CIGAR BOX BULLETIN

Volume 57, No. 9       July 1, 2009

’Twas a clear and mild summer’s day as Prexy JOHN CRAINE, with metronomic precision, rang the opening bell at 9:30:00 a.m. Recording Secretary RALPH VIGGIANO doubled as pledge master. Then with MIKE HAUPTMAN stroking the keys, CHUCK LIVINGSTON led us in a hat trick of patriotic songs: The Star Spangled Banner, Yankee Doodle and America the Beautiful. Corresponding Secretary BILL DYNAN reviewed last week’s highlights. His anecdote, concerning a foursome of henpecked golfers, brought chuckles when the last of the four avoided an onerous domestic chore by offering his wife either of two choices, golf or inter, and got a block.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: JOHN CRAINE reported that the RMA fiscal year 2010 budget has been approved and posted on the bulletin board. He also announced that this year’s Tod’s Point picnic has been scheduled for Thursday September 17. Returnee: From New England, DICK HERMANCE, who also celebrated 56 years of marriage to wife Carol.

COMMITTEE REPORTS: A memorial event for TED FULLER will be held at Indian Harbor Yacht Club on Thursday July 9 at 3:00 p.m. Visting: CHUCK STANDARD reported on the status of ERIC LIMBACH and of DON COGLIANDRO. Program: CHUCK went on to introduce our speaker du jour, Carlton O. Pate III, a collector of antique Ford automobiles and an author of Ford history. We learned from Chuck that he had driven a Ford at age 12, forwards and backwards, with odometer dialing back to its starting point. Membership: JIM FAHY reported 136 men in attendance: 132 members, one candidate, Joe Devita; 3 guests, Bill Copeland, guest of JIM EBZERY, John Febles, guest of DAVE DOWNS and Barry Montgomery, guest of JOHN DECSEPEL. Birthdays were celebrated in song to GEORGE BARLETTA 72, JOHN B. CARON 85, JOSEPH A. GUARISCO 90, HENRY GUNDERS 85, DEREK OTLEY 82, JOHN PHILLIPS 89, GEORGE RAYMOND 85, and PETER UTLEY 70. Volunteer: STEVE MARINO reported 630 hours to outside agencies by 71 men, 34 hours to RMA duties by 25 men. Other: JOHN DECSEPEL introduced Brunswick graduate and Columbia matriculant Daniel O’Neill, who proceeded to declaim stirringly Hamlet’s To be or not to be soliloquy. Daniel then reported that this year’s Shakespeare in the Park offering will be A Midsummer Night’s Dream, July 4-July 12.

SCOREBOARDS: For Bridge: KURT SCHAFFIR reported the top 3 scorers: DICK CASE, 4,280; himself, 3,550; DAVE DOWNS, 3,130. Golf: According to JIM SANTORO, 8 groups toured the Griff yesterday: 5 foursomes, 2 twosomes and one threesome. You do the math. Closest to the pin on #7 was ROS CURTIS, closest on #15 ART ROSENBERG. Longest drive on #17 was struck by KARL SCHULTZE. Next week’s host will be MIKE SMITH. Continuing with golf, ROGER PIERCE made an impassioned plea for faster play. “The play was very slow, over 5 hours,” said he. We should finish in 4 hours. While the 9-Hole women were an impediment on the front nine, the RMA men did not speed up on the back nine. “It is imperative that to enjoy the game, we keep up with the foursome ahead of us. Some simple guidelines: 1. After 8 shots, pick up. 2. Play “ready” golf. 3. Limit time spent searching for lost balls. Roger also said that the Griff will begin charging for “no shows.” Lastly, in July the RMA golfers will be starting on the 1st tee, at 7:45. “We should have some fun golf.”

TODAY'S SPEAKER: Carlton O. Pate III is the author of Pate’s early Ford Automobile Encyclopedia: The Ford Cars 1903-1909. The $70 book comprises 525 pages and comes with a DVD Appendix containing 2,800 files. He has a collection of four vintage Ford cars, Model A and Model T. His hobbies also include model building.
Mr. Pate’s talk was accompanied by numerous slides showing Ford cars, advertisements, tables of figures and photos of Ford factories. Henry Ford partnered for a while with a Mr. Malcomson, who favored cars that were “big, heavy and expensive,” while Henry Ford built cars that were “small, light and inexpensive.” When the partnership ended, Malcomson took the Oldsmobile name with him, while Ford retained exclusive rights to the Ford name and brand. Mr. Pate’s talk-cum-slides was like drinking tea from a fire hose. As the clock approached 11:30, there was a small, steady but perceptible exodus. The Q&A was brief. When asked to express the $700 price of a Model T Ford in 2009 dollars, Pate was at a loss. Your CBB scribe went home and looked up a Consumer Price Index web site (http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl) which can compare any two years between 1913 and the present. The approximate answer: $700 in 1913 equates to $15,200 in 2009.

ERIC KNUTSEN, Editor

SPECIAL EVENTS
Open to all members, their ladies, candidates and guests.Note:Tx exchanged via the Bulletin Board after events are sold out.

July 19 Sun. Tanglewood $92. pp. Lunch at Appletree Inn. Bus departs OG Civic Center at 9:30 a.m. Sold Out,tx. Rich Limbacher 531 9515. Be prepared to advise Rich Limbacher on meal selection, choice of Pot Roast, Chicken Marsala, Salmon or Pasta.

Aug. 24 Mon. Mets - Phillies game. $63 pp. Buy your own lunch. Bus departs St. Catherine 10:30 a.m. Rich Limbacher 531 9515. Sold out, tx

Aug 27 Thurs. Romeo & Juliet - Jean Louis $29 Frank Flores 698-3060

Sept. 10 Thurs. Camelot – Goodspeed Opera House, lunch at Gelson House. $95 pp. Bus leaves St. Catherine. at 10:00 a.m. Tickets go on sale July 8. Serious reservations accepted. R. Limbacher 531 9515.

Oct. 15 Thurs. Peter Luger Restaurant, best steak house in New York City. Stay tuned.

Dec. 3 Thurs. 11:00 a.m. Cirque du Soleil "WINTUK” Christmas Show at Madison Square Garden. After show, meal at Le Rivage on West 46th St. Price pp approximately $90. Rich Limbacher 531 9515

NEXT 3 WEEKS

Next Week: Gary Swarni & Alexandra Bawot, personal training and fitness. Presenter John Calimafde

July 15: Stephen Richardson, PhD. Author, British sea captain, WW II. Presenter Peter Schieferdecker

July 22: Andy Lee, NY to tierra delFuego via Seatlle by motorbike. Presenters Frank Lee, Ted Spool