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Once again, Chet and Tuffy's home town of Mena,
Arkansas took a deep breath and braced itself for yet
another invasion by the NLAS during the fourth
annual convention on Saturday, June 18, 1988.
Members and guests began arriving on Friday, and
there were quite a few sessions of "gittin' to know
each other," but everyone's sights were set on the
main event, the dinner on Saturday night.
Arkansas took a deep breath and braced itself for yet
another invasion by the NLAS during the fourth
annual convention on Saturday, June 18, 1988.
Members and guests began arriving on Friday, and
there were quite a few sessions of "gittin' to know
each other," but everyone's sights were set on the
main event, the dinner on Saturday night.
| The original version of this article appeared in the August 1988 issue of The Jot 'Em Down Journal (Volume 5, Number 1). Some modifications have been made to adapt it to this website. |
A beautiful full-color portrait of L&A by Bobb Lynes
marked the meeting room of the Best Western Lime
Tree Inn, and over 35 members managed to show up
from all parts of the country by the time the meal
began at 6 p.m. A special guest in the audience was
Mrs. Eloise Plaster of Mena, whose husband Oscar
was the photographer who took the very first
publicity photos of Lum and Abner in makeup in May
1931. He also was responsible for most of the
photos of Waters/Pine Ridge commissioned by Dick
Huddleston during the 1930s. Mrs. Plaster spoke
briefly and told how they went about devising L&A's
makeup for those early photos.
marked the meeting room of the Best Western Lime
Tree Inn, and over 35 members managed to show up
from all parts of the country by the time the meal
began at 6 p.m. A special guest in the audience was
Mrs. Eloise Plaster of Mena, whose husband Oscar
was the photographer who took the very first
publicity photos of Lum and Abner in makeup in May
1931. He also was responsible for most of the
photos of Waters/Pine Ridge commissioned by Dick
Huddleston during the 1930s. Mrs. Plaster spoke
briefly and told how they went about devising L&A's
makeup for those early photos.
Then, on to the business of the evening. Prez Uncle
Donnie Pitchford introduced the other Zecatif
Ossifers, then turned the program over to Jerry
Hausner, who have us a comical introduction to the
evening's speaker, Elmore (Phinus Peabody)
Vincent.
Mr. Vincent proceeded to demonstrate his talent as a
"toastmaster," with gags poking fun at the Ossifers
and even some of the members. He also gave a
short monologue as Phinus Peabody, and presented
his impersonation of one of his classic friends,
Charley Weaver (Cliff Arquette), complete with
glasses and little hat. Then came the historic
moment... the uniting of two original L&A characters,
appearing for the first time TOGETHER: "Phinus
Peabody Meets Spud Gandel," written by that old
veteran "Uncle Donnie" and starring Elmore Vincent
and Jerry Hausner in the title roles.
It seems that our old friend Phinus was running the
Jot 'Em Down Store while L&A were away at the
county seat for a convention ("National Vic & Sade
Society or sumpin' like that... some old backwoodsy
radio program," according to Phinus), when con
man extraordinaire Spud Gandel, absent from Pine
Ridge for many years, returned with a new plan to
gyp everyone: selling franchises in a chain of Spud
Gandel Miniature Golf Courses!
Donnie Pitchford introduced the other Zecatif
Ossifers, then turned the program over to Jerry
Hausner, who have us a comical introduction to the
evening's speaker, Elmore (Phinus Peabody)
Vincent.
Mr. Vincent proceeded to demonstrate his talent as a
"toastmaster," with gags poking fun at the Ossifers
and even some of the members. He also gave a
short monologue as Phinus Peabody, and presented
his impersonation of one of his classic friends,
Charley Weaver (Cliff Arquette), complete with
glasses and little hat. Then came the historic
moment... the uniting of two original L&A characters,
appearing for the first time TOGETHER: "Phinus
Peabody Meets Spud Gandel," written by that old
veteran "Uncle Donnie" and starring Elmore Vincent
and Jerry Hausner in the title roles.
It seems that our old friend Phinus was running the
Jot 'Em Down Store while L&A were away at the
county seat for a convention ("National Vic & Sade
Society or sumpin' like that... some old backwoodsy
radio program," according to Phinus), when con
man extraordinaire Spud Gandel, absent from Pine
Ridge for many years, returned with a new plan to
gyp everyone: selling franchises in a chain of Spud
Gandel Miniature Golf Courses!
| Elmore Vincent and Jerry Hausner performing "Phinus Peabody Meets Spud Gandel" |
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