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A Non-profit Organization For Retired Men

Monthly Newsletter - Est. 1963

North Bay Branch No. 7, San Rafael

Website: www.sirinc2.org/branch7

HOROLOGIUM

55th year Br. 7

April 2018

BIG SIR—Terry Aleshire

Greetings, Fellow SIRs,

Good turnout for the March monthly luncheon even though the weather conditions were challenging. I introduced Basil "the Buzzard" who was asked to address the members concerning internal business. Be-cause I spoke "buzzard" I was able to interpret Basil's concerns. Generally, Basil reminded all members to pay their annual dues. I'm not clear if the membership appreciated Basil's buzzard talk. It was requested that Basil "the Buzzard" should never return to the hallowed halls of McInnis sanctuary. He is now officially retired in my "man cave" in Inverness.

Once again Dr. Bob Bundy had a wonderful speaker, Ms. Safia Kryger-Nelson, an administra-tor for a major non-profit that funds other local non-profits for social communities activities throughout the Bay area. She was originally from Denmark and she speaks six (6) different lan-guages. However, she did not know how to speak "buzzard."

There was a lot of grumbling about the lunch; corn beef was overcooked, potatoes cold. Not a happy group that paid $28.00 bucks. Manage-ment was informed and it will be corrected.

Ted Pulled indicated that the SIRs outing to Beach Blanket Babylon is now full. This should really be a fun evening for all.

Birthdays for April: 1. Ralph Cole 4/17, 2. Ray Gergus 4/11, 3. Hal Hester 4/4, 4. Charles Lom-ba 4/27, 5. Jon Rolien 4/1. 6. Peter Thompson Sr. 4/26, 7. James Toso 4/24.

To all, keep up the wonderful work regarding the recruitment of new members.

Respectfully submitted,

Terry Aleshire Big SIR

April 2018 Meetings Thursday April 5 — Luncheon

Thursday April 26 — Board Meeting

LITTLE SIR—David Denning

Hello Fellow Sirs,

We had another well-attended lunch in March. I thought the speaker, Safia Kryger-Nelson gave a good talk. The Marin Com-munity Foundation is a seriously impressive foun-dation. I did want to apologize for forgetting to sing “Happy Birthday” to the guys having birth-days.

I’m recovering from a trip to Visalia in our ‘48 Chevy Woodie. Even though the main event was cancelled due to rain (that never happened), on Friday night we went to a drive-in movie on the lawn of a local school. Woodies and other classic and hot rods watched “American Graffiti” on a large inflatable screen. The Woodies spent Sat-urday at a spread on the edge of town. The own-er collects classic and antique cars, bikes, and planes. Most of the cars are race cars from 1906 to today. I went around his small track in a 1916 National race car. A large monster with giant wood-spoke wheels.

I’m still recovering from the 5+ hour drive in the old Chevy.

David

April 5th Luncheon Menu

Chicken Marsala with Potatoes

or Grilled Salmon with Mango Papaya

Luncheon & Raffle Ticket Sellers April 5 –TBA

May 3 –TBA

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MEMBERSHIP & ATTENDANCE REPORT March 2018

TOTAL ACTIVE MEMBERS - 3/1/18 92

GAINS DURING MONTH 0

LOSSES DURING MONTH

#89 Lee Landry, relocating

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TOTAL ACTIVE MEMBERS - 4/1/18 91

ATTENDANCE March 2018

TOTAL MEMBERS ATTENDING 62

TOTAL MEMBERS ABSENT 30

GUESTS, VISITORS, & SPEAKER 3

Call Ray Gergus at 332-3987 if you can’t attend a luncheon

Bob Rigler, Secretary

Executive Committee meeting of February 22, 2018:

Big Sir: Terry opened with a summary of “Thoughts by State President Derek Southern” followed by announcement of the annual Big Sir Meeting on Monday March 26. One specific item for review is preparation of Form 27. We will at-tend.

Secretary: Minutes of the January 25th meeting were presented for approval by the Assistant Secretary. MSP. The Form 27 will be updated next month. For the record, membership applica-tions for Mr. Ed Bosco, Gregory Poulos and Jeff Stahl were presented for acceptance by Maynard, MSP.

Treasurer: Al Wuthnow reported that current cash balance is $5,745.63 and then commented on the Form 28 YTD for July. We are long on cash partly due to inclusion of prepaid tickets for future events. Unfortunately, only about 60% of dues have been paid but Al is going after the rest. Ralph completed our annual audit and found our books are maintained in accord with generally accepted accounting principles. Minor questions on information on the location of assets i.e, The Branch Gavel.

Little Sir: Dave opened a discussion on speaker programs starting with The Marin Community

April 2018 Birthdays

46 Jon Rolien April 1

4 Hal Hester April 3

25 Jim Toso April 24

86 Chuck Lomba April 27

39 Ray Gergus April 11

18 Ralph Cole April 17

6 Peter Thompson April 26

Foundation, our next presenter. Assisted by Bob Bundy and others in touch w/ possible speakers, there was discussion and conclusion. January thru March, is a success, April thru June is under control and two months are still open later in the year.

Activities: The Beach Blanket Babylon Program on June 21st is on. Ted says that of 46 seats on the bus, 40 are sold and sales will close after next week’s SIR meeting. He reported the com-pletion of administrative requirements for a travel event. Forms 50A, 53 and The Travel Agent are attached for filing by The Secretary. Ted advised the Board that The Golf Committee will reorgan-ize itself in the wake of Lee Landry’s leaving the area. The management will be divided among five players: Ted Pullen, Ron DeCook, Ron Pas-torino, Mike Hahn and Bob Testa. Our thanks go to those who have stepped forward to lead our biggest activity.

Membership: In addition to his motion above, Maynard noted that with the loss of Lee Landry and the gain of three new members our net mem-bership stands at 90- good work! Also noted, he needs more hats and Guest invitation cards for recruitment, Bob and Robby please help him.

Wine Club: Fred reminded of the Wine tasting at Pacheco Ranch Winery in Ignacio on Feb 25 at 2PM. There was discussion of a combined travel-wine event in the central valley. Maybe a day of wine and horses after Labor Day (4th Tues?)

Submitted by Russ Wallace, Asst Secretary

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LUCKY 7 GOLF RESULTS

TRAVEL NEWS FROM THE SIR WEBSITE

Peacock Gap (Scramble) - March 7th

1 Haight, Sarantakis, Aleshire & Kurz 42.00

2 Landry, Pullen, Poulos & Wuthnow TB 42.25

3 Campas, Pastorino, Land & Phillips TB 42.25

4 Violante, Giachino, Wong & Donohue 44.25

Closest to Hole 6 Closest to Hole 10

1. Gordon Haight

9’2” 1. Gordon Haight

17’10”

2. Spencer Brainard

17’3” 2. Ron Moresco 44’1”

Blue Rock West (666 The Beast) - March 14th

1 Gordon Haight & Lee Landry 66

2 Bob Testa & Jerry Wong 68

3 Don Troya & Rich Lucchesi TB 69

4 Ron Moresco & Ted Pullen TB 69

STENZEL CONTEST STANDINGS

1. Jerry Wong 6’9” 2. Ron Pastorino 7’5½”

3. Gordon Haight 9’2”

Closest to Hole 7 Closest to Hole 15

1. Ron Pastorino 7’5½” 1. Jerry Wong 6’9”

2. Lee Landry 14’2” 2. Ron Moresco 62’11”

Sep 8, 2018: Colorado Train Trip. 7- day trip with stops at the US Air Force Academy, Pikes Peak, Garden of the Gods, Colorado National Monument and Colorado Museum. Cost $3,035 includes 15 meals, R/T Air, home pickup and back, professional tour manager, Larry Yarberry, Br 8, 925-890-9245.

Sep 13-23, 2018: Alaska Inside Passage. 11-day Grand Princess Cruise starting in SF with ports of call at Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay, Ketchikan and Victoria B.C. Trip includes R/T transfer, Gratui-ties, Shipboard credit, and Photo. Cost $1,899 to $3,249 depending on cabin. Tom Molinari, Br 147, 707-762-1880. stmolinari@sbcglobal.net

Sep 17-25, 2018: The BIG E. The largest fair on the East Coast. Fall colors, culture, history, en-tertainment, shopping, food and drink. Highlights include Eastern States Exhibition, Storrowton Village, Springfield Museum, Dr Seuss Sculpture Garden, Big E Circus and Parade, Ben and Jerry Factory, Lunch at Trapp Family Lodge, Quechee Gorge Loon Gondola ride, Portland City Tour and Lighthouse Lovers Cruise. Trip includes R/T air, accommodations, deluxe motor coach, Meals, admission fees, gratuities. all taxes, and driver, step on guide fees. Lee Suess, Br 96, 408-309-1480

APRIL SPEAKER

Our April speaker will be our own Ray Gergus, who will tell us the story of the sinking of the USS Indi-anapolis during WW II.

QUALIFIED CHARITABLE DISTRIBUTIONS

Under the new tax law, if we itemize our deduc-tions, we will be able to deduct no more than $10,000 in state and local taxes. Many of us have paid off our mortgages and, unless we have significant medical expenses, we may not have enough itemized deductions to match or exceed the new standard deduction of $13,300 for a sin-gle senior or $26,600 for a senior couple. Many of us will thus take the standard deduction rather than itemizing. That means that any charitable donations we make do us no good, tax-wise.

But there is an alternative. If you have a regular IRA and are over 70-1/2 years old, you have to take a Required Minumum Distribution (RMD) each year from your IRA. You can make charita-ble donations directly from your IRA, called Qual-ified Charitable Distributions (QCD). They count against your RMD and reduce the taxable amount of the RMD. Thus you can reduce your taxable income and can take the new larger standard deduction as well.

We are not qualified to give tax advice. You should contact your tax professional to see if this would work for you.

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NEW MEMBER JEFF STAHL SPONSOR RON DAVIS

NEW MEMBER GREG POULOS SPONSOR GEORGE SARANTAKIS

AREA 8 GOVERNOR—Sandy Grieve

Around the Area

The Big Sirs of the seven Area 8 Branches got together on March 15th with our Area Governor, Sandy Grieve. This was a special day for Mike Burwen, Branch 147, as it also marked the completion of his 80th trip around the sun. Mike with Gary Haugen, Branch 58, drove down together from Petaluma but Terry Aleshire, Branch 7, set the distance record, coming all the way from Inverness. Jack Friesen, Branch 68, Chuck Krogh, Branch 22, Dick Locke, Branch 134, and Jake Solomon, Branch 47 complet-ed the group. Despite inclement weather, inconvenient traffic and incoherent directions every body ar-rived at Sandyʼs Strawberry home in time to begin the meeting just 5 minutes or so after the scheduled start of 11:00 a.m. The main objectives of the meeting were to:

• Improve co-ordination between the Branches

• Prepare for the Statewide Big Sirs meeting on March 26th

• Set up an Area wide publicity and press relations campaign

• Establish an Area 8 Advisory Council

Good progress was made on the agenda and the meeting went well. It was also an opportunity to get to know each other a little better and discuss problems the Branches face. There’s an old joke about the CEO insisting that every so called problem just indicated a hidden opportunity and that all such oppor-tunities should be brought to him. This went well until a trembling subordinate had to tell him they were facing “An insurmountable opportunity.” SIRs does face a very real problem. The range of entertain-ment, education and erudition products available to individuals over the internet and on TV seems to have led to a lesser need for social activities. It is certainly easier to fill time these days, terms like Fa-cebook Addiction are even being bandied about. The membership of all social clubs is declining and SIRs is certainly no exception. But there really is no substitute for face to face contact with other human beings and the friendships and fellowships that develop from discovering mutual interests. We are de-termined to make sure that Area recruiting difficulties do not turn into “An insurmountable opportunity.” Branch 134 has done much better than the others and is expanding. Dick Locke, facing a membership that is starting to strain Marinʼs banquet facilities, is anxious to share their best practices with the whole Area and his offer will certainly be taken up with gratitude The first meeting of the new Area Council has been scheduled for April 19th and more details will follow when all the Branches have selected their representatives.

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ATTENDANCE:

Members who fail to attend three consecutive meetings without giving prior notice to the Attendance Chairman or who attend less than six meetings within the past twelve months are to be notified by mail of pending membership termination. Attendance at another Branch’s meeting, duly recorded with the Attendance Chairman of that Branch will be credited to the Member’s attendance record.

AREA 8 MONTHLY MEETINGS

Branch 7 McInnis Park 1st Thursday Branch 22 McInnis Park 1st Tuesday Branch 47 McInnis Park 4th Tuesday

Branch 58 Elks Lodge Petaluma 3rd Tuesday Branch 68 McInnis Park 2nd Tuesday

Branch 134 Embassy Suites 1st Tuesday Branch 147 Elks Lodge Petaluma 2nd Tuesday

NON-RESPONSIBILITY DECLARATION

All activities arranged for, or by, or sponsored by, Sons in Retirement, Inc. and its branches are for the convenience and pleasure of the members and their guests who desire to participate. Sons in Retirement, Inc. and its branches do not assume any responsibility for the well-being or safety of the participants or their property in matters pertaining to said activities.

Executive Board meets the Thursday preceding the Thursday Luncheon at Marin Joe’s, Corte Madera at 11:00 AM. Members welcome to

attend.

2018 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Big Sir: Terry Aleshire Little Sir: David Denning

Secretary: Bob Rigler Asst Secretary: Russ Wallace Treasurer: Al Wuthnow Asst Treasurer: Ralph Sherer

Directors: Bob Bundy, Fred Hajduk, Ted Pullen, George Sarantakis, Maynard Willms, Ron DeCook,

& Bob Phillips Advisor: Ken Kauer Publisher: Kirk Beales — 415-492-2686,

bear38@outlook.com Webmaster: Robby Robinson — robbyr67@att.net

FIRST CLASS MATERIAL

North Bay Branch #7

Bob Rigler, Secretary, 148 Sycamore Ave, Mill

Valley CA 94941

Tel: 415-388-4360

Return address

SUNSHINE & SHADOWS Ken Kauer, Chairman, 472-2334

(No e-mail)

ANNUAL DUES ARE DUE

PLEASE BRING A CHECK TO THE NEXT LUNCHEON FOR $35 (SAME AS 2017), PAYABLE TO SIR BRANCH 7, AND GIVE IT TO TREASURER AL WUTHNOW

LUNCHEON COST REMAINS $28