THE SENIOR MEN'S CLUB OF NEW CANAAN
Minutes of the Regular Meeting of March 14, 2003
President Bob Witt opened the business meeting at 10:00 on a cold and shining winter morning, with 148 members present. Membership holds at 524, with 1 invitee and 11 waiting. Five guests were welcomed: John Gillis, Jim Bock, J.B. Begala, Rick Sommer and Pete DeCarlo.
Membership Concerns and Announcements: Dick dePatie reports that Jim Bridgman is recovering well. The flowers on display this morning are courtesy of a St. Mark's wedding, not of the SMC coffee committee. Jim Bock and George McEvoy presented background information on The Gold Star Walk in Mead Park, which honors the 38 New Canaanites who gave their lives in WWII service. The walk is being refurbished and will honor other WWII New Canaan veterans, of which there were about 1,100 out of a 1940's town population of 6,200.
Activities: There is one bowler, which tends to reduce competition somewhat. Bridge turned out three tables plus. 4F's will meet in two weeks at Eric & Michael's. Paddle forecasts that participation, already good, will increase with the temperature. And Trailblazers are going to walk the old Housatonic Railroad track bed on Wednesday the 26th.
Couth: Lee Hindenach and Mayor Bloomberg cleared up the Broadway musicians' strike in the nick of time for 52 SMCers, including guests, to attend Mamma Mia, followed by an excellent dinner at the Firebird restaurant. April 24th we will visit the state capitol, with tour and with early dinner in Avon en route home. All this for $60. Pete Stair then previewed the myriad activities planned for the overnight Boston trip May 8th and 9th. By way of historical background he also read a summary of an epic alchoholic voyage of Boston's own U.S.S. Constitution in 1798-99. And finally, Jim Barr introduced the June 11th trip to Essex and Old Lyme.
Resident Humorist: John Berg warmed up the crowd with a few bon mots concerning the French as our allies. He then regaled us with a story proving that MacDonald's is perhaps not the best place for a surreptitious trial of Viagra.
Speaker: VP Jack Murray introduced Brig. Gen. Dana B. Demand, commander of the NY Air National Guard 105th Airlift Wing, based at Stewart Air N. G. base in N ewburgh, N. y .The 105th is the only National Guard unit with the giant C-5 cargo planes; they have 13 of them, out of 125 total in service. Gen. Demand commands 1700 troops, of whom more than 500, including his
son, are currently deployed all over the world, along with most of the planes. The base is a major aircraft maintenance and repair facility, and also undertakes humanitarian relief worldwide. It was an important staging area for people and supplies after 9/11.
The C-5 has been produced since 1968. It weighs about 440 tons fully loaded, has a cargo bay longer than the Wright brothers first flight, and can fly from Tokyo to New York non-stop without refueling. It is primarily a freighter, not a personnel carrier. It requires special landing facilities, several of which are available in the Mideast. C-5 production is phasing out in favor of the somewhat smaller C-17, which is more versatile and can land at many more airfields.
C-5 crews normally vary between 6 to 12 persons. The reservists at Stewart are not "a weekend a month plus two weeks" types. Rather, pilots serve 120 days a year and are drawn largely from the ranks of airline pilots. In case of war, Stewart will be aport of embarkation, but not using C-5's as troop carriers. Gen. Demand feels that the 105th will perform with distinction whatever duties are assigned to it.
Peter Schurman -Assistant Secretary