Seriously....

Would you like a cool Hawaiian shirt?

Seriously. My family won't let me wear them anywhere.

We had a wildest Hawaiian shirt contest for two years at the convention. The next convention we replaced the wildest shirt contest with the (best-forgotten) Thursday night limbo contest.

But some traditions are worth preserving. I still buy a new tropical shirt every year for the convention.

The item furthest back in the closet is a tropical number with palm trees, an orange sunset and Al Pacino. When I wore it to the restaurant afterwards, strangers kept coming up to me and saying "Say hallo to my little freend," which I found a bit disturbing.

My shirt for the second year's contest was entered as "Hawaiian Boys with Woodies."
The design was surfers and those station wagons with wood trim, called Woodies, that surfers used back in the day to carry their surfboards.

Shirt Three is a floral number in a cool faded red. Emalee says the color is pink and has made not-too-subtle insinuations.

This year's shirt, sort of a Hawaiian Mafia don number, almost didn't even make it to the reception at all. Daughter Amie suggested, very seriously, that I should go back to the room and change.

While we're giving away things, would you like a happy, playful dog? Or a cat?

Seriously, you can have one. Two or three even. Just don't tell my family. Tell them you came for a shirt. They'll like that.

Birthday Wisdom

We celebrated Allen Hutto's 37th birthday this week. This may seem old to Allen. But I assured him that, based on my experiences, he has six or seven really good years ahead of him.

Great Old Traditions and Weird New Ideas

Here are some cool moments from the convention that may not make it into the magazine.

Joe Manis dancing on his table after winning a $5000 prize at the Saturday night banquet.

Collecting photos of member tattoos for the Saturday night video show. Yep, that was my idea. Sorry.

Our tribute to the children we've watched grow up over the years at the convention. Some of the kids we saw at age five in the video came to the convention this year as newly-minted college graduates. Talk about a tradition.

The dealers who continue to support the convention year after year. Aiken Housing, Brothers Housing and Real Estate, Carolina Home Outlet, Central Carolina Homes, Congaree Home Center, Dixie-George Jones, Gaymon & Associates Custom Homes, Ledbetter Housing, Kent Gault MH, Manning Homes, Manufactured Housing Outlet, Sangaree Homes, South Carolina Homes, Tri-County Homes come to mind. First-timers like the McGougans who own Unlimited Home Solutions in Lugoff. Plus the GMs from an assortment of Clayton, LUV and Country Squire retail centers.

Checking out Wii exercize at the Westin's fitness center and discovering that it is basically the same thing as Guitar Hero, but using your feet.

Convention Day One: The Giant Bellman

Wednesday, July 16. The Westin, Hilton Head Island

The Giant Bellman. It was hard to miss Gayle and Larry. The Garners were the first members I spotted today at the Westin. They caught my eye because a giant Jamaican bellman was giving them both a hug. He recognized them from last year's convention. Good people skills.

Gayle and Larry's company (Holiday Comfort) is in North Carolina but they are MHISC Convention loyalists. This will be their 20th straight MHISC convention.

The Surfer. Allen Hutto (MHISC's Local Government Affairs Director) went body surfing this afternoon. Impressive. He is an attorney and body surfer as well. I can't even regular surf. Oh admit it, Dillard. You can't water ski either.

The Jet Setter. I want to be Chip Smith when I grow up. Chip (Owner of Blue Ridge Log Cabins) called this afternoon. He can't come down Thursday but "I'll fly down Friday."

The Iron Man. You gotta appreciate Van Wells. He has too many transactions going to do the convention but he is driving down from Anderson--and back--to attend the Board of Director's meeting.

Coming Up Thursday:
The Other Mr. Buffet. The convention opens tomorrow, Thursday, with our Margaritaville Reception which will include a Margarita Fountain and a Cheeseburger in Paradise Station. The music, of course, will be Jimmy Buffet. You'll see a lot of members in Hawaiian shirts having a laid-back good time.

The First Convention Was the Worst

Next week's convention will be my 16th with MHISC.

The first one was the worst. I'd worked for the association for two weeks and knew about five members.

What I didn't know was MHISC had a cherished tradition back in the Nineties: "Nobody Listens on Friday Night."

I grabbed the microphone and introduced myself to the crowd and told a couple of jokes.

Nobody laughed. Not one single person. Nobody listened either. Everybody just kept talking.

"These people hate me," I thought. "Hate at first sight."

There's only one thing to do, I realized. "On Monday when we get back to Columbia, I'll just quietly resign," I told myself.

By the third convention I had wised up and delegated the Friday night announcements to the Chair.

These days we've got it down to a science. Give us four or five minutes and you'll see a short snappy presentation backed by music and a Powerpoint show.

First Federal sponsored the Friday night reception and paid a good bit of money for the privilege. That money helps us put on a great convention and to keep registration fees down. I know you'll want to give them the courteous reception they deserve.

Then John Polk and Todd Hiott will present the golf awards. I think the winners all deserve our attention and a nice round of applause. I'm impressed with anybody who can play a good round of golf.

My personal sports goal is to break 100---in both directions. Break 100 going downward in golf and 100 going up in bowling.