So I was pretty excited last week. There were signs all over Wurtsboro about a rock & roll party with Cousin Brucie at a campground near Wurtsboro on Saturday night. The sign said the party was a fund raiser with prizes and free food.
Not to brag, but Cousin Brucie and I go way back. In 1964 I listened to him on WABC AM radio, on a red Channel Masters transistor radio, the kind with the one ear plug. When the Beatles burst on the scene they changed the name of the radio station to WABeatleC. In 1965 I waited in line for two hours at Schlesinger's Dept. Store, with my best friend Jacob Reicen, to see Cousin Brucie. He gave us both genuine Beatle Belts, just like the ones the Beatles actually wore.
So I wanted to reminisce with Brucie about our last meeting, and to tell him that my friend Gloria Taylor used to trick or treat at his house, my wife Toni used to cut cold cuts for his wife and mother-in-law and that my friend Ray used to be his mail carrier! We had a lot to talk about. I brought along my camera so I could get some pictures of Brucie & me.We talked our good friend Mary into coming with us to meet Brucie. Mary got dressed up and Toni even shaved her legs!
It took a while to find the right place. We drove for miles on a very dark, deserted road. Just when we thought we'd have to give up, we saw this car parked along the road. We knew this was it!
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| The sign outside the party room |
We walked into the party room and we saw some people, but we only knew one elderly couple. There was a lot of "interesting" food on a table and I could see some of the of the people were wondering who we were. Well, I can tell you people who we are, we are Cousin Brucie fans! People were bringing in pots of food and Hispanic kids were running around wild. There were prizes on a table. Brucie hadn't arrived yet and the room seemed kind of small. I wondered where Brucie would set up his DJ equipment.
The place was a little shabby and the only bathroom was outside. I hoped Brucie didn't have to go.
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| Mary got so excited she had to use the gross port a potty |
Finally the big moment arrived. The owner of the park,which I later discovered was really a trailer park, thanked everyone for coming. The proceeds from the raffle would partly go to Brucie's charity and the rest of the money would go to feed the wild cats who lived in the park all winter. Huh, shouldn't they be trapped and fixed instead of fed?, No matter.
He then made the announcement it was Cousin Brucie time. I got my camera ready and the emcee went to the corner of the room and TURNED ON THE RADIO. No Brucie just his Sirius radio show. Oops!
Mary & Toni didn't believe me when I told them Brucie wasn't coming. Brucie wasn't coming to this god forsaken place and he never would. The party was the trailer park's fund raiser to feed the mangy, feral cats and the entertainment was Brucie's radio show.The people at the party all lived in the trailer park, they had cooked their own food for a pot luck dinner and we were in their camp's rec. room.
We made a hasty exit before someone asked who we were and what were we doing there eating their food.
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| Let's get out of here! |
We drove to to the Quickway diner in Bloomingburg, where Mary & Toni told everyone what an idiot I was. Someone said since Brucie wasn't there I should have had my picture taken with my arm around the radio.
Now I see people snickering in town as I walk by. I guess the story is making the rounds of town.There's a moral/lesson here and as soon as I figure it out I will let you know. But I'm not giving up, one day Cousin Brucie and I will get some quality time together and we will talk about my ABeatleC belt. ( Which I lost ) and we will remember the good times.
