We’re less than two weeks away from The Third Annual Shore Leave Comedy Roast for Charity, an event held to raise money and recruit blood donors and volunteers for The American Red Cross.

This year’s event will be held Friday, July 8, from 7pm-9pm in the Valley Ballroom of the Marriott Hunt Valley Inn, in Hunt Valley, Md., and its guest of “honor” for the roast is beloved scribe, editor, and politician-turned-educator Robert Greenberger. Our roastmaster will be Alan “Sizzler” Kistler, and our dais consists of Michael Jan Friedman, Marco Palmieri, myself, Kate Greenberger, Dayton Ward & Kevin Dilmore, and special guest Peter David. There will also be a few special surprise guests!

If you’re among those who plan to attend the show, and you want to show your affection for Bob while also becoming eligible for some of the best reserved seats in the house, you should buy a BOB T-Shirt from the Shore Leave Roast Store on CafePress.com. These won’t be sold at the convention, so if you want to guarantee yourself good seats for the show, order now to allow time for production and shipping!

As with last year’s roast, I am inviting anyone interested in helping me pay for this absurdly (and increasingly) expensive event to make donations in exchange for “special thanks” or producer credits on the DVD of the show, as well as a free copy of the DVD, which will go on sale this fall (if the Fates be willing and the creek don’t rise).

My thanks to everyone who’s already bought merchandise or made donations. I’ll look forward to seeing you all on July 8!