THE SENIOR MEN'S CLUB OF NEW CANAAN
Regular Meeting January 5, 2001
President Don Hunziker opened the meeting with 144 members present. Current membership is 498
with two invitees and 21 on the waiting list.
People, etc. Ken Degroot introduced new member John Simone. Don Freud announced the passing
of SMC member Wally Rudd on Dec. 26.
Announcements: Pete Luke told us he would give us a new update next week about the Y's fund
raining campaign. He also told us about two donations of stock by unknown donors. If an SMC
member has given 8 shares of IBM, or 27 shares of Quest Communication, please let someone know.
Fellow member Bob Lear offered to run a seminar of 10 to 12 people wanting to learn how to better
prepare themselves for joining a corporate board of directors. He will give the course at
the Y at 2:30 on 1/19, 1/26, and 2/2. Bob will not place you in a position, just help you
to gain the knowledge necessary for placement. Don Hunziker announced that the New Canaan
Ambulance Corps needs volunteers. Don then gave us another of his informative World War II
history lessons, this time a thumbnail history of the events that took place in the month of
January each year in that war. Don also called a board of directors' meeting next Friday at 9:15.
Activities: Bowling continues, bridge also, but with new cards. Trailblazers is temporarily
snowed out, racquetball has found a new life with 4 to 5 members per session, paddle pounds the
courts Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, and the 4-Fs is going to try a new restaurant that is
still in business, Nino's in Vista on Jan. 26. Phil Toll also announced that he is now very
open to acquiring an assistant. Anyone interested please see Phil.
Couth: 1/25 Foxwoods, 2/14 the Cathedral of St John the Divine (now a departure time of 8AM),
3/16 the Bridgeport Downtown Cabaret Theater, 4/19 the United Nations and lunch there, and
5/22 the New York Botanical Gardens and lunch there.
Jester: Bob Dalury told us a very educational story of how a young shapely housewife can
quite unknowingly help in getting her next door neighbor to pay off his $500 debt to her
husband in an accelerated manner.
Speaker: Vice president Bob Witt introduced Les de Villiers, an expert on Africa and author
of a new book, "Doing business with Africa." Mr. de Villiers first went into the demographics
of the "Dark Continent" and its current 53 nations. It is the second largest continent in the
world, and has had an overly rapid population growth from 250 to 800 million. Formerly a
continent run by European powers, its countries are now doing business on their own. The
main plus for Africa is its natural resources; it has a very high abundance of the world's
eight most used minerals such as gold, cobalt, diamonds, etc. It is also rich in oil and
already has been tapped by companies such as Exxon/Mobil and Chevron. The main minuses for
Africa are the problems with "Aids" which is rampant, especially in the south, and civil wars
which affect one out of every 5 people. As for the future, Mr. de Villiers is "guardedly
optimistic" about doing business there. Our secondary speaker, the "mysterious"
Frenchman was noncommittal on the subject.
Eric Musa, Secretary