SIR  #54 NEWSLETTER CELEBRATING 41 YEARS 

1974 ­ 2016   

SIR #54 is jumping into year 42.  SIR was founded in 1958 and our chapter #54 was chartered  in 1974.  Twenty years ago in 1996, we had 236 members including 

twelve charter members.   Here are some pictures from last May: 

 Trivia Answers gleaned from the audio tape of our 40th Anniversary: We used to have an in­house band that played every meeting, we had 275 members, and members arrived to the meeting one day to find the building padlocked by the Sheriff (Zorba’s)­ so they met on the porch.  Hawaiian Gardens (PERFORMING BULLFROGS!) was mentioned as a venue for Fiesta BBQ, now known at “Ladies Day.”    It was also noted on “funny hat (or shirt) day,” if you arrived without proper attire, you were sent to JAIL and had to pay $5 to get bailed out.  Hawaiian Gardens became Italian Gardens and then became high 

density housing.  While this year is not a “major milestone,” we will have cake. NEXT LUNCH  MAY 12 @ 3 FLAMES  MAIN MENU:      CHICKEN PARMESAN ALTERNATE:       PASTA PRIMAVERA ICE CREAM:        $2 EXTRA  (GRAB A ROOSTER)   CAKE:     CERTAINLY SPEAKER:           Dan Haifley  (see page 3)  

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SIR  #54 NEWSLETTER CELEBRATING 41 YEARS 

1974 ­ 2016   

JOHN KNAPP APPOINTED LITTLE SIR     Big Sir Report, by Hersh Brown 

 Our CHAPLAIN, John Knapp was appointed to serve out the current Little Sir Term.   

I’m told Tom Conte even polished up the Little Sir Pin before passing it                           on to John. A group hug at our last meeting marked the change. And                           the real good news is John will stay on the job as chaplain and will train                               night and day with Professor Kabanek to learn the many roles and come                         up with some good jokes.    Our nominating committee came up with a full slate of SIRS willing to                         serve our branch next year. Forget that I jumped the gun and tried to                           prematurely install them all last month, according to rule 131, that slate                       will officially be announced in the July Newsletter. Thanks to the                     nominating committee and chair Stephen Speciale.    

EMERITUS MEMBERS  Five SIRS with a tenure of 115 years were voted into “Emeritus status”                         at the last BEC Meeting. They are: Warren Upton, Clyde Allen, John                       Vargas, Stephen Popovich and Bill DeMatteis. Emeritus Status is for                   deserving members who don’t meet “active member” requirements but                 

they are “considered” active and can participate in all functions as they are able.                           For more information, see rule #55, passed in Nov. 2014.   This has an immediate effect of reducing “active members” by three. I anticipate                         the next BEC Meeting will move some other members to “inactive status.” We have                           about 38% of our members not attending lunch and 20% not paying dues.                         And many of these members are avoiding attempts to contact them. So we will                           take a temporary hit in “active” members but this comes at at a time when we are                                 also having trouble keeping track of many new faces coming in the door. I have                             high hopes we can get closer to the 70% goal for luncheon attendance and end up                               with at least one more member than the previous year (The State Goal for each                             branch). But it all depends on you. We have and a few guests already set for the                                 next meeting, but there is plenty of room for more. HAPPY MAY BIRTHDAY                           TO SIRS: HASTINGS, SEIDL, CONTE, FUJIYAMA, GULLION, ROHRIG,               MUSGRAVE, POPOVICH, KNAPP, ALLEN, THOMPSON, WAILING, and             TYNER     

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SIR  #54 NEWSLETTER CELEBRATING 41 YEARS 

1974 ­ 2016   

   

Dan Haifley, May 12 Speaker By Mario Vazquez, Speaker’s Chairman   Dan Haifley, Executive Director of O'Neill Sea Odyssey Dan provides great learning opportunities at OSO for school kids.                   Some of the kids from inner cities have never been in the ocean.                         OSO takes them to sea on their Catamaran and gives them                     hands on experience in:  Sailing and navigation.   

1. Ecology­ Info. about Monterey Bay Sanctuary’s characteristics and marine life                   and habitats.   

2. Marine Biology­ Info. about what's in sea­water like plankton and its role in                         the 

food web. They take a sample of water and then go ashore to examine it under a                                 microscope in the Ed. Center. 

3. Dan said that OSO is a non­profit and the educational service is provided                             free.       4.  Dan will have a slide show to show us their their  program.  Plan to attend. He has been highly recommended and we can learn a lot about our                               ocean water. 

  

GOLF NEWS By Tom Bombaci, Golf Chairman   

5­24­16 Pajaro Valley tournament 09:00 am times only $55.00 format: 4man                      2 best ball all events include golf, cart & prize please have your money to me no                                 later than 5­9­16 remember early money in, early t­time. Please make checks payable to: Sirs branch 54 golf & if you have any questions                             please call me 408­600­4152 ED. Note: Gov Taylor asked us to publicize this tournament at Atlantis:                       

GOLF/ATLA   Click link for flyer for Atlantis Golf June 20­24   3    

SIR  #54 NEWSLETTER CELEBRATING 41 YEARS 

1974 ­ 2016   

ALOHA!  July Meeting Tickets on Sale ­ $21­ May 12th  

By Tom Marron  The July 14th meeting will be our mid­ year typical Ladies Day                       program which should be of interest to our wives or significant                     others. The meal will be standard fair plus desert. Price will be                       $21.00 per person. Tickets can be purchased at the May and                     June meetings and will also be sold on the day of the meeting. 

 We are planning to have The Aloha Nani Hula Dancers perform they will                         provide Hawaiian Music and dance for us. If you are away you can feel free                             to mail me a check “Payable to Sons in Retirement” and I will get the tickets                               to you. Tom Marron, 3372 Oxford Lane, San Jose, CA. 95117 408­605­6291.   Please remember that we will also have a raffle, so plan on bringing                         something, which will support our Holiday meeting in December.   Dues  If you have not paid your dues, they are now delinquent,                     which means we will need to bill you direct. Please mail a                       check to my address or pay at the May meeting. $25.00. 

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SIR  #54 NEWSLETTER CELEBRATING 41 YEARS 

1974 ­ 2016   

NEXT DAY TRIP MAY 19TH 

By Michael Hastings  Southbay Historical Railroad Society Santa Clara Cal Train Station (1863)  Date:     Thursday May 19 Time:    10:30 Where:  1005 Railroad Ave               Santa Clara, CA. Fees:    Tour is free but parking is $5.00. Dining:  Quiznos, Starbucks or Hula Dogs.  This is a location that might bring back                 memories. I have a Lionel Train set in the                 attic. It is 027 size. As a kid, it was set up                       in our garage complete with caboose,           buildings, trees etc. and had friends that             had much fancier setups. That was a fun               time.  There was an active Railroad Station in our               town bringing passengers and items from           New York to Massachusetts and further. So why not take our tour of the South Bay                   Historical Railroad Depot. Say we might           ask members to bring mementos from           their railroads sets to our next           meeting… 

 

NEXT HIKE MAY 13TH 

By Marcel Tomassian  

Quicksilver County Park   Date:     Friday  May 13 Time:    10:00 Where:  McAbee Road, San Jose Fees:     None, Park on Street Dining:  Oranges   Our next hike will again take place on the day after our monthly meeting on May 13. We will return to the Quicksilver County Park which was too muddy to complete during our first attempt. We will meet at 10:00 A.M. at the McAbee trail head. If you are coming from Almaden, take right on McAbee and go past a school on the right side and until the street makes a sharp turn to the left. There is no parking lot so park on the street. The hike will be about 3.7 miles with 1/3 uphill, 1/3 flat and 1/3 downhill. As always, no senior will be left behind. Boots and some drinking water are recommended. I may bring some oranges.  Pictured above are happy hikers from April’s Hike from Los Gatos to Lexington Reservoir. A record number of members and one spouse met on tax day for the April hike.  [ED NOTE:  BRANCH 39 HAS EXPRESSED AN INTEREST IN JOINING OUR HIKES]   

 

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SIR  #54 NEWSLETTER CELEBRATING 41 YEARS 

1974 ­ 2016   

 DAY TRIPS:  The Big Bug Event 

By Michael Hastings, Local Tours   The County Vector Control put on their second Open House on April 20, 2016 

and "WE WERE THERE."  Weather was fine and there was much to see. Booths showed                     many of the facets of their facility.  There were two tours which our group went on. One was triple                       troughs filled with fish that eat mosquitos (YUM). They are                   available to the general public and companies that have ponds                   

that might attract mosquitos.  The second tour was of their labs with samples of all types of                         bugs, microscopes and the like. They look for new bugs and                     diseases passed by bugs.  The many tent displays showed how to protect your home                   from termites, rats and the like.  I was happy to meet a new friend! See the attached pictures. Thank you all for coming and keep your eyes open for future tours.            “Stick Bug” 

Mosquito Fighting Gear, Mosquito Eating Fish Tank and 8 Mosquito Targets 

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SIR  #54 NEWSLETTER CELEBRATING 41 YEARS 

1974 ­ 2016   

 

Treasurer’s Report   by Pierre Garbedian     March Beginning Gen’l Fund……… $1268  Revenue……………………………………..…$125  Gen’ Fund Expense…………………...….$132 Custodial Fund Revenue………..………$100  Custodial Fund Expense…………..………$ 0 March Ending Balance………....……       

$1362  

On the Mend  

Bob Vazquez is recovering from knee replacement surgery.  Peter Guerin completed Chemo and is back among us. 

 Leo Scherschel is recovering       

from a fall and really misses           bowling, but he made it to last             month’s lunch.  Jim Wright never missed a         metting, but he did spend         three days in Kaiser with         Pneumonia. And his wife had         two stays at Kaiser and now is             in rehab for a hip fracture.    If you are aware of someone           “on the mend,” please let your           Big SIR and Newsletter Editor         know.    Hersh Brown hershgb@gmail.com  

MEMORIAL DAY ACTIVITIES  

ZINGERS ­ Last Christmas this group mentioned they would have a Patriotic Concert around Memorial Day.  According to their Facebook Page, that concert is Sunday May 3, at San Jose Christian Reformed Church, 5051 Camden Avenue, San Jose.  Time 3:00 PM.   CIVIL WAR ­ Last November, Richard Ferman spoke to our group about Civil War Connections to Santa Clara County.  One of those connections was Quick Silver Mine facilitating GOLD Processing.  Our hiking club will be exploring that area May 13.  (story on Page 5).    Richard also mentioned there is an annual Civil War Ceremony at Oakhill Memorial Park simultaneous but separate with the bigger United Veteran’s Council Ceremony at 11 AM on Memorial Day.    

    

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SIR  #54 NEWSLETTER CELEBRATING 41 YEARS 

1974 ­ 2016   

          

                                                        TO:   

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