Meeting Minutes
Torch Club of the Fox Valley
Minutes
12 December 2013
Atlas Coffee Mill & Café
Notes taken by: Jude Kuenn, secretary
Attendees: Jim Baumbach, , Al Button, Janet Wullner-Faiss Cloak, Dwight Easty, Paul Freiberg, Barbara Kelly, Bill Kelly, Jude Kuenn , Amy Oberg, Mary Poulson, Richard Schoenbohm, Webb Shaw, Jan Smith, Bob Swain, Peter Thiel, Scott Valitchka, Donna Weis
Guest: Neal Gamsky
BUSINESS MEETING
- Meeting called to order at 6:40pm
- Welcome new guest
- Meeting minutes from 11/14/13 were accepted; motioned and approved.
- Treasurer’s report: with first half year dues paid to IATC, 12/03/13 balance is $1,858.46.
- Announcements included –
Barb – send profile updates to her to keep our site current. Barb can also add links to any papers presented by members. Just send her the text of the paper, and it will be added to the site, with a link from the schedule page.
Bill - Pat Warrick will continue as a club member, can't leave home easily this time of year.
Bill – Paul Douglas, District 7 IATC representative, called both he and Richard with greetings.
Bob – Marcia is doing well and is deep into rehab, helped by Dave.
Richard – Paul Douglas is running again for current position. Richard has nomination form for anyone interested in this job. Winter edition of Torch Magazine will be available 1/27/14.
Donna – St. Catherines (Niagara) in Ontario, Canada is a wonderful location for both 6/19-22/14 Convention and vacationing.
Al – confirmed St. Catherines is a beautiful area. Thinking of it brought back fond memories attending a previous convention with Jim, Len and Donna.
Richard – encourages considering all or more of us attending St. Catherines Convention.
Amy – would be interested in carpooling with others attending next year’s Convention.
Bob – he and Neal will be singing with the Troupadors, 12/13/13, 3pm, at Touchmark.
Richard - interested in good governance? Local legislators will hold an unofficial public non-partisan hearing on redistricting in Wisconsin in the Appleton Public Library meeting room C on 12/16/13 from 5-7pm .
12/14/13 from 10:30am-noon at the Radisson will be the Holiday Brunch of the League of Women Voters of Appleton, where the topic will also be redistricting.
Evening’s Roundtable Discussion Topics:
A. What is the most controversial current issue you can think of and how would you resolve it? or
B. Name something you really like and tell the group why it’s special for you.
Richard – spending time in other cultures and learning about ourselves can put a new perspective on our Homeland.
Bob – dollars spent in college athletics, between $41.9mm to $93.9mm in TX alone. Bob also concurred with Richard regarding the many benefits of traveling.
Neal – has traveled worldwide, each country having an outstanding memory.
Peter – Fracking, a shortened method to retrieve oil and gas from the earth, is being indiscriminately referenced in today’s media. WI’s St. Peter sandstone is 95% pure silicate, one of 500 types of sand.
Mary – travel is humbling and makes us re-examine our beliefs here. Football and soccer coaches are the highest paid college staff (to Bob’s comments). Movie “Atomic Mom” tells how radiation affects the body.
Janet – is still enchanted with her plumber after he found the City had inadvertently disconnected the main line to her home.
Barb – watching the calendar for the day we gain minutes of daylight again. Winter solstice is 12/21/13.
Donna – opted to pass.
Jim – is impressed with Pope Francis’ many accomplishments in the short time he’s been at the Vatican. Controversial is the Ukraine’s interaction with the EU and Russia, pending their decision to either join the EU (western Ukraine’s hopes) or not (eastern Ukraine’s preference to be aligned with Russia).
Jude – intrigued with the monthly moon cycles and how they affect daily living. Next full moon on the Winter Solstice will be 2094; last one 2010.
Jan – favorite things range from loving to travel and meeting folks, to Saturday morning’s latte and a good book in jammies.
Paul – enjoys books and traveling adventures. He cited memorable times in America via Baltimore after a baseball game, and talking with TN mountain folks’ as they shared their life’s experiences.
Amy – horses and books are thoroughly enjoyable, working at the farm, reading a book in the meadow adjacent to her grazing horse.
Scott – is concerned with how to handle nuclear waste and no resolution pending. Downhill skiing since the age of five, it is Scott’s favorite way to relax and enjoy the sparkling snow granules during a full moon in winter.
Dwight – socialism tendencies in today’s society, defined by Margaret Thatcher as a system implemented when a country ”runs out of other people’s money”.
Al – salutes travel as a way of learning, thinks of Penn State while in college and saw the athletic facilities up-close. The Sandusky scandal dishonored the college, showing their athletic programs are too isolated.
Bill – recounted visiting Tanzania and how tourists treated locals. Barbara and he treated their van driver as one of the group and an equal. How we treat people mirrors who we are.
Webb – with a father as a football coach, his family moved a lot while growing up. Webb attended five different high schools. It was a great way to grow-up, but presented challenges in long-term friendships.
The evening adjourned after sharing Irene’s note wishing everyone Happy Holidays.