TV Time
Ladies Golf Association channels
’50’s television for its annual
Member/Guest Day
STORY AND PHOTOS
BY STEPHEN VRATTOS
In The Honeymooners, what
was the name of Ralph Kramden’s
bowling Team?
Who was the original announcer
of the game show You Bet
Your Life?
On Dragnet, what was Joe
Friday’s badge number?
Among the sea of ladies enjoying
breakfast in the VIP Room, hands
shot up and answers shouted out
from those too excited to await
acknowledgement. Attired in red,
black and white, the trivia gamesters
had gathered this Thursday morning,
August 9, to take part in the
Ladies Golf Association’s annual
Member/Guest Day. The event’s
Chair and impromptu Quizzler,
Teri Oropallo, served to warm up
the crowd before they hit the links,
much the same way live television
broadcasts employ comedians to
excite their audiences before filming
begins. Only fitting, as the theme of
this year’s ladies’ “bring a friend to
play” day was ’50’s TV.
Oropallo, Country Club
Manager Mary Anne, her
assistant, Jessica, and an event
Committee worked tirelessly from
the moment the day’s motif was
decided upon in January, and
their creative efforts were on
display throughout the day. From
the signage—emblazoned with
Howdy Doody’s freckled-face—
directing arriving guests to the
check-in desk and VIP Room,
tables and walls festooned in title
cards from iconic ’50’s TV shows
and vintage covers of TV Guide
from the era, onto the golf course
where cleverly crafted nostalgic
television sets, each displaying a
signature ’50’s TV series, greeted
the golfers at every tee, to Towers
on the Green, channeling the
spirit of a classic malt shop with
checkerboard table cloths, floral
centerpieces designed as milk
(l. to r.) Country Club Assistant Jessica Buffalino, Chair Teri Oropallo and
Manager Mary Anne Langone
shakes and penny candy, the day
was filled with ’50’s frivolity.
And the theme extended to the
game-play as well. Sure, favorite
features, such as Closest to the
Pin and Longest Drive contest
were in evidence at the Amos
’n’ Andy (Hole 8) and Our Miss
Brooks (Hole 11) holes, respectively,
but additional challenges,
paying homage to classic television
shows, dotted the course. For
example, on The Honeymooners
(Hole 12), at intervals along
the fairway, stood photos of Ed
Norton, Alice & Trixie and Ralph
Kramden. If a player’s drive off
the tee reached Carney, her ball
could then be moved to the premiere
position where Kramden
Who was that masked golfer?
New home of The Cleavers?
My Little “Marion” Levine tees off from Hole 3
Marina Gottlieb and Bernice Mittman checked in golfers
16 NORTH SHORE TOWERS COURIER ¢ September 2018