Smith. Jim Smith

Name recognition is everything in the Jim Smith Society

Friday, July 24, 2009

Click here to enlarge this photo Submitted photo Jim Smith, better known as Indian Head Jim, is a proud member of the Jim Smith Society. E-Mail This Article | Print This Story Click here to enlarge this photo Official Jim Smith Society business card, touting "Jim Smith" as the greatest of common names. Click here to enlarge this photo

First rule of the Jim Smith Society? You gotta be named Jim Smith. Second rule of the Jim Smith Society? You gotta have a sense of humor.

After all, the society's official motto is "We Don't Shun Fun."

Founded in 1969, by — oddly enough — a guy named Jim Smith of Camp Hill, Pa., the society has grown to include about 2, 000 members, including those living in England, Australia and Canada.

Once a year, the group of Smiths get together for a convention — or Fun Fest.

The gathering moves around the country depending on the residence of the hosting Smith.

This year, Indian Head Jim and his wife, Crystal, are calling the shots.

Hosting the convention in Washington, D.C., with tours of the Capitol, World War II memorial and other popular tourist stops, the fun kicks off with dinner at Crowne Plaza National Airport tonight.

"We're always looking for new members," said Indian Head Jim, a New Jersey native and U.S. Navy veteran who moved to Maryland in the 1980s.

"We're trying to recruit younger members to keep it going."

Crystal Smith — one of the society's "gems" (Get it? That's what the wives of the Jim Smiths in the club are called) — said that the Jims usually bring along sons and grandsons — the next generation of Jim Smiths — to Fun Fests, which feature softball games rosters scribbled with Jim Smith playing first, second, third base, shortstop, catcher, pitcher and outfield.

Golf games, JIMGO (instead of bingo) and a lot of catching up take place during the festival weekends.

While in the District, Jim Smiths will sweat out the local humidity at the East Potomac Golf Course and tour the Mall.

Indian Head Jim and Crystal have traveled around the U.S., visiting states they might never have gotten to see if it wasn't for joining the society in 1994.

Crystal's father had mentioned hearing about the society somewhere and then a friend called Indian Head Jim and told him about seeing a report of a Fun Fest in Boston on the news.

The couple has been to Fun Fests in New York, Pittsburgh, Seattle, San Diego, Missouri, Louisiana, North Carolina and South Carolina.

"Most members use the Fun Fest as their vacation," said Crystal, adding that she and her husband usually take a few extra days off work to visit the cities they go to for conventions.

Indian Head Jim and his wife joined the society after visiting a festival in York, Pa. Upon joining, Jim Smith Society members get a business card and a genuine wooden nickel. The annual $15 dues go toward the three-times-a-year newsletter mailing. It's a small price to pay for meeting such a diverse group with such a common name.

"It's just for fun, for fellowship," Indian Head Jim said. "It's almost like a family reunion. There are fathers, sons … we've had members who join [while they were still] in the womb."

And members — ranging from infant to those in their late 70s — come from all walks of life.

"We have a clown, a shortwave radio operator, an auctioneer, a professor, an entertainer," said Indian Head Jim.

During one Fun Fest, the tour bus driver happened to be named Jim Smith, and he joined the society on the spot.

That the society is in its 40th year is an accomplishment.

After Camp Hill Jim's 1994 death, some might have thought the society would close down.

It was Camp Hill Jim who singlehandedly wrote and sent out the newsletter to members.

Following his death, the other Jim Smiths stepped up and pitched in.

Camp Hill Jim Smith knew he had a not-so-one-of-a-kind moniker.

In 1969, he sought out others with his name and formed a sort of club of about six members (he found them in a phone book, according to Indian Head Jim) where membership consisted of nothing more than being named Jim Smith — James, Jimmy, Jamie and Smythe are also accepted variations.

There are even some female members, including JimAnn Smith Oliver from Oklahoma.

To ensure the society endured, the Jim Smiths divided up the work — electing officers to various positions. Indian Head Jim is the club's historian.

His basement is a full of society memorabilia.

"I'm supposed to have a ‘rolling museum'," he said somewhat sheepishly. But he does actively try to get more members in the group.

"Every time I hear the name Smith, I ask ‘Do you have a brother named Jim?'" Indian Head Jim said.

staylor@somdnews.com

Jim Smiths everywhere

Any Jim Smith — or those with accepted variations of the name — are invited to stop by the Crowne Plaza National Airport hotel July 23 through 26 to visit and meet others in the society. For more information, call the hotel at 703-310-8980 or e-mail the club's membership chairman Jim Smith at jldlsmith@verizon.net.

Want to celebrate but can't make the Fun Fest? Whip up an "official" Jim Smith cocktail.

Half an ounce of vodka, half an ounce of triple sec, half an ounce of Amaretto, orange juice (to taste), grenadine (for color) and a squeeze of lime. Shake mixture, pour over ice, toast Jim Smith and enjoy.

Recipe included in the Winter 2009 Jim Smith Society newsletter.