My mother loved to entertain. She was involved at various times with many organizations and she usually ended up as president or board member or both. Those were the days when social occasions involved a lot of smoking by the participants.

My father on the other hand suffered from asthma and was very effected by tobacco smoke.
When my mother would have parties at the house my dad would play host during dinner but as the evening wore on and the smoke haze would thicken he would slip out the back door and drive downtown to the Roxy Theatre where he could sit in air conditioned comfort through a double feature of private eye, "Boston Blackie" plus a Leon Errol or Three Stooges short timing it just right to be on hand to say good night to the departing guests who deeply involved in their card games probably hadn't noticed he had left.

It was a tribute to his love for my mother that each summer in the days before air conditioned cars that he would join her on the drive through sweltering California valleys to attend the District Four convention of B'Nai B'Rith. Mother was active in the local auxillary but she said her real interests were in "the above chapter" level. She was awarded the synecure of historian by the overwhelmingly high powered California group and when a Northwest subdistrict was established she was the first elected president and was reelected to a second term.

Meanwhile, my dad did his part by sitting through the long boring meetings in the smoke filled hot ballrooms.

He did come away with this story which evolved into a family laugh line.

The year the convention was held in Sacremento the organization was able secure the popular governor of the state as a speaker for the final banquet of the session.

As a courtesy they invited the local Rabbi to introduce him.

The Rabbi apparently never having a captive audience of this size before launched into what became a protracted sermon.

Little by little independent conversations began. As the Rabbi droned on, the din began to swell.
The MC started by putting a finger to his lips but this did nothing to help.

Finally he stood up and grabbed his gavel to regain order. In swinging back the gavel he hit the governor square in the forehead knocking him out.

The MC was beside himself. He quickly dipped a napkin in water and started cooling the poor man's brow. As the governor began to come around he beseeched him as to what he could do to make amends.

"Please hit me again. I can still hear him talking."