The Over the Hill Gang will gather, according to custom, for their first fall meeting next Friday at the Dante Club. But it won’t exactly be business as usual.

There’ll be no Babe Anderson calling the group from disorder to order by the ringing of his bell. There’ll be no Babe introducing guests and speakers with an encyclopedic knowledge of everyone’s name and background. There’ll be no Babe because he was summoned to that Big Clubhouse Up Yonder last month.

But Babe’s legacy remains in the organization of which he was a founder and prime mover, and it’s led by his hand-picked successors, Len Frizzi as presider and emcee and Ron Brusato as chancellor of the exchequer and keeper of the books.

In keeping with the Babe-less nature of this session, there’ll be no speaker. Instead, members of the Anderson family and members of the Gang will share memories of their lost leader.

Also to be memorialized will be the late Sonny Valine, a member of the group since its inception, who also died during the summer.

Ron Brusato adds a word of warning, also a heritage from Babe, to those whose dues are in arrears: Bring along enough dough to balance your account or you may be getting a scolding from You Know Who in a Higher Place.

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One family that definitely is not over the hill in any sense of the word is that of Leora Kauffer Matranga and Husband John, a couple I’ve known since their high school days. How long ago is that? John’s 72 now, so you figure it out.

At any rate, Leora says as far as she can determine hers is the only family in the country with three generations of water skiers competing at the national level.

Husband-father-grandfather John followed his eighth regional championship with his third national title in the 70-plus class, competing in Santa Fe, Texas.

Daughter Cyndi, a mere 51, the 2002 Women 4 National Champion, was unable to defend her title because she was forced to miss required regional competition, but her daughter, Tarah, 19, suggested they enter the Open Division, in which they both placed, and Tarah went on to take the prized Overall title.

When it was all over, Leora reports, Cyndi and Tarah headed back to their Florida home — and Tarah to her sophomore classes at Rollins College — and the senior Matrangas trekked home to Sacramento. But not, however, until John had caught his breath, because it took a double ski-off for him to clinch his title.

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That this is truly a very small world was impressed on me once again in a conversation I had with my fellow baseball-loving friend William Pinto during a River Cats’ game at Raley Field.

William reported that wife Loretta had missed the game because she was tied up with volunteer duties at the West Sacramento VFW Post. Somehow that made me think of a friend who was shot and killed during a holdup at that East Yolo Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 35, maybe 40 years ago.

So I asked William, “Did you ever hear of a fellow named Herb Laird who was shot and killed during a holdup at the VFW?”

“Sure did,” William replied, “he was my stepfather!”

As I said, such a tiny globe this is.

And the murder? Still an unsolved crime.

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Just recently I read that identity theft is the fastest growing white-collar crime in the nation, and it made me realize that this is something William Shakespeare must have realized clear back in the early 1600s when he wrote “Othello, the Moor of Venice.”

In Act III, Scene 3 he has Iago say, “Who steals my purse, steals trash … but he that filches from me my good name robs me of that which enriches him, and makes me poor indeed.”

Old Will was a pretty shrewd judge of human nature and character, wouldn’t you say?

•      •      •

Speaking of thievery, down in the Chihuahuan Desert of the United States and Mexico, the crime of the moment seems to be cactusnapping. About a fourth of the 1,500 known species of cactus and succulents grow there, and those who covet larger plants are looking more and more into wild sources.

Cactus rustlers, I’m told, are at work, particularly in Texas, and I can’t help wondering if the residents treat them in the same way horse thieves once were treated, by hanging to the nearest tree.

•      •      •

This next item is one I must confess I stole myself, but at least I’ll acknowledge the victimized source: the California Retired Teachers Association bulletin.

When I came across this list of famous advertising slogans and was challenged to identify the source, I’ll confess I came a cropper. You try:

1. I can’t believe I ate the whole thing.

2. Don’t leave home without it.

3. Reach out and touch someone.

4. See America at see level.

5. Wine is a little like love; when the right one comes along, you know it.

6. Does she or doesn’t she?

7. Look for the union label.

8. It sits as lightly on a heavy meal as it does on your conscience.

9. Our repairmen are the loneliest guys in town.

10. A child is someone who passes through life and then disappears into an adult.

11. Nothin’ says lovin’ like somethin’ from the oven.

12. A mind is a terrible thing to waste.

Scroll down for answers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. Alka Seltzer. 2. American Express. 3. AT&T. 4. Amtrak. 5. Bolla Wines. 6. Clairol Hair Color. 7. International Ladies’ Garment Workers Union. 8. Jell-O. 9. Maytag Appliances. 10. Metropolitan Life Insurance. 11. Pillsbury. 12. United Negro College Fund.