26 North Shore Towers Courier n March 2016 NST Men’s Club Board (l. to r.) Arnie Rabinowitz (Events Chairman); Guest Speaker Sal St. George; Arthur Rose (Secretary); Jack Sevita (Treasurer); Toby Horowitz (President), Paul Nettler (Vice President) Men’s Club BY PAUL NETTLER In contrast to our speaker last month who left us thinking pessimistically about peace in the Middle East, our speaker’s presentation at the February 11th meeting left us in a most jovial mood, aching from severe cases of belly laughs. Through his company, St. George Living History Productions, Sal St. George is a lecturer, playwright, director and living history consultant, a most knowledgeable individual who delivered an excellent presentation. His topic, “Forgotten Funny Men. The Abbott and Costello Story,” centered on the discovery of a tape recording of an interview Sal had with Bud Abbott, which had been lost for forty years. It all started with a paper Sal had to write while in college, a paper on Abbott and Costello. Despite their success and fame, there was very little written about the legendary comedic duo. Even the New York City libraries had little. So Sal decided to go to California and interview Abbott directly. Fortunately, Abbott was most welcoming and Sal recorded the interview on his tape recorder. When some of Abbott’s friends learned about the interview, they invited Sal to speak to them about their relationship with Abbott. That’s how Sal met Steve Allen and Patti Andrews, among other show business personalities. Fueled with all this ammunition, Sal wrote the paper, received an excellent grade, filed everything away in a cardboard box and with the passage of time, forgot about it. Forty years later, while cleaning out his attic, he came upon the box that contained all his research. And there at the very bottom was the tape recorder. Sal played excerpts of it for us and it was fascinating. He played it in conjunction with a video of some Abbot and Costello’s performances. Needless to say, the star attraction was “Who’s on First.” Amazingly, no matter how many times we may have heard or seen it, it’s still hysterically funny, and for the audience it brought back fond memories along with the side splitting laughter. Sal pointed out something very interesting to us. Most of the Abbott and Costello acts were improvisational. When they did a movie, they were given a script, looked at it, threw it away and did it their own way. Even “Who’s” was never done the same way twice. Such was their synergism. Such was their genius. Like Pagliacci, the story doesn’t end well. Eventually, they broke up. Costello died in his mid-fifties and Abbott died broke in his seventies. But they left us a wonderful heritage. Our next meeting will be on Thursday, March 10th at 7:30 p.m. in the large card room next to the theater. The program to be announced. Super Bowl Sunday turned out to be a Super Event with 36 of our members attending. Iavarone Bros. did a “heroic” job with the food under the masterful supervision of our President, Toby Horowitz. Costco’s cookies were good, too. It was hard to tell who had the most fans: The Broncos, The Panthers or the numbers card. Actually, the numbers were more exciting than the game. Isn’t that right, Charlie Hoffman? And a great big thank you to Management for installing that huge 70” TV screen in the Coleridge Lounge just in time for the game. The Current Events Group’s meeting on February 6th proved to be a lively one with some strong opinions being expressed. Who would expect anything less during an election year? A lively discussion was held regarding the Iowa Caucus and the then upcoming New Hampshire Primary. The possibility of a Third Party candidate was also brought up. Other topics touched upon were the threatened worldwide boycott of Israeli products and the Zika Virus, It’s an eclectic group and surely the election will again take center stage at the next meeting, which will be held on March 14th at 10:30 to noon in the Coleridge lounge. It will be chaired by Ralph Edwards who can be reached at 347-235-0472. Ralph will also be leading the Book Group’s discussion on April 11th. The books, “Ally” and “Devil in the White City” should be available now at the Glen Oaks Library. For those wanting to recoup their recent setbacks in the Stock Market, we are having another Bingo Night on February 28th at 7:00 p.m. in the large card room next to the theater. The more who attend, the bigger the pot. There will also be a door prize. Everyone is invited. Other planned club events include a Poker Tourney; and visits to the Cradle of Aviation Museum The Holocaust Museum and The Tenement Museum, with lunch afterwards at Katz’s deli. Also planned are a day at the races, a Brooklyn Cyclones baseball game, preceded by an early dinner at Giardino’s Restaurant, and a roundtrip visit to Greenwood Cemetery. If you have any suggestions regarding other events in which you might be interested, or for additional information regarding events, contact our Events Chairman, Arnie Rabinowitz, at 516-317-6705. As a reminder, a group of us meet for breakfast at Buffy’s at 9:15 a.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays. So come join us as we solve all the world’s problems, if only for an hour. The oatmeal is as good as mom’s. If you are of the male persuasion, but don’t belong to our club and would like to find out more about us, please visit our website: northshoretowersmensclub.org. Or better yet, contact our president, Toby Horowitz at tmhmgt@yahoo. com or 718-279-0082. Speaker Sal St. George
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