Fifty patrons sat for one hour and 45 minutes last night at the New Gate of Cleve waiting for New York folksinger and songwriter Tom Paxton who failed to appear.

Club owner Ryerson Polytechnical Institute business student Warren Haller waited half an hour then told the crowd that Paxton supposedly had left New York at 2 p.m.

"If he's still in the air now he's probably in Japan; it only takes eight hours to fly there," quipped one patron.

Flying time to New York is normally one hour to one and a half.

Haller and his associates were plainly concerned that Canadian immigration officials had barred Paxton because he had a U.S. criminal conviction five years ago.

Paxton made his Toronto debut four years ago when he worked with the Highwaymen which played the Bohemian Embassy and the Village Corner.

After the group was here three weeks, Canadian immigration ordered him out of the country within 24 hours because of a regulation barring U.S. entertainers with a criminal record.

Since then, Paxton has become one of the most influential folksong writers with such songs as Where I'm Bound, Ramblin Boy and Papa's Little Soldier.

This was to be his first solo appearance.

After several frantic calls to New York which failed to rouse Paxton's booking agent, Haller announced that the Allen Ward Trio would perform.

But they too were no shows.

Finally strikingly attractive Saskatoon-born Joni Anderson sang for 20 minutes and delighted the crowd with a smattering of protest and comic songs.

The crowd came to hear Paxton and left congratulating Miss Anderson.

Haller still didn't know where Paxton was.

MOVIE CAREER

Broadway stage credits of E. G. Marshall, a star of The Defenders, include The Iceman Cometh, The Skin Of Our Teeth, and The Crucible.