Peter Lebeck Chapter #1866

Welcome back, Cloggites, and Happy Veterans Day. This will be a brief update. I'll have more details for you once the smoke clears from Saturday's meeting and we get closer to the Widders' Ball, but most pressing is this Saturday's work party, November 13th, at the Elk's Lodge parking lot in Santa Clarita, where we'll be cleaning out and doing an inventory on the PXL Store trailer. Our Hawker recently resigned, and now that we have the store back we need to reconnoiter. Kelvin "Dr. Klapper" Swanson has generously offered to watch over both the store and kit trailers for us, and is keeping them on his property at no expense to the chapter. You need to make sure his thirst is satiated whenever you see him. Huzzah!

The work party starts at 9 a.m., but you don't have to leave when we're done because the minimally belated Red Shirt Get Away starts at Noon. While the Get Away isn't an official PXL sanctioned event, it's hosted by XNGH Dale "Top" Turner and we are guests of our brothers who are members of Elks Lodge in Santa Clarita. All red shirts are welcome, and members from other chapters are always part of the fun. Join us for a hot dog lunch and a cold brew or two at member's prices. It's also a friendly place to bring your prospective PBC for a fair vetting. It'll take some of the frost off of his pumpkin.

Plans for our 2022 Clampyear are underway. The chapter met for its annual corporate meeting last Saturday at La Sierra Mexican Restaurant in Frazier Park to report on last year's shenanigans and to block out what needs to be done in the coming season. As expected, the chapter remains in the black, with the only major expense for the year having been the fall Doin's at Fort Tejon, which produced a surplus despite the absence of the PXL Store. As noted above, the Graybeard's have taken custody of the trailer and are sorting through issues concerning the store and its finances. They will report their progress to the membership no later than the morning of the Widders' Ball, to which time the meeting was adjourned.

XXNGH "Timbo" Gillespie was recognized as Humbug Erectus and most of his slate is complete, though he is still looking for a Damn Fool Doorkeeper, along with some other choice victims. Rumor is that volunteering will earn you points with the big Clamper upstairs, or so goes the blarney of our favorite Irish Catholic prospect. But you don't have to take his word for it, the Argentines, I'm sure, have something to say about that.

We also had an honored guest come by for our meetings. Dave "Warthog" Otero is a longtime friend of the chapter and the proctor assigned by the mother organization to liaison with PXL. He also holds the office of "Nameless" on the ECV Board of Proctors. He's not Pumba, and he's not a warm puppy, but he's the next best thing. The guys were so looking forward giving him a sniff, but it turns out Dave smells just about right. Dave assured us that the chapter is on the right track, that we're loved, and that we should keep on keeping on.

Covid left all of us disoriented, so we are so glad to finally announce that our Widders' Ball is back on this year, and Jeannie Johnson and Judi Hall-Gillespie are working hard on the details. Expect to meet up at XNGH Jim "Bullseye" Bailey's Homewood Suites in Bakersfield, on Saturday, February 5, 2022, for dinner and dancing, as we ring in the new Clampyear. For those coming into town on Friday, Top is again arranging for a Mexican Buffet dinner for anyone attending Saturday's Ball. Expect to pay about $20 for Friday dinner, but you need to RSVP ahead of time. You can email Top at dalefmda@earthlink.net More details on both the Widders' Ball and the Friday's buffet, to come later.

Then plan for a four day Spring Doin's. We'll be Clamping out at the Camp Hamilton Memorial where our plaque to first responders will finally be publicly unveiled over the weekend. Camp Hamilton is a private park dedicated to veterans who have gone on to the Golden Hills. We'll be the guests of PXL member Master Gunnery Sergeant Glenn Denton, USMC Retired, and the Camp Hamilton Board.

Camp Hamilton is a place of both remembrance and joy, where trees have been planted to celebrate the fallen. So make sure to bring more than a dram of seemly decorum because loved ones and families are often present, especially on the weekend. This should be one of our best.

Timbo is also looking to do a summer one-day event, preferably a plaquing with an after dedication celebration. We know Noriega's is gone and out of the question. And we'd consult with our Brothers at Platrix, but they probably think Tommy's Original Hamburgers and Pink's Hot Dogs would make great alternative sites for historical plaquing. On the other hand . . . if you think really hard about it . . . and if you're hungry enough . . . .

In that vein, our Fall Doin's location is pending with several sites being considered including Walker Basin, Tehachapi and Kelso Valley. More on that later.

Our "Feed the Bear" campaign is ongoing and proving quite successful. Top reports that all 50 founding subscriptions have been sold along with several "life member" contributions at $1000 each. So much thanks to all who have pitched in so far.

Feed the Bear is a voluntary fund that provides extra dust towards the chapter's operating costs and historical projects. Contributors get a special bear pin and a hanger for their initial contribution. Members who make the yearly contribution of $50 get an additional hanger. Life members collect hangers until they leave us for the Golden Hills.

In keeping with ECV tradition, PXL never collects membership dues. The customary "Sick Jackass" fee is a small voluntary assessment to defray the costs associated with getting out the word when a Brother can't make a Doin's. Feed the Bear is a new way to help support the chapter over and above the costs of flyers, postage and the internet.

XNGH Charles Topping, who is also a master of fine arts and has won awards for his work, has begun work on our first set of Feed the Bear pins. As some of you may have heard, Charles recently spent several days in the hospital when he developed breathing issues, which, thank God, turned out not to be covid. Then, when he should have been home recuperating, he ventured out to his driveway where he was mercilessly attacked by a skullduggerous trash receptacle. They say the ones in Kernville are particularly vicious. But our man emerged victorious, sore, but on the mend. Send prayers his way.

We'll be in touch. More later.

- - MGM

Hello Cloggites. We have a quick update, but first an urgent correction! The date of our annual corporate meeting has been moved up to Saturday, November 6, 2021, 10:00 a.m., at La Sierra Mexican Restaurant, 3500 Mt Pinos Way, Frazier Park, CA 93225, where we'll be wrapping up the year and presenting plans for 2022. So don't show up on November 20th or you'll be two weeks too late and you'll have to thaw your enchiladas in the microwave. Also don't bother showing up to the monthly Red Shirt Getaway. It's been cancelled. We'll all be up in Frazier Park.

Prior to the general meeting, the Graybeards will be sequestered in executive session at 9:00 a.m. to discuss urgent matters concerning the PXL Store, Chapter Operations and Finance, so don't get your skivvies in a bunch if you show up early and have to eat your chiles rellenos in the main dining room. After the Graybeards have hashed it out in private, the Humbug will explain it all to you at the general meeting. The one thing I can tell you right now is that if you think you have what it takes to manage PXL, the Graybeards want to give you a chance to prove yourself by learning the ins and outs of the chapter. So don't be shy about offering to pitch in.

Dale "Top" Turner's yearly "Feed the Bear" campaign has proven most successful. The proceeds are earmarked 100% to support the chapter's charitable activities, and its first year's offering was limited to 50 founding members. That was until several of our Brothers most generously fed the bear by creating and pitching in for lifetime memberships. So thanks to everyone who contributed in support of Peter Lebeck. "Top's" efforts so far have raised over $7,000, with more to come.

Any Clamper who Feeds the Bear will get a special pin designed by XNGH Charles Topping, whose sculpted designs have won awards throughout Clamperdom. Feed the Bear once and get the pin, then get a hanger for every year you feed the bear thereafter. Life members get a hanger every year until they are called to the Golden Hills.

As of now the initial offering is sold out. But Feed the Bear is an ongoing way to support the chapter and will be open to any Brother who cares to contribute in the future.

Lastly, all the photos from the Fall Doin's have been posted on Peter's Picture Pages. Much thanks to Max "The Flash" Felser for his contribution of 200 photos. Max is always there with his camera, and the chapter is lucky to have him. It's guys like Max that help make the chapter a success.

- - MGM

So, where are we now? Out of the wilderness Cloggites, I say, and glad to be back! The scourge of Covid has not yet fully passed, but at least things are getting better, and we were finally able to put on a real Clampout after a two year hiatus. It's hard to believe that our last overnight outing was in the fall of 2019. But when you get wopped upside the head by a deadly disease and you have to lay low for a spell to avoid killing your brothers, you should consider it a timely investment.

Still, you all deserve an explanation, so excuse me while I take this opportunity to fill you in on what's been happening.

This past weekend we put on our first Clampout since our most satisfactory outing to Indian Hill Ranch in September 2019. Our current meeting up at Fort Tejon ran from Thursday through Sunday last, and we had about 65 prepays, including eight PBCs who were all successfully taken in. The brothers were most impressed by the new guys, who all showed most satisfactory humor and fraternal spirit. In fact we never were able to wipe the smiles off of their faces. So congratulations to Steve Brandriff, Wayne Edwards, Tito Galván, James McKenna, Tyler Nelson, Mike Scorsone, Eddie Turner, and Scott Turner. Check out the weekend's photos, and see for yourself.

Obviously the website is showing its age and needs a lot of work, but one thing at a time, OK?

Things have changed a lot (DUH!), but it isn't just because of Covid. The entire state is plagued by drought, and fire is everywhere. Even the fort hasn't been spared. The hillside facing old Tejon showed charring from a recent fire at the top of Grapevine Pass, and the once beautiful lawns are entirely gone because water can't be spared. The drought may even have limited our attendance. Rigs over 25 feet were nixed by the park, open fires were prohibited, and vehicles were parked face out in case of evacuation. And for the first time in our history, our Saturday night dinner was CATERED, because we had to leave our barbeque at home. But that didn't keep us from having a good time; in fact it was most Satisfactory! (Everybody did as they were told, so nobody got hurt. :-) )

Nevertheless adjustments have to be made, and here's what's happening. By consensus of all Graybeards present, XXNGH Timbo Gillespie is expected to be officially named Humbug Erectus when we meet for our annual business meeting in November. Our current Humbug, "Pokey" Crawford, is completing a second year as Humbug due to the Covid emergency, and is looking forward to his time as salmon jerky. While our Vice Humbug, who also served as our Hawker, has left the building and isn't expected back anytime soon.

Obviously we'll need to rearrange the deck chairs a bit, which is why the Graybeards tapped Timbo to steer us through next year. The Graybeards also recognized that limiting Gold Dust Receiver and Grand Noble Recorder to one year terms has left us vulnerable to spotty record keeping and weak follow-up, particularly as to the store. Our federal and state tax exemptions require that we be able to show that everything we do is in keeping with our charitable status. Failure to show how our money is spent, and spent in the right way, can get our charitable status punched, and that would be bye-bye PXL. Consequently GDR and GNR will likely become exempt from the yearly rolling over, at least by agreement of our incoming Humbugs. Formal changes to our bylaws can be made later if need be.

As for Clamping, here's how our chapter has been affected since the start of 2019. The possibility of a Clamp Okihi IV, is gone. The park was severely vandalized during Covid and the county has given up on the site; and if it hasn't been sold, it will be sold soon. Okihi was where we celebrated our Charter Doin's in 1962, and those of us who grew up in Bakersfield remember it from scouting days. It will be missed.

Our plans to plaque the Noriega Hotel, along with a summer family get together, also went away due to Covid. Noriega's had been established over 120 years ago as a Bakersfield boarding house hosting Basque immigrants, many of whom were here to work the sheep. In recent years Noriega's was known as a restaurant serving family style meals boarding house style, complete with carafes of red wine, to over a 100 diners at a time. But Noriega's is no more, another victim of Covid. Our Humbug has the plaque, but now we have no place to put it. There was even talk of a guerilla installation…but, well, we don't do that (and even if we did, I'd have to deny it).

Indian Hill Campground in Tehachapi, also changed hands, and became a religious retreat. I know many of us were impressed with the amenities afforded there, including a pond, shade, electricity and flush toilets. Going back isn't totally out of the questions, but we'll likely need some extra strength knee pads to wangle our way in.

Then there is Camp Hamilton, where we had planned to Clamp in the Spring of 2020. As explained in a prior post, Camp Hamilton is a private park near Bakersfield dedicated to the memory of veterans who have gone on to the Golden Hills, and a most suitable place to plaque. Despite the cancellation of our Spring '20 Doin's, our NGH, "Pokey" Crawford, was still intent on completing our onsite work. Observing social distancing (mostly) near the begining of the pandemic, ten of our veteran brothers plaqued the site, and also added a spiffy new red and black picnic bench in honor of the fallen, complete with a concrete pad. We'll be going back there for our 2022 Spring Clampout, when we'll complete the public dedication.

Also in February 2020, as Covid was just getting started, we jointly erected a monument with our brothers at Platrix, in Platrix Territory, to commemorate Acton's pioneer cemetery; followed up by invading Acton's '49er Saloon to declare it an official ECV watering hole.

It was good to work together again. Overtime, the cultures of both chapters have converged. Though I can't say that PXL ever had any rocket scientist or movie stars, or Platrix any drillers, the membership of both chapters have become a better fit so much so that many of the guys would like to establish a stronger bond with what should be our natural ally. PXL was actually carved out of Platrix #2 territory back in the early '60's, but because we were sponsored by Fresno's "Jim Savage" Chapter, Platrix never reserved the right to Clamp in Kern County. Los Angeles and Orange Counties were very different places back in the 60's, so I'm sure that the idea of needing to clamp in Kern must have seemed fluff. But as those open fields in L.A. and Orange disappeared, Platrix was forced to look elsewhere, and that led to some misunderstandings, and even a "lawsuit," where Grand Council found that Platrix had encroached on our territory and awarded PXL $18.66.

Since then, Platrix has made sincere efforts to treat us with respect. In recent years, we've been consistently petitioned and suitably bribed to Clamp in our domain. And in 2012, Platrix even split the substantial cost of refurbishing our monument up on Walker Pass, which back in 1963, had been a joint project of both chapters.

Then, this last year, Platrix lost its Clampsite at the Loop near Keene in Kern County. The property had belonged to a member, but when the Clampsite changed hands, Platrix found its Clamping privileges revoked forever. Harsh as that was it affords PXL a chance to show that we do value the bonds of brotherhood. A joint doin's may be in order, possibly as soon as 2022.

We also lost some long time members to the Golden Hills, including XNGH Keith "Keifers" Fraser, who was our Humbug in 2004. Andrew "Stagecoach" Vialpando, who suffered a heart attack at too young an age. Tony Weaver who played Santa Claus every year for the kiddies (even though he was Jewish), and Steve "Stevo" St. John, who was another one of our boys from Ventura. They each administered the staff of relief in fair measure, and we shall miss their hail, until we meet again.

On a cheerier note, XNGH Dale "Top" Turner has resumed hosting the "Red Shirt Getaway," the first Saturday of each month, at 12 noon, at the Elks' Lodge in Newhall. This is an informal, non-chapter sponsored event, and we are guests of our ECV brothers who belong to the lodge. All Clampers and their prospective PBCs are welcome to join us for an inexpensive dog, chips and a cold brew or two. The draw is typically about thirty guys from multiple chapters. It's a great way to decompress and to swap ideas; and you'll be home way before dinner. Santa Clarita Elks Lodge #2379 located at 17766 Sierra Highway, Canyon Country 91351.

The Graybeards have also approved the establishment of a new way to help sustain the chapter called, "Feed the Bear." The inaugural issue is limited to the first 50 members who contribute. It costs $50 to join, and you'll receive an exclusive Charles Topping designed bronze investment cast pin designating you a "Founding Member." Subsequent voluntary contributions will get you a yearly hanger, or a pin and a hanger if you join later. The monies will be set aside to help with costs associated with putting on PXL's Doin's and help shift other revenues to pay for plaques, monuments and associated literature.

Any redshirt can sign-on, but only ten inaugural slots remain. If you are interested, contact Top at dalefmda@earthlink.net or call him at (661) 714-7203, before this opportunity closes out for 2021.

Also did you know that our current Grand Noble Recorder is also a newspaper publisher? Mark "Scoop" Mutz has been publishing the monthly independent "The Fence Post" for a number of years. With the September edition he's up to number 464. The emphasis is on local and California history, so it's definitely worth a read. You can do that on line at http://www.fencepostpaper.com/, or just be a mensch and subscribe.

Penultimately! (that means next to last), we have a new post office box: Peter Lebeck ECV#1866, P.O. Box 14, Caliente, CA . 93518-0014.

And finally, we have an important correction! Our annual corporate meeting set for Saturday, November 6, 2021, 10:00 a.m., at La Sierra Mexican Restaurant, 3500 Mt Pinos Way, Frazier Park, CA 93225. The agenda is pending, so check the CLOG for updates. La Sierra is an official PXL ECV watering hole. Get there early and bring your appetite. I highly recommend the chiles rellenos. SELLAH!