CIGAR BOX BULLETIN

Volume 55, No. 27     October 31, 2007

Happy - or more to the point - Scary Halloween! Remember boys, don't stray too far from home tonight, and save some candy for Ma and Pa and Auntie. MIKE RYAN scared us to order by clanging the cow bell at 10:02am and then offered $500 of his money to any member who makes it across the Verrazano Bridge on Sunday's NYC marathon. FRANK FLORES led the pledge and hoped we'll get it right next November. Thank goodness for PETER RYAN whose pianoing was dramatically better than the disjointed singing when JOHN De CSEPEL led us into and through over The Battle Hymn of the Republic, Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree, and Goodbye My Coney Island Baby, in that order. BILL DYNAN then improved our spirits with the cute story about that 98 year old grandmother who outlived her enemies, thereby ending up a saint in her parish.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Re: The Annual RMA Dinner on Nov.14 at 11AM at Burning Tree Club: MIKE BALINT still “PLEASE PLEASE” needs those checks and the menu selection -either chicken or fish from several people. He asks if there is any issue there, 'cause that bit about the checks and the menu selection shouldn't be too difficult for us too handle. This event is looking like a real winner thanks a lot to the dinner committee's enthusiasm and efforts by the team of CRAINE, BALINT and CURTIS. LEON FREEMAN needs one good man to help with the Women’s Club parking this Saturday 12-1. PETER SCHIEFERDECKER will get you into the Hedge Fund Forum at the Harvard Club at 2:30pm on Nov 8; see him. JEFF PARKER says $20 each will get you into the Off-Sounders concert at the Belle Haven Club on Nov 9. BILL DYNAN said the Westchester Chordsmen Barbershop Carols will be held Sat. Dec 15 at 2 and 7pm. at the Stepinac High School in White Plains. For tickets phone (800) 413 7153. Flyer will be on the BB next week. And ERF PORTER put the Golfer's Annual Luncheon at the Griff on Nov. 7 after our RMA meeting. ERF also announced the Greenwich Coral Society's Christmas Traditional Concert at Christ Church Sat Dec 1, 4pm, Sun at 4 and 7.

RETURNEES: ROSS FRANK, CA and Mexico; MIKE HANNIGAN, Cape Cod and SF; BOB PHILIPS, Netherlands and Germany; ED BURNS, Memphis; SERGE GABRIEL, celebrating 225th anniversary of the Battle of Yorktown, VA.

COMMITTEE REPORTS: Membership: JIM FAHY reported 141 attendees: 1 candidate, ART ROBINSON; and 1 guest, BOB BRADY via BOB PHILIPS. B'Days: ERICH LIMBACHER 92, PAUL LEVINE 67, JIM STARKWEATHER 84, GENE WAGGAMAN 91, BILL WIGGIN 80, and JOHN CALABRO 79. Visiting: CHUCK STANDARD reported about LES YOUNG, TONY BOLOGNA, BOB STARR, FRANK HENDERSON and JAN MEYER. Volunteering: by JACK BAUSMAN: 681 hrs outside by 74 guys; 143 RMA hrs by 31. Program: JOHN De CSEPEL said next week's speaker will be Michael Chambers from the Wetlands Commission.

PLAYTIME: Bridge: HAP HEYMAN got 2900 pts; CLYDE MOONIE 2410, DAVE DOWNS 1970. YTD: HARTIG - 13020, ROE 11270. Bowling: by DOM DE PASQUALE: Dom 150, DANA LOW 165. Golf: HARRY LEIGH disclosed the performances: LEON FREEMAN and REID McINTYRE -closest to the pins; DICK BARTHOLOMEW - longest driver on #17. LEON also got Low Gross with an 85. Tennis: DICK BARTHOLOMEW: last week's winners were TOM HEALY, JACK SWEGER, amd JOHN HOFFMAN.

TODAY'S PROGRAM: JOHN DeCSEPEL introduced DR. MEREDITH BEHAR, Phd in Biology, recently retired from teaching at the Convent of the Sacred Heart. Dr. Behar did exactly what John said she'd do: tell us all we need to know about stem cells. Using her teaching skills and our digital blackboard, she gave us the details on the what's and where's and how's of those things known as stem cells. The attendance for this talk was really good. The Q&A showed our guys were mostly very up-to-date. This listener's take-away point was that the purpose of all this research is to come up with a way to fix some diseases, or rather fixable human conditions, by inserting good cells into the human body to correct some bad conditions: example, insert good cells to get the body to produce more dopamine that is missing in Parkinson's patients. Dr. Behar said really good results from this research is about 10-15 years away.

FRANK LEE -Editor

SPECIAL EVENTS
Open to all members their ladies, candidates, guests. TX means ticket exchange via the BB after events are sold out.

Dec.10, Mon. Radio City Music Hall, lnch at LeRivage. Bus lvs St. Cath. 9:00 am. TX

Jan.17, Thur. Culinary Institute of America, Vassar Art Museum. Bus lvs St. Cath. 9:45 am. TX

NEXT WEEK

Michael Chambers, Wetlands Commission