FINAL REPORTS FOR THE YEAR 2016
As our tradition will have it, the last meeting of the year is dedicated to reports by our committee chairmen of their activities during the year.
Our OG president is required to do little, which is a substantial relief after a year as Program Chairman. My main job, in addition to presiding over meetings, has been to recruit members to serve as committee chairmen.
Our continuing success depends on our members stepping up to make us function: handle our finances, provide numerous activities, present weekly programs, record our minutes, keep our history, maintain our website, order our lunches, and on and on. Each one of you who has volunteered, whether as a chief or an Indian, is to be thanked for making this another successful year.
Therefore, following are reports from each of the committee chairmen, in no particular order, who had prepared a report for the meeting. About half of the about 30 committees have reports.
I will start off by mentioning a few matters that will not be reported by others.
Your Board of Directors each month discussed what we have to do to reposition ourselves for the future. One concrete result of those discussions was to approve our use of “Old Guard of Westchester” when presenting ourselves to the public.
As president, I also used two new communications vehicles, this format of emailed newsletter and a blog on the OG website. I also used a dedicated email address. I trust that our incoming president will use those tools as he sees fit.
First up is …
OUTSIDE ACTIVITIES
Ron Stytzer, Chairman
It was a successful year for the outside activities of the Old Guard. Below is a list of events and activities that we participated in. I enjoyed making this happen and hope you all enjoyed this, also.
Chinese New Year luncheon, January 28. Chinese buffet for 85 people along with a huge raffle of over 40 prizes, with money raised used for Old Guard snacks at our weekly meetings on Tuesday.
Superbowl football pool. Superbowl #50.
Group to engage the Power Ball lottery; huge prize of over $1 billion (PS: we lost).
Group to see Showboat at the Westchester Broadway Theatre for luncheon and show.
Group to see The Man of LaMancha at the Westchester Broadway Theatre for luncheon and show.
Defensive Driving course sanctioned by AARP. Rich Ronde, Event Chairman.
Group to volunteer with the U.S. Department of Defense Warrior Games. This event was held from June 14-21 at West Point for disabled Armed Forces personnel. Russell Oakes was the Event Chairman.
A Sunday brunch on May 15 at Rini’s Restaurant for a fine meal and to listen to Frankie Sands, a tribute singer for the songs of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Bobby Darin.
St. Patrick’s Day special raffle or two Irish cookbooks autographed by all the (living) presidents of the Old Guard.
Went to the New York Mets vs. New York Yankees baseball subway series on August 3. We had 35 members attend.
Special luncheon for the Old Guard members who have reached 90 years or older. Set up special food and table decorations.
A special German Oktoberfest buffet dinner held at the Travelers Rest in Ossining on October 21. We were entertained with German music.
An evening our at the Westchester County Center to watch the Westchester Knicks basketball team. This was their opening night, Saturday, November 19. A buffet dinner was included with non-alcoholic beverages, great seats, meet the Knick dancers, receive lapel pins, lanyards, pictures, and t-shirts.
The last event of 2016 was a great musical of Sister Act at the Westchester Performng Arts Center on December 22.
NOMINATING COMMITTEE
Doug Hearle, Chairman
Nominating Committee met, as required, in a timely fashion and nominated the members who take office on January 3. We have no suggestions for a modification of the accepted procedures.
GOLF COMMITTEE
Bob Dougherty, Chairman
At the end of the 2015 golf season we had 11 golfers and hoped to pick up more golfers this year. That proved to be overly optimistic and 2016 turned out to be the year of the injured golfer. The first casualty was a long time golfer who had to be playing golf because of arthritis and a bad back. Two other golfers thought they just might miss the beginning of the season because of medical issues us eventually had to take the year off. Two more golfers were also unable to play because of injuries. Not long after the season started, another golfer was injured and missed 2 months. The remaining golfers persevered and we had an enjoyable year.
Ron Stytzer was our golfer of the year with the lowest score of 67, low season average of 74 and perfect attendance by playing all 16 weeks. Russell Oakes was the most improved bowler reducing his average by 4 strokes from 2015 and also posting a low score of 68. Jack McLoughlin and Bob Dougherty tied for most birdies for the year with 2.
In June, Lloyd Cort and his wife Gwen, again, graciously hosted the 19th hole for present and former golfers and we finished the year with a luncheon at Ernesto’s Restaurant in White Plains.
We hope that all of our injured golfers are able to return next year and that some new golfers will also join us.
AUDITING COMMITTEE
Burt Bloom, Chairman
Although the Old Guard is financially a small organization with income under $50,000 per year, it does have an Auditing Committee. The purpose of the committee is to verify that the financial records are accurate and that proper control procedures are in place.
When I first served on the committee, the records consisted of only a cumulative listing of cash receipts and cash disbursements with no breakdown by category. It was not possible to determine the accuracy of income from dues or any other source nor was it possible to verify the amount of expense related to any category.
Subsequent treasurers have established an auditable general ledger program which enables us to determine the source of receipts and the nature of disbursements. However, it did not establish all of the procedures necessary to verify its accuracy.
The Auditing Committee has been working with the treasurers to establish procedures that will enable independent verification that the amounts and categories of receipts and disbursements are correct. It is a gradual process requiring the cooperation of all committee chairmen and the Board of Directors.
It has improved substantially and I’m sure that we will establish complete control procedures shortly. I want to thank our current treasurer and each of the past treasurers for their full cooperation in this endeavor.
WEBSITE COMMITTEE
Alan Stern, Chairman
This year I have continued to improve and expand the website. I made it easier to navigate by adding additional buttons to the menu bar. In addition, links have been created that lead to specific pages on the website. I have enhanced the appearance of many of the pages with the use of special effects. Slide shows have been used to highlight various events that have taken place. I also created a direct link to the site where the videos of our weekly programs can be seen. The Active Members pages contain the latest up to date information on our active members.
Both domains have been transferred to Weebly where our website is hosted. I have also added many new pages to the website.
The following pages have been added:
1. In Memoriam (contains pictures of those members who have passed
away during the current year)
2. Members Archive (containing the information and pictures of members
who have passed away or are no longer active)
3. Activities 2016
4. Old Guard Presidents 1954 - 2016
5. Minutes of Meetings (posted weekly)
6. List of Members Emeritus
7. Message Center (contains newly updated information and lists events
that might be of interest to members)
8. Recipients of the Man of the Year Award 1976-2016
I have also taken on the responsibilities of sending out messages that go to all members of the Old Guard.
BRIDGE LUNCHEON COMMITTEE
Larry Schneck, Chairman
There was a monthly bridge luncheon every month in 2016.
A total of 268 Old Guard members and wives/friends attended the luncheons over the year. There was a slight profit from the luncheons.
TIMELY TOPICS
Frank Alpert, Chairman
Timely Topics met twenty-seven times in 2016, on the first and third Tuesday of each month, and occasionally on the fifth. Each meeting drew between nine and twenty-one people from the OG, and forty members (and one guest, State Senator Latimer) came at least once. Moderators, all outstanding, included Paul Abramson, Lloyd Cort, Mort Genn, Glen Gordon, Ed Hardy, Phil Horner, Rich Jackel, Mel Meltzer, Milt Persily, and Rich Ronde. If I omitted anyone, I apologize; it was my failure, not intentional.
2016 was a Presidential election year that was particularly bizarre and troubling, so politics came up frequently., About half the meetings were explicitly on campaign events in the headlines. In the other meetings, we talked about other topics that may have been related to election issues, but had broader implications, such as Climate Change, ISIS and Terrorism, International Trade, Priorities of Federal Spending, Gun Control, and False News/Fake News.
Throughout all, the participants deserve full credit for upholding the Old Guard tradition of civil discussion, despite coming from diverse interests, experience and positions. It is an honor to work with them.
VISITING COMMITTEE
Jerry Esteves, Chairman
Don’t have much or a report since the members decided to stay healthy. My thanks to John Syvarth who took over when I could not continue as chairman.
MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE
Lloyd Cort, Chairman
The Membership Committee was charged with recruiting new members. To that end, the committee met and established goals and identified various tasks.
To accomplish the goals, members participated in the distribution of pamphlets, brochures and newsletters in various locations which included the following:
Doctor’s offices
Hospitals and Rehabilitation Centers
Community Centers and Libraries
Law Offices
Houses of Worship
Super Markets
As a result of this initiative, thirteen members joined the organization. Several others attended meetings but have not yet joined.
I wish to thank the following members, without whom the aforementioned could not have been accomplished.
Eric Elbacher Jim Kellher
Richard Jackel Mike Incantalupo
Edward hardy Mike Marlow
Bill Kaung Richard Ronde
Gene Kava
HUMAN RESOURCES COMMITTEE
Mort Genn, Chairman
The committee focused on two major activities:
A set of Pastoral Guidelines was developed for the Visiting Committee.
I did a series of one-on-one getting-acquainted sessions with new or under-active
OG members; several were matched with committees that could use their help and talents.
RECEPTION AND RECORDS COMMITTEE
Al Dold, Chairman
The Reception Committee this year was made up of Al Dold, Chairman, Jerry Esteves, Jim Kelleher, and Larry O’Neil with help from Mort Genn and Russel Oakes, who laid out the name tags alphabetically before each meeting and helped collect and alphabetize name tags at the end of several meetings, as needed.
This year we performed our major functions, welcoming current and prospective members to every meeting, distributing, retrieving and maintaining name tags for all active members, keeping attendance records, keeping track of guests and connecting them with the Membership Chairman, and maintaining the official Old Guard Membership database.
We also worked with the Treasurer to clean up the membership list and identify and follow up with members who had not paid dues in prior years to determine their interest in maintain their membership in the Old Guard, worked with the Website Manager to prepare a new membership directory format and distributed a new Directory to all our members (at a reduced cost); prepared, for the first time, comprehensive Snowbird database and distributed it to the Snowbirds to make it easier for them to stay in touch with each other while they were away, and tracked other absences monthly and provided the Visiting Chairman a list for follow up.
We continue to work with and perform membership analyses for other committees to assist them in performing their missions. We are also hoping in the next year to revive the practice of posting Charts (information about members whose birthdays are occurring during the coming week).
VENUE COMMITTEE
Paul Abramson, Chairman
A committee including Bill Meyer, Richard Ronde, Bob Anderson, Julie Cohan, and Gene Kava, chaired by Paul Abramson, undertook the task of finding a new home for the Old Guard’s weekly meetings. Building on work that had been done by a previous committee, we listed what we needed in terms of space, including access, parking, storage, availability and cost and then proceeded to look for places within White Plains that best fit our needs.
We considered many different spaces ranging from various churches in the area, to schools, organizations, senior residences and hotels. In two cases we learned that other organizations had made arrangements to use available space. A hotel was happy to accommodate us, at a cost well beyond our means. A church welcomed the possibility but had no parking. Several others brought the possibility to their boards which determined that they did not want us. (It was not a question of not wanting the Old Guard but not wanting to make a commitment to a weekly meeting.)
The Ethical Culture Center, which had been approached a few years earlier but which at that time did not want to make the commitment, was asked again and this time showed interest. We examined the space, found that it closely met our needs and we were able to negotiate a contract at a price we could afford.
Hopefully the Venue Committee will not need to be activated again for some time. The Ethical Culture Society has an interest in a long-term relationship, something that we felt the Old Guard needs, and it has demonstrated its willingness to work with us to overcome any problems that may arise. (A case in point: without being asked, the Society is retrofitting a rest room to be fully handicapped accessible.)
PUBLIC RELATIONS COMMITTEE
Paul Abramson, Chairman
We started the year by developing a plan whereby a weekly news release would be sent to the many local weekly papers that have sprung up, announcing our program speaker for a given day. We wrote a prototype press release which is shown below.*
We ran into a problem. We need lead time to send this kind of release. Unless programs including speaker and subject are available at least three weeks prior to the date, we do not have the necessary lead time to publicize them. In the early months of 2016 and throughout most of the year, the programs were not settled early enough for that to occur. We do not know if the papers will print our proposed releases but we would encourage each year’s programmer to develop a process to line up speakers and subjects at least four weeks in advance so that we can make the effort.
Otherwise the Public Relations Committee was inactive though we will prepare a release for the beginning of 2017 to announce our new home and should probably prepare a separate release naming our new officers.
*(Koming, Koming, who or what the speaker is, will speak on subject at an open meeting of the Old Guard of White Plains at 11 a.m.on date at The Woman’s club, address. The Old Guard is an organization of retired men that has been meeting regularly since 1954. More information about the organization can be found at website address)
ALUMNI COMMITTEE
Paul Abramson, Chairman
The members of the committee met, reviewed who the alumni were and where they were, and decided that there was no likelihood of involving any in the Old Guard. The one thing we thought we might be able to offer them if they wished to remain in touch was the annual directory which was not printed in 2016 (sic). The committee disbanded and suggests that it not be reconstituted.
BYLAWS COMMITTEE
Ed Hardy, Chairman
The Bylaws Committee recommended a change to the bylaws regarding the election of a Member Emeritus. It was accepted by the membership and the bylaws were amended accordingly on March 29. No other amendments were proposed this year.
Currently the committee is considering a change in the definition of an inactive member and clarification regarding the reinstatement of a former member. The proposals will be submitted to the Board of Directors in early 2017.
WEEKLY LUNCH COMMITTEE
Alan Hitt, Chairman
The weekly lunches have been delicious as ever, and there are rarely any complaints about the taste or size of the sandwiches. Occasionally, the side of slaw is empty before all members have come through the line but there are always some sides available for the eating!
The deli (Royal Scarlett of White Plains, 914-946-1820) is very accommodating; it will take orders up and until the vehicle is ready to deliver the sandwiches. We receive the orders on a timely basis.
We usually always receive enough funds from our members’ orders each day to cover the cost for that day. (Note: I have not been chairman long enough such as during the bad weather winter months to know if there is a deficit on a particular day. We normally receive $10 to $20 more than the charge for the deli order.
Profit from the lunch orders is probably in the $250 to $300 for the year. A recent audit recommended that an accounting be kept of receipts and reimbursements. This has only been in use since late summer and provides an accounting of the flow of funds and profit or loss of a day’s funds.
When the chairman is not at a weekly meeting, other members handle the ordering and preparation and distribution of the food.
NEWSLETTER COMMITTEE
Nenni Aggarwala, Chairman
In January 2016, as Chairman of the Newsletter Committee, I, with the help of other members of the Committee, particularly Julie Cohan, Frank Alpert, Ed Hardy, Paul Abramson, and Larry Ungar, put together, edited, and got printed the January 2016 issue of the Senior Moments. I informed the OG members that I wanted to take a break for at least a year if not more as Chairman of the Newsletter Committee. I am sorry that no other member has come forward to take over the publication of the Senior Moments which, I admit, is time-consuming and hard work.
I also slightly edited and got printed OG brochure for 2016.
CHAPLAIN COMMITTEE
Bill Meyer, Chairman
This spot is very simple. There were 12 months to provide a chaplain to open our meetings. The hard part was finding people willing to take on the task. I probably asked 20 people to be chaplain. I found 10 with two repeats. It is important to start the recruiting process well before the assignments start.
The duties are simple. Remind the man that has agreed to be that particular month’s chaplain to contact the president with the person that is responsible for that week’s duty.
I found it advantageous to keep a spare opening in my pocket in case the scheduled opener does not show up. (Note from president: the president should also have a spare opening in case neither shows up, like at this meeting!)
TREASURER
Phil Horner, Treasurer
Ongoing work:
Monthly accounting was posted.
Bank accounts reconciled. Balances at Dec 2016; Checking $6,688: Savings-Reserve $12,945
Monthly Board Reports submitted; Actual YTD versus Budget.
New 2017 Budget with suggested Dues prepared and approved in November
Federal IRS 990 Report and NYS Sales Tax Report submitted on time. No questions received.
Membership Dues tracking and control was improved in conjunction with the Records Committee.
New Initiatives:
New Board Report tracking revenue and expenditures for Old Guard Events and Activities was proposed, approved, and delivered quarterly.
Board approved booking procedures for Events and Activities were updated and implemented.
PROGRAM COMMITTEE
Gene Kava, Chairman
With the assistance of many members, I arranged for 49 speakers to present to the Old Guard their ideas concerning health, education, charity, politics, liberty, music, dance, law, economics, and philosophy.
Every week, the Old Guard was treated to mind-expanding information and inspiration. Every week, members could go home knowing something they didn't know before the program.
I enjoyed making these programs available and look forward to the excitement of the coming year.
That's all, Folks!
Hoping you find this message useful, I welcome your questions, comments, and contributions.
Dave Finch
Our OG president is required to do little, which is a substantial relief after a year as Program Chairman. My main job, in addition to presiding over meetings, has been to recruit members to serve as committee chairmen.
Our continuing success depends on our members stepping up to make us function: handle our finances, provide numerous activities, present weekly programs, record our minutes, keep our history, maintain our website, order our lunches, and on and on. Each one of you who has volunteered, whether as a chief or an Indian, is to be thanked for making this another successful year.
Therefore, following are reports from each of the committee chairmen, in no particular order, who had prepared a report for the meeting. About half of the about 30 committees have reports.
I will start off by mentioning a few matters that will not be reported by others.
Your Board of Directors each month discussed what we have to do to reposition ourselves for the future. One concrete result of those discussions was to approve our use of “Old Guard of Westchester” when presenting ourselves to the public.
As president, I also used two new communications vehicles, this format of emailed newsletter and a blog on the OG website. I also used a dedicated email address. I trust that our incoming president will use those tools as he sees fit.
First up is …
OUTSIDE ACTIVITIES
Ron Stytzer, Chairman
It was a successful year for the outside activities of the Old Guard. Below is a list of events and activities that we participated in. I enjoyed making this happen and hope you all enjoyed this, also.
Chinese New Year luncheon, January 28. Chinese buffet for 85 people along with a huge raffle of over 40 prizes, with money raised used for Old Guard snacks at our weekly meetings on Tuesday.
Superbowl football pool. Superbowl #50.
Group to engage the Power Ball lottery; huge prize of over $1 billion (PS: we lost).
Group to see Showboat at the Westchester Broadway Theatre for luncheon and show.
Group to see The Man of LaMancha at the Westchester Broadway Theatre for luncheon and show.
Defensive Driving course sanctioned by AARP. Rich Ronde, Event Chairman.
Group to volunteer with the U.S. Department of Defense Warrior Games. This event was held from June 14-21 at West Point for disabled Armed Forces personnel. Russell Oakes was the Event Chairman.
A Sunday brunch on May 15 at Rini’s Restaurant for a fine meal and to listen to Frankie Sands, a tribute singer for the songs of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Bobby Darin.
St. Patrick’s Day special raffle or two Irish cookbooks autographed by all the (living) presidents of the Old Guard.
Went to the New York Mets vs. New York Yankees baseball subway series on August 3. We had 35 members attend.
Special luncheon for the Old Guard members who have reached 90 years or older. Set up special food and table decorations.
A special German Oktoberfest buffet dinner held at the Travelers Rest in Ossining on October 21. We were entertained with German music.
An evening our at the Westchester County Center to watch the Westchester Knicks basketball team. This was their opening night, Saturday, November 19. A buffet dinner was included with non-alcoholic beverages, great seats, meet the Knick dancers, receive lapel pins, lanyards, pictures, and t-shirts.
The last event of 2016 was a great musical of Sister Act at the Westchester Performng Arts Center on December 22.
NOMINATING COMMITTEE
Doug Hearle, Chairman
Nominating Committee met, as required, in a timely fashion and nominated the members who take office on January 3. We have no suggestions for a modification of the accepted procedures.
GOLF COMMITTEE
Bob Dougherty, Chairman
At the end of the 2015 golf season we had 11 golfers and hoped to pick up more golfers this year. That proved to be overly optimistic and 2016 turned out to be the year of the injured golfer. The first casualty was a long time golfer who had to be playing golf because of arthritis and a bad back. Two other golfers thought they just might miss the beginning of the season because of medical issues us eventually had to take the year off. Two more golfers were also unable to play because of injuries. Not long after the season started, another golfer was injured and missed 2 months. The remaining golfers persevered and we had an enjoyable year.
Ron Stytzer was our golfer of the year with the lowest score of 67, low season average of 74 and perfect attendance by playing all 16 weeks. Russell Oakes was the most improved bowler reducing his average by 4 strokes from 2015 and also posting a low score of 68. Jack McLoughlin and Bob Dougherty tied for most birdies for the year with 2.
In June, Lloyd Cort and his wife Gwen, again, graciously hosted the 19th hole for present and former golfers and we finished the year with a luncheon at Ernesto’s Restaurant in White Plains.
We hope that all of our injured golfers are able to return next year and that some new golfers will also join us.
AUDITING COMMITTEE
Burt Bloom, Chairman
Although the Old Guard is financially a small organization with income under $50,000 per year, it does have an Auditing Committee. The purpose of the committee is to verify that the financial records are accurate and that proper control procedures are in place.
When I first served on the committee, the records consisted of only a cumulative listing of cash receipts and cash disbursements with no breakdown by category. It was not possible to determine the accuracy of income from dues or any other source nor was it possible to verify the amount of expense related to any category.
Subsequent treasurers have established an auditable general ledger program which enables us to determine the source of receipts and the nature of disbursements. However, it did not establish all of the procedures necessary to verify its accuracy.
The Auditing Committee has been working with the treasurers to establish procedures that will enable independent verification that the amounts and categories of receipts and disbursements are correct. It is a gradual process requiring the cooperation of all committee chairmen and the Board of Directors.
It has improved substantially and I’m sure that we will establish complete control procedures shortly. I want to thank our current treasurer and each of the past treasurers for their full cooperation in this endeavor.
WEBSITE COMMITTEE
Alan Stern, Chairman
This year I have continued to improve and expand the website. I made it easier to navigate by adding additional buttons to the menu bar. In addition, links have been created that lead to specific pages on the website. I have enhanced the appearance of many of the pages with the use of special effects. Slide shows have been used to highlight various events that have taken place. I also created a direct link to the site where the videos of our weekly programs can be seen. The Active Members pages contain the latest up to date information on our active members.
Both domains have been transferred to Weebly where our website is hosted. I have also added many new pages to the website.
The following pages have been added:
1. In Memoriam (contains pictures of those members who have passed
away during the current year)
2. Members Archive (containing the information and pictures of members
who have passed away or are no longer active)
3. Activities 2016
4. Old Guard Presidents 1954 - 2016
5. Minutes of Meetings (posted weekly)
6. List of Members Emeritus
7. Message Center (contains newly updated information and lists events
that might be of interest to members)
8. Recipients of the Man of the Year Award 1976-2016
I have also taken on the responsibilities of sending out messages that go to all members of the Old Guard.
BRIDGE LUNCHEON COMMITTEE
Larry Schneck, Chairman
There was a monthly bridge luncheon every month in 2016.
A total of 268 Old Guard members and wives/friends attended the luncheons over the year. There was a slight profit from the luncheons.
TIMELY TOPICS
Frank Alpert, Chairman
Timely Topics met twenty-seven times in 2016, on the first and third Tuesday of each month, and occasionally on the fifth. Each meeting drew between nine and twenty-one people from the OG, and forty members (and one guest, State Senator Latimer) came at least once. Moderators, all outstanding, included Paul Abramson, Lloyd Cort, Mort Genn, Glen Gordon, Ed Hardy, Phil Horner, Rich Jackel, Mel Meltzer, Milt Persily, and Rich Ronde. If I omitted anyone, I apologize; it was my failure, not intentional.
2016 was a Presidential election year that was particularly bizarre and troubling, so politics came up frequently., About half the meetings were explicitly on campaign events in the headlines. In the other meetings, we talked about other topics that may have been related to election issues, but had broader implications, such as Climate Change, ISIS and Terrorism, International Trade, Priorities of Federal Spending, Gun Control, and False News/Fake News.
Throughout all, the participants deserve full credit for upholding the Old Guard tradition of civil discussion, despite coming from diverse interests, experience and positions. It is an honor to work with them.
VISITING COMMITTEE
Jerry Esteves, Chairman
Don’t have much or a report since the members decided to stay healthy. My thanks to John Syvarth who took over when I could not continue as chairman.
MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE
Lloyd Cort, Chairman
The Membership Committee was charged with recruiting new members. To that end, the committee met and established goals and identified various tasks.
To accomplish the goals, members participated in the distribution of pamphlets, brochures and newsletters in various locations which included the following:
Doctor’s offices
Hospitals and Rehabilitation Centers
Community Centers and Libraries
Law Offices
Houses of Worship
Super Markets
As a result of this initiative, thirteen members joined the organization. Several others attended meetings but have not yet joined.
I wish to thank the following members, without whom the aforementioned could not have been accomplished.
Eric Elbacher Jim Kellher
Richard Jackel Mike Incantalupo
Edward hardy Mike Marlow
Bill Kaung Richard Ronde
Gene Kava
HUMAN RESOURCES COMMITTEE
Mort Genn, Chairman
The committee focused on two major activities:
A set of Pastoral Guidelines was developed for the Visiting Committee.
I did a series of one-on-one getting-acquainted sessions with new or under-active
OG members; several were matched with committees that could use their help and talents.
RECEPTION AND RECORDS COMMITTEE
Al Dold, Chairman
The Reception Committee this year was made up of Al Dold, Chairman, Jerry Esteves, Jim Kelleher, and Larry O’Neil with help from Mort Genn and Russel Oakes, who laid out the name tags alphabetically before each meeting and helped collect and alphabetize name tags at the end of several meetings, as needed.
This year we performed our major functions, welcoming current and prospective members to every meeting, distributing, retrieving and maintaining name tags for all active members, keeping attendance records, keeping track of guests and connecting them with the Membership Chairman, and maintaining the official Old Guard Membership database.
We also worked with the Treasurer to clean up the membership list and identify and follow up with members who had not paid dues in prior years to determine their interest in maintain their membership in the Old Guard, worked with the Website Manager to prepare a new membership directory format and distributed a new Directory to all our members (at a reduced cost); prepared, for the first time, comprehensive Snowbird database and distributed it to the Snowbirds to make it easier for them to stay in touch with each other while they were away, and tracked other absences monthly and provided the Visiting Chairman a list for follow up.
We continue to work with and perform membership analyses for other committees to assist them in performing their missions. We are also hoping in the next year to revive the practice of posting Charts (information about members whose birthdays are occurring during the coming week).
VENUE COMMITTEE
Paul Abramson, Chairman
A committee including Bill Meyer, Richard Ronde, Bob Anderson, Julie Cohan, and Gene Kava, chaired by Paul Abramson, undertook the task of finding a new home for the Old Guard’s weekly meetings. Building on work that had been done by a previous committee, we listed what we needed in terms of space, including access, parking, storage, availability and cost and then proceeded to look for places within White Plains that best fit our needs.
We considered many different spaces ranging from various churches in the area, to schools, organizations, senior residences and hotels. In two cases we learned that other organizations had made arrangements to use available space. A hotel was happy to accommodate us, at a cost well beyond our means. A church welcomed the possibility but had no parking. Several others brought the possibility to their boards which determined that they did not want us. (It was not a question of not wanting the Old Guard but not wanting to make a commitment to a weekly meeting.)
The Ethical Culture Center, which had been approached a few years earlier but which at that time did not want to make the commitment, was asked again and this time showed interest. We examined the space, found that it closely met our needs and we were able to negotiate a contract at a price we could afford.
Hopefully the Venue Committee will not need to be activated again for some time. The Ethical Culture Society has an interest in a long-term relationship, something that we felt the Old Guard needs, and it has demonstrated its willingness to work with us to overcome any problems that may arise. (A case in point: without being asked, the Society is retrofitting a rest room to be fully handicapped accessible.)
PUBLIC RELATIONS COMMITTEE
Paul Abramson, Chairman
We started the year by developing a plan whereby a weekly news release would be sent to the many local weekly papers that have sprung up, announcing our program speaker for a given day. We wrote a prototype press release which is shown below.*
We ran into a problem. We need lead time to send this kind of release. Unless programs including speaker and subject are available at least three weeks prior to the date, we do not have the necessary lead time to publicize them. In the early months of 2016 and throughout most of the year, the programs were not settled early enough for that to occur. We do not know if the papers will print our proposed releases but we would encourage each year’s programmer to develop a process to line up speakers and subjects at least four weeks in advance so that we can make the effort.
Otherwise the Public Relations Committee was inactive though we will prepare a release for the beginning of 2017 to announce our new home and should probably prepare a separate release naming our new officers.
*(Koming, Koming, who or what the speaker is, will speak on subject at an open meeting of the Old Guard of White Plains at 11 a.m.on date at The Woman’s club, address. The Old Guard is an organization of retired men that has been meeting regularly since 1954. More information about the organization can be found at website address)
ALUMNI COMMITTEE
Paul Abramson, Chairman
The members of the committee met, reviewed who the alumni were and where they were, and decided that there was no likelihood of involving any in the Old Guard. The one thing we thought we might be able to offer them if they wished to remain in touch was the annual directory which was not printed in 2016 (sic). The committee disbanded and suggests that it not be reconstituted.
BYLAWS COMMITTEE
Ed Hardy, Chairman
The Bylaws Committee recommended a change to the bylaws regarding the election of a Member Emeritus. It was accepted by the membership and the bylaws were amended accordingly on March 29. No other amendments were proposed this year.
Currently the committee is considering a change in the definition of an inactive member and clarification regarding the reinstatement of a former member. The proposals will be submitted to the Board of Directors in early 2017.
WEEKLY LUNCH COMMITTEE
Alan Hitt, Chairman
The weekly lunches have been delicious as ever, and there are rarely any complaints about the taste or size of the sandwiches. Occasionally, the side of slaw is empty before all members have come through the line but there are always some sides available for the eating!
The deli (Royal Scarlett of White Plains, 914-946-1820) is very accommodating; it will take orders up and until the vehicle is ready to deliver the sandwiches. We receive the orders on a timely basis.
We usually always receive enough funds from our members’ orders each day to cover the cost for that day. (Note: I have not been chairman long enough such as during the bad weather winter months to know if there is a deficit on a particular day. We normally receive $10 to $20 more than the charge for the deli order.
Profit from the lunch orders is probably in the $250 to $300 for the year. A recent audit recommended that an accounting be kept of receipts and reimbursements. This has only been in use since late summer and provides an accounting of the flow of funds and profit or loss of a day’s funds.
When the chairman is not at a weekly meeting, other members handle the ordering and preparation and distribution of the food.
NEWSLETTER COMMITTEE
Nenni Aggarwala, Chairman
In January 2016, as Chairman of the Newsletter Committee, I, with the help of other members of the Committee, particularly Julie Cohan, Frank Alpert, Ed Hardy, Paul Abramson, and Larry Ungar, put together, edited, and got printed the January 2016 issue of the Senior Moments. I informed the OG members that I wanted to take a break for at least a year if not more as Chairman of the Newsletter Committee. I am sorry that no other member has come forward to take over the publication of the Senior Moments which, I admit, is time-consuming and hard work.
I also slightly edited and got printed OG brochure for 2016.
CHAPLAIN COMMITTEE
Bill Meyer, Chairman
This spot is very simple. There were 12 months to provide a chaplain to open our meetings. The hard part was finding people willing to take on the task. I probably asked 20 people to be chaplain. I found 10 with two repeats. It is important to start the recruiting process well before the assignments start.
The duties are simple. Remind the man that has agreed to be that particular month’s chaplain to contact the president with the person that is responsible for that week’s duty.
I found it advantageous to keep a spare opening in my pocket in case the scheduled opener does not show up. (Note from president: the president should also have a spare opening in case neither shows up, like at this meeting!)
TREASURER
Phil Horner, Treasurer
Ongoing work:
Monthly accounting was posted.
Bank accounts reconciled. Balances at Dec 2016; Checking $6,688: Savings-Reserve $12,945
Monthly Board Reports submitted; Actual YTD versus Budget.
New 2017 Budget with suggested Dues prepared and approved in November
Federal IRS 990 Report and NYS Sales Tax Report submitted on time. No questions received.
Membership Dues tracking and control was improved in conjunction with the Records Committee.
New Initiatives:
New Board Report tracking revenue and expenditures for Old Guard Events and Activities was proposed, approved, and delivered quarterly.
Board approved booking procedures for Events and Activities were updated and implemented.
PROGRAM COMMITTEE
Gene Kava, Chairman
With the assistance of many members, I arranged for 49 speakers to present to the Old Guard their ideas concerning health, education, charity, politics, liberty, music, dance, law, economics, and philosophy.
Every week, the Old Guard was treated to mind-expanding information and inspiration. Every week, members could go home knowing something they didn't know before the program.
I enjoyed making these programs available and look forward to the excitement of the coming year.
That's all, Folks!
Hoping you find this message useful, I welcome your questions, comments, and contributions.
Dave Finch