THE SENIOR MEN'S CLUB OF NEW CANAAN
Minutes of the Regular Meeting of February 15, 2008
President Dick DePatie said we should recognize our past presidents during President's Day Weekend, and relinquished the podium to Ray Wheeler. Ray served as SMC President, 20 years ago. 17 of the former SMC Presidents are still in New Canaan area.
President Wheeler opened meeting with 128 members and two guests present. Ray asked SMC's Bob Moylan (a.k.a. SMC's William Buckley) to give Membership Assistance report: Tucker Scott is still at Waveny and Ralph Tomaselli was released from Waveny and is back home.
ANNOUNCEMENTS: Special arrangements made for an additional tour of the Philip Johnson Glass House on Wed/April 23rd. Clancy Fauntleroy will have sign-up sheet available at next Friday's meeting. Next week's speaker is Frank Hydoski, Director of Deloitte Financial Services.
ACTIVITIES: Bridge, Paddle, Racquetball as usual, Amateur Chefs meet next on Thurs/21st, 4F'S meet Fri/22nd at Ninos, Photographers meet Thurs/28th,Skyblazers fly on Mon/25th.
COUTH: NO FEBRUARY TRIP, Flatley's "Lord of the Dance" trip on Fri/Mar.14th, Johnson Glass House Tour on Apr/30th sold out. See Fauntleroy next Friday/22nd to reserve tickets for tours on Wed/April 23rd.
ANNOUNCEMENTS: Special arrangements made for an additional tour of the Philip Johnson Glass House on Wed/April 23rd. Clancy Fauntleroy will have sign-up sheet available at next Friday's meeting. Next week's speaker is Frank Hydoski, Director of Deloitte Financial Services.
HUMORIST: Jim Schlumpf told two Irish jokes. An Irishman was stopped by policeman for drunk driving. When the policeman said he had been following car since the man's wife fell out of the car, the drunk replied, "so that's why, I thought I was going deft!". The other joke was about an Irishman too drunk to speak during confession. When the frustrated priest knocked on the booth wall, the Irishman replied, "Ain't no use knocking, no paper on this side either".
SPEAKER: VP Roger Rothballer introduced Robert Ashton, retired Proctor and Gamble executive, who sailed around the world after retirement on his 40" sailboat, Chandelle. Bob left City Island, NY, in 1992, exploring Eastern Caribbean with friends Martha and Don, a cat, and "Harvey" his auto-pilot. The real trip started from Trinidad in 1994, sailing along the Venezuelan coast. Using photos and maps, Bob's presentation moved fast geographically thru the 35K mile trip. In a nutshell, he sailed from NYC, thru the Caribbean, thru the Panama Canal to the Galapagos, the Marquesas, down to Tahiti and Society Islands, eventually to New Zealand, back up to the Fiji Islands, Australia, up thru Indonesia and the Malacca Straight, to Sri Lanka, Madagascar, South Africa and eventually back to NYC by way of Bermuda. The Marquesas were magnificent, but sailing in the Tasman Sea, off the coast of Australia, was the most idyllic sailing in Bob"s life. It wasn"t smooth sailing all the way. His boat got too close to a freighter in the Panama Canal and it took three weeks for repairs. There were threatening waves and winds at times; in the Bay of Bengal, the wind died. New Zealand"s quarantine requirements for animals caused six months delay because of the cat on board. In Fiji, Bob forced himself to smile before drinking the chief's Kava; prepared in an old sock floating in brown water. Repairs for the boat's transmission and other parts caused several delays. And, crew members had to be hired several times during the ten year trip. However, Bob has no regrets; his description of the people and variety of cultures that he encountered along the way, plus his successful sail around the world, gives him great satisfaction.
Note: Robert S. Ashton's book, THIS OLD MAN AND THE SEA (How My Retirement Turned Into a Ten-Year Sail Around the World) available thru booksellers
Bob Williams, Asst. Secretary