THE SENIOR MEN'S CLUB OF NEW CANAAN
Regular meeting of February 9, 2001
President Don Hunziker opened the business meeting with 144
members present. Current membership is 498, with 2 invited, 4 applications and
26 on the waiting list.
ANNOUNCEMENTS & ACTIVITIES
Activities: Bowling, Bridge and Paddle continue; Racquetball is, reportedly on in Naples, FL. 4Fs
will take fodder at the Red Barn 2/23.
Couth: The Bermuda cruise sank for lack of interest. There are still openings on: the May 17
trip to NY Botanical Gardens; the June 20
Goodspeed Opera House rendition of Brigadoon plus dinner at Gelston House for $80 per; and
a 10/17 visit to Mystic Seaport.
Other: Joe Sweet called for expert volunteers to help the NC Historical Society explain its tool
exhibits to school visitors. The Stepping
Stones Museum for very young kids in Norwalk invites SMC volunteers. Pam Libertiny asked all
SMCers who have items in the SMC
files to review and retrieve them before the YMCA move.
People, etc.: Both Huck Wood and Ed Codel are still in Waveny.
Jester: John Berg reported Adam and Eve's first words dealt with
one's exuberant optimism and the other's denial.
SPEAKER
Vice President Clancy Fauntleroy introduced Alexander Lazaroff, who manages the Connecticut
U.S. Postal Service, and is district manager
of its CT Performance Cluster. He is a Navy and Peace Corps veteran and holds degrees from
the University of Massachusetts and the
University of Rhode Island. His Postal Service career began in 1973.
Last May Lazaroff visited the NC post office and found it "was almost the worst I'd
ever seen, in terms of congestion." He said at least
45 minutes for mail processing by each carrier were added by inadequate facilities and
it needed refurbishment inside and out. He found
plans to rectify these problems dated back to 1987, and attempts to locate alternates had
come up empty.
There never was a plan to close the NC post office, he said. Carriers were kept and moved
to the new Camp Street Post Office because
they knew the routes, Camp could house them, and this "offers a fair interim solution."
The NC postmaster and clerks will remain and the
customer service area is being renovated.
A new NC post office would cost $1 million or more, Lazaroff said. The possibility of one
is open, but not feasible in the short term.
It requires detailing a project and placing it in competition with all others nationwide,
but NC no longer has the urgency it had before
Camp. He recommended pressing Postal authorities to free up money for expansion
saying "I agree 100% that there is need for a
1st class facility in NC."
Les Brooks, Asst. Secretary