MMC Presidents Message
Joe Cassidy
(move your mouse over the picture to see
another side of our president!)
May 2008
This will be my last
President's message since my term as President will expire
in June 2008. At that time your new President and
Board will assume the responsibility of managing club
affairs. I have all the confidence in the new Board and I am
certain they will continue to provide you with excellent
venues and programs that will keep the interest and
participation of the members alive and well.
I
would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the total support
our present Board has given to me as President. I
believe we have accomplished all of our goals and have
provided the membership with interesting, informative and
enjoyable events this past year. Rather than single out out
each member of the Board, suffice it to say they all have
been actively involved in club affairs, They have attended
our Board meetings religiously, and were never afraid to
speak out whether they agreed or disagreed with the
majority. I believe we are a much better club as a result of
the effort of our current Board.
From a personal viewpoint, I am honored that you chose me to
be your President for this past year. It has been an
enjoyable experience for me and one that I will cherish the
rest of my days. I enjoyed working with the Board,
conducting the Board meetings and the general meetings.
During my business career I served on boards and was
chairman of some, but these were involved with business and
were governed strictly by Roberts Rules of Order. As a
member of the Marco Men's Club Board of Directors for the
past six years I had a great deal of fun and enjoyed the
interaction of the Board members. Fortunately, I will remain
on the board one more year as Immediate Past President. I
wish our new Board continued success.
On April 5, Phil Kostelnik assisted by his wife Marilyn and
Bob Marks hosted our first ever Picnic/Bingo Sarazen Park.
65 members and their ladies enjoyed a wonderful sunny
afternoon. It was a huge success and we will continue to
have this as a regular event. The next scheduled event
will be in the fall. Thanks Phil a great time was had by
all.
On April 10 Jerry Stought assisted by Jerry Masters hosted
our annual Crazy Hat/Shirt at our April General Meeting. At
least 40 of the members attending participated in the event.
Prizes were awarded for different categories but the best
hat based on audience approval belonged to Al Cenicola.
Thanks Jerry and Jerry ,another great event .
Also on April 10 Pat Thawley assisted by his wife. Gayle
hosted a co-ed luncheon at Mozart's. 48 members and their
ladies enjoyed a fabulous meal and a great afternoon.
Thanks Pat.
On Saturday April 12, the Marco Community Bank hosted an
outdoor BBQ for the Men's Club. 170 members and their ladies
enjoyed the hospitality of the Marco Community Bank and
enjoyed a wonderful luncheon. A number of door prizes
were awarded and the bank once again earned their name
"community".
On April 16 Roger Hubley, assisted by his wife, Sigrid,
hosted the annual Couples Golf Tournament at the Links of
Naples. Couples participated in the event. Afterwards
a party was held at Wayne Boose’s condo where prizes were
awarded for the participants. Thanks Roger, everyone I
talked to said they had a fun filled afternoon.
On April 24 Joe Varano, assisted by his wife, hosted a co-ed
dinner at LaCasita.112 members and their ladies attended and
were treated to an excellent meal. Thanks Joe good job
as usual.
On April 25, Al Vacio hosted the 4 Man Scramble at the
Glades CC. 58 members participated and had a great day of
golf. A party was held after the event and awards were
distributed to the players. Thanks Al.
Joe Cassidy
April 2008
THE
LADIES ARE TAKING OVER!!!!!!!!
At the
March General Meeting the members were surprised with a
demonstration by the past First Ladies. Led by sweet,
innocent, diminutive Darol Traeger, they stormed into our
meeting, took over the microphones and proceeded to outline
their program for taking over the Men's Club.
Mary
Stought was introduced as the first woman
president candidate because her husband Jerry was the only
president who had two terms. She said that if Hillary can
follow in Bill's footsteps, she can follow in Jerry's. (Does
this mean two terms if elected ?)
She
then introduced her board of Directors:
Mary
Ann Cassidy In charge of meeting set-up and poker games
Sue
Marks Cruise Director
Adele
Boose Treasurer
Dianne
Wetjen Newsletter Editor
Bonnie
Bozzo In charge of prostate exams based on her experience
with Dr. Al.
Kris
Gaffney Artistic Director and rules Enforcer
Helga
Godfrey R.V. vacation planner
Jean
Wright In charge of 50/50 drawings. Proceeds will provide
funds for facials and other beauty treatments for board
members.
Pam
Molander Secretary of Defense
Ed
Crane Token male Webmaster
The
club name would be changed to the Unisex Club. She then
tried to bribe us by having beer and pizza at our meeting
instead of coffee and donuts. Fortunately one of our members
called 911 and the police arrived and escorted the ladies
out and charged them with disturbing the peace. Thanks
Ladies for providing us with some great entertainment and a
lot of laughs.
Our
Annual Joke Day was held the same day, hosted by Joe Varano.
There were nine participants and we heard a variety of good
jokes.
I
thought my jokes were pretty good but apparently the judges
did not agree. I placed 7th. I have the names of the judges
and there will be repercussions. The defending champion, Al
Bozzo, defended his crown and repeated as champion.
Wayne
Boose reports that in February 2008 we had income of
$15,021.00 and expenses of $24,588.62 leaving us with
$15,672.92. Ed Vesely reports we have 563 resident members
and 31 non-resident members for a total of 594.
Joe
Rad hosted baseball games on March 1, Twins vs. Red Sox and
March 9, Twins vs. NY Yankees. Both games were sold out.
Thanks Joe its always a fun day to watch the Twins play.
On
March 13 Ron Moores hosted a men's only pizza lunch at
Vandy's. 39 men attended and enjoyed an excellent salad and
pizza and comradeship. Thanks Ron.
On
March 17, Bill Sullivan, assisted by his wife Carol, hosted
our annual St. Patrick's day coed luncheon. 153 members and
their ladies attended making it the largestturnout ever for
a St. Patrick's day luncheon. Everyone was dressed in green
and everyone was Irish. The entertainment provided by Jerry
Masters, Peter Clapp, Alan Wetjen and Kenny Boston kept us
in the Irish celebration mood all afternoon. Bill Sullivan
did a wonderful job hosting this event and even bought a
number of his friends from New England down to celebrate.
On
March 28, Gerry Masters assisted by his wife Mary Helen
hosted a trip to Germain Arena to watch the Florida
Everblades. The event was sold out and those attending
enjoyed a fun night out. Thanks Jerry.
Dr.
Greg Cheek, a Marco Men's Club member, was recently honored
by the Safari Club International, South Florida Chapter, as
the 2007 Hunter of the Year. Greg was also recently honored
by the Naples/Ft. Myers SCI chapter as the African Hunter of
the year.. He was instrumental in establishing programs in
Africa for feeding hundreds of people in the SCI Food from
Hunters Program. Congratulations Greg from your friends in
the Marco Men's Club.
Joe
Cassidy
March 2008
Phil
Eqizio, a Marco Men's Club member, was recently honored by
the Marco Community Bank. He was presented with the
Community Service Award for his volunteer service at the
Marco Island Hospital Auxiliary. Phil joined the auxiliary
in in 1997 and was appointed chairman in 1998. Phil has
given more than 11,000 volunteer hours to the auxiliary.
Congratulations Phil, your Men's Club friends are very proud
of you and your accomplishments.
We
also want to congratulate Karen Saeks, wife of Dr. Ed Saeks,
chairman of our annual blood drive. Karen was the recipient
of MICA's 2008 Humanitarian of the Year Award, one of the
most prestigious awards on Marco Island. Karen is the
driving force behind and the founder of "Bedtime Bundles".
The bundles consist of a pillow case filled with basic items
to be distributed to children of migrant workers who travel
from crop to crop, leaving behind all of their personal
belongings,. Congratulations Karen, what a marvelous
undertaking, assisting these underprivileged children. The
Marco Men's Club is proud of you and Dr. Ed.
Wayne
Boose reports we are in excellent financial condition. As
of January 31 we had assets of $32,351.15 and liabilities of
$10,553.00 (Sweetheart Ball deposits).
Ed
Vesely reports we now have 559 legal resident members and 31
non-resident members for a total of 590 members.
On
February 2, Fred Stavola, assisted by his wife, Judy, hosted
the annual New Members Breakfast at the Forest Glen Golf and
CC. Over 100 members and their ladies attended and enjoyed a
wonderful breakfast provided by Forest Glen. Our club
founder and first president, Paul Kurtzman, spoke to the new
members and stressed upon them the need to get involved in
club affairs. Thanks Fred, I am certain our new members now
have a better appreciation of what our club is all about.
On
February 6, Gary Mandley hosted a men's only lunch at Little
Bar in Goodland. We had a good turnout of 35 members who
enjoyed some good food, service and fellowship. Thanks
Gary.
On
February 14, Pat Thawley, assisted by his wife, Gayle,
hosted a Valentine's day luncheon at Konrad's. 117 members
and their ladies were treated to great food and a good
time. Kudos to Pat and to Konrad's for providing us with an
enjoyable afternoon.
On
February 22, George Godfrey and Fred Stavola and their wives
hosted our Annual Sweetheart Ball at the Marriott. The
turnout was disappointing as we only had 198 people
attending. Nevertheless those attending enjoyed dancing and
listening to the music of Joey Dio and the Jet Set. Thanks
George and Fred for a very entertaining night.
CALLING ALL NEW MEMBERS
We
are concerned over the lack of participation by our new
members. Remember this is your club and we continue to urge
you to take an active roll in the affairs of the club.
Volunteer to host or assist the host at one of our
functions.
Joe
Cassidy
February
2008
Winter
has arrived at Marco Island, we have had some cold days and
chillier nights. It's a good thing we brought some winter
clothes with us from up north. Speaking of up north, we
have to find some comfort when you realize the terrible
weather they are experiencing this winter. I take great
pleasure when talking to my daughter in New Jersey, she will
be telling me how cold and depressing it is and I tell her I
am sitting by my pool, in the sun and enjoying a cold
beer. I want to dispel a rumor that is going around, that
the men's club has endorsed a particular slate of candidates
for city council. NOT TRUE, we are a social organization and
we never get involved in political issues. Ed Vesely reports
we now have 552 legal resident members and 32 non-resident
members giving us a total 584 members. Remember the 32
nonresident members do not count toward our maximum of 600
members. Wayne Boose reports that as of year end 2007 we had
assets of $22,809.00 and liabilities of $4,930.00
(Sweetheart Ball registrations) leaving us with a net
balance of $17,809.00. On December 31,2007 over 200 members
and their ladies embarked on a five day cruise to Cozumel
and Belize aboard the Navigator of the Seas. What a
marvelous ship, everyone was impressed with their
accommodations and the splendor of the ship. Bob Marks is to
be congratulated again for arranging and organizing this
trip. Kudos to you Bob. The weather wasn't the best but it
didn't stop us from having a fun time and enjoying a great
trip. About the only thing that went wrong was that Tom
Traeger lost his hat to the sea. I understand he has had
this hat for over 20 years, so needless to say he was very
upset. As a matter of fact he thought about throwing Darol
into the sea to retrieve it, but thought better about it
when he realized Darol was more important to him than the
hat.
On
January 10 Joe Varano assisted by his wife, Carol, hosted
the 16th anniversary of the Men's Club at a luncheon at
Carrabbas. 176 members and their ladies were treated to a
great luncheon and entertainment provided by Joe.
The
most surprised guy in the place was yours truly. I was
honored as the 16th president of the Men's Club and was
awarded a beautiful clock/plaque. Thanks Joe, a great time
was had by all. On January 23 Ron Moores assisted by his
wife Margret hosted a play at the Marco Players. It was a
sellout crowd to see “Relatives and other Strangers". It
was a hilarious show that also included audience
participation which was a riot. On January Joe Varano
assisted by his wife, Carol, hosted a dinner Train
Theatre. 42 members attended and enjoyed a wonderful five
course dinner and a entertaining "Whodunit" that kept us
guessing all night long. Thanks Joe
That's
all folks.
Joe
Cassidy
January 2008
Well
the Christmas and New Years celebrations are history. The
Christmas tree and decorations are packed away, the only
thing not packed away are the excess pounds we all packed
on. It has been a great year for the Marco Men's Club
beginning in January 2007, highlighted by our Past
President's luncheon at Carraba's, the New Members Breakfast
at the Old Marco Inn, the Annual Sweetheart Ball at the
Marriott, the riverboat cruise on the Caloosahatchee, the
cruise aboard the Marco Princess, the Installation Dinner
Dance at Hideaway, the Hurricane Ball at Hideaway, and the
annual Christmas/Holiday Luncheon at the Old Marco Inn. It
has been a very busy 2007, and Fred Stavola, our senior vice
president has some great events scheduled for 2008. Watch
your Newsletter and Web page for additional information.
At our
January 2008 board meeting I will select a chairman and one
additional board member to head up the Nominating Committee
for the coming year. They in turn will select three members
from the general membership to form this committee. The
nominees they select will be presented to the board for
their approval at the March board meeting and then to the
general membership at its April meeting. If you are
interested in serving on either the nominating committee or
the board of directors please contact me prior to the March
board meeting. I can be reached at 642-1491 or joecassidy530@comcast.net.
NOTICE
TO NEW MEMBERS: On Saturday, February 2 we will be having a
new members breakfast at the Forest Glen CC in Naples. This
affair provides an excellent opportunity for you to meet the
current board members as well as some of our past
presidents. We encourage you to attend and you might want
to consider becoming more involved in the club by signing up
on our volunteer list to assist in hosting future events.
On
December 5, Wayne Boose, a former president of the Men's
Club, assisted by his wife Adele, hosted a coed luncheon at
the Old Marco Lodge. Sixty two members and their ladies
were treated to a great meal and fellowship. Thanks Wayne
great event and we appreciate your staying involved.
On
December 7, fifty members traveled to the First Baptist
Church of Naples to attend the festive Living Tree Concert.
The event was hosted by Jerry Masters assisted by his wife
Mary Helen. It was a beautiful concert; putting everyone in
the Christmas spirit. Thanks Jerry for hosting this
memorable event.
On
December 11, Alan Wetjen, a former president of the Men's
Club, assisted by his wife, Dianne, hosted the Holiday Pops
concert at the Philharmonic. Prior to the concert about 50
of us enjoyed a fantastic meal at the Red Lobster. There
were one hundred twenty four members at the concert who
enjoyed Christmas and Hanukkah music performed by the Naples
Philharmonic Orchestra. It was a great night. Thanks
Alan.
On
December 13, Joe Varano assisted by his wife, Carol, hosted
our annual Christmas/Holiday Luncheon. One hundred twenty
six attended. The caroling was led by Peter Clapp, and the
Twelve Days Of Christmas was led by, who else, but Bonnie
Bozzo. Bonnie, what happened to the six geese a laying, you
really had to work on them. Thanks Joe, I have had a number
of people thanking me for the great time they had, and I
told them I had nothing to do with it and gave all the
credit to you.
On
December 31, Fred Stavola, assisted by his wife, Judy, will
host a New Years Eve Landlubbers Party at Blue Fusion.
Sixty four members have signed up so far and Fred expects
more sign-ups. Fred, I will be thinking of you when I
am on the veranda of my room drinking some exotic drink.
Speaking of the New Years Cruise, Bob Marks says it is sold
out with over two hundred members aboard. Once again Bob
Marks did his usual fantastic job in organizing this cruise.
I WANT
TO TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO WISH ALL OF OUR MEN'S CLUB
MEMBERS AND THEIR FAMILIES A HAPPY AND HEALTHY NEW YEAR.
Joe
Cassidy
December 2007
Our membership now stands at five hundred twenty three
resident members
and thirty two non-resident members for a total of five
hundred sixty five
members. Our finances are in good condition. In August we
had income of
$4,933.33 and expenses of $8,605.27, leaving us with a bank
balance of
$ 25,330.90.
Even though
we have 565 members in our club, we only have a core of
approximately 10% that are participating in our events.
C'mon guys when
are the rest of you going to get involved? Come to the
monthly general
meeting, come to the events, or better yet volunteer to host
an event. The
board with the approval of the general membership opened up
the club
to 600 members to eliminate the wait list. So we did our
part, now do yours,
Get involved!!!!!!!!!!
Joe Cassidy
September 2007
August 2007 was a sad month for the Marco
Men's Club. We lost three of our long standing members,
Fred Heidings, Norm Roberts our sergeant-at-arms, and Fred
Tonney. Please remember these members in your thoughts and
prayers. I am proud to say that the Men's Club was very
well represented at each funeral. The men were very active
members of our club and they will be sorely missed.
On a lighter note, summer is almost over and
the "snowbirds" will be trickling back to our paradise and
we welcome them back with open arms. Our membership now
stands at 524 resident members and 32 non-resident members.
Our finances are in good shape, Ed Eastwood, our treasurer
reports in July we had income of $4,365.83 and expenses of
$6,161.28 leaving us with a bank balance of $28,802.04
On August 9, Bob Hopp assisted by his wife
Carol hosted a coed luncheon at Guy Harvey's. Thirty-Nine
members and their wives were treated to great food and
excellent service. Thanks Bob for hosting this event.
On August 13, Bob Gaffney assisted by his
wife Kris hosted a coed dinner at Fitzgeralds in Naples.
Kris did her usual great job of making up the food selection
cards. They were so neat I understand several people saved
them. Fifty Five members and their wives were treated to a
fabulous meal and a fun night, we even had entertainment.
Thanks Bob you did an outstanding job.
Bingo, scheduled for August 15 was
cancelled. We are hoping to resume bingo on September 19 so
all of you bingo players send your check to Tom Traeger who
will be hosting this event. Remember we need 50 people to
sign up for this event.
On August 18, Joe Varano hosted a day on the
Big "M" Casino. Fourteen members attended and they all had
a great day but I understand there were no big winners.
Unfortunately, I did not attend this event but had I been
there, there would have been at least two winners, me and
Maryann. Thanks Joe.
On August 24, Merle Otto hosted a coed
dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Konrad's. Seventy
two members and their wives were treated to an excellent
meal. Thank you Merle, great job hosting this event.
On August 30, Dick Siska hosted a men's only
lunch at Porky's. We had twenty four members attending.
Porky’s did their usual fine job. The food and service were
excellent. Thanks Dick.
At this time, on behalf of your board of
directors, I would like to thank all of the hosts for the
August events. Your participation is greatly appreciated. I
also want to remind the membership that these hosts put a
lot of time and effort into hosting our events. So please
look over the fliers and send your check to the host of the
event that you would like to attend. Also, if you want to
suggest an event that we do not have on our list of coming
events, contact Fred Stavola our senior vice president of
activities.
For Tom Traeger's sake GO
STEELERS
Joe Cassidy
August 2007
July has been a slow month for the Marco
Men's Club. Summer is upon us with the blistering heat and
the summer afternoon showers. But we will take it because we
love our summers here in Paradise. No more waiting in lines
at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at at Publix, Winn-Dixie, the Post Office, the banks etc.
However, we do miss our friends the "Snowbirds" .
I am sure this is the time of year when our
relatives plan their Florida vacations with their families.
It is wonderful when they arrive, but then they clutter up
our homes and totally change our lifestyle for two or three
weeks. But when they leave we have mixed feelings about
their leaving. On the one hand we hate to see them go and on
the other we are happy so we can get our lives back in
order.
Reviewing Ed Vesely's membership report to
the Board, we now have 578 legal residents and 36
non-resident members. As of June 30, 2007, 542 members have
paid their 2007-2008 dues. We expect to see a 10% dropoff,
so we do not expect to have a problem with our 600 maximum
limit. Incidentally, non-resident members do not count
against the 600 Maximum.
On Thursday July 12, we had a wonderful coed
luncheon at Cocomo's. Scott and Bonnie, owners of Cocomo's,
dId a great job of preparing the food and giving us
excellent service, I say that because the table I sit at is
usually the last one served but at Cocomo's our table was
served first (could it be that I am friends with Scott and
Bonnie) .The only problem with the food was their Philly
Cheese Steaks. As a connoisseur (I am from Philly) these
were not good Philly Cheese Steaks. I am going to have to
send Maryann over to Cocomo's to show the how to make a good
one. (I taught Maryann how to make them. She is from
Georgia). Thanks Pat and Gayle Thawley for providing 48 of
us with a great afternoon.
July Bingo at the MIYC was cancelled and will
not resume until September. The Yacht club needs a minimum
of 50 people to host the event, so lets get some interest
from the Bingo players so we can continue Bingo in
September.
On Thursday July 19 we had a men's only lunch
at Porky's hosted by Myron Wittlin. The food and service was
excellent but only 19 members attended. Last year your board
was criticized for not having enough men's only functions.
We have had two this year and both had a disappointing
turnout. So guys, if we are going to continue Men's only
functions we have to get better attendance. Thanks Myron
despite the small turnout you did a great job hosting this
event.
The only other event we have scheduled for
July is the Quiz Nite at the English Pub. We have 40 signed
up for this event hosted by our favorite Englishman, Ron
Moores.
We have a busy schedule for August so check
your flyers and support the events by your
attendance. Remember you can now download flyers from our
website if you can’t find your newsletter. Go to
MarcoMensClub.com/coming events. Print a copy of the flyer
and mail it in with your check.
We are experiencing heavy lightning storms at
this time of year, so I urge you to stay indoors during
these storms. We don't want any of our members or their
families to be struck by lightning.
Joe Cassidy
JULY 2007
Well, I survived my first month as President
of the Marco Men's Club. The June Board Meeting went
smoothly, just the normal reports from our chairmen who did
an excellent job of bringing the Board up to date on their
responsibilities.
The Board voted unanimously to expel John
Mathews from the club for the incident he created on Bingo
night May 16th at the Marco Island Yacht Club. Tom ( Rocky)
Traeger reported on the May 30th meeting with the Yacht Club
where we mutually agreed to some new procedures particularly
affecting the buffet dinners.
We approved changes in item 10 of the Rules &
Procedures to require the Audit Committee to make their
report on a form approved by the Board. On a more important
note we approved the annual budget for 2007-2008. We are
projecting income of $29,225 and expenses of $33,684.
Included in our expenses is a projected $13,150. in
subsidies. History has shown us that we never use all of our
subsidies. Therefore we expect to break even or show a
modest profit for 2007-2008.
On Monday June 4 we were treated to a
wonderful luncheon at Kretch's Restaurant. Rich Carlsen
hosted the event assisted by his wife Eileen. 42 members and
their wives attended the event and a good time was had by
all. Thanks Rich.
On Wednesday ,June 6, Ron Moores hosted a
Men’s Only lunch at the Sunset Grille. Only 13 members
showed up but we had a great time. I was surprised at how
long after lunch we sat around and solved all the problems
on Marco Island and the world in general. Thanks Ron.
Wow, what a picnic we had on Flag Day , June
14, at Sarazen Park. It was by far the best picnic the Men's
Club ever had. The food catered by Peppers was fabulous,
the beer flowed cold all day. For a price of $10.00 per
person I don't see how our hosts, Dave Walsh and Ed Crane,
were able to have such a wonderful picnic at such a
reasonable price. You guys are locked in to host future
picnics. I also want to express my thanks to the "gals" for
all their help. Suzie Walsh, Cindy Crane and Carol Rosasco
bought the decorations, decorated Sarazen Park, conducted
the 50/50 raffle and helped clean up the park after the
picnic.Someone was overheard saying " It looks like the
woman are taking over the Men's Club". Well I will take all
the help I can get from the women. Ladies we welcome your
support at any of our functions and on behalf of the Men's
Club I extend to you our heartfelt thanks for your support.
Our other two events were cancelled. Bingo
on June 20 was cancelled due to a lack of participation and
the Men's Only lunch at Cracklin Jack's was cancelled as
they closed the restaurant for renovations.
I am still looking for someone to volunteer
to host Wednesday night Bingo. If you are interested contact
me at 642-1491 or Joecassidy530@comcast.net.
Keep cool, and have a great July!
Joe
Cassidy
June 2007
Hello Marco Men's Club !
I would like to thank Fred Stavola and his Nominating
Committee for their hard work in selecting a group of
talented Marco Men's Club members to serve on our Board of
Directors for 2007-2008. It is also time for me to thank our
outgoing President, Tom Traeger, for the support and advice
he has given me this past year. I am especially pleased and
honored for his handling of the Installation Dinner Dance.
For those of you that were not in attendance you missed a
wonderful
event. Tom, assisted by his wife, Darol, and his daughter,
Kelly, created a Abraham Lincoln theme. "Honest Abe" was
the sixteenth President of the United States and "Honest Joe
Cassidy" is the sixteenth President of the Marco Men's
Club. A hat that symbolized Lincoln was given to me to wear
during the night. Thank God he didn't give me a ticket to
the
theatre.
An so, as I begin my journey as President of the Marco Men's
club, I am hopeful that with the help and guidance of our
Board of Directors, together we can bring you a year of
exciting venues that will keep the tradition of the Men's
Club alive and well.
You will note a slight change in the Newsletter starting
with
this issue. We will begin to give more recognition to event
chairman by writing a short blurb in the President's
message. I believe those members volunteering to host events
deserve
more recognition for undertaking this important task.
On May 10th Mel Daly hosted a wonderful coed luncheon at
Mozart's. Mozart's was a recipient of our excellence award
and the service and food certainly justified their receiving
this
award. 56 members attended. Thanks Mel for hosting this
event.
On May 12th Ed Eastwood hosted a riverboat cruise on the
Caloosahatchee River. What a great day! 111 members
attended. The weather cooperated, the sun shone all day, the
food and drinks were fabulous and we were all entertained by
our own version of "Dancing With Stars", Ed and Caren
Eastwood.
Ed is our newest member of our Board and we expect
some great things from him. Thanks Ed.
On May 16th we had a huge turnout at our monthly Bingo
night at the Yacht Club. 109 members and their ladies
attended making it, one of the largest turnouts for
bingo that we have ever had. Could it have been the $12.00
price tag? Unfortunately we did have an ugly incident during
dinner and this will be discussed at our next Board meeting
for appropriate action.
IMPORTANT Phil Kostelnik who has hosted BINGO nights
forever has decided to step down . We need a volunteer
husband and wife team to take over. Phil will stay on and
train a volunteer on the procedures. Please contact Joe
Cassidy at 642-1491 or joecassidy530@ comcast.net if you are
interested.
On May 21 Don Boston hosted a great luncheon at DaVinci's.
46 members attended and were treated to excellent food. It
was a nice quiet afternoon event. Thanks Don.
On May 27 Fred Stavolta hosted a show at the Broadway
Palm Theatre Call "Swing". We have a disappointing turnout
of 15 members attending. However I am certain it will be an
entertaining show for those attending. Thanks Fred.
I would like to thank all of the hosts for the month of
May. Your participation in club events is greatly
appreciated,
and I would like to take this opportunity to encourage our
members to volunteer their services to host our events. To
volunteer contact or Sr. Vice President, Fred Stavola at
389-1724 and he will put your name on our volunteer list.
One last word. You "Snowbirds" are either up north or on
your way north. If you are on the road, drive carefully,
have a
great summer and we look forward to your return in the fall.
Joe Cassidy
E-mail: joecassidy530@comcast.net
MMC Presidents Message
Tom Traeger, President
May 2007
At the last board meeting, I
requested and received permission from Editor in Chief Alan
Wetjen to exceed my usual one page for this message.
Twelve months ago, I thought,”
Tom, how are you ever going to find enough topics to write
about during the next year”? Well, not only did I find
enough topics, but I could probably use another year to
finish all that I would like to say.
For the past several months I
have been telling you about some of my board members and
what they have accomplished for all of us as Marco Men’s
Club members. I intend to use my final message to continue
that theme – they deserve it!
When the 06’ 07’ board convened
for the first time, it was a good board. What I have ended
up with is truly a “Dream Team” in every sense of the term.
We were loaded with inexperience in June of 2006, including
myself! Through perseverance, hard work, the exchanging of
ideas and many discussions, it is my belief we morphed into
a fantastic community of friends and colleagues that I am
humbled to have been a part of.
Some, but not all of the
accomplishments of this board are: we managed to convince
most of you of the necessity of increasing the membership;
we initiated several new functions and events such as the
Oktoberfest at Coral Gables, re-instated some old ones such
as the Hockey Game at Everblades Stadium, purchased a new
sound system for the club, secured storage space for our
increasing inventory of assets, standardized a form for the
annual audit of our books, created not only a website, but a
new position on the board of webmaster, created a new
committee called the Forward Planning Committee, increased
the hosts allowance from fifty dollars to one hundred
dollars to reflect the increases in prices all of us are
experiencing, booked the first ever New Years Eve Cruise and
finally at the May installation dinner, we will honor three
businesses for their contributions to our gastronomical
pleasures and enlightenment by presenting them with our new
“Marco Men’s Club Award of Excellence”. All of these
accomplishments were the result of a hard working team of
individuals who were dedicated to pursuing a higher level of
enjoyment as a club dedicated to providing its members with
quality entertainment and activities. Mission Accomplished,
“SIR”!
Now, who were these individuals
who brought this about? Well, for those who pay attention
to my Epistles, last month I mentioned several of them and
in doing so also stated that there are no “unimportant jobs
in the Men’s Club”. Member at Large – seemingly an
innocuous title until you take into account that this fellow
sets up our speakers as well as acting as emcee’ at certain
functions and giving advice in areas the rest of us are
unfamiliar with. A gentleman by the name of Joe Varano has
performed this function to perfection. I came to rely on
Joe for numerous jobs that he gladly accepted and completed
with great satisfaction to us all. It was Joe’s suggestion
that we re-instate saying the Pledge of Allegiance at the
start of our general meetings, it was he who emceed’ the
Past Presidents luncheon at Carrabba’s, the 2nd
annual Jerry Stought Crazy Hat and Shirt day event, the joke
day contest and several others. Not only is Joe a handsome
guy, he is intelligent and has fantastic ideas. There is no
doubt that he has a great future in the MMC.
At this point, allow me to
introduce you to Wayne Boose, the, “Welcome Marco Men’s
Club” guy who we’ve all grown to love and know. He had the
position that I will hold during the coming year as
Immediate Past President. It is with sincere sadness that
Wayne will not be at the BOD meetings for the coming year.
His insight and advice were of great value, not only to me,
but to the board in general. There were numerous times
during the past year when I had a problem and needed Wayne’s
consul. Rarely even during Wayne’s presidency as well as
this past year did we disagree on any particular subject. If
I needed advice, I would consult with Wayne. Not only was he
a great president, but he and Adele have been great friends
as well. Semper Fi Wayne!
Now we get to the meat of the
Men’s Club, the guys who make the decisions as to where we
will go for entertainment and food, as well as one of them
may one day lead this club to greater heights than it has
already attained. These are the Vice Presidents, the gents
who report directly to me and who do everything
that I tell them to do! At this point, I can only
assume that those fellows on my board who are reading this
as you are are probably gagging in laughter at that
suggestion!
I’ll start with the one
individual who will not be returning to the board for
personal reasons, Gene Stillwell. What a fantastic soldier
Gene has been. This fellow has taken us to places and done
things that are simply beyond expectation. Regardless of
what I asked Gene to do, he did it with gusto, enthusiasm
and a dedication that was truly heartwarming. He had
organized the past two picnics we held at Gene Sarazen Park
both of which were complete successes as far as MMC was
concerned. He was also involved in the 2006 Christmas
luncheon which was a resounding success. All of us on the
board are deeply indebted to Gene for his hard work and
dedication. Thanks Gene for a job well done. You have our
praise and admiration.
Fred Stavola! Wow, what a job he
has done. Part way thru this year, a vacancy occurred in
the ranks of the Vice Presidents. Fred was already
encumbered with the responsibilities of Treasurer, but I
asked him to dig down to see if he had the energy to assume
a dual role of his current position as well as that of a
Vice President. His answer pleased me to no end and as they
say, the rest is history. Fred was the instigator (even tho
his name ends in a Vowel), of the Oktoberfest which was a
huge success and hopefully the next board will include this
event in its plans for the future. Fred has instituted and
lobbied for several changes in our procedures and ways of
doing business, for a complete list, contact me personally,
otherwise I would need two pages for him alone. Thanks Fred,
you know I love you and not only were you a dedicated board
member, but a loyal friend whom I respect and admire.
Pat Thawley: what an exceptional
individual. Pat is a retired Air Traffic Controller,
therefore quite capable of multi-tasking and decision making
in the heat of confusion and turmoil. Prior to coming on
the board, he was a complete stranger to me, but that soon
changed with his methodical and reasonable responses to
items that came before the board. It wasn’t long before I
and other board members were looking to Pat for his opinions
and ideas on various items we were discussing. Eventually,
I asked him to chair the Forward Planning Committee which
will hopefully lead us into the future in an organized and
intelligent manner. Any ideas you may have for our future,
please contact Pat, he will listen and take your ideas under
advisement.
Prior to the start of my
presidency, a gentleman that most of you knew and loved was
to be inducted as a vice-president when he passed away in an
untimely manner. This of course was our friend and fellow
member Ray Dziejma. He had been our fishing captain, our
men’s only organizer as well as several co-ed functions
including our ever popular St. Patty’s day luncheon. He did
all of this and more and was never a member of the board!
He passed away suddenly to all of our astonishment and
grief. I personally will never forget Ray; he was a true
friend and enthusiastic member of the MMC. The only thing
negative I ever heard about him was that he considered
“Cracklin Jacks” as fine dinning! I and everyone in MMC
loved and admired Ray, even his corny jokes. Ray was
appointed to the board posthumously at the May 2006
Installation Dinner.
In July I recommended another
stellar MMC member to replace Ray. This was my good friend
Jerry Masters. It took no small amount of persuasion to
convince Jerry to come onto the board. He was reluctant even
though he had attended more events than most of our members
and it was my wish to reward (REWARD?) him with a
position on the board. I knew that he would be a good “Fit”
and offer much to those of us on the board. We were not
disappointed! Although I have previously said that Jerry
was a “good friend”, this didn’t necessarily translate into
an always “Agree with the President” mentality. Quite to the
contrary! We had several disagreements that resulted in a
stronger bond in our friendship as well as opening not only
my mind to different approaches to a solution, but also the
boards as well. My only wish is that next year if he orders
hockey tickets, he doesn’t order so many. Because of Jerry
and his beautiful voice, I have attended many services at
the United Methodist Church, despite the fact that I am a
dyed in the wool Roman Catholic. I’m also quite envious of
his hair!
In conclusion, let me expound on
my greatest disappointment during the past year. That has
been my Senior Vice President, the gentleman who is about to
become your new president. There are actually two
disappointments: 1st that the Pittsburgh Steelers
who failed to repeat as world champions of the NFL, and 2nd,
that I was never able to convince Joe who is a Filthydelphia
Crows fan, to become a fan of the Steelers. On a more
serious note, my Sr. V.P. has served MMC with honor and
dignity since he has been a board member, first as Secretary
and then as Sr. V.P. His knowledge of the By-Laws and Rules
and Procedures are uncanny and always accurate. I was proud
to have him as my second in command. Due to his knowledge
and experience on the board, I never hesitated in asking him
questions concerning protocol and procedures. I always
deferred to his experience and wisdom in these areas. Joe
will be your quintesical leader, one who is a “Good ole
Boy”, but yet one who will direct the MMC on the correct
path due to his insight and knowledge of getting along with
people. Through my experience with Joe during the past
three years, I can assure you that Joe will give serious
consideration to all questions and debates that will come
before the board during his tenure. With great respect and
dignity, I am most proud to hand over control of Marco Men’s
Club to the next President, Mr. Joseph Cassidy! Joe, I wish
you and your board nothing but the best in the coming year.
You deserve it! Congratulations and God Speed. You will be
in my prayers. Go Eagles! Tom Traeger.
April 2007
In 44 BC, as Julius
Caesar entered Pompey’s Theater to deliver a message to his
Senate, Soothsayer Titus Vestricius Spurinna warned him,
“Beware the Ides of March”. I tell you this only to impress
you with recollections of my freshman year of Latin as
taught to me by Miss Mermelstein at Shaw Avenue Junior H.S.
in McKeesport Pa. McKeesport is a suburb of Pittsburgh Pa,
home of the Steelers for those of you who are not aware of
that fact! The Marco Men’s Club did not suffer the tragic
consequences as did our hero Julius. In fact we soared above
the Ides and had a great month as usual.
Shortly after last
months newsletter was mailed, member Mike Mickes approached
me with several proposals for a New Years Eve Cruise. I
advised him I would pass the information to our cruise
director Bob Marks, which I did. Immediately Bob began
investigating the proposals,
finding group space for many New Year
cruises was not available or they were sold out.
We, found limited group space of “60” staterooms
on Royal Caribbean’s “Navigator of the Seas”, five night
western Caribbean cruise. This required immediate
confirmation to secure the space. The deposit
requirements along with time being of the essence,
necessitated a prompt decision to secure the allotted
staterooms.
In light of the
aforementioned circumstances, the cruise was announced at
the March general meeting. Simultaneously, I requested Bob
to contact webmaster Ed Crane to post the information with
downloadable cruise information to our website. This was a
total success! At this time as a result of BOB’S efforts,
CURRENTLY, 182 individuals have booked for this
exciting adventure. My grateful Thanks to Mike Mickes as
well as our esteemed Cruise Director, Mr. Robert Marks for
making this happen!
This reminds me of
another important subject. As “Some” of you are aware, we
now have a website and its name is one that all of you
should be able to remember: MarcoMensClub.com. Doesn’t get
much simpler than that now does it! HOWEVER, many of
you have failed to update your email addresses and personal
information with our membership director Ed Vesely. This is
going to be most important as the website evolves.
Eventually, we hope to reach all of you thru a simple click
to inform you of updates and enhancements to our wonderful
and exciting club. The responsibility of doing this simple
chore is yours. We are more than willing to work with you,
but you gotta work with us! Ed Vesely has spent a great
amount of time on your behalf working to make this happen.
If anyone can make it a done deal, Ed can. He is a hard
worker and enthusiastic member of this organization working
on all of our behalf. He is a fantastic Team Player and his
contributions and wisdom are greatly respected by all on the
board. Ed is our EF Hutton, when Ed speaks, We Listen!
I suppose it is
late enough in my term of office to brag about my board
members and others who have contributed greatly to the
exemplary success of this great club. At no time, since my
original application to the present did I ever think that I
would have the honor of leading such a prestigious
organization.
There are no
“Minor” jobs in the Men’s Club. As an example, let me cite
our “Set up Chairman”, Gerry Gibbons. For the past year many
of you have not been aware of his duties, which include
setting up the Mackle Park facility as well as providing our
coffee and refreshments, putting up our Flag, securing the
microphones and other minutiae inherent in this supposedly
Thankless job. At a recent meeting, Gerry’s normal crew was
not available for legitimate reasons and he did it pretty
much Solo. This is just one small example of the devotion
of your board members in providing you with an enjoyable
experience as a MMC member.
“Secretary”, Wow!
What a great job, right? No, not really. This fellow has
the responsibility of recording, every word and phrase that
is said at the board meetings as well as the general
meetings. In addition, in our organization, he is
responsible for being the Club Historian as well. Mike
Levine has accepted and met the challenge. Mike has been a
vocal member of the board, not cringing from dissent and
educating us on areas we were not familiar with. He has done
a wonderful job, and I’m indebted to him for his insight.
Newsletter Editor
in Chief: During my term, I experienced a resignation from
this position. An immediate replacement came to mind, in the
person of my friend and colleague Alan Wetjen. What a job he
has done in this in such a short period of time. Alan was a
natural for this position. His contributions not only to
MMC but to the Marco Island Community as a whole have been
exemplary. We should all be proud to have him as a current
member of the board. His experience and counsel have always
been greatly appreciated.
March 2007
Well, another
Sweetheart Ball has come and gone leaving us once again with
great memories of a fun evening. The music was fantastic,
our Sweethearts looked beautiful and even some of you guys
looked pretty good “Cleaned Up”. Also, our numbers were up
somewhat over the past several years coming in at 346
individuals, compared to about ten less last year. The
bright spot in that, is the fact that so many new members
and their partners were there to experience this lovely
event. For those of you in attendance, how did you like the
decorations? Those were the work of Joyce Fenelon, and a
group of very hard working ladies. They outdid themselves
for our benefit. Earlier in the day while the rest of you
were going about your daily business, the decorating group
was busily running around preparing the hall in order to
make your evening one to remember. My Kudos’s to these fine
ladies for their efforts.
Another person who
does a yeoman’s job is Past President George Godfrey who
works tirelessly making the table seating’s as near perfect
as is humanly possible. George has been at this for a number
of years now and has told me that he is willing to continue
doing so, for as long as we want him. This year the
Marriott threw him a curve ball by suddenly changing the
table layout plan pretty much at the last moment. This
resulted in the necessity of making on the spot table
changes. Super George rose to the occasion and without
missing a beat, made the required adjustments thereby
preventing mass confusion.
I’m proud to say
that the Marco Men’s Club performs like a well oiled machine
and we are usually welcomed to most establishments because
of our efficiency and orderly manner in knowing what we
want. This didn’t occur overnight, but is the result of
fifteen years of planning and executing large parties of
this type. Usually when a problem(s) happen, they are not
created by us. Therefore I am telling you that yes, we did
experience some problems that night, and we intend to
address those situations in an attempt to find a workable
solution with the Marriott who by the way is a very
cooperative organization to work with. Please remember, the
Men’s Club provided you with a wonderful night of
camaraderie with your fellow members and I’m willing to bet
that many of you met new friends which of course is the
purpose of this organization. Feel free to voice any
comments: positive or otherwise to your board members so
that we can work to find solutions. That’s why you elected
us!
At the February
General Meeting, Joe Varano, Member at Large, presented us
with a most interesting speaker as he usually does. His
name was Officer Paul Keyes of the Marco Island Police
Department and he talked for twenty-five minute about
Identity Theft, a very timely subject. Because our speaker
time is limited, we plan on having Officer Keyes for an
Encore. He gave us much food for thought as well as
suggestions on how we can protect ourselves from I.D. Theft.
One suggestion was for us to submit a form to the Florida
Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles with a
request to withhold personal information. I noticed that a
large number of our members from New Jersey requested this
form from Officer Keyes. We are making an effort to have
this form posted to the website,
http://marcomensclub.com. Hopefully webmaster Ed Crane
will be able to do this. Furthermore, I feel confidant that
anyone wishing this information could contact Officer Keyes
at the MIPD. He truly is an outstanding individual who is
attempting to protect us, as well as to inform us how we can
help protect ourselves.
Did any of your notice? Not
one word about the Black & gold.
See ya next Month. Tom T.
February
2007
Wow, what a month this has been! Practically every
event during the month of January was sold out or nearly so.
The only exception was the Blood Drive and I was somewhat
disappointed at the rather “anemic” turn out although I
applaud all who had contributed. All of you including
Chairman Ed Saeks are to be commended for your
participation. Those of us who are unable to contribute,
Thank you most sincerely!
Although I haven’t been singling out separate Chairmen for
the fine job all of them have been doing, I was very proud
of our Sr. Vice President and Member at Large for the
wonderful program and luncheon they put on for 190 of us at
Carrabba’s Italian Restaurant on January 11th.
The food was wonderful and the entertainment as provided by
Joe Varano was outstanding. There is no doubt that the
former Presidents were surprised at the wonderful plaque
that they received. I know one person who was surprised as
well as shocked and that was yours truly. Perhaps Joe
Cassidy is trying to tell me something by allowing me to
have received a plaque that was designated for the “Past”
Presidents? Don’t worry Joe, in fifteen years if I’m
still around, I’ll recommend that we do this again. I
think I speak for all the past Presidents when I say,
“Thanks Joe & Joe”!
At the
January general meeting, I advised the membership that we
had approved funding for the establishment of a web site. It
was also announced that member Ed Crane would be the
gentleman to construct and help us out with this very timely
project. The Board and I are pleased to announce that
the site is up and running. Check it out at:
http://marcomensclub.com. Although it is a work in
progress at this time, since we must determine how much data
we want to expose to the general public. I can assure you
that the Board is hard at work on this project. It is
our opinions that the web site will be a great communication
tool for our members as well as for the board. In the
past when a mistake was made in the newsletter, we were not
able to communicate that mistake to the members in a timely
fashion. For example, we placed an incorrect deadline
for the Sweetheart Ball in the past newsletter as well as an
incorrect day for the event. Both could have been corrected
as soon as the Web Master could make the change. The
actual date for this premier Ball is FRIDAY, February 16th,
not Saturday. Furthermore, the Deadline is incorrect and has
been extended. Hey we’re not perfect, just close
to it!
The
current board has also been hard at work on another project
at present called the “Certificate of Excellence”. This is
going to be a program where we reward some of the
Businesses, Individuals and Civic organizations that support
us throughout the year. In the words of Ed Vesely who
is chairman of this program, “Servicing large social and
public groups, such as MMC, can be a demanding and tough
job. We think it is time to stop and say “Thanks””.
I couldn’t agree more and am sure that this is going to be a
rewarding and exhilarating experience for all of us.
Although at this writing the details are still being worked
out, I am sure that you will have input into this very
worthwhile endeavor as we attempt to show appreciation to
those who have contributed to our success, entertainment and
gastronomical experiences.
We are
also working on several other projects that you will be
enlightened about in the coming months. I have
appointed Vice President Pat Thawley to chair a committee to
investigate where the club wants to be in the future and
make recommendations on how to get there. It will be
my goal to enlighten you on this and other items that come
before the board. We are always open to suggestions on
everything we do and welcome new ideas that will continue to
keep the MMC an exciting and lively club for our members and
their partners in the coming years.
Well, this
was indeed a very depressing day for me. It has been the
first January in many years where I have not had the joy of
cheering on my beloved Steelers. Instead, today I watched
two very good football games where the teams were vying for
their respective conference Championships. Both teams
I rooted for won, now I must make a decision as to which one
to cheer on in the Super Bowl. My sentimental favorite is
the Colts. Why? Well, Tony Dungy was a defensive back for
the Steelers years ago, was the Defensive Coordinator under
the legendary Chuck Noll and finally, called my home twice
to offer me tickets to Steeler games. Unfortunately my
lovely partner of more than fifty-one years not knowing who
he was told him that I already had tickets. After the second
attempt on his part, he didn’t call back. Tony is a
wonderful guy and I wish him and his team the best on
February the fourth. If anyone deserves it, he certainly
does. Go Colts!
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This page last updated on
Monday, October 13, 2008 at
08:37 AM
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