President Paul Stein called the meeting to order at 10 AM and led the meeting in reciting the "Pledge of Allegiance".
Don Hudson then read minutes for the previous meeting.
MEMBERSHIP REPORT by Jerry Transue
♦The SMC now has 449 members. The major reason for the decrease it that eighteen people chose to end their membership, with fourteen of those due to moving.
George Perkins gave a report on MEMBERSHIP ASSISTANCE:
♦George is looking help particularly during the summer as he spends time in Maine.
COUTH:
♦Tracey Mackle gave and update on the trip on 3/15 to a NY Philharmonic rehearsal.
♦Bob Witt gave an update on the trip to several western National Parks in September. The deadline for down payments of 3/15 is near.
♦The SMC ACTIVITIES reported on their status and plans.
JESTER: George Brakeley provided the humor for the meeting.
SPEAKER:
Nick Yanicelli introduced Marina J. Neary the program speaker. Ms. Neary is a historical novelist specializing in Neo-Victorianism and Irish Nationalism. She grew up in Belarus in a family of professional musicians who raised her in the spirit of Western individualism. In 1992 her family came to the United States. Today Ms. Neary is an award-winning historical essayist, multilingual arts & entertainment journalist, playwright, poet and charity activist. Her literary voice, much like her spoken accent, is a mixture of European, British and North American.
Marina talked about and read some parts of her novel Martyrs & Traitors: A Tale of 1916. It is a novel based on historical accounts, and offers an intimate glance into the conflicted and shattered heart of Ireland's Bulmer Hopson a discredited patriot.
Bulmer Hobson is the misunderstood antihero of 1916 who opposed the uprising and was kidnapped and held at gunpoint by his former IRB comrades during the ill-fated Easter Rising he had tried to prevent.
While his captors joke about shooting him and dumping his body on the railroad tracks, his terrified fiancé#e roams the chaos-ravaged city in search of him. Fifteen years of political rivalry, international conspiracy, botched love affairs, and taunting promises of glory culminate in a bloody showdown. Once branded 'the most dangerous man in Ireland' by the police, Hobson is about to be deleted from history.
Minutes recorded by Robert Smith