The old Knife and Fork clubs appeal to Will

COLUMBUS: All I know is what I learn as I travel here and there across the country. Flew to Seattle to speak for my supper at one of those wonderful Knife and Fork dinner clubs in Olympia. Those clubs used to be the pride of every town fortunate enough to have one. Everybody would get dressed up formal, maybe 500 all together, go to dinner and listen to a prominent speaker.

Today there’s only a handful left, mainly just the old folks carrying on a tradition. Now wait a minute; I misspoke. They are not “just old folks”, they are a wealth of knowledge and wisdom and history, and you young folks would do well to pay attention to them. At the dinner I met a gentleman who knew personally an old friend of “mine”, Charles Russell, the great Cowboy Painter from Great Falls, Montana. Of course the man was a young boy at the time, but to listen to him talk of how this world famous artist and sculptor encouraged the local kids to draw, and then giving each one a booklet of his art. Now this happened more than 80 years ago, but he told it like it was last week. Others had great memories to share, too.

In political news, Al Gore won the Nobel Peace prize and announced he would NOT run for President. Steven Colbare, who failed to win an Emmy, said he IS running for President. He’s the only candidate whose platform will draw laughs purposely.

The TV news folks criticized this “comedy candidate plan” as a farce, and claim it will make our Presidential selection process appear foolish to the rest of the world. Yes, they’re afraid it will distort the current image of a sophisticated election process which features forty-some candidates debating in obscure locations and languages two years before the election.

Colbare is not the first humorist to mount a campaign for President, and I’ll be willing to lend him “my” Platform. See, I ran as the candidate of the Bunkless Party, and my slogan was, “If elected, I will resign.” I’m sure that slogan could draw just as many Convention delegates in ’08 as it did in ’28.

Iowa finally voted to move their Caucus to January 3. They delayed the decision until it became clear no team from Iowa would be playing in a Bowl game in January.

Historic quote from Will Rogers:

“I was telling you about taking off in Seattle. Well she took off like a bird, with an awful short run and with about 260 gallons of gas. Seattle is awful pretty from the air, (well from anywhere), but with a sea plane that takes off from the water you are nearer the city and not so high as you would be if flying over it in a land plane.
Then you start above those channels, and Islands and lakes, and then out and up the Coast. If there is a prettier trip in the World than from Seattle to Alaska by what they call Inland Passage, I never saw it.” WA #663, written about Aug. 10, 1935

P. S. I’ll be in Oklahoma for a week, starting October 29 in Oklahoma City. Nov. 1 it’s Nowata, then Friday and Saturday at Oologah and Claremore.