THE SENIOR MEN'S CLUB OF NEW CANAAN
Minutes of the Regular Meeting of 7 September 2001
President Lee Hindenach opened the business meeting at 10:00 on a sparkling morning, with 117
members present. We now have 500 members and 25 on the waiting list.
Membership Concerns: Hart Evans is in Norwalk Hospital. Jerry Zalinka is home recovering, and
Lou Annunziato is not only recovering, from surgery two weeks ago, but is at today's meeting.
Harry Caesar and Chet Hansen are at Waveny; Chet moves to North Carolina permanently on the 19th.
"Lindy" Linden convalesces at Courtland Gardens. Also noted: Jack Gillespie is at home, not at
all well, but would welcome short visits, maybe 5 to 10 minutes. And hooray again for Curry Ford,
celebrating his 90th birthday week after week after week.
Activities: Bowling starts up again today; bridge moves back to the "Y" today; and racquetball
had 4 soldiers today. Phil Toll' s 4F's turned out a record 24 at Woodway Beach Club in August
and will meet this month at the NC Country Club. Bob Moylan distributed golf prizes from summer
meets and announced the next match for Redding Country Club on the 19th' The trailblazers' next
destination has been changed to Huntington State Park, also the 19th.
Couth: Frank McGarey advised that the Belmont trip September 12th has vacancies, as does the
Mystic Seaport outing on October 3rd. On November 4th we visit Broadway to see "42nd Street",
followed by dinner at "21". Price: $145 each. December will feature a visit to Radio City. Twelve
couples have signed up for the Bermuda trip in May.
Other News: Jack Murray reports a few vacancies for computer classes starting the 17th at Lapham,
and Pete Stair announces a workshop there the 12th, on creating a website. Extra thanks were
offered to Clark Robinson for creating our directory's centerfold. And John Berg said there
would be a luncheon for Chet Hanson next Friday at the Roger Sherman.
Resident Humorist: John Berg reported the crisis of three aged sisters who experienced simultaneous
senior moments.
Speaker: VP Bert Liebelt introduced Moira Lyons of Stamford, who is in her 10th term in the
CT Assembly and now serves as the first woman Speaker of the House. She introduced herself
as a representative for all of CT; she has 100 people in her caucus, the largest in the state,
and this is a group of great diversity. Her job involves inevitable conflict with others in
government, but it is generally goals oriented and not motivated by party politics. Ms. Lyons
is a commuter advocate and spoke about transportation issues, which have recently exploded into
statewide prominence. She feels that future growth must be planned along transportation corridors,
and must also mesh with economic realities and the preservation or restoration of urban areas as
viable living centers. Conservation of open space, both urban and rural, is part of this equation.
Moira also discussed Connecticut's pioneering health care legislation and the tax reductions
achieved by capping spending, starting in 1991. She said, however, that "spending caps" were
seen differently by different interests, and that our existing "cap" laws unfairly deprived
us of some Federal money. In response to questions, she said that the governor would not budget
for "Super Rte 7". She personally didn't need a football stadium across from Adrian's Landing,
and she was non-commital on the subject of one representative for New Canaan instead of half
of two. In summary, we took away valuable insights into several aspects of the state of our state.
Peter Schurman - Assistant Secretary