As usual, the second weekend of August saw nearly 200 NHLBC members attend the convention hosted by the Los Angeles Kings Booster Club at the Manhattan Beach Marriott.

 The week prior consisted of a number of tours, shopping, cruises and of course, the pub crawl. Monday was the all day Disney tour. Tuesday a number NHLBCCer’s enjoyed the Reagan Library and/or the Universal Studio tours or took in the Dodger’s game that evening. Wednesday, more tours - Queen Mary and Aquarium, Sony Pictures Studio and a jazz performance at the Hollywood Bowl that night.

 Of course, Wednesday is the big pub crawl night. According to Cathi Flanagan one of the pub crawl regulars - it included three different styles of bars in threedifferent beach towns and everyone had a blast and too much to drink.

 Thursday was the Santa Catalina Island or Haunted Hollywood tours. That night, there were performances at the Hermosa Beach Comedy and Magic Club.

 At the Haunted Hollywood tour everyone got to hear stories of all the grisly murders and their ghosts, then rode around Beverly Hills looking for celebs and drooling over the mansions. Then the tour of a celebrity cemetery and found the likes of Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemmon, Billy Wilder and Rodney Dangerfield. Lunch was at lunch at Mel's Diner of American Graffitti fame. The afternoon concluded with a walk down Hollywood Walk of Fame, reading all the stars on the walk of fame and checking out the oddities along the way.

 Also on Thursday, about forty NHLBCCer’s got up early to take the two hour trip out to Long Beach for the Santa Catalina Island tour. There we boarded  the Jet Cat Express, a 145 foot, double-decked catamaran for the hour long trip over the island. One of the one unexpected attractions was passing by the Queen Mary on the way out and back. Although the morning was cool and overcast, by the time we reached the island it was a clear, beautiful morning.

 Once there, more decisions, which tours to take or what to do in our limited time. The various tours which consisted of: the Avalon Trolley which was the city tour, the Island tour, the Skyline tour or the Casino tour were the most popular. Also there were glass bottom boat or a mini submarine tours of the harbor areas. For some of the other adventurous, kayaks, peddle boats were also available. And of course lunch and some touring around the beautiful little city of Avalon.

Friday was Hockey Day in L.A. - with a trip to the Staples Center and the Zamboni factory, located in Paramount, California.

Friday night was, of course, “Hooray for Hollywood” night!

Hooray for Hollywood

“Hooray for Hollywood” night was a big hit. While space does not allow for a complete credits list, almost everybody joined in on the fun.

The leading movie for cast members was  “M*A*S*H”, with a host of doctors, nurses and patients, even a Radar and Klinger were there.

Other movies represented were “Star Wars”, “The Wizard of Oz”, “Gilligan’s Island”, “Grease”, “Cheers” and of course, “Slapshot”.

Other “characters” attending were various superheroes, Harry Potter, Marilyn Monroe and other starlets, The Cat in the Hat, Norman Bates, Miss Piggy, Tinkerbelle and Captain Hook, Scarlett O’Hara, Minnie Mouse and Grumpy.

After the cocktail hour, there was a buffet dinner and dancing with “Darth Vadar”, “Angelina Jolie” and even the “Guvenator” making “cardboard” cameo appearances. And then hospitality rooms were well attended into the early morning.

Saturday morning, was the usual breakfast and general membership meeting. Where each club gets the opportunity to advise on their previous year’s activities, comments on there teams and plans for the future.

Afterwards there presentations from Buffalo and Philadelphia regarding upcoming conventions.

Following was the delegates meeting which included the usual committee reports, follow ups on old business and questions re upcoming conventions.

The new business portion did bring up two interesting proposals.

First was the introduction of the 2003 NHL Fan of the Year, Roger Farina, who had started an organization/website called (now) fansstrikeback.com.

He presented his ideas re fans’ representation with the NHL He was seeking involvement and promotion with his group from the NHLBC members.

After some questions and pursuant discussions it was decided that while everyone agreed with his ideas, no club wanted run afoul of team management by joining or promoting his organization.

The second matter of new business was the creation of a NHLBCC Hall of Fame committee, to honor those that have served the NHLBCC over the years.

The afternoon was spent by many poolside, then time to change for the gala “Night at the Oscars” dinner.

During the cocktail hour, everyone lined up for pictures “exiting” their limosine while arriving for the gala.

Then dinner was served, awards were presented for best dressed, etc. After dinner a question and answer session was held with L.A. King announcer Bob Miller and former NHL player Marty McSorley.

Finally, it was time to hand over the gavel and dance and party into the morning. And for the “ Saturday Night survivors,” they had their all-night fun and games.

Sunday morning for most, was “goodbye, see you next year”, when everybody headed home after a fun week or weekend.

Many, many thanks to Kim, Debbie and all the L.A. Kings Booster Club members for a great time.