By John Schultheis          Photos by Ed, Laura and John

On the last weekend in July, Après members were invited to join our friends from Fun & Sun for their annual Tasteless Talent Show weekend at Lake McClure. Après members were able to attend at Fun & Sun member’s rates. Only 3 Après members (plus a guest) took advantage of the offer, but there were also at least a half a dozen other folks with “dual citizenship” in attendance.

As is always the case, everything started with a spirited sign-up meeting on the Tuesday prior to the event. People registered for the event, met the other attendees, arranged carpools and signed up for chores.

The weather was really great Friday evening as people trickled into the campground. Tents were pitched, old friends were greeted and new friends were met. Eventually some drinks were consumed and funny stories were shared (and witnessed).

Late into the night Laura Bryan brought out a birthday cake for her beau. Of course this was not just any old cake, but a boob cake. 38D (according to Laura, it started out as a 38DD, but suffered a traffic squashing accident on the way to the campground). There were comments and pictures that I am not sure we can post here. Suffice to say that it was high-larious! It was noted at about 1:00am that 8 out of the 9 people still standing at the “bar” were Après members (and guest), even though we made up only about 20% of the total for the whole event! Apparently, Fun & Sun doesn’t have a corner on the market for “partiers”.

Saturday we all spread out on various boats across the expanse of Lake McClure, in the never ending search for that elusive commodity we all so desperately seek; Flat Water. There was some to be found, but only for an hour or so. The skiers ripped through the best water they could find until the wind came up (or until the legs gave out), and then the wake boarders took over the water.

I learned a brand new sport on Saturday; butt-boarding! This is the creation of Bruce Ouelette (according to his wife and him) where you ride a wakeboard sitting down, without using the bindings. Bruce showed us how to do it once, and his wife April challenged me, so I tried it. Another new frontier has been reached!

Saturday night, after a very full day of watersports, we gathered at the center of camp for a dinner of Tamales, chilli and beans, plus a variety of drinks.

Did I say variety? You should have seen the variety of talent (or not!) that was displayed at the Talent Show. The evening started with a guitar duet by Mark and Andrew. They played an original song based on “Jack and Diane”. Something about Korean Lesbians with some social issues to resolve. I forget the specifics.

Laura Bryan completely wowed the crowd with her Marilyn Monroe impersonation. She had the look and mannerisms dead on, and the singing was spectacular. The entire crowd was drawn in to the performance. She was clearly the class act of the night.

There were some other skits and bits, including Rupert Hart’s narration about African snakes, and April Ouellette doing an amazing male-female duet that defies description. There were also a couple of ensemble pieces, plus a few “words from our sponsor”. Our own Ed Martin was drafted to help with the “Grease” skit (imagine Ed in a pink poodle jacket) and Laura Bryan, still in costume, was a natural for Ginger in the “Gilligan’s Island Skit.

The planned “big finish” was Ray Steven’s 1974 hit “The Streak” with Rupert Hart as the Reporter, John Schultheis playing the roll of the Witness, April Ouellette as Ethel, and hubby Bruce as the Streak. Miraculously, John had the thing memorized, so his lip-synch’ed hill-billy witness was hysterically funny.

Last minute additional entertainment was provided by Kris and Shawn doing their lighted Poi spinning for the crowd. These are small devices on strings, spun around at a frantic pace, with intricate patterns of light and motion (hard to explain, but cool to watch). We’ve been told that they’ll be doing it with flaming poi at Burning Man. Wish we could be there to watch!

Sunday was another great day with clear and sunny skies, but just a little bit of wind as the day progressed. Again we spread out across the lake on the boats we were assigned to. Skiers tore it up and wakeboarders pounded the waves. There were even a few wake surfers and one butt-boarder!

As the sun began to settle in the sky, people packed up and headed back for “civilization”, worn out to the bone, but thankful for a fun weekend.

I personally would like to express my thanks to our friends in Fun & Sun for including Après in their plans. I would also like to suggest that more of you Après members should take advantage of this marvelous opportunity next year.