Since becoming "Catalina's Official Greeter", March 10, 2014, when the Chamber Of Commerce assigned me to greet the cruise ships and cross channel carriers, I have answered 63,070 questions.

 

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!?!"  For the last couple of weeks I have suggested that as things are "slow" here now, Islanders should try to spend more time putting in some valuable time with each other.  Well, it happened, but not as planned!  I was in Long Beach last week and I went to open the door of one of my favorite restaurants, "Long Beach Café", and who should come through the door but my long time friends from Avalon, Rose Ellen and Dave Gardner!  We shared a VERY PLEASANT evening together. By the way, this café, near the corner of Ocean/Atlantic has FANTASTIC food and as it is run/owned by a Greek family, food you just don't get on the Island.  If any of you have any favorite motels, restaurants, stores, etc. in Long Beach, San Pedro, Newport Beach or Dana Point that Islanders should consider, please share this with me!  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. so I can pass it on.

"MY HERO!"  Just learned from Michael Forcella that he will once again be the Head Coach of our Lancer's Varsity Football Team.   He was notified that a loss in leadership would terminate our famous beloved team so he, of course, without hesitation accepted the position again!  Talk to any of his players and they will happily share with you how he teaches them SO MUCH MORE than just football; LIFE SKILLS!  He will be juggling this position around his two other jobs!  WHAT A GUY!  Proud to call him my FRIEND and humbly call him MY HERO!  Thank him whenever you see him and share with me any other unsung "heroes"!

"HUG CLUB".  Spoke to one of my all-time favorite people on the Island, Rudy Piltch, and we started talking about the "Hug Club" that was started by Trucky Ross many moons ago.  Many still have their membership cards!  Wouldn't it be GREAT to start it up again?  Let me know if you remember this unique organization and if you think it is a good thing to have a good hug whenever possible.

"MARK YOUR CALENDAR"!  On Wednesday, February 22, 9PM, local radio station, KISL, 88.7FM, is going to bring back old-time radio drama/comedy.  Murray D. Smith, writer/director/producer, who has been connected to the Island since 1992, from Royal Tunbridge Wells, England, has started a local radio troupe, "Face For Radio Productions". He has been a teacher in Art/Drama in London and has recently received a Masters Degree in Drama from San Francisco State University.  This 40 minute play, with complete sound effects, entitled "New Year's Eve, 1932", was his Master's Thesis.  It is based on the play, "Holiday" by Phillip Barry and is heavily influenced by the BBC.  Ten local "hams" are being utilized for this production: Sean Baze, Sean Brannock, Lola DeMille,  David Felis, Jimmy G., ME, Mary Schickling, Murray Smith, Diane Stone, and Rosie Pinky Taylor.  Other exciting productions are in the works and always room for more locals who feel they have a "Face For Radio".  If you aren't afraid to have a LOT OF FUN, contact Murray at:  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.!  This February 22 production is being recorded for future airings.

Since becoming "Catalina's Official Greeter", March 10, 2014, when the Chamber Of Commerce assigned me to greet the cruise ships and cross channel carriers, I have answered 62,366 questions.

 

WHEN AN "ISLANDER"?  The debate seems to continue on into infinitum as to "When does someone become an 'Islander'".  Bring it up at a party or, heaven forbid on Face Book, and be prepared for EVERY imaginable scenario! The one that seems to hold is the "25 Year Period", where a person has to live on Catalina, continuously, except for college/university or military service.  You might find it interesting to know that this 25 years was basically an arbitrary number set up in 1913 when Avalon became incorporated and the new town wanted to recognize it's "Founding Fathers", who just happened to go back to 1888 with the purchasing of Catalina by George Shatto in 1887 and the naming of this city "Avalon" by sister-in-law, Etta Whitney, the same year, from the poem by Lord Tennyson, "Idylls Of The King", talking about this "magical isle of 'Avalon'".  Thus, this 25 year rule is hardly set in stone or presidents, but simply a "recognition" by this newly establihed township.  Frankly, I like the definition that I share with another Island born "Native", Rose Ellen Arno Gardner. IF you can go through a particularly tumultuous winter, with  the storms that we have gone through the last couple of days with over 4" of rain in just one day, wind damage, roads closed, no barge for food, the inability to get to or off the Island, important appointments on both sides being thwarted, and you can still say you "LOVE CATALINA", then you are an "Islander"!  WELCOME!

"SERVICE ABOVE SELF""  I am VERY PROUD to be a "Rotarian" and that is our slogan.  I have discovered its true mean more these last couple of days, then ever before.  When everyone wanted to be home, warm and dry, I was out with Sharon delivering "Meals On Wheels", but even more than this minor discomfort, there were City work crews cleaning up all sorts of boulders and debris, while the Harbor Department staff were protecting those on the seas.  These and other "selfless" acts were being acted out all around us, when most of us didn't even notice it.  I TIP MY HAT TO ALL OF THE SERVICE PERSONEL ON  CATALINA!

"GANG, GANG, THE HAILS ALL HERE"!  Yes, we experienced a brief hail storm, along with our rain, on Monday, 11:15am!  We have asked God for more moisture and He is DELIVERING! 

OH, COME ON!  YOU MUST HAVE CATALINA STORIES YOU WANT TO SHARE WITH THE WORLD, THAT YOU THINK ARE EVEN BETTER THAN MINE!  Please contact me, chuckliddell.catalina@gmail,com and let's get your stories in print!

GETTING TO KNOW YOU:  Now is the perfect time for us locals, who THINK we know each other pretty well, to REALLY learn about how remarkable we all are by sharing breakfast/lunch/dinner/coffee, whatever, with those we want to know BETTER.  Things are relatively slow now, so we have the time!

BYE-BYE BLUE!  Thanks for all of you who are concerned about seeing strangers driving my classic '71 aqua/coral VW Van, but I am selling it and letting prospective buyers give her a little demonstration run.

HAVE A RADIO FACE?  Call Murray, 530-208-7140, and join me to see if there are parts for us on "Radio Theatre" put on by the City Of Avalon.

 

"CAMETALINALOT" (combination of "Catalina" and "Camelot")

In my December 23, 2016 column, "A Chorus Of One" (www.catalinaislandman.com for this and all other submissions), I shared my horror story of stepping out in faith from being a "mouther" (faking singing, with only my lips moving) to ending up being part of the yearly "Avalon Community Chorus'" presentation of Handel's "Messiah"!  To say I was a "bad singer" puts its mildly as I even "mouthed" in the shower!  I survived this singing initiation by FIRE  to find myself once again, a few months later, standing up with the chorus once again for a "Spring Concert" we put on for the town with some of the current "hits"!  You have NEVER experienced a true musical event until you have seen a bunch of amateurs, many of them older than dirt, swinging back and forth to "I Can't Smile Without You!" or something more appropriate to our situation, "No Man Is An Island!"  With this winning streak of 2, our blessed Margaret Felkley, in the summer season of the late 70's, decided that we were ready for the "big time" and thought that putting on the full musical, "Camelot", would be within our capabilities!  WHAT WAS SHE THINKING!?!  Rene LaPlante, a REAL singer, was set to be "Lancelot", Niva Jennings was to be "Guinevere", and yours truly was to be "King Arthur".  I was cast due to having the only beard in Avalon (male one, that is) and that I owned a woven Irish sweater that almost looked like armor.  Having to really stretch one's imagination, Niva was old enough to be my mother!  She was in the 30's movie series, "Little Rascals".

"Camelot" was a PERFECT choice for Catalina!  We are often compared to it.  The town of "Avalon", as I explained above, was mentioned in a  Tennyson poem and "Avalon" was a mythical Island that King Arthur was floated to when he was wounded as it was reported to have magical powers to heal him so he could return to England to fight for his queen.  "Avalon" means "Valley Of The Apples" (don't ask me why).  Tennyson dedicated the poem to Queen Victoria at the death of her husband, the Prince Consort Albert.  In fact, many have noticed that "Abalone Point", South-East end of "Lovers' Cove", on the way to Pebbly Beach, formed in 1906, looked STRANGELY exactly like Queen Victoria, down to her mourning shawl, which he always wore after Albert's death.  It was crashed into by a truck a few years ago and now looks like a Teddy Bear!

O. K., WHY NOT!?!  Nothing could possibly go wrong with a simple musical like "Camelot", now could it!?!  My only "condition" was that I would NEVER have to sing solo, even if it were intended to be sung solo, and I insisted on having the chorus "back me up" throughout the program.  Margaret and the rest thought this a strange request, but being that I was insistent, and no one else looked the part, they met my demand.   Rehearsals started and right away we had problems.  NOT from me!  I still couldn't read music, but had memorized every line from hearing Richard Burton on a 33 1'3 record (some of you might remember them). The "problem" came from the fact that the chorus, made up of the "Knights Of The Round Table" and the "Maidens" (RIGHT!),  couldn't memorize their lines and had to read the music with their glasses on!  THIS IS A LIVE MUSICAL SO NO READING AND NO GLASSES!  GLASSES WEREN'T AROUND IN KING ARTHUR'S TIME!  The elderly accountant (Methuselah's father) from the bass section of the "Messiah", who I think must have gone to grade school with King Arthur. had an "epiphany" (in retrospect, must have been a gas attack!),.  As the knights all had shields and the maidens were paired up with them, WHY NOT GLUE THE MUSIC TO THE BACK OF THE SHIELDS SO THAT WHEN EACH SONG CAME, THEY COULD LIFT THEM UP AND READ THE MUSIC!?! THUS NOT HAVING TO MEMORIZE THE MUSIC NOR HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT WEARING THEIR READING GLASSES! What a brilliant compromise!  SO BE IT!  This revolutionary concept was NEVER tried out until our dress rehearsal which as also Friday, "Opening Night".

The high school auditorium was packed and I was scared, but confident in my ability to "fake" my way through, with the "Avalon Community Chorus" "having my back".  I was sitting, properly, on my throne, when it was time for me to start the production, with "I Wonder What The King Is Doing Tonight?".  I spoke my first three lines and then with "Whenever the wind blows this way, you can almost hear everyone say"...(that is when I heard the shields go up and Chuck was now on his way!) "I WONDER...." (but all I could hear behind me was muffled garbled sounds.  THE VOICES OF THE SINGERS COULDN'T PENETRATE THE SHIELDS AND THEY HAD TROUBLE TURNING PAGES AND SEEING THE MUSIC IN THE SHADOW OF THEIR CARDBOARD DEVICES!!!.  I WAS DOOMED, BUT I CARRIED ON SOLO!  If that wasn't bad enough, I sang solo, even when the song called for the chorus!  Never trust a new fool proof idea without trying it out FIRST! DUH!  I made it through, DON'T ASK ME HOW!  Unfortunately, those coming up to me after the performance told me that it was the funniest show they had ever seen!  "CAMELOT" isn't FUNNY!  They thought it was a parody, so I accepted their praise.

The second and last performance was a breeze!  I had already embarrassed myself beyond what I thought I could withstand, so WHAT ELSE COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG!?! (I have learned to NEVER ask that question!!!).  When the curtains were pulled back, instead of sitting up properly as a king should, I lounged ALL OVER IT!  I KNEW that the shield idea wouldn't work the second night either, so I just did my solo routine and let the knights and maidens do WHATEVER.  Everything went as planned until my final soliloquy when a young page (around 7) came up to me in the final scene and told me that the country was in complete turmoil, divided between my followers and those of Lancelot, and that the land was no longer unique and special.  This part always made me want to cry, because as I was sharing with the youth the way that Camelot USED TO BE, I kept thinking of Catalina!  I had my hand on his shoulder as he knelt before me.  Well, anyway, I was getting through this when suddenly Bob Salisbury stopped playing the piano (he and the piano were our entire orchestra!).  I didn't know what to do as I still had quite a bit left of my final speech/song.  Not only was I now solo, but "a cappella"!  As I panicked, I started digging my fingers into the youth's shoulder!  The LONGER I went, the DEEPER the finger hold!  I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO CUT OR WHEN TO STOP UNTIL I WAS FINISHED.  The poor boy kept slipping deeper and deeper into pain and slowly fell to the floor.  Being a real trooper, he didn't say ANYTHING, but gave me the saddest puppy look as if to say, "Why are you trying to hurt me!?!"  (If you know who this boy was, PLEASE NOTIFY ME, chuckliddell.catalina@gmail.com).

Curtain closed, APPLAUSE, APPLAUSE, LAUGH, LAUGH!  When the last of the patrons had left, I rushed down to the piano where Bob was still sitting, taking his usual bows. I grabbed him around the neck, shaking him, half pretending to be choking him, and DEMANDING that he explain his letting me hang out there!  He said that he and Margaret had felt that the first night took too long, so they decided to cut short my final song.  Unfortunately, each had ASSUMED that the other had told me!!! 

A few months later we staged "Oklahoma", but I was only a bit player in that (WHAT A SURPRISE!).  The "Catalina Community Chorus" disbanded so no more musicals for many years until Sean Brannack came forth and Catalina was filled with music again!  This Christmas we had a "Community Sing", just like we did from the 30's-60's and it was FANTASTIC!  I wish that the Chorus would come back again so that locals and visitors alike can show their love for Catalina by celebrating in music!

Since becoming "Catalina's Official Greeter", March 10, 2014, when the Chamber Of Commerce assigned me to greet the cruise ships and cross channel carriers, I have answered 62,785 questions.

SHOW SOME CONSIDERATION:  Don't hold up the 7:45am boat to Long Beach because you HAVE to buy a cup of coffee.  If you are running late, BUY IT ON THE BOAT!  Once you unload your groceries to your car/golf cart, return the carts to the front of "Von's".  LEASH YOUR DOGS and clean up after them!

COME ON, YOU KNOW YOU HAVE SOME CATALINA HISTORY THAT YOU WOULD LOVE TO SHARE WITH THE WORLD.  Contact me, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.m

Many of you remember Paul Puma, City Councilman, 1988-92.  He is coming to the Island with over 20 of his family and friends, February 10-12, to celebrate his 90th birthday! If you see a gentleman who looks directly out of the "GODFATHER", that is probably Paul!  Congratulate him!  Not many mafia lords make it this long! lol!

STOP ME!  A few weeks ago I "stole" a golf cart.  I HAD BORROWED ONE AND THIS ONE LOOKED EXACTLY LIKE  IT IN THE DARK, AND THE KEY FIT!  Once I realized my mistake, I "turned myself in", much to the surprise of the Sheriff Dispatcher, and within an hour the cart was with its rightful owner!  I am sure that this happens more often than we realize and it doesn't ALWAYS involve me!

WHERE DOES SANTA GO AFTER CHRISTMAS?  Over 40 of them came across on one of the "Carnival Cruise Ships" a couple of weeks ago!  Brought a lot of color (red) and cheer to Catalina!

Ever noticed how happy, content, and conciliatory people are when licking an ice cream cone?  Maybe we should lock the City Council, Edison, and the PUC in a room with ONLY ice cream cones!  EVERYTHING ELSE HAS BEEN TRIED!

CONSPIRACY?  Sheriff Capt. Doug Fetteroll recently "stuck it to me", but in a friendly way, that his column, "SHERIFF'S LOG", has slowly, but steadily been moving from the middle of the paper to last week, when it was on page 2, opposite my page 3!  Jim Watson, BE AFRAID, VERY AFRAID OF YOUR PAGE ONE POSITION!  Also note that Doug's picture is in color and mine is b/w! 

ALL'S QUIET IN AVALON.  A couple of weeks ago I was leaving a meeting late, around 8:15pm on Crescent, and I noticed some work being done.  I commented to the workman that he was working late and he assured me he had JUST STARTED!  He didn't want to make noise during operating hours of the local restaurants and he knew how annoying and distracting that could be!  HE'S MY HERO!

 

"NEXT TIME, ONLY A CARD, FLOWERS, AND CANDY"

 

What ship sailed between Catalina Island and the mainland from June 30, 1924-September 14, 1975, was 325' long, had a 52' beam, weighed 1766 tons, at one time carried 2500 passengers?  TOO EASY? THE "S. S. CATALINA"!  (read about my involvement with her and see a picture of the ship, "Throw A Coin", September 25, October 2, 9, 2015, www.catalinaislandman.com).

Although over her 51 year lifespan, she had the singular distinction of carrying more passengers than any other ocean going vessel in the history of navigation (over 25 million) and transported more troops during WWII, than any other ship, including the "Queen Mary" (over 850,000) at the end of the summer season, 1975, she was no longer needed and worse, no longer wanted.  She was primarily used only during the Spring-Summer season and only made one round trip daily, two often during the summer weekends.  She was slow, 2 1/2 crossing, and only left from one facility, Wilmington/San Pedro.  Faster, more frequent trips and different locations caused her to lose the glimmer that was once hers. Seaplanes were much quicker and actually cost approximately the same.  Finally, the Unions had demanded more hours for more crew and the costs made it prohibitive.   

M.G.R.S. had taken control of her from the Santa Catalina Island Co. from 1966-69 when they sold her to Carolyn Scalan who didn't know what to do with it.  She sat in Marina Del Rey and  Santa Monica accumulating barnicles and mooring fees (the ship, NOT Miss Scalan), and so with the guarantee that the fees would be waived, but not the barnicles, she was put up for auction on February 16, 1977. 

The only two representatives from Catalina were Mayor George Scott and myself, Chairman of Avalon's Planning Commission.  We flew over on a seaplane to San Pedro and while airborne, George kiddingly asked the other passengers for donations (he really wasn't THAT far off!).  We then drove to Santa Monica where we were take by boat to the "GRAND OLD LADY".  When we arrived I IMMEDIATELY noticed that most of the brass was missing, especially those egg shaped handles on all of the doors and the light fixtures.  There had been a security guard living on the ship to guarantee that NOTHING was taken off the ship.  THINGS WERE MISSING!

We took our seats on the ship and waited for the auction to begin.  If I recall, there was only ONE BID!  Hymie Singer wanted it for his wife for "Valentine's Day" and what better gift than the "S. S. Catalina"!?!  With little fanfare, he bid either $70 or $75,000 and down came the gavel!  Forget the fact that she cost Mr. Wrigley $1,000,000 in 1924 (cost was worth many times that in our present money) and her remarkable navigational historical significance!  A "VALENTINE'S GIFT" for less than $80,000!  George might have been able to pull together close to that amount on the seaplane coming over.  Certainly the money might have been raised on the Island IF we knew how cheap she was going to go for!

Now that he and Mrs. Singer had her, WHAT TO DO!?!  Should she become a museum, convention center, shopping mall, whatever?  WHO WANTS TO MOOR HER?  No one, including Catalina, could see the possibility of having her docked in their port.  Only San Diego showed ANY interest at all, and she never went  there!  In 1985 she was towed to Ensenada, Mexico where she was turned into a "Night Club" and her once rich white coloration was replaced by a myriad of gawdy colors.  She stayed upright, until 2001, when she heavily listed to her side and took on water and sea lions until the Mexican Government insisted that SOMEONE should take her over and get her out of their Harbor!  A couple of good intentioned, yet conflicting, groups bickered and fought over her until time and money ran out.  In 2010 Mexico, unable to wait any longer, had her taken apart for scrap metal.  Some of her structure was saved and is housed, literally in houses, around the West Coast.

In the 1990's, a reporter tracked me down and asked "What Do You Want To Be Done With The 'S.  S. CATALINA?"  As my Grandmother had recently died, I used her as an analogy.  I explained that although I LOVED MY GRANDMOTHER DEARLY, when she died, I wanted her buried; NOT stuffed and sitting at our dinner table!  In the same way, I LOVED the ship!  She had been GREATLY disrespected since her last sailing and I would NEVER go to San Diego to visit her as a Museum, as he was NEVER intended to be a Museum.  Much to the HORROR of other Island "Natives", I suggested we find 500 donors who could cough up $1000/each and get the ship off the sandbar and in condition to move.  Then have it towed with these LUCKY passengers from Mexico to Avalon where she would be moored long enough for everyone to board her one last time and take all the pictures they could.  Then have her towed to the middle of the channel and sink/bury her with all of the love and honor she deserved!  She and we all needed "closure". She was painted up to look like a cheap whore; stripped and dismantled!  Alas, it was not to be in a way we had hoped! 

February 14 has NEVER seemed the same to me since!

Since becoming "Catalina's Official Greeter",  March 10, 2014, when the Chamber Of Commerce assigned me to greet the cruise ships and cross channel carriers, I have answered 61,891 questions.

People, including myself, often wonder what newspaper "Editors" do.  Besides the obvious, they "have the backs" of  us columnists, such was the case last week.  For two weeks I had asked you readers to help me pick your favorite column of 2016 so I could repeat it as I had done in 2015.  NO ONE RESPONDED!  When the my submission deadline came, Wednesday, December 28, for the Friday, December 30 edition, STILL NO response, so to "cover me", my wonderful, and UNDERSTANDING editor,  Dixie Redfearn, had me "taking the week off" and showed me surrounded by beautiful women connected with the "Islander", in the place of NO COLUMN!  (THIS CAUSED MY READERS TO RESPOND!).  When the paper came out, I was watching two dedicated fishermen, new resident, Mark, and his son, who was going to school in England, Henry.  Mark reads my column and wondered "why I was on vacation" and I explained.  He wondered if I was going to "scold" (yes, he used that word) you readers for not helping me with the end of the year column.  I told him "DEFINITELY NOT", but was going to reach out to all of you again.  You have read MY STORIES for the last couple of years and I am SURE you have your own!  I am BEGGING you to provide me with your own "Catalina" memories about past, present, and possibly future experiences.  You might want to tell about Islanders who need to have their stories told. PLEASE send me your ideas, P. O. Box 1533, Avalon, CA 90704, preferably typed, but crayons will do, and I will print as many as I can.  This is your chance to be in PRINT!  If you don't feel up to writing, then contact me, chuckliddell.catalina@gmail.com and we can work on your story together.

IF you didn't get the Christmas Present you wanted, you might want to pick up the 3-hour PBS special, "WEST OF THE WEST" telling the story of the 8 channel islands, with me sharing information on our Catalina, and you can buy it ONLY on Catalina at the "Steamer Trunk", and the "DC-3" (Airport).  If you don't live here, send $23 to me and I will send you a DVD.

NOW that the holidays are over and things are MUCH SLOWER on the Island, what better time to get to know each other!  We SAY we know each other, BUT DO WE?   Invite "friends" over for dinner, or meet for lunch/dinner/coffee and REALLY find out how REMARKABLE so many of your fellow Islanders are!

I always have to laugh when the last Friday of the month, Noon, comes as that is when our sirens go off to check them out!  I guess that this practice isn't shared by every community as I enjoy watching visitors abruptly staring around to see if a disaster has struck.  If our enemies ever want to attack Catalina, let it be at the last Friday, Noon, of the month, as we will think it is just a drill!  I PRAY THIS NEVER HAPPENS!!!

I had finished having a "get to know better" dinner with a dear friend, "Army", and I was driving her home when two young men, who had been mysteriously been following us for a few blocks, FINALLY indicated that there was a problem.  I pulled over, expecting to have a flat tire or worse, and they simply held out a letter that had blown out of the golf car, "Chuck, you dropped this", I thanked them profusely, they smiled, and drove away.  ONLY ON CATALINA!  I LOVE IT HERE!!!

In my last regular column, "A Chorus Of One", December 23, 2016 (you can see this and all of my past stories, www.catalinaislandman.com), I told about our Avalon Community Chorus putting on annually, "Handel's Messiah".  They also did other concerts and even musicals.  This hasn't been done for years,  until our local churches got together and put on a community Christmas "sing-along" on December 22 at the Catholic Church.  It was almost packed and I don't remember having SO MUCH FUN! I didn't have to "Mouth"!  Locals are STILL talking about it.  BRING BACK THE "AVALON COMMUNITY CHORUS" AND MORE SINGING!!!

For those who took my suggestion, to serve others rather than harp on our holiday depression, I hope you found it worked as it DEFINITELY did for me.  But remember, others are in need and hurting ALL YEAR ROUND, not just the holidays!  Keep helping and hopefully 2017 will prove to be your best year EVER!

 

"I'M CHOKING, HIT ME WITH YOUR PURSE!"

 

Traditionally, at the end of the year, the media shares the list of those who died during the past 12 months.  BOY, WE LOST A LOT OF REMARKABLE PEOPLE!  One that especially stood out for me was seeing that Dr. Henry Judah Heimlich, passed away on December 17, at the age of 96!  I am sure that you ALL know him for his choking remedy, the "Heimlich Maneuver" which he developed in 1974. 

A remarkable movie was written/produced/directed by my friend, Greg Reitman, "HOLLYWOOD'S MAGICAL ISLAND, CATALINA", in 2003.  As I was featured in the film and am ALWAYS anxious to promote our special Island, I was booked for almost 5 years to travel across the country, to show the film and conduct a "Q&A" to approximately 25 cities in15 states! 

Around 2007, I was sent to Cincinatti, OH to make my presentation at a very prestigious country club.  I was expected to wear a tux, but they LOVED my idea of wearing a "Catalina Shirt" instead of the tux pleaded one.  Looked GREAT with the bow tie with the Catalina backdrop!  Maybe this should be considered for more "formal" affairs!  I was picked up at the Airport by my sponsor and driven up to this VERY FANCY colonial building.  I always marvel at how these locations decorate for a Catalina's theme!  There were plastic kiddy pools, surrounded by beautiful white sand, with plastic mechanical boats, fish, and sea birds puttering around.  Of course, the Hawaiian leis framed the entire presentation!  As soon as I was "announced",  I was WARMLY greeted and rushed up to the head table!  As the guests had already started to arrive, I was preparing myself, when the President sat down beside me and whispered to me that one of their members, who didn't attend many of these events had arrived, Dr. Heimlich!  "WHERE?"  I couldn't locate him in the sea of bodies and, frankly, I REALLY DIDN'T KNOW WHAT HE LOOKED LIKE!  I did my usual "brilliant" performance (it is SO HARD to be "humble"! lol!  I am humbled daily!), and as guests came up to shake my hand, I asked my host where the good doctor was.  "He left right after your performance."  DARN, I MISSED HIM!

I went back to my hotel room and prepared for hopefully some GOOD SLEEP, even though I had a "down" day following before my next presentation in Illinois.  ALL I COULD THINK ABOUT WAS MISSING MY GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY TO MEET THIS WORLD FAMOUS GENTLEMAN!  The next day I got enough gumption together to attempt the "IMPOSSIBLE"!   I contacted my sponsor and told her that IF she was willing to give me the good doctor's phone number, so that I could simply tell him how honored I was to have him in the audience, I would EAT the phone # and NEVER BOTHER HIM AGAIN!  She got off the phone for what seemed FOREVER (only a few seconds) and passed the information on to me.  Literally, with my heart in my throat, I made THE CALL and HE answered the phone.  I introduced myself and we talked for 45 minutes!!  He had an older sister who lived in Long Beach and he used to visit us quite often, but wanted to come back again SOON!  HE LOVED CATALINA!!! (who doesn't!?!).  He asked me how long I was going to be in town and I told him I was leaving the next morning.  He asked me if I had any luncheon plans.  "NO". "I would be honored if you and your host would have lunch with my wife and me at our condo!"  LET'S SEE, SHOULD I TAKE HIM UP ON HIS KIND OFFER!?!  YOU BET I DID!!! I contacted my host and told her of the invitation and what seemed like eternity, she picked me up at the hotel and we were on our way.

We rang the doorbell and a very petit and beautifully groomed society type woman answered the door.  Immediately she grabbed my hand and VERY GRACIOUSLY invited me into her beautiful living room.  I KNEW IMMEDIATELY WHO HER PARENTS WERE!  She called to her husband, who was in his study, and he came out with a BIG SMILE and greeted us!  Lunch was already prepared, a  cold roast beef sandwich, so we weren't hurried in our conversation.  Dr. Heimlich said, "You might be interested in knowing who my wife's parents were." "I ALREADY KNOW!"  Jane, Mrs. Heimlich, seemed a bit confused.  "How do you know?"  "Because you are a tintype of you mother! Your parents were Arthur and Kathryn Murray, the famous dance instructors!"  She started laughing.  "What's so funny?"  "I've ALWAYS been afraid that I was going to look like my father instead of my mother!!!"  "No chance of THAT! I met your parents in Hawaii in 1983 and you look EXACTLY like her.  You must have noticed the likeness!"  BOY, SHE SMILED LIKE A YOUNG GIRL BEING ASKED ON HER FIRST DATE BY THE FOOTBALL CAPTAIN!!!

We went in to eat and suddenly I was struck with a WONDERFUL/HORRIBLE PLAN!  Some of you have ALREADY figured it out!  I had previously had the honor of working alone with Buckminster Fuller, to construct a "Geodesic Dome" for a formal presentation, spent an unforgivable evening with Muhammad Al, received letters and a telegram from John Wayne, helped John Gabriel Beckman to decide on having the mermaid at the entrance to the Casino in tile, sat on John Weismuller's ("Tarzan") shoulders, had cold milk and brownies in "Mrs. Cleaver's (Barbara Billingley) Kitchen", sat in on the first reading rehearsal of the first episode of second season of "Cheers", marched with Martin Luther King, Jr., hosted Mickey Rooney for three days (NO COMMENT), etc., so NOW WAS MY BIG CHANCE!  I was all ready to "pretend" to choke so that I would be able to have the singular experience of having Dr. Heimlich perform his famous lifesaving maneuver on me.  LUCKILY, I paused and in my mind I saw the headlines the next morning, posted all over the world, "NOTED DOCTOR HAS HEART ATTACK ADMINISTERING THE HEIMLICH MANEUVER ON A FAKE A PATIENT FROM CATALINA ISLAND!!!!"  I nevermentioned this to him, even in jest.  Jane Murray Heimlich died a few months before him in December at 90. Even with my vehement invitation, they NEVER graced Catalina again! 

I also remembered another iconic encounter I had in 1990.  I was attending a travel/vacation conference on the mainland and my Catalina booth was right next to an Alaska fishing lodge.  We became good friends as neighbors and on the second day they had a most remarkable guest.  When she arrived, and got settled in the booth, the gentleman introduced me to someone who needed NO INTRODUCTION!  Ruth Buzzi!!!  For those who don't remember the VERY FAMOUS television comedy show, "LAUGH-IN" (1967-73), her main character was "Gladys Omphby", an extremely frumpy and uptight librarian type woman who was continually accousted by a VERY DIRTY OLD MAN, "Tyrone F. Horneigh, played by Arte Johnson.  Their encounters normally took place on a park bench and when Gladys couldn't take Tyrone's blatant double entandra suggestions, she would hit him with her oversized purse!

As Ruth and I became better acquainted and talked of what else, Catalina, I looked around and noticed her purse hidden in the back of the booth.  When things slowed down, I seized MY MOMENT!  "Miss Buzzi, would you please do me the honor of hitting me with your purse!?!"  "CHUCK, YOU MUST BE OUT OF YOU MIND!!!"  "Are you kidding, Ruth, I will be the envy of ALL OF MY FRIENDS!"  "BUT YOU HAVE YOUR ARM IN A SLING!  I DON'T WANT PEOPLE TO SEE ME HITTING A WOUNDED MAN WITH MY PURSE!!!!  (I had recently thrown my right arm out of the socket!).  "NO ONE IS AROUND AND YOU CAN HIT MY GOOD SHOULDER!"  With a combined look of sympathy/disgust she repeated her ICONICALLY FAMOUS MOVE on me and I was in "pig heaven"!  We didn't talk much after that!  I HAD TO DO IT!

What's next in store for this LUCKY me!?!  The "other" Chuck Liddell, the famous UFC Champion wrestler, often comes to the Island.  As a benefit to youth charities on Catalina, I am hoping that he will come out of retirement just long enough for both of us to dawn "Rubber Sumo Wrestler" outfits and playfully duke it out!  "CHUCK LIDDELL VS CHUCK LIDDELL"!!!  CAN YOU IMAGINE IT!?!  O.K., I'm nuts, but we are only on this planet once (THANK GOD!) and I don't want to let ANY "Once In A Life-Time" opportunity slip by me!  Besides, if I didn't take advantage of them, I wouldn't have any stories to write in this column!