2011-05 Ring Report

President Craig Fennessey called the meeting to order and opened with the sad announcement of a Broken Wand for long time Ring member Chan Alyea who just recently passed away. Craig also noted that our recent lecturer, Steve Marshall, had returned to his home in Japan and was welcomed by yet another 7.0 aftershock. Both he and his wife then decided that it might be in the best interest of their family to leave Japan and relocate back to Florida and hopefully to the Orlando area.

Lecturers, Tony Clark and Danny Garcia have been booked for appearances here in May. Valerie Swadling was very impressed with the performance of our Ring's Jackie Manna at a birthday party she had arranged for her grandson. Mark Fitzgerald will be off, shortly, to the Fechter 4F Convention in Batavia, N. Y. and Doug Kalcik will be entertaining at a charity event at Lake Eola here in Orlando. A discussion by the group and Craig Schwarz concerning the book, Spellbound, which depicts the life of Doug Henning, ended the general meeting.


Bev Bergeron was up next with his monthly teach-in and he stressed the importance and effectiveness of entertaining audiences with simple "magic" props and effects that, if properly performed, can be just as effective as more elaborate illusions and apparatus. Bev and his wife, Alouise, had just come off of a Caribbean cruise and were very happy with the experience.


Phil Schwartz presented Magic History Moment #30. Phil's opening remarks concerned the recent on-line auction of the Collection owned by the late Christopher Milbourne, who had passed away some years ago, in 1984. The items auctioned included not only 20th Century books, photos, letters and other memorabilia but items from the 19th Century. The value of the collection was indicated by the premium prices received by the
auction. Phil's main subject this evening was Edward Maro, The Prince of Magic, nee Walter Truman Best born in Montpelier, Vermont in 1869. Maro was the first Lyceum magician and was very successful at it. He started out in music as an entertainer but through his brief life he learned magic, much of it from A. M Wilson. Maro lived only 39 years succumbing to typhoid fever in 1913. He is buried in St. Charles, Illinois under a 5-1/2 ton rock brought there from Leland , Michigan.

After a brief intermission, Chris Dunn emceed our performing Magi, starting with Jacki Manna, who demonstrated her magic and ventriloquism by predicting which of 3 different roses an audience participant would select as a favorite. She did have help from a 'genie' in the roses' vase who assisted her in the prediction. Dan Stapleton followed with his performance of Equivoque, where he predicts which arbitrary item one of ten volunteers has been selected by an eleventh impartial participant. Dan methodically eliminated each object held by the volunteers until the last when the match between the last volunteer and the eleventh participant is revealed. It made for a very strong effect. Charlie Pfrogner performed next and placed ten coins in his closed hand followed by as many marbles. With the help of a few magic words he opened his hand and to the audiences' amazement the coins had disappeared. Bev Bergeron capped off the evening with a die penetration through a glass tumbler.

A fine time was had by all!
Sheldon Brook