Endorsement List

Above, Armand in Clamper garb at the Godzilla plaque in Los Angeles. Photo by Glenn Thornhill.

The official Mark Reed for Congress website now has yours truly included in his list of endorsements, that also includes a June posting from this blog.

I was amused that the campaign used my blog profile tag line of "Armand Vaquer, A.A., B.A., ECV..." All of those are true. I received my Associate in Arts degree at El Camino College and my Bachelor's of Arts degree at California State University, Long Beach.

ECV? What degree is that, you may ask?

ECV is not a degree, although those initiated should be given one (well, they do; they receive a certificate of membership). ECV stands for the Ancient and Honorable Order of E Clampus Vitus. I became a member in 1984 through the New Helvetia Chapter in Sacramento.

E Clampus Vitus is currently a men's fraternal organization of people interested in California and western history. It began as a fraternal organization in the mining camps of the California Gold Rush in the Mother Lode. ECV initially was a burlesque of fraternal orders such as the Oddfellows and the Masons. ECV is also based on humor and hi-jinks. And drink. It is often descibed as a "historical drinking society" or a "drinking historical society." You can take your pick. Members included some celebrities such as Walter Huston, Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, Gene Autry and President Ronald Reagan. ECV chapters are by county. For instance, my home chapter is Platrix No. 2 in Los Angeles, Ventura and Orange Counties. You may have seen commemorative plaques througout California and neighboring states erected by the Clampers. One was erected a few years ago in Los Angeles marking where Raymond Burr's scenes for Godzilla, King of the Monsters! were shot, now the location of the Frank del Olmo Elementary School.

Mark Reed is the Republican nominee for congress in the 27th Congressional District in California. He is up against "the hapless Brad Sherman." (As described by talk show host Rush Limbaugh.)