CIGAR BOX BULLETIN

Volume 56, No. 19       September 10, 2008

PREXY MIKE rang the bell at the appointed hour and we were off, STEVIN MARINO leading the way with a flawless pledge. The new musical comedy duo, CHUCK LIVINGSTON and MIKE HAUPTMAN (piano), followed with an Acapulco version of America the Beautiful, which MIKE picked up after we hummed a few bars and turned it into "America the Butchered." A long silence after the next song was announced prompted CHUCK to remind The Ivory Tinkler that it was not a player piano whereat he sat. If You Were The Only Girl in the World made us glad that wasn’t the only song in the world, and we really strutted our stuff on My Gal Sal by nailing that last word "Sal." There was, as CHUCK noted, a great deal of 28-part harmony going on. Despite the fact that Rec/Cor Secy BILL DYNAN had not received the CBB by mail, he nevertheless flawlessly summed it up for the rest of us who did not receive it. Guest Arto Szabo had a follow-up announcement to last week’s speaker by noting that blurb.com is an excellent source for info on writing and publishing your memoirs. BILL D. told a knee-slapper about a wayward Catholic who saved $50 by strictly adhering to his priest’s instructions for penance. Then PREXY told another joke about how the YMCA always lets us know what’s going on.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: RICH BARTHOLOMEW has tomorrow’s picnic well in hand for its 11:00 AM start, with plenty of room for pre and post set-up/take down volunteers. NORM COLLLINS reminded us that Romeo art at the Stanwich Club next Wednesday and you can eat with him for $35. A special announcement by Ruthe Schaeffer informed us of a new organization called "Not Alone," which will provide opportunities for friendship for widows, widowers, and other singles. Its first meeting is at the Jewish Family Services, 1 Holly Hill Lane, Sept. 21 from 2-4 PM.

RETURNEES: Nobody returned from anywhere.

COMMITTEE REPORTS: Visiting: -- CHUCK STANDARD, brandishing calendars, reported that FRANK ZAVATTARO was going to his son’s house and would begin re-hab at Greenwich Hospital. Program: – BILL EUSTIS prepped us for today’s speaker, Mary Jo Bridge Palmer, by recounting Dorothy Parker’s witticism about "horticulture." He summed up Ms. Palmer’s "blooming career," and extolled the virtues of gardening as an activity as good as Zen and yoga, according to the AARP. JOHN DE CSEPEL promised that next week’s speaker, Stephen Myers, might tell us about the effects on NYC of a bomb dropped on Greenwich, and other humorous anecdotes. Special Events: – RICH BARTHOLOMEW gave details on next Thursday’s trip to Sagamore Hill: departure from St. Cath’s at 8 AM,10-12 tour, 12-1:30 lunch, on to the former Guggenheim estate, Falaise. then home around 5 PM. RICH also plugged MARTIN GRAYSON’s trip to Essex on the Naugatuck scenic RR on October 7 featuring wine-tasting: $80 on TX. Membership: – JIM FAHY reported 123 Members present with 2 candidates — Mario Bonaparte and Kent Atkins — and two guests — Ralph Viggiano/LOU CHIAPPETTA and Arto Szabo/WIN ADKINS. We sang a rousing Happy Birthday to LANDY PRESTO, 79, FRANK KROSS, 69 and DOM COGLIANDRO, 91. Volunteer: 749 hours to Outside Agencies by 65 men, 118 hours to RMA duties by 24 men, according to FRANK FLORES.

GAMES PEOPLE PLAY: Bridge: – KURT SCHAFFIR reported the following scores: DAVE DOWNS – 3480; FRANK HENDERSON – 3450; HUGO GRUNDEL – 3250. Bowling: – LINN GRIM noted that DOM DEPASQUALE won with 169 and BOB OPPENHEIMER followed with 147, but Birthday Boy DOM COGLIANDRO won the over-90 group by bowling 151. Golf: – Rain disappointed 32 golfers, plus 8 who teed off early to beat the rain and were instead beaten by it, according to MIKE SMITH. Circle October 14 for a proposed RMA tournament. Tennis: -- MIKE also reported that tennis was postponed due to the Memorial for PETE CALLAHAN, but they will meet September 19, PAUL LEVINE captaining Court 1 and FRANK LEE Court 2. $400 for the season.

OUR SPEAKER: After detailing the astute marriage of her father, Sam, to a wife with a dowry of 48 North Street acres and her life as go-between twixt two brothers in running the family nursery, Mary Jo Bridge Palmer went to (a) pot, put in bulbs and dirt, and created a gardening sensation right before our eyes in a delightful demonstration of the joys of gardening. She showed us how to layer plants on top of each other in an 18-20" pot, planting the longer/bigger ones, like allium and commassia, on the bottom, daffodils, hyacinths, and tulips in the middle, and the deer-proof musari and scilla on top (Your scribe renounces all responsibility for correct spellings). We learned about tickling roots, when to move the plants into the ground (Thanksgiving), and the eating habits of deer. After the talk, the beginnings of green thumbs were seen on quite a few members.

GRAN BURGESS, Editor

SPECIAL EVENTS
Open to all members, their ladies, candidates and guests. Tickets may be exchanged(TX) via the Bulletin Board after events are sold out.

Thurs., Sept. 18 – Sagamore Hill, leave St. Catherine’s parking lot at 8 AM. TX/$70

Tues., Oct. 7 – Naugatuck scenic RR, autumn foliage, and wine tasting. TX/$80

NEXT WEEK

STEPHEN MEYERS