A SPOOKY VISIT WITH THE TORISTS INTERNATIONAL
On our way back from The Canonical Convocation and Caper in Door County, Wisconsin, last September, we were honored to have been invited to attend a meeting of the Torist International in Chicago. The Torists International is one of the youngest Chicago area Sherlockian scion societies of the Baker Street Irregulars. Established in 1987 The Torists are dedicated to the concept that the Sherlock Holmes hobby should be tri-faceted; i.e., scholarly, social and entertaining. The society's motto is "for the sake of the game," and with that maxim as a guide, The Torists have played the "game" unusually well by offering, on a quarterly basis over the past twelve years, presentations which were scholarly, or social, or entertaining, and not infrequently, all three! Over the years, creative programs have highlighted the Torists' camaraderie, fine food and drink, and other wholesome diversions - all designed to keep the memory of Sherlock Holmes green and fostering an appreciation of Dr. John Watson's "sacred writings" published under the auspices of the "literary agent," Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Membership in The Torists International Sherlockian Society is open to all good Sherlockians who would enjoy and support its activities.
THE EERIE NIGHT!At the appointed hour, we arrived at the meeting place - a very interesting pub called The Red Lion. The Red Lion is in something of an historic Chicago neighborhood and on the way to the pub we encountered some of its "local color."
The Red Lion is just across the street form the Biograph Theater. Does this name ring some faint bell in the back of your mind? It was the Biograph where John Dillinger enjoyed a movie before being ambushed by the G-men and shot to death on the sidewalk in front of the theater. The newspaper on display in the old ticket booth tells the story. We were also told that our meeting place was just a few blocks from the site of the St. Valentine's Day Massacre!
Our host and hostess, Don and Georgianna Izban, escorted us across the street to the meeting place. We thought that The Red Lion looked a little like a Chinese restaurant, but it isn't. After stepping thorough the red door underneath the pub's refulgent sign, we entered the comfort of the warm and delightfully cluttered pub. 
We wound our way among the other denizens of the pub to find a very narrow stairway (behind some vintage Chicago photos and artifacts) that led up to the private room reserved for the Torists' meeting. There we found our private dispenser of adult beverages. In view of the temperate weather those aggregated found that the deck adjoining the dining room was quite comfortable for outside socializing with old and new Sherlockian friends. 
Here we chatted with Torists Bill Sawisch (left) and Allan Devitt (we might mention that Allan is the current STUDmaster of the Study in Scarlet Sherlockian Society, a Chicago based scion boasting international membership) and with Georgianna and Don Izban while we all waited for the proceedings of the Torists' meeting to begin.
The formal gathering began with an "proper" British fish and chips dinner which we washed down with "proper" British beer. We all commented that it was one of the best fish and chips repasts we had ever had the pleasure of consuming. The dinner was topped off when the waiters brought around decorative glasses stuffed with "proper" British trifles!
After the great dinner, the meeting was called to order by the Torist's president, Dr. Kent Hertzing 
Speaking of Tony Citera, he is something of an accomplished public speaker! Just a day, or so, before he was offering the toast for the Torists' assembled, he was giving a marvelous after dinner talk following the formal banquet at the last Canonical Convocation and Caper some 200 miles further north. Tony's topic at CCC was "English Puddings." Tony pointed out the various uses of the word "pudding" ranging from designating any sweet dessert (whether we would consider the item to be a pudding, in the American sense, or not) to the designation of concoctions which are not at all sweet (e.g., Yorkshire Pudding). In the course of that discussion, Tony made us aware of a source for excellent English plum pudding. For all who might be interested, we will be happy to provide an address for Pattie's Plum Puddings during the plum pudding season in the coming autumn.
Dr. Hertzing again took the figurative podium to announce the featured speaker for the evening, Ursula Bielski, whose topic for the evening was totally consistent with the assigned canonical case, viz., The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire. 
Ms. Bielski is the author of Chicago Haunts, an exposition of various ghostly occurrences in the Chicago area. The title of her presentation to the Torists was "Spiritualism and the Red Lion Pub" in which she recounted numerous incidents of "ghostly" activity in the very pub in which we were meeting. These included materializations of ghostly apparitions, spooky noises, the feeling of ghostly touches, and the appearance of spiritual "cold spots" in the halls and stairwells. Ms. Bielski indicated that these phenomena had been investigated by professional "ghost hunters" who reported the occurrence of a "presence" in the building. Ms. Bielski suggested that the frequency of spiritualistic activity in that location might be related to the fact that it was near to so much gang related violence and murder in the past. Make what you will of her exposition, even though we are not devotees of ghostly legends, we have to say that it was difficult to sit through her presentation without feeling a bit of prickling up the spine and along the back of the neck!