The Birthday Boy

In the seventies, among the wanna-be jet set, Club Meds were all the rage.  I never went to one – it always sounded a bit too-too for my tastes, but the very term “Club Med” was synonymous with ‘Party! Party! Party!”

When I moved here in the late seventies and met Larry Weathers and some of his Seattle cohorts, I heard a lot about their friend, Fred.  “When Fred arrives, the party begins!  We call him Club Fred.” they told me.  I never did get to meet their friend Fred, but I’ve never forgotten the way those who knew him lit up just at the mention of his name.

Double J and the Boys

I thought about that last night at Fred Carter’s 70^th birthday party. It was a full house at the Senior Center and, even though grayheads were in the majority, there was no doubt that a party was goin’ on!  When the Birthday Boy arrived, the decibel level ramped up even further.   “Wow!” I thought!  “The Peninsula has its own Club Fred!”

He was truly surprised, though he said that, in retrospect, there had been lots of clues.  I have to hand it to his wife, Vicki.  The plan has been in the works for well over a month and, to look at the array of celebrants, there wasn’t a pocket of the Peninsula that didn’t know about it.  Only Fred.

Fred and Vicki

It was a potluck and, as is customary here at the beach, everyone outdid themselves.  I wish I had seen the cake.  It had something to do with being an old dog and we heard there was a pile of melted chocolate bars of ‘doggie-do’ on it.  If you know Fred and Vicki and their animal menagerie, you didn’t have to see it to get the humor.

And, there was music – just a tad – by Double J and the Boys.  They hadn’t come to play but they had come prepared.  “We always travel with instruments, Charlie Watkins told me.”  They played only one lively number and it was just for Fred.  He laughed and clapped and danced a spritely jig – not at all in keeping with his venerable age!  Vicki sat nearby, looking bemused as she often does when Club Fred is center stage.  It was a great party and we were pleased to be included!