THE SENIOR MEN'S CLUB OF NEW CANAAN
Minutes of the Regular Meeting of March 28, 2003
President Bob Witt opened the business meeting at 10:00 on a bright and breezy Friday, with 123 members present. Membership is now 525, with 15 waiting.
Membership Concerns and Announcements: Dick dePatie was pleased to report nobody on the sick list. Dave Means is back. Bill Nissen reminded us of the Yale Glee Club concert April 11 th , and Charlie Morris put in another word for the SMC annual luncheon, members only, on May 2nd. Additionally, Bob Witt advised of the board meeting April 4th; Phil Toll put in a plug for radio station CFM 91.9, featuring all day swing music; and Stephen Wise announced again the Dietrich Bondholder documentary to be shown at First Presbyterian Church Sunday the 30 th.
Activities: Bowling was silent, but Gordon Nelson wasn't, advertising bridge as usual. 4's will dine today at Eric & Michael's; all are welcome. Paddle continues to fill three courts Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Racquetball is back in business, with four this morning. And Trailblazers will visit Pound Ridge April 28th.
Couth: Lee Hindenach continues to seek signups and money. Clancy Fauntlerory seeks more riders for the April 24 th visit to the state capitol, which includes the Wadsworth Atheneum and the Dakota Restaurant as well tours of government facilities. Pete Stair presented what he described as his antepenultimate pitch for the Boston trip May 8th and 9th. The deadline for Boston Pops tickets is April 4th. And a reminder was offered for the Essex/Old Lyme expedition of June 11th.
Resident Humorist: John Berg gave us male and female versions of a bedtime prayer, followed by a description of a somewhat convoluted method by which American womanhood could expose Taliban agents by exposing itself.
Speaker: VP Jack Murray introduced Roger Chiocci, who talked to us about ghost stories, in particular his book, "Mean Spirits". Roger graduated from Ithaca College, then received an MBA from the Wharton School before embarking on a highly successful career in advertising. One night in the '80's he experienced a paranormal visit. The phenomenon recurred, and led Roger to investigate sleep paralysis and later to write his ghost story. This he accomplished by haunting the NYC Library in his few off hours, then writing for two hours a night between 11PM and 1AM. The book was finished in 1994, and no publisher rushed to buy it.
The story starts with the suicide of a servant girl who jumped off the Mayflower near Monamoy Island off Cape Cod in 1620. Her death resulted from certain misdeeds of one Christopher Penfield, scion of what became a famous American family. The later Penfields experience various paranormal episodes, causing them to seek out Ed Swan, a ghost hunter, who in turn seeks out a Captain Scott at Falmouth and, with his help, eventually unravels the mystery.
As the third phase of his talk, Mr. Chiocci then described how he quit his advertising career and self-published his book through I. Universe at low investment He has so far sold
2,000 copies through yahoo and broken even on the enterprise. He hopes to write another ghost story, but he is somewhat preoccupied right now with starting a new business, the nature of
which he did not mention. In closing his entertaining presentation, Roger gave us an advertising trivia quiz, awarding four autographed books to the alert SMC winners.
Peter Schurman -Assistant Secretary