Mrs. Hudson's Cliffdwellers (MHCD) is a Scion Society of The Baker Street Irregulars. We have two yearly meetings, typically the first Sundays of July and November. We host a luncheon at a restaurant in Edgewater NJ, currently the River Palm Terrace.
MHCD was founded in 1976 by Irving Kamil, Norm Schatell, and Harlan Umansky. From the very beginning our scion was dedicated to fun, silliness, and the odd bit of inspired lunacy. The present directors have stayed true to this vision.
MHCD is also known far and wide for its singing at its meetings. We have an engaging repertoire of Sherlockian songs printed in our songbooks. We belt them out lustily in the key of Q. We have a quiz on a Canonical tale, with the audience divided into two teams with silly names. Discreet cheating is allowed, so incorrect answers are a rarity. Accompanying the quiz is a different surreal board game for every meeting.
A trademark of MHCD is our "Homework Assignment." Included with meeting notices are projects to be written up and read aloud at the meeting. Some examples include: compose voice mail messages for your favorite canonical characters; write a limerick that includes a rhyme for "Mrs. Hudson;" re-write the titles of some famous books so that they contain Sherlockian allusions (War and Charlie Peace, The Deerstalker, Long Day's Journey Into The Dog Who Did Nothing In The Night) etc.
Another participatory activity is our Sir Hans Sloane table. Sherlockians bring items from their collections to display and share with others. Besides discovering interesting items, the collectors among us get new quests for that unusual item that they simply must own!
Despite all the hilarity and activities, there is plenty of time for socializing with fellow Sherlockians.
At each November meeting we award investitures to those attendees who've added so much to the mirth, merriment and madcap mayhem of Mrs. Hudson's Cliffdwellers over the years.
Some additional historical notes: The late Jeff Schwartz, BSI was for many years the Games Master of MHCD. His games will long be remembered for their creative qualities, their surrealism, and their great fun. He is very much missed at our meetings.
During his tenure as a director of MHCD, Henry Boote, BSI provided musical entertainment with his electronic equipment and fine voice. He also created Mrs. Hudson's Ledger, a collection of individual biographies on all Cliffdwellers. He produced several editions of Cliffnotes, a magazine-format publication that contained articles, puzzles, poems and artwork produced by our members.
The late Jan Stauber was a director of MHCD for many years until her passing.
Our current directors are Ted Friedman, Carol Fish, and Ron Fish.
If you'd like to be on our e-mailing list to receive reservation forms, please contact Carol or Ron at CliffdwellersNJ@aol.com. Please note that you must reserve and pay in advance in order to attend! We look forward to seeing you!!
At Mrs. Hudson's Cliffdwellers the game is at least a foot, if not a yard, or a mile!!!
