THE SENIOR MEN'S CLUB OF NEW CANAAN
Minutes of the Regular Meeting of February 15, 2002
Acting President Bert Liebelt opened the meeting with 185 members present.
Membership is 500 with 44 on the waiting list.
Announcements: Rod Geist, director of the YMCA, announced that he needs four
volunteer ice-cream scoopers for a children's event on 3/10. Health minister Dick DePatie
announced that all is well with the club. Walt Hoffman spoke in laudatory terms about
the New Canaan emergency volunteer medical corps who came to the aid of his wife after
a fall at home. It's great to hear good stories such as that. Don Hudson is looking
for volunteers at South School on March 4 and March 15 to read stories. Jim D'Acosta
needs four or five volunteers on Monday 2/18 to help repair chairs. Bert Liebelt
announced that Charlie Morris would be the "events chairman" for the anniversary party
in May.
Activities: Bridge, paddle, bowling continue. Racquetball is still strangely
silent, so is trailblazers. Jack Murray, where are you. 4Fs next luncheon is Feb. 22 at
Centro in Darien. Golf's first outing will be in May at the New Canaan Country Club.
Couth: Feb. 22 is the Bridgeport Cabaret Theater; March 5, the Philadelphia
Flower show; April date TBA the CIA (not the spy organization); and May TBA the Bronx Zoo
and lunch on Arthur Avenue. The April 23-25 trip to Washington D.C. still has room for
two couples. Tough negotiations with Ron Seger might be in order.
Resident Humorist: Asst. humorist Joe Sweet told a story about a couple in their nineties who have wonderful sex to the rhythm of church bells, but have disastrous results with bells on the ice cream truck.
Speaker: VP Ron Seger introduced former Secretary of the Army Stanley Resor who talked about Afghanistan and the US war on terrorism. He stressed that in this fight, a coalition with other countries is essential in order to block terrorist funds and to provide bases for logistical support. Secretary of State Colin Powell has been most influential in this regard. The war itself has been highly technical using AWACS, global positioning, unmanned sensors, and drone aircraft for various functions. Special Forces troops were used on the ground to give information to aircraft for their bombing runs. The reconstruction of Afghanistan will be most difficult with the old culture of the "War Lords" still prevalent. Hopefully they will come to the realization that the foreign aid they get will depend on cooperation. The reconstruction cost is estimated to be $10 billion over the next five years. After Afghanistan, the next big problem is Iraq, and Mr. Resor seemed quite positive that the US would take action there, hopefully with another coalition. He thought it would take between 100-200,000 troops to get the job done. Other major problems are Saudi Arabia and its extremist education system, and the Arab Palestinian conflict, to which he sees no end to in the near future. As far as Arafat is concerned, like it or not, he's all we have and therefore we still need him. He thinks the Israelis should also realize that. Mr. Resor ended on an up note on the current government of Pakistan, which apparently has an alternative vision from the other Islamic countries around the world.
Eric Musa, Secretary