Haddonfield65 Club
The Retired Men’s Club of Haddonfield
Web address: http://haddon65club.blogspot.com/
110 Rhoads Ave
Haddonfield, NJ
08033 May 1, 2014
Thought for the
Month
April 12
marked the sixty-ninth anniversary of the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Many have debated his tenure as our
President, but one fact is unassailable: his mark on history today is as strong
as it was during his life. As America entered World War II, in a state of the
union speech on January 6, 1941 FDR presented his reasons for American
involvement in what many thought to be a European war. He said America is
fighting for the universal freedoms that all people possess: “freedom of
speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want and freedom from fear.”* If we
look at our own country with a critical eye, can we proclaim that all our
citizens enjoy these basic freedoms?
A few
deranged men with weapons that should be used only on a battlefield in war have
killed our citizens in their places of worship. Many children go to bed hungry
at night in this land of plenty and the homeless are seen in all cities
throughout the country; fear of homelessness, fear of hunger, and fear to
worship as one chooses lingers in our land. What is our individual role in the
need to spread the universal freedoms to all our citizens? What can we do?
We consider
our country the greatest democracy on Earth. We are in danger of losing even
the perception that this is true. In an April 9, 2014 article titled “Testing
theories of American Politics: Élites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens” by
Martin Gilens, Professor of Politics at Princeton University and Benjamin Page
Professor of Politics at Northwestern University, they state, “that if policymaking is dominated by powerful
business organizations and a small number of affluent Americans, then America’s
claims to being a democratic society are seriously threatened.” When
influence by the wealthy dominates the political landscape, our democratic
society is indeed threatened.
Spring! The
sun is high, but the breezes have been cool. As predicted, flowers are covering
the landscape and the trees are blooming. What a delight to the senses! Would
we get tired of this season if it lasted twelve months? Probably not! This
summer’s temperature is predicted to be above average. We may look back at our
cool spring and long for the temperate breezes, we now are experiencing.
*FDR
Presidential Library and Museum – – Frank Gaudiano
President’s Message
Although May is the month that we note Mother's Day, the
Haddonfield 65 Club goes one step beyond. At our spring luncheon on May 8, we
welcome our better halves to attend our spring get together. The guest speaker
is a woman, Dorothy Stanaikis, whose topic is
"Let's Hear It for the Ladies" You will enjoy this interesting, and
entertaining program featuring extraordinary women who played an important part
in creating a new nation. In addition there will be a surprise musical
interlude provided by two young ladies.
Gentlemen don't worry we are still a men's club.
May also provides Memorial Day, which reminds us of the
great sacrifices that have been made in the past to keep our country free. Our Service Men and Women are still making
sacrifices.
True today as always: Freedom is
never free!
On the lighter side the Sixers season has ended, and their
reward for their past season will be some first round draft picks. The Phillies
are doing reasonable well playing just over .500 ball at this time.
We enjoyed a trip to Seabrook and Millville Airport Museum
last month, plus a surprise beer tasting at the Glasstown Brewery. The surprise
came when the owner charged $1.50 per sample.
More trips are being planned at this time; keep your eye out for
announcements.
We have guest speakers booked into August, so please join
us on Thursdays and take advantage of the opportunities your club provides. We
are always looking for new members, so bring a friend.
–
– Bill Brown
Ladies Spring Luncheon – May 8th
This is
always a nice affair, and this year should continue this long-standing
tradition. Out speaker will be Dorothy Stanaikis and her topic is “Let’s Hear
It for the Ladies” In addition there will be a short period of musical
entertainment by a local artist.
The Cash Bar
will open at 12:00 noon and lunch will be served at 12:30. There are two menu
choices; Penne Pasta, with a Vodka Blush Sauce or Chicken Sinatra with
prosciutto ham, sharp provolone cheese and Madeira Wine Sauce, with asparagus,
mashed potatoes, and salad.
The cost has remained at $25.00,
unchanged for several years.
4th of July Parade Preparations
Our committee
members this year are Dennis Kille, Bill Brown, Lloyd Martinson, Bernie
Schaming, Lou Dunkle, Joe Ade and Bill Hitchens. We have had two meetings with
the purpose of deciding on a theme for the 2014 Parade. We are open to
suggestions from the general membership, so feel free to express your ideas to
any one of the committee. We very much would like to have your input.
In the
meantime, are proceeding to work on a theme that will promote the 65Cllub and
our “seniorness”.
Petition to Members
Many members do
not participate in the activities of the club. What a shame. The club was founded to foster camaraderie
among retired men and provide a place where they can socialize and enjoy a
variety of activities with other like-minded men. We try to have an interesting
speaker every Thursday except for a business meeting on the second Thursday. We
play bridge on Mondays and pinochle on Wednesdays, bowling on Fridays at Laurel
Lanes and golf from April through November on Wednesdays at various courses. In
addition, Wii and a dart board are available, although nothing is formally
organized (sounds like an opportunity).
Perhaps you
have an idea for a new activity. New ideas are always welcome but to be
successful the idea must have a champion to get it organized as well as to
sustain it. Any idea for new activities will get strong support from the
“management”.
The club also
holds luncheons in the fall and spring, both at Tavistock. A Christmas party is
held each year at which we collect and donate small gifts to the Lakeland Long
Term Care Facility. Normally we have at
least two bus trips each year either to a casino or some other dinner theatre.
In 2013 we held the first wine & cheese event which was a big success as it
provided another opportunity for spouses or significant others to be involved.
The club also participates in the 4th of July parade, Earth Day
cleanup, the Lions club flea market and we publish this monthly newsletter.
Unfortunately,
many of these activities are championed, coordinated and run year after year by
the same people. Without more members getting involved, the club will
ultimately fail in its primary goal of fostering companionship and camaraderie
among retired men.
The Nazi “Babi-Yar” Massacre and Our Marriage
My wife,
Natasha, and I met in 2000 and married in 2005. It is a second marriage for both of us. My divorce began in 1980 and hers in
1992. Many times over the years since
then, we have discussed and chuckled at the several incidents that almost
prevented us from meeting each other.
Natasha was
born in Kiev, Ukraine, in 1949. Yes, she does have an accent. She gave her phone number while responding to
my ad in the Philadelphia Magazine, but her accent made the 7th
digit unclear to me. I liked her message
and her accent and knew I wanted to meet her. I dialed the phone number several times,
replacing the 7th digit each time without immediate success. One woman answered, “Are you calling
again? I told you she doesn’t live
here”! I guess I dialed that number more
than once!
Finally, on
one call, I heard from the other end, “This is Natasha”. After we spoke for a while, we agreed to meet
at the Hilton Inn (now Crown Plaza) in Cherry Hill. Years later she told me that when I said that
I was a Math teacher, she was tempted not to meet me. She pictured me as a bald person, with dark
rimmed glasses and with my pants pulled up over my big stomach!
Unfamiliar
with Cherry Hill, I left my home in Pennsylvania early so that I had extra time
to find the Hilton. We met, had a 4 hour
conversation, a nice snack and began our relationship. Natasha lost her job that day and was going
to call me when she got home and ask if we could meet some other day. When she got home, she heard my message that I
had left early to give myself extra time to find the Hilton. I doubt that we would have met if she had
contacted me before I left home.
Years later
she told me about Babi Yar! What was
Babi Yar? Here are a few links for you
to become more familiar with the massacre.
Briefly, in
September 1941, when the Germans occupied Kiev ,in two days the Nazi’s rounded
up over 33,000 Jews in Kiev and killed them all (a few escaped the shooting and
burial, info in the above links).
There were
rumors in Kiev that the Germans were heading to Kiev to round up the Jews and
kill them as they had done in Poland. Anyone
in Kiev, who had relatives that were serving or had served in the Soviet Army,
had special permits which allowed them a chance to leave, if you could find a
train to board. Not everyone did! Natasha’s grandfather, Natan Boguslavsky,
was still serving and therefore her mother, Sima, her 2 brothers and mother,
Anna, were able to board one of the few trains to the East. The trains had no definite destination; they
were just trying to get away from the advancing German army. The German Luftwaffe followed the trains and
bombed them as they traveled eastward. They
also bombed the trains when the passengers got off and while they waited for
another train. This is the reason they
ended up in a small town on the River Volga, about 2000 miles from Kiev. At this point, the Germans no longer followed
them. For more than 2 years, Sima, (18
and 5’ 0”) the oldest, was sent to work logging in a distant forest. They and other workers had no means to travel
back the long distance to the local small villages, so they dug holes in the
ground to survive the elements over the years.
Her middle brother, Vladimir, (16), survived by gathering food
(begging?) in surrounding villages and sharing with Sima and the remaining
family.
Thank God her mother had been
able to escape Kiev and survive from 1941 to 1943+ or none of the earlier
incidents between Natasha and me would ever have occurred! Natasha and I visited Kiev in 2007 to see her
cousin, Zhanna, Vladimir’s daughter. We
visited the Babi Yar Ravine. My
thoughts; “What if Sima had been buried here”? Sima is presently living in NE Philadelphia. Natasha was the first in her family to leave
the USSR, in 1978, for America. Her
family followed in 1988. Natasha’s
train(s) from the USSR to Ostia, Italy, had armed guards aboard many times. She had hand-sewed 4 bags for her, her
husband and daughter’s possessions. She
had no money to buy luggage.
– – Ralph
& Natasha Kramer
New Member
William L.
McMichael III and his wife Betty Ann live at 407 West End Ave., Haddonfield.
Their phone number is 856-429-2048. Bill worked in Engineering for Wyeth
Pharmaceuticals. His hobbies are golf and travel.
Welcome aboard Bill. We hope you
enjoy the 65 Club activities.
May Birthdays
|
2
Donald F. Miano
|
12 Lawrence D. Lyford
|
22 Howard Lamphere
|
25 John W. Petrozzi
|
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5 Michael Underwood
|
16 Brad Jones
|
23 Robert Parsons
|
28 Walter Baker
|
|
8
George R. Fisher
|
17 Donald R. Beck
|
25 Richard Sexton
|
28 William E. Reifsteck
|
|
12 George H. Tice
|
19 Kenneth Landgraf
|
25 John S. Garra
|
30 John P. Williams
|
|
12 Warren F. Tomlinson
|
22 Ralph Kramer
|
|
|
65th Anniversary
Rowan C. Pearce, M.D. received his
college and medical education at the Univ. of Penna. He and his wife Jeanne
(nee Kirkman) met on a double date—but Jeanne was the date of the other fellow.
This was soon corrected, and they were married on May 28, 1949. Rowan had returned
from Asia after WW II in March 1947, wishing to start training in the eye, ear,
nose and throat specialty. He found all the graduate schools and residences
full, with the flood of doctors returning from the war. So, he spent 1 8 months
working in industrial medicine with the Bethlehem Steel Company. Then an
opening occurred at the Univ. of Penna. Graduate School and after a school year
there, a year of residency at Pennsylvania Hospital and another year at Geisinger
Hospital, Dr. Pearce joined Dr. Oram Kline in Camden in medical practice. This
was interrupted by the Korean War in which Rowan served approximately 16 months
as a medical officer. Upon returning, he rejoined Dr. Kline. Rowan then became
Chief Attending Otolaryngologist at the Cooper Hospital in 1960, and practiced
in Camden and Haddonfield until 1988, when he retired. Jeanne and Rowan have
one son who lives in Deptford. There is another son who is a physician and
lives in York, Pa. Their daughter lives in Little Silver, N.J. with her husband
and two sons.
Rowan served
many years as our 65 Club Secretary. Jeanne and Rowan now reside in Willow
Valley Square, Lancaster, Pa.
50th Anniversary
Louis D. Dunkle and
Carleen Sowles were married on May 23, 1964 at Our Savior Lutheran Church in
Haddonfield. Lou grew up in nearby Gloucester City. Both Carleen’s
parents were raised in the San Francisco Bay area and were married in Honolulu
in April 1941, where they were civilians working for the government at the
Pearl Harbor base. Carleen came along in 1944, when she was born at
Queen’s Hospital in Honolulu. Subsequently, she and her parents returned
to the mainland and settled in Walnut Creek, CA. Shell Chemical
transferred her father to Haddonfield in the early 1960’s, and Carleen followed
while attending the U of CA - Davis. Her mother became the church
secretary at Our Savior., and, in what may have been a mother-pastor
arrangement, Carleen and Lou were assigned seats at the same table at a
church dinner. The rest is history. Their wedding was to be the
first in the newly air-conditioned church sanctuary, but on that very hot May
day the newly installed A/C system failed its first test. Fortunately,
Carleen and Lou, like so many others, survived their many parental “tests” with
3 children and 4 grandchildren and during their half-century of marriage have
managed to maintain their “cool.” They celebrated their 25th anniversary
with a trip to Hawaii and decided to do the same for the 50th. In case
you wondered, Carleen does have her Hawaii birth certificate
Clubhouse Programs
|
Thursday
|
May 1
|
Directors meeting
|
10:00 AM
|
|
Thursday
|
May 1
|
SMOKE POLUTION……………………………………….Walt
Delengkowski.
|
1:30 PM
|
|
Thursday
|
May 8
|
Ladies Spring Luncheon at Tavistock Country Club
|
12:00 PM
|
|
Thursday
|
May 15
|
THE BOY WHO SAID NO!
...............................................Patty Sheehy, Author.
|
1:30 PM
|
|
Thursday
|
May 22
|
THE HADDONFIELD GARDEN CLUB …………………..JO
PECORELLI
|
1:30 PM
|
|
Thursday
|
May 29
|
BRANDYWINE IN HADDONFIELD………………………………..Kim Fasolo
|
1:30 PM
|
|
Thursday
|
Jun 5
|
Directors meeting
|
10:00 AM
|
|
Thursday
|
Jun 5
|
HMHS TOP STUDENT
|
1:30 PM
|
|
Thursday
|
Jun 12
|
Business Meeting
|
1:30 PM
|
|
Thursday
|
Jun 19
|
SENIOR CITIZENS UNITED COMMUNITY
SERVICES………………….Staff
|
1:30 PM
|
|
Thursday
|
Jun 26
|
MEDICARE FRAUD…………………………………………..Tunde
Akindolabu
|
1:30 PM
|
NOTE: We have an insatiable appetite for presenters. We
rely on the vast experience of our members to satisfy this need by suggesting
speakers. So, be on the alert and notify Bill Brown (429-4368) if you have any
suggestions for speakers.
Activities
Bowling
We bowl every Friday morning at
9:00, at Laurel Lanes, Rt. 73 in Maple Shade. The price is $6.55 for three
games, and this includes free coffee and pastry. Also included, if needed, is
the use of bowling shoes and a ball. This is probably the “best buy” in South
Jersey.
The official cumulative score
keeping is now concluded for the year, but we continue bowling every Friday.
|
Bowling
Averages for 2013-2014 Scoring Season
|
|||
|
Name
|
Average
|
Name
|
Average
|
|
Walt Baker CHAMP
|
180
|
Dick
Gimigliano
|
128
|
|
Bill
Brown
|
165
|
Tom
Mervine
|
125
|
|
Bill
Coggins
|
141
|
Charles
Legge
|
117
|
– – Walt Baker
Bridge
|
Final Average
Bridge Scores for 2013-2014 Scoring Season
|
|||||
|
2.589
|
Bob Ball WINNER
|
1.808
|
Bill Hoeberg
|
1.000
|
Bill Hitchens
|
|
2.464
|
Howard Rementer
|
1.370
|
Milt Leontiades
|
0.767
|
Charles Legge
|
|
1.967
|
Tom Mervine
|
1.339
|
Rich Cosentino
|
0.600
|
Rich Lucas
|
|
1.820
|
Jack Walden
|
1.259
|
Bernie Schaming
|
|
|
We will continue to
play at the Clubhouse every Monday at 12:45 throughout the summer. If you are
interested in Duplicate Bridge please join us.
– – Bernie Schaming
Pinochle
|
Final Average Pinochle Scores for 2013-2014 Scoring
Season
|
|||||
|
4.7
|
Bud Pusatere WINNER
|
3.4
|
Roland Heilig
|
3.0
|
Tom Mervine
|
|
4.1
|
Jack Walden
|
3.1
|
Ron Howley
|
2.8
|
Henry Leimkuhler
|
|
4.0
|
Howard Rementer
|
3.1
|
Joe Ade
|
2.0
|
Charles Legge
|
|
3.8
|
Len Walden
|
3.1
|
Bill Hoeberg
|
1.8
|
Don Gosnay
|
Pinochle
is played every Wednesday at 12:30 PM at the Clubhouse. Play begins at 12:30 PM; please arrive by 12:15 PM. You
are invited to join us.
– –
Tom Mervine
REMINDER: There will be no newsletter in June or
August. A mid-summer newsletter will be published in July.
Bill
Hitchens Editors Frank Gaudiano
Composing Editor Bernie Schaming
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