THE SENIOR MEN'S CLUB OF NEW CANAAN
Minutes of the Regular Meeting of November 9, 2001
President Lee Hindenach opened the meeting with a record breaking 205
members present. Membership is 500 with 30 on the waiting list.
Announcements: Ken Degroot introduced new members Bill Buchannan and
Paul Murray. It was announced that Ro Ventres is in Stamford Hospital
awaiting a new hip and possible lung surgery. Charlie Morris reminded
us that the Christmas luncheon is Dec. 7, $30 per couple. Chick Lyttle
gave a report that 170 out of 500 members have paid their dues for 2002.
Okay guys, lets open up those wallets. President Hindenach announced that
the 25th anniversary of the Senior Men's Club will be celebrated on May 3
at the annual meeting. Lee called for volunteers to help with the program
for that event.
Activities: 4Fs next luncheon will be at Ninos; bowling continues to roll;
bridge continues, next refresher course resumes before next meeting; paddle
meets at 9:00 Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday; racquetball had four players;
and Trailblazers goes into hibernation for the winter. That didn't stop
Jack Murray from getting his usual attention by pitching a new round of
computer lessons at the Lapham Center in January.
Couth: Radio City trip is 12/13, and 1/17 will be a trip to Mohegan Sun.
For those who don't want to lose too much money, a shuttle will be available
to go to the Pequot museum at Foxwoods. Cost for this trip is $30.
Jester: John Berg told a story about how a lecherous sixty year old husband
found an unexpected way to very instantly become ninety years old.
Speaker: A very nervous Vice President Ron Seger introduced interim speaker
Dick Bond who used great stalling tactics until the scheduled speaker, Governor
John Rowland, finally showed up. Since Ron's heart was still aflutter, Mr. Bond
gave the introduction. Governor Rowland started his speech by assuring the
audience that the state of Connecticut was very safe following the events of
9/11. He particularly referred to the two nuclear power plants in the state
which now have an eleven mile "no fly" zone around them. In conjunction with
this, Gov. Rowland stressed the fact that there have been no acts of terror in
the state, and no anthrax has been found. He then went out of his way to praise
President Bush and his team for the way they are handling affairs since Sept. 11.
His next topic was the $300 million budget deficit which is now down to $100
million. He said that he would reconcile that amount with future cuts. In
retrospect, he stated that the deficit was only 2% of the budget compared to
other states with much larger deficits such as Wisconsin at 10% and New York
State which is over one billion dollars. The transportation issue was next,
and he said the state was working hard to build more train stations, more
parking facilities, and looking into using breakdown lanes on major highways
during rush hours. Governor Rowland also made the point that Bradley International
Airport was getting much more use than in the past. He also said that Connecticut
had the lowest unemployment rate of any state in the country, and there is $600
million in a rainy day fund for use in an extreme emergency. Toward the end
of his speech, Rod Geist of the New Canaan YMCA got up and personally thanked
the governor for his approval of $395,000 of state aid going to the Y for its
building fund. As a final word, the governor responded to a question that no
new Indian tribes were being considered for casinos.
Eric Musa, Secretary