Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/253120
route, and shined shoes at all the local taverns, including the Cedar Lodge Tavern, where his mother was a bartender. "Growing up, I thought the tavern owner was the richest man in the world," he says. "That was my dream in life, to own a tavern. I had never been exposed to anything outside of my environment." Dreesen's trajectory was forever altered at age 10, when he began cad- dying at Ravisloe Country Club, often carrying double 36 holes a day. Instead of rubbing elbows with Teamsters, he was suddenly soaking up the manners and worldview of doctors and lawyers. "It changed me in a big way," Dreesen says. "The members didn't treat me like a slave, they treated me like a son." Life in the caddie yard was not so genteel. It was a hardscrabble bunch, and the caddie master kept a pair of boxing gloves around to help settle disputes. Dreesen tops out today at 5'9" and 150 lbs., but then he was a scrawny 105 pounds who nevertheless earned respect as a fearsome scrapper. He boxed for real from 1958-'62, when he served in the Navy 114 C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • W I N T E R 2 0 1 4 (Top) Tim Reid, who played Venus Flytrap on "WKRP in Cinncinati," met Dreesen during a school visit for the Jaycees. The pair became an edgy comedy duo for six years. (Bottom) In 1975, Johnny Carson, "The King of Late Night," finally invit- ed the up-and-coming comedian on to his show. Dreesen was on Carson's show more than 50 times through the years. 112-120 Tom Dreesen/Sinatra_152-161 Garcia story 1/27/14 7:37 AM Page 3