In 1982 John Slade was elected to serve as our Delegate in Annapolis. John invited Buzzy to attend the opening session which would include his swearing in as a Delegate and a reception afterwards.
Buzzy suggested we attend the event which translated into “You drive and I’ll ride.” I took off work and picked Buzzy up at the Store early that morning. Capt. Mike Rollins was also at the Store and he rode up with us. “Blowing too hard to do anything,” Mike said by way of explaining how he had decided to ride with us which I am glad he did. It was a great day being a fly on the wall with Buzzy and Capt. Mike.
Years previously Buzzy had been a liquor salesman for the Southern Maryland area to include parts of southern Anne Arundel County. As we passed various liquor establishments along the way, Buzzy would tell stories about his dealings with the owner(s.)
Capt. Mike on the other hand knew the various barrooms from spending time in them knocking back a few after having worked out in the Bay and tying up somewhere at night. As Buzzy would tell his stories about dealing with the owner, Mike would add something along the lines “Yeah I had to fight my way out of that one a time or two.” It was a fun day trip to Annapolis.
Thus, when David Dent sent out an invite for any of the Licensed Beverage Assoication members to attend the opening day in Annapolis this past Wednesday, I decided to ride along.
Turned out to be another good trip in that I witnessed David being sworn in as the President of the Statewide Beverage Association. I asked one of the powers-that-be if David was the first St. Mary’s County boy to serve as President of the Beverage Association and she confirmed that he is. Way to go David.
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| David Being Sworn in by John Bodnovich, Executive Director of American Beverage Licensees |
One of the speakers at our meeting discussed possible legislation in the upcoming session that may impact the beverage industry. He noted that while things appear to be fairly quiet at this point in time, we should always remember the Mark Twain quote:
Following our Beverage Association meeting, we then had a meet-and-greet with various officials and Congressional reps to include Deb Rey and Steve Waugh. Deb also corralled the Comptroller of Maryland Peter Franchot and we had a nice chat with him too.
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| Deb and Gary Rogow, ABC Liquors |
The afternoon Meet-and-Greet session was very well attended as open bars and generous buffet lines tend to ensure that. Nice affair, nice day and I’m thankful that Dave invited me to attend the event. Thanks also to Deb for being so gracious with her time in meeting with us.
Speaking of buffet items, they had a mashed potato bar complete with all the fixin’s. Reminded me of this old James Brown song that turns out to have had some behind the scenes controversy (click here.)