An Anniversary Toast for 40 Years

Tankerville Club birthday cake

Two Sherlock Holmes societies (that I know of) celebrated their 40th anniversaries over the weekend - the Men on the Tor of Connecticut, and the Tankerville Club of Cincinnati. Since I have been a member of the latter since 1981, my wife Ann and I hosted a party at our home on Saturday.

Paul D. Herbert, BSI, author of Unmitigated Bleat, founded the Tankerville Club and remains its leader with the title of Official Secretary. It is only natural, then, that in addition to the traditional toasts to Holmes, Watson, and the Woman that might be offered at any Sherlockian meeting, we also lifted out glasses of generously donated real champagne to Paul himself.

Long-time Tankervillian Ed Lear write a toast that reflected Paul's notorious ability to create difficult quizzes. As befits a author named Edward Lear, it is in the form of a series of limericks:

To those who attended from the most to the least,

At those varied restaurants where we had our feasts,

The food may vary

But we were always wary

Of the test at the end, which was a beast

You could look at it till you were dead,

Try to remember what the characters said,

But try as you might

Nothing looked right –  

“Is this the test of the story I read?”

You read, study, and make lists, and here’s the rub,

Wanting to get at least one so you do not flub

Even if you beg

Or even nag

From the man who started the Tankerville Club.

Everybody, let's raise our glasses in a toast to Paul Herbert.

Paul Herbert poses an anniversary quiz