Books and Much More and Barnes & Noble.com!
Books and Much More and Barnes & Noble.com!
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
CONVENTION HIGHLIGHTS 2002
The Friends of Old-time Radio held its 27th Annual Convention from October 24 - 27, 2002 at the Holiday Inn - North, Newark, New Jersey. Celebrities who received awards were: Robert Clary, Tommy Cook, Bill Farrell, Beverly Garland, Kathy Garver, Gogi Grant, Bill and Susan Hayes, Cynthia Pepper, Bea Wain, Johnny Blowers, Soupy Sales. Other celebrities present were Arthur Anderson, George Ansbro, Frank Bresee, Cliff Carpenter, Phyllis Creore, Mary Diveny, Pat Hosley, Will Hutchins, Teri Keane, Ruth Last, Bob Mott, Bill Owen, Rosemary Rice, Hal Stone. The guests socialized with fans, participated in panels and workshops and re-created 9 radio shows.The convention began Wednesday Evening with complementary Wine and Cheese and informal visiting.
Thursday Morning the dealers opened at 9 am. There were six afternoon panels: Dave Zwengler with Randy Larson was interviewed as Archie from Duffy's Tavern; Fred Berney talked about collecting, tape recording and mini discs; Howard Blue discussed his new book, Radio and World War II; Gary Yoggy then told the audience of the 10 worst shows; Jack French gave a panel on Breakfast Couples; Finally a tribute was given to Dave Warren for whom this convention was dedicated; on the panel were Gary Yoggy, Derek Tague, Bobb Lynes, Barbara Watkins, Bob Burchett, Jack French with additional comments provided by Charlie Stumpf and (via a fax) SuzAnne Barabas. We then had cocktails and dinner. 79 fans attended during the day. 150 fans and guests attended in the evening. Arthur Anderson directed Becky Beach's and John Bell's parody of War of the Worlds. "Those Were the Days Players" presented "The Hall of Fantasy;" Finally Various guests performed on a Variety Show directed by Dave Zwengler.
Friday began at 9:00 with the opening of the dealers room; fifty-five dealer tables were active during the convention. 225 people attended dinner with another 122 in the afternoon. Workshops and panels included the following: Dave Zwengler (quiz show); Dick Brescia (OTR today); Mitchell Weisberg went one on one with Beverly Garland; Gary Yoggy with Ed Clute and Phyllis Creore talked about AFRS; Anthony Tollin and Martin Grams, Jr. talked about "Have Gun, Will Travel;" then Anthony Tollin with Laura Leff and Johnny Blowers talked about Jack Benny; Rick Sapphire had several of the child stars who were present in a panel; then the Gotham Radio Players presented Light's Out episode of "Chicken Heart."
On Friday evening we had 3 re-creations: "Voyage of the Scarlet Queen" directed by Jack French; Tommy Cook starred in an Arch Oboler production of "Paul Reveresky;" Arthur Anderson directed an episode of "Lawyer Tucker."
Saturday the panels and workshops included the following: Blindness and Radio with Derek Tague, Lora Palmer, Ed Clute, Mike Mandel, July Wilkinson, and Kathy Garver who reads for the blind in California; Mitchell Weisberg gave another one on one with Hal Stone; Bob Van Deventer talked about his father's program, "20 Questions;" The Living Audio Rep, Co. presented "It's Boys, Is It" by Isobel Clowes; then there was a Hedda Hopper panel with Jack French and Robert Furry, Hedda Hopper's nephew; Then followed an Ellery Queen Panel with Bill Nadel, Francis Nevins, Bill Owen and Martin Grams' Jr.; The Singers/Musicians panel hosted by Stu Weiss and Michael Henry was a hit again; The panel consisted of Bea Wain, Robert Clary, Gogi Grant, Johnny Blowers, Bill Hayes, Bill Farrell, Soupy Sales. It ended with a sing-a-long.
Saturday's events culminated with cocktails and buffet dinner for 264 people with another 129 coming for the day. After dinner Gary Yoggy directed Nero Wolfe with Tommy Cook, Bill Hayes, Hal Stone, Gary Yoggy; Jack Lawrence, composer and lyricist (Linda, Tenderly, Beyond the Sea), a last minute guest, sang Linda and a new song he recently wrote, (In Praise of Older Women). Others of the singers panel also sang; Anthony Tollin directed "Have Gun, Will Travel;" Ed Clute supplied the music for this and other re-creations. Bart Curtis with Bob Mott supplied the sound effects.
Besides the awards mentioned earlier, the Allen Rockford Award was presented to Art Pierce and Mitchell Weisberg for their outstanding efforts in keeping radio and this convention alive. The Ray Stanich Award was given to Jim Cox for all the excellent writing he has done. I was then awarded a special Ray Stanich Award for my work. It was a surprise award Thank you very much. A special Florence Williams award was given to Bill Owen. He has attended our convention for several years and have always been willing to help. Janet Cantor Gari also received a special award presented by her son, Brian Gari. Donations will be given to various organizations throughout the year.
Sunday morning found about 120 people having breakfast and listening to an entertaining and sometimes very hilarious panel consisting of Cliff Carpenter, Bill Farrell, Gogi Grant, Robert Clary, Hal Stone, Susan and Bill Hayes. It was hosted by Anthony Tollin.
I again want to thank all the guests who were very gracious in granting interviews and giving of their time to be with us.
--Jay Hickerson
