THE BUC STOPS HERE
A Weekly AMALGAM of Views, News and Events
AMBUCS
Grand Rapids Chapter
March 24, 2010
It has been brought to my attention that the editor, Perry White, otherwise known as “Chief” made a rather inglorious mistake in his last newsletter. I think he has become rather senile at this point in time, having been the editor of the Daily Planet for all these years, and I think we should cut him some slack. I would guess his age to be 110 and counting……Anyway, the mistake was thus: The SPRINGFEST PARTY will be held on Tuesday, April 27, 2010 at the Grand Valley Armory from 5:00 P.M. to 7:30 P.M. Please ignore the date mentioned in the last newsletter (Some of you already have ignored the last newsletter, so the caveat does not apply to you).
The meeting held on March 24 at the Pietro’s was a real treat with Harvey Meeker’s daughter, Melinda Russell, presenting her “Send Out Cards” program. The meeting began by having Larry introduce Melinda to the chapter. Melinda confessed to the chapter that Larry Nix cannot be trusted. (It was in all the papers). After Larry retreated back to his chair in hopes of redeeming himself, Melinda began her presentation. The Send Out cards program consists of greeting cards for all occasions which can be sent through the internet. There are 15,000 cards types and styles on file broken down into 542 separate categories. Those of the male persuasion take only 37 seconds to select a card type or style. Females, on the other hand, tend to take an average of 3 minutes to make a selection (Who said art imitates life?). The cost of sending these cards costs less than $1.00 and the sender pockets the postage savings of $0.44 and also gets the satisfaction of knowing that the piece of mail will actually get delivered (using the internet). She is also a Level-4 card sender which she earned by sending out over 1,400 cards this year. Melinda reiterated that cards can be sent for unexpected thank you(s). Tom Smith won the door prize (Harvey Meeker’s favorite recipes) after Patti carefully chose Tom’s name from the hat. Many thanks to Melinda for her presentation.
Ms. Elaine Martin paid us a visit at the AMBUCS meeting. Ms. Martin in the principal at the Ken-O-Sha School for children who have special education needs. She indicated that the budget for this school year was cut by 10% due to the recession and things are getting desperate. The school equipment and furniture is in a dire state of repair and the AMBUCS chapter has attempted to fill the gap in funding. Ms. Martin thanked the Grand Rapids AMBUCS for their support in this matter. AMBUCS has been a friend to Ken-O-Sha for years and will continue to do so.
The list of officers for the coming year starting 6/01/10 is as follows:
Larry Nix, President (His picture can be found at most post offices on the wall under the “Most Wanted” postings).
Norm Van Sickle, Vice President
Tom Cook, Treasurer
Mike Trenshaw, Secretary
Tom Smith, Sergeant-at-Arms (Worm finally found his true vocation as he graduates from AMBUCS to become a professional tax collector. We wish him well and often).
Doug Bandos, Sponsorship
Social Activities, John Free
Friendship/Membership, Patti Watson
Information, Joe Ducharme and Fred Garver
Patti Watson mentioned that dates are available for the Texas Hold’em tournament at the Lincoln Country Club on May 23-25, 2010. She will have to bring this up again for discussion as most of the AMBUCS members were elsewhere in Sweet Tooth Heaven eating Marge’s wonderful doughnuts…..
Marge’s Doughnut Den, 1751 28th St. S.W. is hosting an open house for John & Marilyn Free (Big Brother/Big Sister) on Sunday, March 28, 2010 from 3:00 P.M. to 6:00 P.M. All AMBUCS members are invited.
Remember, campers, there will not be an AMBUCS meeting next Wednesday, March 31, 1010 (fifth Wednesday).
Last but not least, Judd Freeman won the $2 split pot prize after Tom Smith perjured himself claiming he was the winner of the pot. Tom will be held in contempt of court for the next month while “Judd, for the Defense” makes his opening arguments.
Here is the AMBUCS schedule for the month of April:
April 7, 2010 Membership Meeting Pietro’s starting at 12:15 P.M.
April 14, 2010 Board Meeting Pietro’s starting at 12:15 P.M.
April 21, 2010 Membership Meeting Pietro’s starting at 12:15 P.M.
April 27, 2010 Spring Fest Party Grand Valley Armory (5:00 P.M)*
April 28, 2010 Membership Meeting Pietro’s starting at 12:15 P.M.
*Volunteers need to report at 3:00 P.M.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
March 17, 2010
This is the first newsletter of the New Year for the Grand Rapids Chapter, and this week rocketed off to a good start at the Century Lanes Texas Hold ‘Em Poker Tournament in Holland. Those of you who served as moneychangers and chips off-the-old-block are to be praised for your dedication, endurance for the long hours, public relation skills and having cash drawers that didn’t balance at the end of your shift. In spite of all these virtues, AMBUCS still managed to make a few bucks for the cause. It was really a feast or famine occasion with long spells of inactivity coupled together with short bursts of total accounting madness. It was also a time for fellowship and bonding with the other AMBUCS members. Thanks again, for those of you who served.
The membership meeting this week served to remind all of us who are Detroit Lions fans (are there any left?) that the problem with the NFL, and the Detroit Lions in particular, is the fact that they do not get enough massage therapy. According to our guest speaker from the Chiro Fitness Center located at the Gas Light Village Mall, the Detroit Lions actually won a game after undergoing her special and potent massage therapy to the team members. Now I do not want to be overly optimistic, but if she was able to get the Lions on the mend for one week, why not have her do the Lions every week? (Makes sense to me.) She stipulated that massage oils are an important part of the massage therapy process. She mentioned that the lavender massage oil is used for muscle spasms, the peppermint oil is used for mental clarity and the orange oil is used for stimulation. Eeney, meany, miney, moe. Which one would you choose? I know which one I would pick (Hint: I don’t have muscle spasms and I am directly wired to caffeine for clarity). Thank you, Andrea Joyce Munsell for your stimulating presentation.
It was a pleasant surprise to welcome Roger Willis to the meeting (long time, no see). He has made an outstanding effort in the past to parlay money into the AMBUCS coffers through his garage sale efforts. For those of you who don’t remember, Roger used his garage to store AMBUCS items for sale and motored his trailer to haul the larger items out for delivery. Thanks to my award-winning selective memory, I remember buying some furniture from him a few years back. He said to me at the time, “Here is your furniture, but you must join AMBUCS.” So, Roger, “A deal is a deal.”
The Grand Rapids Chapter of AMBUCS would also like to welcome Kathy Pavlin to the membership meeting. She was the guest of Patty Watson and we hope that she enjoyed her meal. We certainly enjoyed her company.
Many thanks to Worm and Tom Smith for wearing attire sporting a green theme to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. Tom looked spiffy with his green bow tie. Worm out did himself wearing as much green as he could manage without being mistaken for a freshly cut lawn. He reminded everyone that didn’t have green visible as part of their clothing that they would be subject to a dollar fine. Worm will be back next week to collect all the fines that he missed since he had to leave early from the meeting. (This newsletter has an obligation to its members to present the facts. Such is the case regarding the fine money. If we didn’t published this newsletter, the fine money would have been forgotten, and we might not be graced with a full complement of Worm’s inimitable wit as he attempts to rob us next week).
Eight volunteers from the chapter volunteered to sample the full complement of food at the Noodles Restaurant located in the Target shopping plaza near the 28th street and I-96 interchange late last week. Oriental, Mediterranean and Italian dishes with pasta and noodles were enjoyed. The volunteers would like to volunteer again for this assignment. Noodles Restaurant gets a “thumbs up” from those who attended this gastronomic delight. Noodles will be seriously considered as a possible future fund raising opportunity.
Don’t forget the Spring Fest to be held on Tuesday, May 2, 2010 at 3:00 P.M. at the Wyoming National Armory. Patty and Larry will be organizing the volunteer efforts to make this the Big One. This event will cap a quarter of a century of helping those disabled and handicapped kids of all ages in need of a little fun.
The membership meeting this week served to remind all of us who are Detroit Lions fans (are there any left?) that the problem with the NFL, and the Detroit Lions in particular, is the fact that they do not get enough massage therapy. According to our guest speaker from the Chiro Fitness Center located at the Gas Light Village Mall, the Detroit Lions actually won a game after undergoing her special and potent massage therapy to the team members. Now I do not want to be overly optimistic, but if she was able to get the Lions on the mend for one week, why not have her do the Lions every week? (Makes sense to me.) She stipulated that massage oils are an important part of the massage therapy process. She mentioned that the lavender massage oil is used for muscle spasms, the peppermint oil is used for mental clarity and the orange oil is used for stimulation. Eeney, meany, miney, moe. Which one would you choose? I know which one I would pick (Hint: I don’t have muscle spasms and I am directly wired to caffeine for clarity). Thank you, Andrea Joyce Munsell for your stimulating presentation.
It was a pleasant surprise to welcome Roger Willis to the meeting (long time, no see). He has made an outstanding effort in the past to parlay money into the AMBUCS coffers through his garage sale efforts. For those of you who don’t remember, Roger used his garage to store AMBUCS items for sale and motored his trailer to haul the larger items out for delivery. Thanks to my award-winning selective memory, I remember buying some furniture from him a few years back. He said to me at the time, “Here is your furniture, but you must join AMBUCS.” So, Roger, “A deal is a deal.”
The Grand Rapids Chapter of AMBUCS would also like to welcome Kathy Pavlin to the membership meeting. She was the guest of Patty Watson and we hope that she enjoyed her meal. We certainly enjoyed her company.
Many thanks to Worm and Tom Smith for wearing attire sporting a green theme to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. Tom looked spiffy with his green bow tie. Worm out did himself wearing as much green as he could manage without being mistaken for a freshly cut lawn. He reminded everyone that didn’t have green visible as part of their clothing that they would be subject to a dollar fine. Worm will be back next week to collect all the fines that he missed since he had to leave early from the meeting. (This newsletter has an obligation to its members to present the facts. Such is the case regarding the fine money. If we didn’t published this newsletter, the fine money would have been forgotten, and we might not be graced with a full complement of Worm’s inimitable wit as he attempts to rob us next week).
Eight volunteers from the chapter volunteered to sample the full complement of food at the Noodles Restaurant located in the Target shopping plaza near the 28th street and I-96 interchange late last week. Oriental, Mediterranean and Italian dishes with pasta and noodles were enjoyed. The volunteers would like to volunteer again for this assignment. Noodles Restaurant gets a “thumbs up” from those who attended this gastronomic delight. Noodles will be seriously considered as a possible future fund raising opportunity.
Don’t forget the Spring Fest to be held on Tuesday, May 2, 2010 at 3:00 P.M. at the Wyoming National Armory. Patty and Larry will be organizing the volunteer efforts to make this the Big One. This event will cap a quarter of a century of helping those disabled and handicapped kids of all ages in need of a little fun.
A Presence
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