On the night before his wedding 23 years ago, Larry Forbister, of Bunyan, Minnesota, decided to play a prank on his brothers and sisters-in-law to be.

'I remember the call like it was yesterday,' Forbister's sister-in-law Jean Day says. 'It was well after midnight; my husband Happy and I had just gotten back from the rehearsal dinner, and we hear the phone ringing. It's someone calling from the hospital over in Lake Wobegon. He tells us that Larry was involved in some sort of bizarre accident involving golf clubs, Wheaties and a lutefisk. All of us drove on over to the hospital, where Larry was waiting for us, drunk and passing out Wheaties and lutefisk to everyone. That's how it all started.'

From that spontaneous and rather lame practical joke was born a tradition that Forbister and thousands of other brothers-in-law named Larry celebrate every March 18.

'I just thought it'd be a good way to welcome myself into the new family, you know?' Forbister, 47, says. 'You know, like, this is who I am. Accept me! And I knew there were others out there named Larry who probably felt the same way, so I formed the NBILNLPS [National Brothers-in-Law Named Larry Pranksters Society]. It's not easy joining a new family. I figured it'd be a good way to break the ice.'

Forbister's wife Francine, 44, admits sometimes Larry can take his pranks a little too far. 'Of course, back about ten years ago when he stole a circus bear and hid it in my sister Edina's kitchen pantry, it didn't go over exactly as planned. Edina died.'

'Yeah,' Larry chuckles, remembering. 'That was probably a bit of an overkill. Pardon the pun.'

Besides the occasional bear mauling, though, everyone has a good time and realizes that the jokes the Larrys carry out faithfully every March are intended in good fun. Asked what he and his cohorts have in store for next year, he winks and smiles, saying, 'You'll just have to wait and see, but here's a hint: Swedish massage... and staplers!'