Sunday Odds and Ends

We have all sorts of stuff to catch you up on here today, before we get to the “Halloween Horror of the Day” so- let’s get going- we’re burning daylight (I stole that one from both John Wayne and the WWE’s Jim Ross…) If you’d like to know a little bit about Svengoolie and Rich Koz’s career, including some of his radio work, and how a radio broadcast he heard as a child while on a sick bed has still stayed with him- then you should tune in a special podcast by our friend Steve Darnall, your host of “Those Were the Days” on WDCB (90.9 FM) Saturday afternoons, and the editor of the “Nostalgia Digest” magazine. Steve’s October 2012 Nostalgia Digest podcast deals with the history of horror on TV, as well as some Svengoolie history, the appeal of horror movies- and more. As always, Steve is a knowledgeable and engaging host- even when speaking to the likes of Koz. You can download the FREE podcast at anytime at www.nostalgiadigest.com - our thanks to Steve and Nostalgia Digest for honoring us with this guest shot! Okay- this is something I never do- and this is the ONLY time I’ll do it, only because today is Houby Day in Berwyn (yes, BERWYN!) –when they have their big parade- a time of celebration in Berwyn and Cicero; I was asked by Tania Cogdill to mention that they are having a 35th reunion for Morton West-the ONLY high school in Berwyn. The reunion is scheduled for 10/27, 7 pm to midnight, at the Park Place of Countryside (what? Not at a Berwyn establishment? Surely the White Castle on Ogden is available…) If you’re a classmate, and want more info, just e-mail me, and I’ll pass it along to Tania (formerly Tania Jewgieniew)- she felt that, now that we’re national, we might reach some of the folks who have moved away. Okay- that was it- do NOT send me your reunion announcements. If you’d like to reunite- or unite- with yours truly, there are a couple stops on our Halloween public appearance tour coming up next weekend- on Saturday, at the Tom and Eddie’s gourmet burger restaurant in Lombard ( at the Shops at Butterfield, Yorktown Center)- I’ll be signing autographs, and posing for your photos from 1 to 3 pm. On that day only- and only at that location- you can pick up a special sandwich named in my honor- Svengoolie’s Chicken SandWITCH- topped with witch finger onion rings, and “ green slime” pesto! No rubber chicken here, folks, just tasty real chicken! Plus- we want you to dress in your best costume- suit up for both a kids and adults contest, where you could be a big winner! If you aren’t familiar with Tom and Eddie’s, you’ll want to stop by and try the tempting food-and, visit with me as well! Then, on the next day, Sunday the 14th, we head back to Hawthorne Race Course- but, we’re not betting on the ponies that day- we’re battling zombies! It’s the big Zombie Apocalypse Haunted House- where I’ll be signing, and taking photos from 6 to 8 pm! We will have a limited number of Sven t-shirts and buttons for sale- and- if you can survive the last stand of the zombie apocalypse, you’ll get a special survival kit featuring a Zombie Annihilation comic book! Proceeds from this haunted house go to the Wounded Warrior Project and HDWalk.org See you zombie fighters at Hawthorne, located in Cicero/Stickney! Speaking of zombies- today’s “Halloween Horror of the Day” is, appropriately, the undead shambler known as the Cemetery Zombie from the original “Night of the Living Dead”! Played by Bill Heinzman, who was actually an investor in the low-budget film who was enlisted to become a cast member, he is the approaching figure in the cemetery that Barbara’s brother teases her about –“They’re coming to get you, Barbara!”- only for the joke to become a sinister reality as the zombie attacks! Heinzman (real name: S. William Hinzman) said he based the walk on the way Boris Karloff walked in a movie where he played a man risen from the dead. That homage to Karloff- along with Heinzman’s unforgettable performance- makes his Cemetery Zombie deserving of the title of “Halloween Horror of the Day!”