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 Homepage › about us › archie's story
About 30 years ago, two other fellows and I met to discuss the possibility of developing an intramural slow-pitch softball league. This league would involve about 30 teams that were located in three counties of Washington State.
During the meeting, the discussion evolved from the possibility of developing the league to planning it. Assignments were distributed for handling such matters as determining where games would be played, player age limitations, rule book regulations, means for coordinating among the selection of team leaders, equipment acquisitions and several other related matters.
A few weeks passed and the games were underway. Games were played with enthusiasm. Every aspect of this first season went well. Good sportsmanship was displayed. Only a few discrepancies became issues important enough to resolve. That first attempt to organize and implement a slow-pitch softball league was an enormous success.
Near the end of the season, three fields were selected on a single property for the playoffs. It was Saturday. Several buses were at the site. The players were all present, but one major problem prevented any game from being played. It had rained and all three fields had puddles of water at all critical locations. Since playing the many games in succession on the three fields became impractical, arrangements were made to reconvene one week later.
On the following Saturday, all conditions were excellent for the play-offs. Our team was one of the first to play. After that game and a couple of others, we were washed out of the contest.
We had extra time on our hands while other teams continued to play. So, we decided to walk to a nearby restaurant for a snack. While five or six of us were seated in a single booth, a man approached our table and began entertaining us with the making of balloon animals. A couple of the balloons were given to our two children. This was a special, unexpected treat. The entertainer also presented hand magic as we sat and enjoyed each new allusive, object manipulation.
We became acquainted with the entertainer and learned that his name was Eddie. He was a retired executive vice-president of a nationally known banking institution. Eddie invited us to visit him in his home. He and his wife lived only a short distance the restaurant.
My wife and I took him up on his invitation. As days and weeks passed, we became close friends. I suggested that he teach the entertainment of magic in a class setting. He agreed to do so and I was privileged to be one of his first students.
After taking classes from him and from other magicians, the idea of adding a puppet to the magic repertoire of entertainment was perceived as a great combination. From that point, we began looking for a manufacturer or retail source for buying a puppet. It could not be just any ordinary puppet. It had to be special. As I looked back over my past, I remembered my favorite ventriloquist, Edgar Bergen. One of Mr. Bergen's famous dummy puppets was Mortimer Snerd.
The search for a puppet manufacturer took us to a magic store owner in Seattle.
We were then directed to a man who made puppets in his spare time. My wife and I
went to his home and entered his work shop and there was the puppet of my
choice. We purchased the funny looking little lifeless figure and on we went.
The name Archie Doodle was given to this new entertaining addition. To my knowledge, no other look-alike puppet exists.
Ventriloquism with the help of this lifeless object and a stimulus for a good imagination is a source of entertainment that can produce an affect like no other. It all started because three people met together to develop an intramural slow-pitch softball league. The softball league continued for about 12 years.
One of the more enjoyable and yet sad series of experiences that Archie and I had was at a hospital in Seattle. Once each week we did our best to entertain children. These kids were cancer patients who occupied two complete floors. The single room in which each child lived was his or her entire world. It just made you want to cry. If only it was possible to take away the pain of those children. There was no way for any entertainer to do that. We just had to pray for those kids and to give them an enjoyable time even if only for a little while.
Here is a very important point to make. It cannot be emphasized enough the gratitude that we all should have for the concern, dedication and hard work exhibited by the management and staff members of children's hospitals all over this nation of ours.
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