In the Spotlight - Ian Young

In the Spotlight – Ian Young

By Ed "Hazukashii" Howell
7 March 2022

I am always in search of new opportunities to capture HHH History, and this past weekend I flew down to San Jose, Costa Rica to chat with Ian Young.

This journey all started about four or five months ago, while preparing for the upcoming 50^th anniversary of hashing in South Korea.  I sent a short note out to some of my Seoul Bruddahs asking about some old details of the Seoul H3.  I only received a few substantive replies, primarily from Hugh Robinson (who if you have read any of my previous steaming piles of guano) you may recall Hugh started hashing in Korea, and brought it back to the USA, and was the first American to start a (the third hash) club in the USA, the Little Rock H3.  Hugh provided some great info, but another email string lead me to the founder  . . . Ian Young.  Chatting via email, Ian provided some great insight into the early days of the Seoul H3 . . . and it was then I started plotting a trip to Costa Rica.

While having lunch with him today, Ian regaled me with many great stories about his life, and trips to Vietnam (during the war), Japan, Australia, and others.  Going way back, Ian was born and raised in Edinburgh, Scotland, where he eventually found a job with Pfizer.  First assigned to Hong Kong, he was in sales, and had the opportunity to travel all over the Far East.  But it was not until 1969 that he first found the HHH.  Ian started hashing in Hong Kong on trail number 2 back in 1969, after seeing an announcement in the local newspaper.  Being a fit fellow, playing rugby and running, he was keen to give it a go.  He took to hashing right from the start, and was a regular.  Fast forward to 1971, and Ian was transferred to Seoul, where after a few months of getting settled, decided to get a hash going.  The first trail was on 11 Jun 1972, and 4 brave souls turned up for that first run, but once the words started getting out, it was not long before the circle of orange began to grow.  Hash circles as we know them today probably stemmed from Jakarta, but due to the extreme temperatures of Korea, a fire was essential while at the end of trail, where the pack would gather round with a cold beer, and keep their buns warm (that is how traditions begin). 

Now, the Seoul H3 is one of my favorite hash clubs, and fast forward to 1997 when I joined the SH3, the circle tradition had been honed into a work of shear brilliance.  Once the GM calls the circle to order around the fire (by the time I got there and probably well before, the fire was present in circle year round), the assembled pack is no longer allowed to speak, unless granted permission.  All down-downs are administered from a bed pan, starting with the hare.  The "Wingee" (FRB) was next, and then the GM would call up random hounds until the beer ran dry, or the time was right.  When you come up for your down-down, you had to sing a good song or tell a good joke . . . the pack would decide what good was.  It made for an orderly circle, there were no side conversations, and you never heard anyone shouting SHUT THE !@#!@ UP!!!    But I digress . . . (don't ask about the secret handshake . . . but I might be accommodating if you come up to me after some future trail with a cold beer).  The Seoul H3 has its own unique closing song, and has spawned 14 other hash clubs, most of them in Korea, Canada, United Kingdom, Costa Rica, China, Cambodia, and several states in the USA.

After ensuring the Seoul H3 was off to a good start, Ian was sent back to Hong Kong for a year and more good times with his old friends, before getting sent to Costa Rica.  A little slower on the draw here, not finding the right sort of people, and having other endeavors to fill his time, he did not get the hash going for almost 2 years.  One day, he met Bill Barbee, and that was all he needed.  Explaining the concept of hashing to Bill, he and Ian set about contacting some others and the San Jose H3 was formed on 3 Feb 1979 as the first hash club in Costa Rica.  It was only a few months later, and Ian was transferred to Colombia for 4 years, where he did not hash at all.  Next up was a three year assignment back in the United Kingdom, south of London, where he managed to hash on occasion.  Next he was sent to Indonesia, where he spent "8 glorious years" running with the Jakarta H3 on occasion, but mostly with the Jakarta Harriettes. 

Ian's last two assignments were in New York City and India, where he never managed to find the hash, mostly because he had a family by now, and was focused on that.  Having completed a successful career as country manager in many locations, he returned to Costa Rica with his wife, where Ian can often be found still scooting along on trail with the San Jose H3.  Ian never really acquired a hash name that stuck, but he was called Chino in Indonesia, and Speedy somewhere else along the way.

Coming soon, Spotlights on Costa Rica and an updated version for South Korea.

For many more articles like this on the history of hashing, check out . . . http://gotothehash.net/history/inthespotlight.html

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On on!

This Sunday's Hash, 6th of March

Hashers,

No announcement for the Hash this week as it's Boat & BBQ Hash for pre-registered Hashers only. The boat is now fully booked to max capacity.

We will inform the registered of the meet time and location in due course.

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On on!

In the Spotlight - Horse (Frederick "Horse" Thomson)

In the Spotlight - Horse (Frederick "Horse" Thomson)

By Ed "Hazukashii" Howell
8 Feb 2022

There are many unattributed references to Horse on the internet, as many hash websites practice the old mantra of plagiarism is the most sincere form of flattery, but most accounts actually go back to work done by John Duncan in the 1970s, and Mike "Father' Lyons and Tim "Magic" Hughes in the 1980s. Many of the accounts came from those who knew him on the hash, prior to his final departure from Kuala Lumpur in 1951. Horse was a founding member of the "Hash House" Harriers. Hash House is emphasized, as at the time, it was just another Harrier club of the day in SE Asia (it would be another 24 years before the HHH would begin to become the worldwide phenomenon it is today).

If you search the WWW, you will find a multitude of listings for Horse Thompson, but Horse is officially listed in the Mother Hash Black Book as THOMSON (HORSE), no first name, and more specifically, no P in THOMSON. Some old accounts also make reference to the names HORSE, TORCH, and G, as early references to hash names, but that is also incorrect. These nicknames were just names they picked up amongst their mates from daily life (as best I can tell from copious hours of research, hash names originated in Jakarta in the mid-1970s).

Why "Horse" you may ask? That nickname originated in his boyhood school days, stated Ralph Wadsworth, (Honorary Secretary of the HHH in 1963, and Joint Master in 1964), and was due to him having what could best be described as a face with equine (long) features. Like most of the other founding members, Horse was a British expat working in SE Asia. In his professional life, Fredrick Thomson was a manager at Malayan telecommunications, which in the 1920s & 30s was telephone and telegraph.

Before arriving in Kuala Lumpur, Horse lived and worked in Johor Bahru, the capital of the state of Johor, Malaya (the name was changed to Malaysia on 16 Sep 1963). Johor Bahru is located approximately 350 Kms south east of Kuala Lumpur on the southern tip of peninsular Malaysia, just across the Strait of Johor between what was peninsular Malaya and Singapore, both of which were part of Malaya in the 1930s (Singapore did not gain its independence until 9 Aug 1965). Horse is quoted as stating, that he had run paper chases in Johor Bahru as far back as 1932. He had also run similar type events in Malacca (aprox 150 Kms south of KL) as part of the Springgit Harriers (this is where Gispert was said to have first run paperchase events). Horse also claimed to have run pre-HHH type events with another club in Taiping (aprox 250 Kms north of KL). They were all referred to as mixed (allowing women to run), and some even brought their dogs on trail. The runs were often on Sunday morning, and were followed by a curry tiffin lunch.

Horse was recorded as participating on the first run with the newly formed Hash House Harriers, and is listed as one of the first Joint Masters from 1938 (the founding date in 1938 has been disputed by Torch Bennett, as being in the summer of 1939) to 1940, and then again after the war in 1951 before his eventual departure from Kuala Lumpur.

Various accounts state that Horse was first allowed to leave Malaya before the outbreak of hostilities on the peninsula, and subsequently joined the Royal Air Force (RAF), who posted him to Hong Kong. Unfortunately, Japan launched an assault on Hong Kong the same day (8 Dec 1941) that it began occupying Malaya. Horse was taken as a POW, but after a period of time managed to escape. Teaming up with other rogue forces, they were recaptured, and Horse was shot in the neck during the encounter. He was returned back to Hong Kong where he recuperated from his injuries, but it left his head with a slight lean. He was released after the war, and returned to KL to resume his civilian life. He also rejoined the hash in 1946, when Torch got things going again.

In 1951, Horse retired from his career in Telecommunications, and moved to the Philippines where he managed a sugar cane plantation for many years. Interestingly, he was said to have been fluent in Hokkien. Hokkein is the Chinese dialect which is native to Taiwan, and also spoken by the majority of Chinese in the Philippines, according to Wikipedia. Later in life, Horse occasionally turned up on various hash events, most notably at Interhashes in Sydney in 1984, and Pattaya in 1986.

For many more articles like this on the history of hashing, check out . . . http://gotothehash.net/history/inthespotlight.html

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On on!

In the Spotlight - Paraguay

In the Spotlight – Paraguay
By Ed "Hazukashii" Howell
24 Feb 2022

 

Paraguay is one of only 2 landlocked countries in South America (the other is Bolivia), and is bordered by Brazil to the east, Bolivia to the northwest, and Argentina to the southwest.  Asunción is the capital, and is located on the south-western border near Argentina.  The most common travel destinations outside of Asunción are the Iguazu Falls, which are located where the borders of Paraguay, Argentina, and Brazil intersect.  These majestic falls are surrounded by the Iguazu National Park, and they are considered one of the new natural wonders of the world.  There is also the World Heritage site of the Jesuit Mission that dates back to the early 17^th century.  Paraguay is also home to one of the world's most powerful, hydro-electric dams at Itaipu, which in partnership with Brazil can produce more electricity than 12 nuclear power plants.  

 

Paraguay gained its independence from Spain in 1811, but according to WikiTravel, "Paraguay has had a very troubled history.  Being one of the richest countries in the 1800's (and the only one in the Americas to have railway transportation at that time...before the disastrous War of the Triple Alliance (1865-70). Paraguay, facing the allied forces of Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay, lost two-thirds of all adult males and much of its territory."  This resulted in a century of what you could call, shall we say, women sharing the few men that remained, to (copulate) repopulate the nation.  In current times, Paraguay's economy is primarily agricultural, and it is listed as one of the most economical countries to live in based on its very low cost of living.   

 

Paraguay also has a history with the Hash House Harriers.  There have been three hash clubs, all in the capital city of Asunción.  The first Asunción H3 was founded in August 1992 by Jürgen "Old Rock" Ruder.  It took a while to get his story, but I was able to track down Old Rock, who will be 82 years old next week.  He does not do email, but was able to enlist my old Friend "Little Adonis" (current GM of the Hannover H3 in Germany), to get the following information for this article.  Old Rock began his hashing life in Rangoon, Burma back in 1980, shortly after the second Rangoon H3 formed.  Very much enjoying the hash, he took what he learned back to Germany with him, and founded the Hannover H3 in 1984.  Fast forward nearly a decade, and Old Rock makes the first of three 3 trips to Paraguay (between 1992 and 1996) as an engineer for the Federal Institute for Geoscience and Raw Materials.  Although he enjoyed his work, there was something missing.  Connecting with some local embassy personnel (including the Marine Guards at the US Embassy), and along with a few of his colleagues, he founded the first Asunción H3 in August 1992.  Old Rock stated that they ran their trails outside the city in the sprawling fields surrounding the capital.  They consumed lots of beer in circle, while singing songs like Father Abraham, and could often be seen drinking out of their shoes.  Departing for the first time in December 1992, Old Rock assured that the club was in good hands to keep it going for his eventual return in the summer of 1994, just in time to celebrate the 50^th run.  Saying farewell after his third and final visit in January 1996, the hash was still very active, continuing with their biweekly schedule, but without his leadership it appears to have faded out after his departure. 

 

The second iteration of the Asunción H3 was founded by another old friend of mine, Steve 'Burnt Sox' Royster and his wife 7 Minutes.  In conversation with Burnt Sox, he explained the club he founded like this . . . "Picture it: seven intrepid souls facing another weekend in landlocked Paraguay, left to themselves for entertainment, descended on the Botanical Gardens on July 22, 2001, with one common purpose - beer.  Over the next 54 runs, the ASSuncion Hash House Harriers - later tamed to the Asunción H3 - would chase hares and beer all over the city, to quench our thirst and better our souls."  This club lasted for about 2 years, until Burnt Sox and 7 Minutes departed.  Little did he know, that it would be 18 years before another hash club would form in Paraguay.

 

The third iteration of the Asunción H3 was founded by Eric "Ban the Cock" Jost and Harma "Double Dutch Mountains" Eilander on 5 Dec 2021.  They have both been avid hashers over the years, but after moving to Paraguay over a year ago, they felt something was missing, so a new hash club was in order.  While chatting with Ban and DDM at Eurohash in Prague, he told me about his desire to start a hash club, but just needed a little push.  So, I made plans to visit Paraguay to prod him along.  Coordinating my visit, I dragged MaBouche over from Brazil, just in time to participate in the first trail of this new hash club.  There was a modest turnout of 9, but several other local friends of the founders promised to join up on future runs.  When Burnt Sox (founder of the previous AH3) learned a new hash club was forming, he happily exclaimed "7 Minutes [and I], the ASS H3's founders, are thrilled to see the pack taking to the streets and parks of Luque once again.  We wish this third version of the ASS H3 much beer and many shitty trails.  On-on!"

 

Many thanks to all the contributors (and Little Adonis for transcribing Old Rock's recollections) for the drafting of this bit of hash history.  Checking in with the current Asunción H3, they are still going strong, running trail number 6 today.  The pack continues to grow, as they explore the many interesting areas in and around the capital city of Paraguay.  I thoroughly enjoyed my visit, and will be looking forward to making another trip there soon. 

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On on!

Sign up for the Boat and BBQ Hash - March 6th

Hashers,

If you's like to join us for the Boat and Bbq Hash this Sunday, please fill in the form now. Please do so asap as we are already at 45 of 60 spaces taken.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfTHDsNfqyfO97bn8C4UP5-u_za6Lgp8s6J0_8kUqivScQWew/viewform?usp=sf_link

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On on!

World Hash Events: April 2022

Hello hashers,

As I was drafting up this month's steaming pile of hash droppings, I paused to read what was going on 5 / 10 / 15 years ago from the WAY BACK MACHINE below in the newsletter.  TEN years ago, I was conducting a survey to see who is not the OLDEST hasher, but what hasher still alive, started hashing first.  At that time, it was a toss-up between "Tumbling Bill" Panton, and Harry "God Knows" Howell (he could have been a relative  😊 ).  So, who is the King of the Hill?  I know there are still a few hashers out there that hashed in the 60s, who are they?  Drainoil?  Mountain Rescue??

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InterAmericas' Hash has been postponed to 1-4 Sep 2023.  We now wait patiently to hear what is going to happen with INTERHASH in Trinidad.  Fingers crossed all goes as planned.  For those attending, here is the planned schedule of events --->  https://www.interhashtrinidad2020.com/calendar-of-events.html

It is also time to start thinking about the BIDS . . . where will INTERHASH go next.  So far, there are registered bids for Queenstown, New Zealand and Goa, India.  I also understand that a bid is being developed for Turkey (more to follow on that one).  https://www.interhashtrinidad2020.com/2024-bid.html

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HASH HISTORY: If you missed it, here is the latest release . . .

In the Spotlight - Paraguay . . . https://groups.google.com/g/gotothehash/c/grMBENDrVJI

New articles being published often . . .  See dozens more at http://gotothehash.net/history/inthespotlight.html

Also keep an eye out for the next edition of ON ON Magazine . . . https://www.facebook.com/A-History-of-the-Hash-House-Harriers-154155071600997

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In The News . . . (sent in by Tinker)

The WHO has a Global Alcohol Strategy

"The World Health Organization's (WHO) Global Alcohol Strategy is to be unveiled this summer. The new initiative commits to a target of "at least a 20% relative reduction (in comparison with 2010) in alcohol per capita (among those aged 15 years and older) consumption by 2030." The aim is not a reduction in consumption by hazardous drinkers, instead the goal is to reduce alcohol use across the board, however moderate the drinker."

"Heavy-impact policy options" that the WHO wants to see adopted by nations are high taxation of alcohol products and minimum price regulations (in Ireland this year, minimum pricing more than doubled the cost of packs of beer), bans on advertising and marketing of alcoholic drinks, and restrictions on where and when alcohol can be sold."

https://www.who.int/teams/mental-health-and-substance-use/alcohol-drugs-and-addictive-behaviours/alcohol/our-activities/towards-and-action-plan-on-alcohol

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Here is a good news story, a new hash club is born in Africa . . . the Lilongwe Full Moon H3 in Malawi.  See https://lilongwehash.com/full-moon-hash/

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There has been a solid buzz surrounding this first feature length horror movie, that includes hashing.  From New Zealand comes BUZZ CUT, at 1 hour and 45 minutes long. 

See the trailer at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpPiKJN-SbY

You can watch the full movie at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vnhfYB2pjT2Apdp7jz34seNwRM99hmmL/view

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Do you have a favorite hash T-Shirt?  Would you like to see what some of those old event shirts looked like?  You can see them in the Digital Hash T-Shirt Museum.  Always looking for more contributions.  https://www.gotothehash.net/hashshirts.html

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From the WAY BACK MACHINE, hash happenings this month . . . (Note: some hashers have reported that the links below sometimes do not work.  That is due the "html" getting snipped off after the period, due to the width of the text.  To make it work, just make sure the link ends in ".html")

5 YEARS AGO:     
http://harrier.org/pipermail/hash-l_harrier.org/Week-of-Mon-20170227/009058.html

10 YEARS AGO:
http://harrier.org/pipermail/hash-l_harrier.org/Week-of-Mon-20120227/007301.html

15 YEARS AGO:
http://harrier.org/pipermail/hash-l_harrier.org/Week-of-Mon-20070226/004641.html

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Before we look at the upcoming hash events for April, if you ever need to find out when an event happened in the past, you can start by looking here . . . https://www.gotothehash.net/e/oldhashevents.html

Upcoming hash events for the month of April 2022 are listed below.  See the website for more details: http://gotothehash.net/e/hashevents22-04.html

Apr 1-3
Texas Interhash
Hosted by the Fort Worth H3 in Mt. Enterprise, TX, USA.

Apr 1-3
Camp Fun-a-muck
Hosted by the Other Orlando H3 in Deland, FL, USA.

Apr 1-10 - Postponed to Apr 2023
Vietnam Train Bash
Hosted by Wild Wolf Productions starting from Hanoi, Vietnam.

Apr 8-10
Green Jacket Weekend
Hosted by the Peach Fuzz H3 in Leesville, SC, USA.

Apr 8-10
Red Dress Run
Hosted by the Jacksonville H3 in Jacksonville, FL, USA.

Apr 10-17
Prelube Cruise #1
Hosted by the Moons Over Barbados H3 sailing from San Juan, Puerto Rico to St. Thomas, St. Croix, St. Maarten, St. Lucia, Barbados, St Kitts and back to San Juan.

Apr 17-22
Hash Cruise
Hosted by the San Diego H3 sailing from San Diego, CA, USA.

Apr 17-24
Prelube Cruise #2
Hosted by the Moons Over Barbados H3 sailing from Barbados to Tobago, Trinidad, Grenada, St. Vincent, Dominica and St. Lucia and back to Barbados.

Apr 18-23
Babe's Hash Cruise
Caveat - Commercial Hash Activity, sailing from Jacksonville, FL, USA.

Apr 22-24
Camp Rode'ho
Hosted by the Tallahassee & Area H3 in Quincy, FL, USA.

Apr 23-25
Tobago Prelube
This is the official prelube for INTERHASH, on the neighbor island.

Apr 29 - May 1
World Interhash
Hosted by the Port O Spain H3 in Trinidad.


See the whole three year calendar of upcoming events at http://gotothehash.net/hashevents.html
If you know of an upcoming event not posted to the calendar, please send me the info. 

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Hashing is fun!  See you on trail someday . . . :O)

On-On,
Hazukashii
Keeper of the old rusty pail, and Chief of the Royal Order of the Smelly Shoe!
http://GoToTheHash.net  (Since 1998)     

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If you have any hasher friends that would like to subscribe to this rag, let them know they can sign up by sending an email to mailto:gotothehash+subscribe@googlegroups.com

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On on!

This Sunday's Hash, 27th of February

Hashers,

For this Sunday, meet at the train station (https://maps.app.goo.gl/pSZE5J3cAwNxKW8R9) at 1:45 pm to get the bus for a 2:00pm departure.

For those driving, I'll send an update with the run location later today.

SF

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On on!