believe it was during the 1998 Induction, that Yogi Berra won an award from the Hall of Fame Classic, the golf tournament that takes place the morning of Hall of Fame Induction day.  You win overall awards for lowest score (typically by age bracket) and there are clubs that are given for a few different "closest to the pin" holes.  He had one one of them.  The members were told that they should come to the Hospitality Desk and pickup there prize.  I was working at the desk and was feeling a bit punchy when he came up.  He said hello and that he won a golf club.  I got up and went back to where they were, pulling the one that said Yogi.  I came up and noticed that he did not have his name badge on.  Not sure why I said this - but it was worth it.  In a very serious way, I said something to the effect that "Sir, this golf club is for Yogi Berra.  But I do not see your name tag, do you have any identification I could see?"  He looked at me with a dumbfounded look on his face.  He could not believe anyone did not know who he was.  He did not have any ID, but everyone knows Yogi! After a few seconds of fumbling around looking for something, I said that I could give it to him, but I hope my manager does not yell at me.  He smiled at me and took his club away.  I am pretty sure he knew I was joking.  

          I am not sure that would have worked for any other Hall of Famer.  He was famous, yet always had a modesty about him that made him a pleasure to be with.    Rest in Peace Yogi. Thanks for all the memories and the love you shared for this great game of baseball.

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