GYRO Bulletin for May 3rd, 2011:
Authored by David Loving
To Paraquote (in all likelihood not really a word) that late, great American Richard Milhous Nixon, “Gentlemen, you won’t have Nixon to kick around anymore.” He claimed to be retiring from public life after loosing the election for governor of California. The names of Ollie North, the gorgeous Fawn Hall ( now there truly is a name from the past), G. Gordon Liddy, etc., etc. may spring to mind and thus remind you that he did not keep his promise, and the press still had a lot more Nixon to kick around. All of the above blather segues into that this is the last Gyro Tuesday Lunch Bunch newsletter and that you won’t have them to kick around anymore, at least ‘til next fall when an author yet to be decided starts to send you missives of Gyro going-ons. So “Happy Summer.” Though there will be no organized function, speaker, newsletter, et.al. but to quote one James Gallinatti: “I eat lunch on Tuesday” ( and one can safely surmise other days as well.) Therefore ‘tis a great excuse to join other like-minded peripatetic Gyros who would like to share their company and sup with a mid-week martini, to meet in the County Club bar on Tuesdays at twelve sharp. Be there.
Lots of Gyros, and Gyrettes to hear and see Melissa Weinman, noted artist and wife of Gyro Jeff Jagosh. We learned that painting isn’t just where you put the right color on the right number. The subtleties of linear imaging and visual focus are some of the dynamic elements that meld together in the creation of a painting. After illustrating composition theory using a Van Meer masterpiece, Melissa showed us how that translated into a family portrait she painted. I will never look again at a Kinkaid painting in the same way… ever, ever again. The august crowd befitting such a speaker included Stephanie Stebich, curator of the Tacoma Art Museum as well as guests Jan Furey and Don Moody introduced by Jeff . One D. Loving introduced spouse Penny and President-in –Waiting Martin Neeb introduced wife Barb. I almost forgot. In addition to being a gifted artist, Melissa in the finest of Gyro traditions, told a joke and suffice to say, “gynecologist” was in the punch line. ‘Nuff said? A lady of many talents. And speaking of guests in a sorta literary way, kudos to Dave Sheean. Dave wins the award for bringing the most guests and potential new members. Oops, wait, wait. We don’t have such a reward, but if we did, Dave wins by a landslide. Dave has introduce Fed Robertson, Tom Morberg, James Bigelow, Tom Murray, Ketner Sheean, Leon Titus, Dick Nixon (OK, I was just playing with you with that one), Mike Benjamin, Lawrence Aranda and Rob Wekell! Thanks Dave for a job well done.
Party Czar/Tsar Comrade John Winters reiterated that you need to confirm your reservation ASAP for the august installation ceremony May 12th at 6:00 at the Tacoma Yacht Club. The price for a full din-din including wine is a paltry $55 per couple. If you are good at math that turns out to be +/- $28 single. Said ceremony will put the nuptials of Will and Kate to shame. Not being one to hold a grudge, but 1900 guests and they couldn’t squeeze in one more. Come on! Anyway, one shouldn’t be petty. PLEASE CALL JOHN ASAP AT 582-6373.
Really, ‘til the anon,
D. Loving, Scribe
GYRO Bulletin for April 26th, 2011:
Authored by David Loving
‘Twas the hugest [sic] crowd ever for Gyro; sixty plus Gyros, Gyrettes and guests to hear Three Star General Curtis M. Scaparrotti share with us his insights as to what is going on in Iraq, Afghanistan and closer to home, right here in the JBLM. It must be at least several weeks, or possibly more, since we have had a Three Star as our guest thus generating the appropriate crowd for such an event. First, some facts about JBLM: 42,000 troops are stationed there up from 17,000 in ’03, 62,000 total troops and family members, the base payroll in ’09 was $3.7B, the air force has 54 C17 aircraft on station, there have been over 100,000 deployed to war zones from the joint base, the service is hoping to establish a 2:1 ratio which means that for every year one is deployed, they will be home 2 years. Currently the ratio is 1:1. The all-volunteer army in spite of war and deployment has the highest re-enlistment in history. Though we get dreadfully tired of the rain and clouds, JBLM is the most desired station in the army. After a prepared formal presentation with the requisite slides, Scaparrotti answered questions from the floor. The implementation of eliminating “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is working through an evolutionary retraining period scheduled to end mid-May and once finalized, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and the President will jointly officially terminate “DADT.” The very disturbing issue of sexual abuse in the military was raised, and to be honest, resulted in a very political government speak response. Though certainly, and very definitely not limited to the military as evidenced by the recent spate of exposes of what is happening on college campuses, seemingly the military should be able to implement more direct control than college deans. The balance of questions were mainly related to Afghanistan. As an aside, if you haven’t seen the movie “Charlie Wilson’s War” staring Tom Hanks, please do. Besides being terribly entertaining and reasonably historically accurate, it relates how a reprobate congressman from Texas single-handedly and most adroitly garnered hundreds of millions of dollars to support the Afghans in driving out the Russians. The last several minutes are the most telling in that Congress was willing to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to pay for guns but not hundreds of thousands to build schools. What we sow, we reap. Illiteracy today in Afghanistan is over 80%, under the Taliban, there were only 900,000 kids in school, now there are 9 million and equally importantly from 9% female to 68%, all now thanks to Uncle Sam. Corruption is still rampant. Afghanistan will be a long slog.
Next week, culture! Gyro Jeff Jagosh will be introducing the exceptionally talented artist Melissa Weinman. Oh, and by the way, she is his wife. Melissa is a visual artist and portraitess (if that is a word.) Her works are prominently displayed in galleries and museums from coast to coast. From a layman’s ham handed perspective, her portraits to me are almost Wyethesque, with apologies right now if that is an insult rather than a compliment. Her work is awe inspiring so come support another great Gyro program.
Last, but not least, May 12 is the Gyro installation, and we now, thanks to Martin Need, we will have a president to install. The ruffles and flourishes should most certainly give pause to the Brits as Gyro may well exceed the pomp and circumstance of the upcoming stuff of Kate and Wills and, of which, I must candidly convey my anger and disappointment that for some unknown reason I will not be included in the 1900 invitees!. Good God. How could that possibly happen! So CALL Party Czar John Winters with your reservation, 582-6373.
Sitting home and pouting. ‘Til the anon,
D. Loving, Scribe
GYRO Bulletin for April 19th, 2011:
Authored by David Loving
A wonderful time was had by a host of Gyros and Gyrettes, as well as a few guests, at the outing to Emerald Downs. We were delighted to have so many participants who had signed letters of consent by a parent or guardian to go on the field trip. Special thanks to Dave Sheean who organized the event. Just another example of actively organizing and then participating in scheduled events which are the life blood of any organization. This, cleverly enough segues, into this coming week’s Gyro speaker. None other than a three star general who spent 2 years in Afghanistan and is now the CO of the Joint Base here in Lakewood. Not exactly chopped liver. SO, PLEASE EMAIL JOHN MCGOWEN, OR IF TECHILOGICALLY CHALLENGED, CALL JOHN IF YOU WILL BE ATTENDING AND BRINGING GUESTS, AND IF SO HOW MANY. And that’s an order. We definitely want a good showing for the general.
Now this is right from the horse’s mouth, and I’m not horsing around (help, stop me before I generate anymore lame horse puns or whatever they are) that it really was an interesting insight into many of the elements of both owning horses and on a larger stage, running Emerald Downs. Simply speaking, owning a race horse is very comparable to owning a boat, Get your check book out. For just a modest situation for only one horse, one can start with $1500 per month per horse for food, boarding, grooms and other such folk. Then you get to add vet bills, jockey expenses, and purse splits if lucky enough to earn a purse. And the beat goes on. Hello tax shelter of a rapidly depleting asset. Some facts about individual owners and horses: jockeys weigh usually between 110 and 115 pounds, a good race horse runs about 40 MPH, a horse will actually race no more than once every two weeks, these animals are bred for one purpose, and that is to run and they are pampered like the highly paid professional athletes that they are. Jocks and riders have to wear helmets and vests to protect against falls. Emerald Downs is suffering the same financial malaise as the rest of the economy. There are 12 horse barns capable of housing 1500 horses; currently the barns are only housing 1000 horses. Realizing that this is just the beginning of racing season, the racing schedule has been reduced to accommodate fewer horses, but that’s a horse of a different color. Oops, I just did again. STOP IT! Emerald Downs is now owned by the Muckleshoot Tribe, but no casinos are allowed in the facility. We were constantly reassured that there are myriads of checks and balances to assure the racing public that all races are fair and honest. If only major league baseball could say the same. Seattle Slew is no Barry Bonds. Last but not least we saw the insides of a multi-million dollar horse MRI machine and the operating room for horses. All of this was followed by a good no host lunch for under ten bucks. How could you beat that?
So, once again, call, write, but isn’t necessary to send flowers, to John McGowen with your plans to attend next week’s Gyro!
‘Til the anon,
D. Loving, Scribe
GYRO Bulletin for April 12th, 2011:
Authored by David Loving
It was SRO for Tuesday With Gyro. Extra chairs and cookies were brought in to serve the madding crowd, great speaker, ergo, no time for jokes, but guests. Laird Brown introduced Leon Titus and Jim Wills introduced Mike McGowan, neither of which needed an introduction.
Here it is plain and simple. If you are concerned about the extra lbs. that mysteriously morphed onto your waistline due to an excess of Christmas cookies or angst about the anticipated arrival of those God-awful chocolate Easter bunnies, there are several options. But first, it really isn’t your fault. It is the damnable washing machine which capriciously devours just one black sock each week as well as somehow managing to shrink your trousers, never in the length, only the waist! Therefore, there really are only three basic options to said dilemma (that is, assuming the extra girth and challenging corpulence is a dilemma.) The first, and certainly this author’s favorite is fast, easy, and good for the economy .Just go out and buy larger pants! Problem solved! The second is adopt a morning schedule only a farmer would enjoy and that is to sign up, and then actually attend, a 6:00AM butt busting Spin Class at the Y. The third, and modestly better, or worse, is adopt the Charlie Hyde program by spending 5 months trekking 2650 miles of The Pacific Crest Trail from the Mexican border to the Canadian border. Said adventure whipped 20 pounds of an already trim frame. Charlie started on the Amuurican (as LBJ used to say) border with Mexico April 22 and ended singing “Oh Canada” October 4th. He went through 5 pairs of shoes averaging hiking about 22 miles per day. Of the 450 hardy souls who started this grand adventure, only about 150 finished. Those are the same odds of becoming a Navy SEAL. The happy wander carried everything he needed on his back, and depending on the length of time to his next resupply it was anywhere from 11 and1/2 to 40 pounds. There were periodic breaks for weddings, motel stays and hot showers, but all in all, not a walk in the park, so to speak. There were extended periods of excruciating boredom, arduous plodding through knee deep snow, slips and falls offset with exhilarating views and experiences. Good friends were made, came and went, and the hospitality of an occasional though often nameless “Trail Angel” who provided everything from tubs of cold beer to the ecstasy of a hot shower. Asked if there would be an encore, Charlie quickly responded with an emphatic “no.” Check the box. Done
Next week, the field trip to Emerald Downs with a behind the scenes guided tour and lunch organized by Dave Sheean. Directions and a map are attached to this sheet of yellow journalism. PLEASE call Dave if you plan to attend as lunch is provided.
Also, PLEASE call or email John McGowen if you will be attending the April 26th Gyro luncheon with a Gyrettes, girlfriend (but not both) and guests to hear Three Star General Scaparrotti talk about his experiences commanding the 82ND Airborne for 2 years in Afghanistan. And that’s an order. We need a great showing for both events. All for now.
So, ‘til the anon,
D. Loving, Scribe
GYRO Bulletin for April 5nd, 2011:
Authored by David Loving
As your not remotely dutiful scribe hath returned and sits with pen poised to paper, rhetorically speaking, one needs to raise the concern regarding the Biblical 40 days and 40 nights of rain. Your scribe did part these rainy climes and ‘twas raining, and now, not quite yet the above mentioned 40 days, ‘tis still raining. A cautionary note may need to be sounded should an old man in a robe, sporting a beard with animal dung on his sandals be asking the gent at the Home Depot lumber department to convert cubits into board feet. Anyway, I am glad to be back (every single day actually being sunny can become monotonous- OK, not really) and joining my fellow Gyros for mirth and message on Tuesdays. Lots going on so get your calendar…and that’s an order!
Next Tuesday, April 12. Charlie Hyde sharing his exploits hiking the Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Oh Canada>.
THURSDAY April 14. The Gyro/Gyrette exclusive Norman Rockwell tour at the Tacoma Art Museum. Still a chance to sign up, get a little culture and nostalgia. Call Dug ASAP! Space is still available.
April 19. A hosted tour of Emerald Downs, lunch and hot tips on how to win betting on the ponies. More info and maps to come in the near future..
April 26. THIS IS A TRULY UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY FOR GYROS AND GYRETTES. THREE STAR GENERAL CURTIS SCAPARROTTI, COMMANDING GENERAL OF THE 82ND AIRBORNE IN AFGHANISTAN FOR ALMOST 2 YEARS. PLEASE EMAIL JOHN MCGOWEN WITH YOUR PLANS TO ATTEND SO THAT WE WILL BE ABLE TO MAKE APPROPRIATE PLANS FOR THIS SPECIAL LUNCHEON! INVITE GUESTS, FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS !
May 3, Melissa Weinman, noted Tacoma artist.
No meeting May 10, but there will be the annual installation meeting May 12, assuming we will have an “installee.’ You best be there lest you get installed “in absentia.”
Dave Sheean continues his role of super recruiter and introduced Art Hutloff. Our speaker, I think, was Julie Moorer who shared with us insights, or more appropriately, the incites of memory wellness, more specifically dementia and the primary sub set, Alzheimer’s. Simply said, as we get older more of our marbles rattle around in an ever larger empty box. Alzheimer’s is 12-15% genetic with a significant increase if one has Type 2 Diabetes, and is an all-world coach potato. Healthy exercise, staying social (another great reason to be an active Gyro) and as that great philosopher Alfred E. Neumann would advise “stop worrying.” In other words, if you are constantly looking for your glasses and car keys; you’re OK. If you have you car keys and don’t know what they are for…my suggestion is to jump on medical marijuana. You won’t be any better, but you’ll have fun going there where ever “there” turns out to be.
“til the anon, your not so dutiful scribe,
D. Loving
GYRO Bulletin for March 29nd, 2011:
Authored by Roger Rue
19 Stalwart Gyros, one speaker and 2 guests graced the bowels of TGCC (Tacoma Gyro and Cookie Club), this just past Tuesday, the 28st. Guest No.1: Sandra Raynor, RALPH JOHNSON’s companion. Guest No.2: Fred Roberson, former Gyro, brought back by DAVESHEEAN
Before enjoying our sitdownandbeserverbythewaitstaff lunch, we were educated on the current and projected status of our State Department of Corrections statistics and facilities by Dr. Andy Phillips (brought to us by MARTY NEEM). Andy is a former CEO of Western State Hospital, and is now with WSDOC. And, yep, McNeil Is. State Pen will be closing, EXCEPT for a gang of sex offenders who will remain there in the Special Commitment Center to amuse themselves rather than abuse others. The ferry will still run and security personnel will still be needed, so, (????) .. Q: What’s the difference between prison and jail?? A: Prisons: state and federal for) year and over; jails: county and city under 1 year. Q: How much does it cost to keep an offender for a year? A: $28-$40,000 per year! Q: What’s the guy/chick %-age of violent crime inmates? A: 60% guys/30% chicks. I smell a WalMart-type sex discrimination class action suit comin’ up here, guys! Our state prisons: Monroe, Walla Walla, Clallam Bay, McNeil Island, and Purdy Women’s Correction Center. Only facility with. death row offenders is Walla Walla. And if there were a woman offender with that kinda sentence, she’d be there also. Crime has been on the downturn of late, but Dr. Andy assures us that crime and punishment is a growing industry. There will be a new state prison coming in four years, somewhere along the 1-5 corridor. I think it’ll be called NIMBY State Pen.
Now, don’t forget the trip to Emerald Downs. Tue, April 19nd. Call DAVE SHEEAN at 383-9860.
AND, if you call DUG STEWART … NOW!!!. … , you could still maybe get in on our special, privately conducted tour of the Norman Rockwell exhibit at the Tacoma Art Museum on Thur., Apr 14st. Call him at 584-1619 or 820-9812.
Your peripatetic pedant and Loving scribe will be back soon, so you won’t have us amateurs to kick around much longer.
Meanwhile, see you on next Tuesday, April 5st, when, if I remember correctly, Julie Meyer, RN, will be talking to us about memory wellness. Or something. I just can’t remember. bfn
YourReturnedScribe RRue
GYRO Bulletin for March 22nd, 2011:
Authored by Phantom Laird
Thirty Gyros plus visitors and guests convened especially to receive remarks from our speakers, and to enjoy lunch indoors, despite a lovely spring afternoon!
Speakers were Steve Sutherland, 1st VP, and his Senior Associate, Demetry Vyzis, both of of CB Richard Ellis, Bellevue office (Investment properties, Private Client group). Hanging upon their every word were not only Gyros, but several of our local Real Estate acquaintances eager to hear what the outta town guys have to say about the current marketplace, especially for getting large investment properties sold! Please forgive this scribe any naivete, but it seems the best way to get the most money for (your) given property is to have these guys connect you with buyers from OUTSIDE your marketplace, as local buyers and tenants probably “know too much”! Anyway, these guys purport to have very broad connections who may get you what you want; and questions had to be curtailed because lunch arrived… nevertheless, a thought-provoking presentation!
Next week, Tues 29 Mar, Martin Neeb has acquired our next speaker, Andy Phillips, former head of Western State Hospital, and now connected with the State Prison system, who will speak to us, among other things, on the aftermath of the recent chapel murder in Snohomish. This should be very interesting.
Beyond this, the scheduling of speakers for the rest of the season is still being finalized, such that for the immediate future (only) we have the following:
Apr 5 – Julie Meyer RN – Puget Sound Healthcare System – Memory Wellness
Apr 12 – (possibly) Charlie Hyde, on hiking from Canada to Mexico
Apr 19th -Field Trip to Emerald Downs Racetrack (behind the scenes)
with further updates to follow….
All for now – yr phantom sous-scribe
GYRO Bulletin for March 15th, 2011:
Authored by Nick Malden
A slow trickle of attendees at noon became a tsunami by 12:10 with a resulting 17 members in good standing on hand for today’s meeting. Our speaker was Garry Stutz who described the two year mission he and his wife spent in the Kenyan countryside following his retirement. Their time was spent on everything from teaching English to training locals on using solar ovens in place of charcoal fired cooking hearths. Hard to believe that a bit of cardboard with some reflective material can bring water to boil, but remember we’re talking sunny Africa and not the Pacific Northwest. At any rate, it was clear the experience had been very fulfilling to Garry and his wife…so much so they plan to do it again at the age of 68!
Consistent with my prediction in last week’s Bulletin, Dave Sheehan was indeed convinced to repeat his story about death, taxes, attorneys and prostitutes. The punch line remained the same and there were still some laughs.
Just want to make sure everyone is aware of some upcoming key dates (every Tuesday is important and we’ll have speakers from now to the end of the season, but these warrant special mention):
April 14th: Private tour of the Norman Rockwell exhibit at the Tacoma Art Museum starting at 5:30PM. For the $35 charge you get wine and cheese, a gallery guide, a docent led tour AND a $10 museum gift card. The whole thing should last about 90 minutes and there’s plenty of room if you’d like to attend. Get your checks in to Rick Carr to confirm attendance.
April 19th: Fieldtrip to Emerald Downs to visit the equine medical facilities and learn a bit about the track. No organized transport, but more info to come in later Bulletins.
April 26th: Lieutenant General Curtis Scaparrotti was the Commanding General of the 82nd Airborne Division and recently led the Division in Afghanistan (please read his bio attached). Jim Gallinatti observed that the General is one of the most impressive guests we’ve ever had speak at Gyro and recommended we do something special to express appreciation. Accordingly, it was agreed to request each Gyro confirm his plans to attend (spouses are welcome). With a confirmed attendance, we will ask TGCC to prepare a buffet style lunch as a once off exercise in lieu of the current menu. We plan costs to be the same, but if you don’t pre-confirm your plan to attend, you won’t get any food. You should let John McGowen know by April 19th whether you plan to go. This will be a special lunch with a very special guest. Let’s have a great turnout.
Still no details on the Gyro season wrap up, but mark your calendars for our Installation Dinner May 12th if you haven’t done so already. I am unaware of any club officer nominees to date so the field is still wide open! Feel free to volunteer yourself or someone else to step up and lead the group next year.
Nick Malden
GYRO Bulletin for March 8th, 2011:
Authored by Nick Malden
There was no speaker today, but 15 hardy souls showed up anyway just to prove you don’t need a speaker to have a good time. We can survive without a speaker, but I suspect there’s no appetite for testing what happens were the bar to close!
Dug Stewart reminded everyone about the upcoming Norman Rockwell exhibit at the Tacoma Art Museum. Dug’s arranged a private tour for us on April 14th starting at 5:30PM. For only $35 each we get wine and cheese, a gallery guide, a docent led tour AND a $10 museum gift card. The whole thing should last about 90 minutes and there’s plenty of room if you’d like to attend. Get your checks in to Rick Carr to confirm attendance.
Of course, you don’t get a repeat of Dug’s story about his Norman Rockwell memories. You had to be at today’s meeting for that! I’m sure Dave Sheehan could be convinced to repeat his own story told today about death, taxes, attorneys and prostitutes. Not sure how that segue worked now, but it flowed quite naturally from Dug’s story at the time.
Although we didn’t have a speaker today, you can see from the attached that our calendar is beginning to fill for the remainder of the season. We only have two open dates and I am hopeful one of those will be filled by Ernie Bianco’s guest Michael Phillips past Russell CEO. In the meantime, let’s try to plan a super turnout April 26th for the Commanding General of the 82nd Airborne Division who recently led the Division in Afghanistan. Notice we’ve also got a field trip for a tour of Emerald Downs tentatively planned for April (more details to come).
This Gyro season wraps up with our Installation Dinner May 12th at a yet to be determined venue. Frankly we need the input on locations from the social gadfly’s currently wintering down south so stay tuned. In the meantime, there’s no litmus test for club officer candidacy so feel free to volunteer yourself or someone else to step up and lead the group for next year.
Nick Malden
GYRO Bulletin for March 1st, 2011:
Authored by John McGowen
Our speaker was one of our own gyros Martin Neeb , a “good ole Texas boy” who is the general manager emeritus of KPLU. His talk centered on the financing of public radio & T.V. that appears about to fall on “hard times”. KPLU has a budget of about $6 million which 1/3rd is derived from their on air appeals for donations, 1/3rd from “commercials” and 1/3rd from grants from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The average grant is $27,000 but varies based on each stations own fundraising – the more a station raises the bigger the federal grant they receive. KPLU receives a grant of approx. ½ mil$ because their fund raising support from the community is so successful.
Due to the federal financial predicament the funding for CPB may be cut drastically. The 4 public radio stations in Washington are likely to survive but many small stations in remote low population areas around the country such as Alaska or the native peoples down south may not survive. Now is the time to contact your elected congresspersons to express your views on this topic.
We had approx. 20 – 22 attendees including 3 guests – Dave Sheean brought Mike McGowan & Dick Picton and Laird Brown brought Vince Peters – all three visitors are first timers. The dining fare was the usual 3 choices and for Davids benefit the cookies were provided.
Our speaker next week has yet to be confirmed. On March 15th Garry Stutz is speaking about his year of missionary work in Africa. At an April date Lt. General Scaparrotti commander of JBLM is scheduled to speak.
Happy Trails to you til we meet again!
John McGowen
(For those of you who don’t know the Roy Rogers museum was just closed and all the memorabilia was auctioned off.)
P.S. Don’t forget to get your check to Rick for $35/person (your check is your reservation) for the Norman Rockwell Thursday evening April 14th, commencing at 5:30 PM for a 90 minute private museum tour including wine and cheese, a short video, a docent tour, a $10 Museum store gift card and gallery guide.
GYRO Bulletin for February 22nd, 2011:
Authored by David Sheean
His name was See more (Seymour). His master was Roger Rue. He lives at the Purdy Women’s Treatment Center. A beautiful golden retriever. He is trained by the inmates. He comes to Gyro via Roger a longtime volunteer and resource to broaden his education as a service dog. The inmates do the training, Roger teaches him social skills outside the prison boundary. They have to be ten months to a year and a half to qualify for training. Not all the dogs graduate. They are shelter dogs and those (60%) that do fail are put up for adoption to the “mobility disabled” in the general population (or Gyro’s) much better trained. There are fifteen inmates in the program. They live with the dog the entire training cycle (one year). There is a low (2%) recidivism.
We have had a contact from our team leader Nick who says it is sunny and 85 degrees in Panama. I’m sure he didn’t mean to rub it in.
Next Tuesday our own Martin Neeb will talk on “The funding dilema for NPR and KPLU”. There is no speaker scheduled for Tuesday 8 March but we have Garry Stutz scheduled for 15 March to talk about his experience as a missionary in Africa.
David V. Sheean
GYRO Bulletin for February 15th, 2011:
Authored by David Loving
It is the day after Valentine’s Day so I can’t remind you to pop for the $4.50 card (how is it that cards now cost more than a Brooks Bros. tie used to cost) for an age/gender appropriate Valentine’s card. If per chance, and I am confident the “per chance” didn’t happen that there was no card in the offing, the dog is now on the bed and you are resting comfortably on a scruffy rug by the back door. I’m not quite sure when Guy Fawkes Day is but I don’t believe it requires a card. Oh yeah, Gyro. Another good crowd and a most interesting speaker. Phil Sloan, Attorney at Law, took off his running shoes and turned down his CB radio listening in to police calls for ambulances to introduce Ron Pero who besides being a computer guy is a degreed instructor in Transcendental Meditation. On a very serious note, Ron shared with us the statistics about PTSD and what the military is just now starting to do to address the debilitating issue of PTSD. Within the military family there are 18 suicides every day, there are over 500,000 service people who have been in either Iraq or Afghanistan suffering from PTSD, and the government is now spending $7 billion to address PTSD. The problems may not surface for years and there is no prescribed cure or remedy. One of the areas enjoying great success is Transcendental Meditation which is “culture neutral” and thus doesn’t contradict or interfere with any religious belief or in the opposite case, the lack of any religious belief (great, this saves my Scientology!!) The military is instituting a program called “Operation Warrior Wellness” and it is in its’ infancy but showing remarkable results. TM is structured on 20 minutes of meditation, once in the morning and one in the evening. Ron Pero teaches TM classes, but the bad news is that a class costs $1500. Assuming a fifth of Beefeater gin costs about $23 that equates to about 65 and 2/3 fifths of gin. Should good mental health be measure by fifths?? I’ll get back to you on that one but I an ordering a larger jar of olives.
Gyro news! Ket Ketner is now an official Gyro inducted with appropriate ruffles and flourishes, the secret grip, a hat with funny feathers, but no sash. In lieu of all of the above, Rick Carr just sends a bill. For those of you who have been waiting breathlessly for the news of the District IV Interim meeting, the one we so deftly avoided, it will be held March 17-19 in Nanaimo, where ever that is. So mark your calendar! Next week Roger Rue will take us to the dogs with one of his new friends. We have an assortment of terrific Gyro speakers and field trips lined up, but there are a few openings left. So keep up the good work in attracting speakers as this is an equally important reason as the cookies and jokes to spend Tuesdays With Gyro.
Your occasionally dutiful scribe will be lemming-like leaving the soggy Great Northwest to join other like minded Gyros in Palm Desert where you don’t have to wear galoshes to play golf. But fear not, or maybe should fear, that” I shall return” (sort of a catchy phrase don’t you think) come April’s showers.
‘Til the Anon,
D. Loving, Scribe
PS. You can rest easy. I know you have been most anxious. Guy Fawkes Day is November 5th. You haven’t missed it again this year, and don’t need a card.
GYRO Bulletin for February 8th, 2011:
Authored by David Loving
Another good Gyro luncheon under the new format. There does need to be one improvement, and that is the supply of cookies. Someone at the Country Club erroneously assumes that if we have 16 Gyro luncheoners, that naturally there need only be 16 cookies. Mon Dieu, mais non!! We must have more cookies than merely one apiece just in case of the remote possibility someone should want…TWO cookies. This dastardly problem will be promptly addressed by your ever vigilant Board of Directors!
Dug Stewart started our meeting by introducing Stephanie Stebich from the Tacoma Art Museum who shared with us the exciting details of the upcoming exhibit entitled “American Chronicles: the Art of Norman Rockwell.” Stephanie started her presentation with a visual recap of his work, but wait, here comes a surprise, there were “technical difficulties” and we couldn’t get the computer to work. But the true mark of a professional, Stephanie mustered through with glowing verbal imagery and boundless enthusiasm. What was equally impressive was the reservoir of Gyro culture and art knowledge that we all seemingly new the works she was referring to without actually seeing them. An erudite bunch are we. Rockwell started as an illustrator for Boys Life magazine which was the publication of the Boy Scouts of America at 19 and then moved to the Saturday Evening Post where he spent 4 decades creating those memorable covers we all remember. Well, actually not all of us, my much older brother told me about them. The numbers to bring the museum this fantastic exhibit are equally impressive: $200,000 loan fee, $30,000 in shipping costs and $40,000 for insurance. IT GETS BETTER AND BETTER! Reserve Thursday evening April 14th, commencing at 5:30 PM for a 90 minute private museum tour including wine and cheese, a short video, a docent tour, a $10 Museum store gift card and gallery guide for only $35pp. The exhibit will include 40 original works and 323 Saturday Evening Post covers. A great field trip for Gyros and Gyrettes, friends and family and a win-win for us and the Art Museum. Thanks to Dug for organizing this so please call him with your reservations.
Next week’s speaker will be Ron Pero whose topic is entitled “Transcendental Meditation for the PTSD Soldier—and the Rest of Us.” A most timely topic as we discover more and more about the debilitating effects of PTSD for our service people. And for the rest of us, who knows, it could replace gin martinis. So be there Tuesday with a clear head and open mind.
‘Til the anon,
D. Loving, Scribe
GYRO Bulletin for February 1st, 2011:
Authored by Nick Maldin
David Loving is in Patagonia fishing….I thought “Patagonia” was something you wore when fishing, not a place you went to fish. Hopefully David’s not been fleeced!
Anyway, a few hardy souls made it to the TGCC for the regular Tuesday nosh. This was our second time with the new ordering system and there were still some kinks to work out. We had people sign the order form without choosing a meal, we had meals chosen without a signature and of course, more than one physician signed forms with their best prescription flourish. Come on fellas, we’re talking cheeseburgers or hoagies here not Valium and Demerol.
We were also lucky to have Ernie Bianco’s son-in-law Tom Kuljam come speak to us about the latest fitness craze – Crossfit Training. Crossfit training is an exercise regime for all ages focused on improving strength and flexibility by doing simple drills over short bursts of time using little to no equipment. It all sounded good until we learned there was sweat involved. Dave Sheehan couldn’t understand what all this exercise talk had to do with wearing women’s clothes before it was clarified….not cross dress Dave, crossfit!
On a more serious note, Tom described his journey from childhood and how he went from adopted immigrant in Oklahoma to a career in the Air Force to eventually becoming part-owner in a new crossfit studio here in Tacoma. One need only walk through the Tacoma Mall to see there’s room for more exercise in the south sound…..as for our group, we started on the still warm chocolate cookies after Tom’s concluding remarks.
Please see the attached schedule for upcoming speakers. As you can see there are plenty of open dates to be filled. Next week we have Stephanie Stebich from the Tacoma Art Museum coming to discuss the museum and upcoming Norman Rockwell exhibit. Spouses are welcome to attend. Thank you to Dug Stewart for arranging the talk. Remember that our lunch process has changed. We place lunch orders by noon sharp and have our speaker begin while lunch is being prepared. Lunch is served at the end of the talk (about 12:30) and consumed over jokes and other banter.
There’s plenty of time until our May Installation meeting, but please start thinking about whom you would like to see serve as club officers for the upcoming 2011/12 season. Safest thing is to nominate yourself, but you can nominate anyone you want and believe me, it is shockingly easy to get elected!
Nick Malden, Scribe
GYRO Bulletin for January 25th, 2011:
Authored by David Loving
Some of you who closely read the Gyro newsletter, and who on earth wouldn’t, noticed that this scribe made a modest error on the year of our Lord, 2010! But come on, I only missed by one and one is close enough for government work. ‘Tis, indeed, 2011. This newsletter may only be a quickie, but then again it may not once I get started. I am leaving town, or more accurately, leaving the country tomorrow in search of the ever wily trout of Patagonia, Chile. A friend asked if we keep, mount or do something somewhat permanent with the BIG fish that hopefully will be caught. Of course not, we throw them back. The next obvious question was why would anyone would go to the ends of the earth to possibly catch fish that one immediately threw back? And the logical answer is……. humm. When people asked Sir Edmund Hillary why he climbed mountains, he replied “because they are there.” Maybe the same applies. But back to quickies. Who has time for more than a quickie? This weekend there was playoff football, the Bob Hope Golf Classic, the Australian Open Tennis tournament and certainly everybody shares my undying interest in NHL hockey. So you are probably way behind in whatever you were supposed to have done, and didn’t. Ergo, a quickie. Lots of Gyro guests Dick Bowe (2nd), Bob Ketner (3rd which means he must be serious about being a Gyro), and first timers Leon Titus and Ket Sheean. We didn’t tell jokes as this was the intro of our new dining schedule and timing needs to be refined. All things considered, there was general agreement that the new format will be just fine. But it is indeed with a heavy heart that the cookies somehow (gasp) didn’t make the cut but most definitely will be moved from the taxi squad to first team next week. We are still in the mode of speaker searching at press time today (OK, “press time” is a bit much for this pap.) There most likely will be a speaker but not yet confirmed. Bro James Gallinatti suggested that on those rare occasions where we don’t have a speaker, we share with our Tuesdays with Gyro kinfolk interesting books or movies. To that very point, if you haven’t seen The King’s Speech, it’s a must to add to your “to Do” list!
Our speaker was Linn Larsen, real estate guru. He shared with us the inevitability of the disastrous real estate crash and the long term ramifications which will result in a much longer than normal economic recovery. But Pierce County is in much better shape than the rest of the country due to the multiple benefits of industrial and military influx. But the market is still plagued with residential prices which have declined 40-50% and non-existent commercial demand. We have to just keep on keeping on.
‘Til the anon.
D. Loving, Scribe
Wait! STOP THE PRESSES! Ernie Bianco just called to confirm that his son-in-law Tom Kulgam will be our speaker March 1st sharing his expertise on the new fitness craze “Cross Fit Training”
GYRO Bulletin for January 18th, 2011:
Authored by David Loving
OK now everybody, listen up. I want to go through this with you just once. We Gyros are clever and quick learners and didn’t ride to school in the little yellow bus. We embody all of the qualities of the residents of Garrison Keillor’s Lake Wobegon “where all the women are strong, all the men are good looking and all of the children are above average.” What more is there to say? Therefore, I am confident that we will embrace the impending change of the long-held Gyro format with grace and equanimity, or somethin’ like that. Here goes. Starting with this coming Tuesday With Gyro, try to get to the club a wee bit earlier, or as the case may be, leave the bar a wee bit earlier to order your lunch. What! That’s correct. We will be changing to a pre-selected menu of three options tentatively identified as: hamburger/cheeseburger, salad or special of the week. We are working with the club to eliminate the constant waste of food from the current buffet we now enjoy as well as the fact that we do not want to have to again raise the price of lunch. This new program will also eliminate the problem of too few Gyros or too many Gyros for what was anticipated on any given day. So, as you come into lunch, there will be a table with the menu choices and you may either sign a chit or pay cash just as before. The reason to get there a wee bit early, just a few minutes should be sufficient, is to beat the 12:00 order rush. With the above being said, individual orders will take some time so we will be reversing the order of the day in anticipation of the arrival of lunch and proceed to announcements, introduction of guests, jokes and the speaker of the day. The lunches will be brought out for everyone at one time so the biggest challenge will be to remember what you ordered.
Speaking, so to speak, of speakers, as was earlier implored, wake-up, sober-up and bail out your friends and neighbors who might have something of interest to share with your fellow Gyros. We all have these contacts, so please make those phone calls and keep the cards and letters coming in.
This Tuesday’s speaker will be Linn Larson a commercial-industrial realtor who will share with us the real estate and economic outlook for Pierce County.
So, ‘til the anon,
D, Loving, Scribe
PS. Fear Not! Cookies will still be included with lunch
PPS. We did have guests last week: Bob Ketner (2nd time) and Dick Bowe M.D.
GYRO Bulletin for January 11th, 2011:
Authored by David Loving
Your dutiful scribe is appropriately chagrined because he has been neither “dutifable” nor “scribable.” You may question the veracity of those words but, come on, if Sarah Palin can create “refudiate” (gasp) “dutifable” and “scribable” can’t be far behind. Anyway, due to the prolonged Christmas hiatus, scribing has been replaced by holiday imbibing and therefore the creative juices required to share this weekly pap with my fellow Gyros may have been squandered elsewhere. Gen. Jack D. Ripper in the classic movie “Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Learned to Love the Bomb” eloquently shared with us his paranoia about the loss of precious bodily, though I think not “creative” fluids. I am confident that few if any may clearly nor immediately recall that famous quote oft credited to Col. Bat Guano, but credible journalism is an ongoing mandate of the Gyro newsletter. This scribe has erred in such a manner in the past by attributing a quote to Yogi Berra and subsequently and most appropriately has been corrected by one James Gallinatti that the said quotable quote was actually made by Casey Stengel … and you can look it up. But surely , and I hasten to add that as the late, great Leslie Neilson would have said “don’t call me Shirley ‘tis time to re-gin, pun intended, the creative juices for the weekly newsletter. But before I start, I trust that all had a wonderful holiday and wish to all a very HEALTHY 2011. For those who did not attend the annual Christmas Gala, my sympathies, indeed, because it was splendiferous to say the least and not to be missed next year.
There was a wonderful crowd of Gyros who seemed none the worse for wear and not the least bit corpulent for relishing the strong drink and wonderful foods of the Christmas season. We feasted at our luncheon repast and the 2011 New Year’s resolution of healthful eating represented by a splendid offering of salad and fruit was buffered by a delicious assortment of cookies. I mean come on, man can live on cumquats alone or whatever is camouflaged in salad.. We skipped the introduction of guests, which was OK because there were no guests and the prerequisite jokes because the fairer sex was represented; something tasteful to look forward to next week. We were delighted to have Dr. Victor Chiu, doctor of opththalmology as our speaker. He discussed the 3 major areas of eye problems which are: cataracts, macular degeneration and glaucoma. Each area was explored in some detail and illustrated with supporting visual presentations. Dr. Chiu detailed the causes and various remedies for addressing each with a minimal amount of medical jargon. For those reprobates who still have still not given up smoking the evil weed (wait, I’m referring to tobacco) one may add eye disease to the unending list including: cancer, heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, diabetes, zits, etc. Some ethnic groups such as Scandinavians are particularly susceptible to macular degeneration. One might be tempted to make untoward jokes about white canes in Ballard, that would be tasteless, ya betcha.
Next week’s speaker may be D.B. Cooper.
But then again,
he may be a “no show.”
‘Til the anon,
D.Loving
Scribing
GYRO Bulletin for December 15th 2010:
Authored by David Loving A good time was had by all, well, almost “all”, but more about that later. The annual Gyro Christmas gala was just that, a gala. The Country Club was decked in its’ Christmas finery, the Gyros and Gyrettes equally glamorous, and the food, to die for. That is, only if you like filet mignon perfectly cooked, medium rare, covered with crab and drizzled with a light Béarnaise sauce, or the Chilean Sea Bass flakey and tender, both served with a divine salad, crunchy asparagus, and of course, desert, bolstered by bounteous amounts of the flowing grape to match the palate of our discriminating diners; a long way from a normal Tuesday repast of mac and cheese. So get your calendars and mark December 13, 2011 as a “must do” for the new year. But, alas, not everybody did have a good time. Sometimes Santa doesn’t put good things in your stocking, and this year, Sally Hayes will have her stocking covered …with a cast! Sally fell just as the above mentioned dinner was being served and broke her ankle in 2 places. Talk about your Bah Humbug. But in a surprising reversal of the long tradition of the Gyro mystique of self above service, the docs in attendance sprang into action and to the rescue. Thanks to all of them for their help. ‘Tis not been a good year for Gyrettes and the Christmas Party as Joanne Thompson also had to miss said gala with a freshly (if one can say that) broken ankle.
NO GYRO UNTIL JANUARY 11th!
Attached is a list of speakers scheduled for the new year. You may quickly note, clever fellow that you are, that a few openings still exist. So wake up, sober up and bail out your friends and acquaintances who your fellow Gyros might enjoy hearing from (damn, there is another sentence ending with a preposition! Good grammar can be such a drag.) But I do enjoy yelling at my nice flat screen TV when folks who should know better say “where’s he at” and I yell back, just before the “at.” Anyway, we all know that one of the many reasons we enjoy Gyro, and a sound rationale as we encourage new members to join our happy band of Tuesday munchers, is to hear from interesting speakers, and oh, by the way something we haven’t experienced in quite a while, take a field trip. So give Nick a quick hello with the name(s) of future speakers.
Last, and certainly not least, from your dutiful, though a good friend does refer to me as “one bubble off center” scribe, I wish to all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and the blessings of a HEALTHY 2011.
‘Til the anon,
D. Loving, Scribe
GYRO Bulletin for December 7th 2010:
Authored by David Loving
Get out your calendar and eraser. Gyro next Tuesday even though it is the same day as the ever gala Christmas Party. The traditional Thanksgiving wine and joke lunch is now the Christmas wine and joke luncheon. And since ‘twll be held at the tony Tacoma Golf and Country Club, the also traditional wine in a box with the vintage listed in weeks will now be a lovely grape, not too fruity but with a full roundness that shows well and seduces the palate with hints of black cherry, sandalwood and rhubarb (I just wanted to see if you were paying attention to the “wine speak” with the rhubarb reference.) As brother Gallinatti so cogently positioned it, why wouldn’t we have Gyro on Tuesday? “I eat lunch on Tuesday.” What more can one say? BUT, after next Tuesday, NO Gyro lunches until January 11th as the Club is closed the week after New Year.
Today we had 5 lovely Gyrettes, a potential new member Ray Johnson introduced by Dave Sheean who clearly wins the award, if we had one, for introducing potential new members and Elvis, not the one recently seen in the mall, but an aide dog in training with Roger Rue. We also had good jokes, in every sense of the word; jokes that could have been told at the next church guild meeting…. and cookies, but more about those later.
The Gyro Christmas Party is working out swimmingly but we need a few more merry makers. There is space for four or five more couples. So ladies, get out your party shoes, those Mary Janes that have been languishing in your closet, your frock and jewels. I personally think diamond tiaras are smashing. We will most likely see more of them with the upcoming nuptial of Will and Kate. You may want to mark your calendar; I believe the date is April 30, 2011. It is just possible we may not be on the invitation list and alas, yet another wedding not invited to; or since we are using the King’s English, a wedding to which we are not invited. But then that’s not all bad because I would be in a quandary as what to get them as a wedding gift. I mean, after all, you can’t exactly give the future King and Queen a Crock Pot. As for gents, a dark suit or tux is always chic. I have yet to figure out how the dry cleaner is able to shrink just the waist every year. Maybe today’s speaker will be of assistance. So please call or email me with your reservation.
Bev Utt is a Lakewoodian known to many of us and a multi-degreed nutritionist who shared with us secrets of living longer and healthier. Simply stated, long life is no accident but a combination of good genes plus good habits. That means running, not walking, away from a Western diet and lifestyle. I wanted to ask if that means I have to give up the remote control for my television. It also entails a significant change of one’s diet. Bev said one should minimize the consumption of red meat, whole dairy like cheese and butter, baked goods such as cakes and (gasp) cookies, chips, and oh my God, the list goes on forever. Basically if it tastes good, it ain’t good. I, personally, was always confident that sugar, butter and chocolate certainly satisfied the basic food groups. She then proceeded to tell us what we should be eating, and though it is possible I may have missed it, I don’t believe I heard the word “Krispy” or “Kreme.” Hello soy and tofu, good bye chocolate chips…in your dreams.
So, ‘til the anon, your munching Scribe,
D. Loving, Esq.
GYRO Bulletin for November 30th 2010:
Authored by David Loving
There is no reason to do today what you can put off until tomorrow. But, should the spirit move you to irrational exuberance, and you still haven’t signed-up for the Gyro Christmas Party, as the Nike ads so state, “Do It.” I want to confirm that it is a known medical fact that our somnolent semblance around the holidays is NOT our fault! By the perverse interaction of nature and body chemistry, it is the chemical make-up of turkey called dopamine, kerosene or something like that, that mandates that one falls asleep after eating, having previously been compelled to watch mindless football games featuring teams to which one has absolutely no allegiance, only to awaken and begin to graze though the refrigerator looking for a turkey sandwich. This fact exonerates us from any culpability for slothfulness. So there!
There were 36 at Gyro today, scrambling for 28 cookies, counting lotsa guests which included Dave Sheehan’s guests Tom Murray and Bob Ketner, Phil Hayes’ guest Jim Mattson and Terry Roark’s guest John Rodenburg. This number of guests coupled with the anticipated interest in hearing what our speaker Larry Saunders was going to tell us about his time spent in Iraq dictated that we forgo (gasp) the telling of jokes. The true military man that he is, Larry did not dwell on the debate over the validity of the Iraq war, or the Rumsfeldian cabal of arrogant and incompetent dolts that created the Iraqi disaster. It is the lot of extremely dedicated and truly qualified people like David Petreus and Larry Sanders to try to put Humpty Dumpty back together again. The task is Herculean not only and certainly not limited by the Middle East tradition of tribalism and corruption. Iraq was created after WWI and since its inception in 1924 Iraq has never had a peaceful transition of government. As Larry shared with us, the keystone of stability of any government is “Police Primacy” which is a confidence that first of all there will be a cop on the corner and secondly, he is there to protect the people, not the regime.” Police Primacy” is a combination of fact and perception. Larry and his group did an absolutely outstanding job in formulating and implementing plans and procedures to accomplish that goal, When asked what the chances of establishing a viable Iraq are, it was Larry’s opinion that if the US and the rest of the other countries stay the course, not for months but years, the odds are 60-40. If you happened to have watched “60 Minutes” last Sunday where the topic was the fledgling Afghan police force which is 80-90% illiterate, the chances of success may barely equal those of winning the lottery The difference between Iraq and Afghanistan is that the former has a pool of educated and qualified people to draw from even though those individuals expose their families and themselves to incredible danger. Every one of Larry’s translators has requested and received permission to come to the US simply because of their exposure as a translator working for the US. In Afghanistan there is no pool of honest, educated or loyal citizenry from which to choose.
Next week, on a lighter (no pun intended) subject, Bro Gallinatti will introduce Bev Utt who will help us rearrange our lives through better eating habits. A timely tale, indeed.
‘Twould be an ideal time to have your Gyrette join our merry band for lunch. Bring her.
‘Til the anon,
D.Loving Scribe
GYRO Bulletin for November 16th 2010:
Authored by David Loving
Two for the price of one; what a deal. This week you get 2 newsletters. Because of all of the bad weather Monday, I visited the Country Club Tuesday morning. No lights, a few staff members wandering around, no information as to when the Club would reopen. It was suggested later that afternoon. So off I went. Alas, no Gyro. Much to my surprise, and as I should have expected, the people at the Country Club rallied and put together a Gyro lunch. Your scribe being AWOL, Nick has supplied a second newsletter recapping the event.
REMEMBER, no Gyro this coming Tuesday November 23rd as it is Thanksgiving week.
GET YOUR CHRISTMAS RESERVATIONS AND ENTRÉE PREFERENCES BACK TO ME ASAP.
Additional GYRO Bulletin for November 16th 2010:
Authored by Nick Malden
Monday night saw winds in excess of 60mph and Tuesday morning brought an earthquake of 4.2 on the Richter scale! It wasn’t clear until 10:30AM that the Country Club would even open, but open it did and approximately 20 hardy Gyros made it in for our regular Tuesday feast. The Club even got piping hot cookies prepared so kudos to the cook.
Those that did make it were treated to a special film describing the D-Day landings presented by Jim Gallinatti. If there was ever any doubt, the movie certainly served to remind us why indeed we say those soldiers and their peers were members of “the greatest generation.” It’s easy to forget the heroism of so many 65+ years later. These regular citizens exhibited extraordinary courage in the face of unimaginable mortal danger. Think what could be accomplished iftoday’s citizen politicians could muster a fraction of that same courage in addressing today’s problems that those soldiers displayed in scaling the cliffs of Normandy! A little special interest pressure seems to pale in comparison to withering fire.
If you’re not a regular Gyro meeting attendee you’ll be delighted to hear that there’s no meeting next Tuesday (November 23), so you won’t be missing anything! For everyone else, don’t worry, we’ll start right back up on November 30th. Our guest will be past Lakewood Police Chief, Larry Saunder who will be speaking to us about his experiences with police training in Iraq.
And the calendar is grinding inexorably towards Christmas so you know what that means ….. time to sign up for the Gyro Christmas Gala to be held at the Country Club on December 14th. Please let David Loving know of your “intentions” ASAP so that we can provide the Country Club with the relevant headcount and deliver yet another wonderful Christmas party. Speaking of Christmas, as you reflect on 2010 and consider what 2011 resolutions you might want to commit to, let me suggest an easy one. Why not resolve to sign up just one speaker for 2011! It’s simple, we have plenty of slots available and you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing that you stuck to at least one New Year’s resolution!
Nick Malden
GYRO Bulletin for November 9th 2010:
Authored by David Loving
OK, I have to warn you upfront, here comes yet another and probably last (let’s get serious, there will never be a “last” ed. note.) regarding the recent deluge of election commercials, robo calls, mailings and everything else short of a man on the street wearing a sandwich board. The price tag for the recent election, not counting the actual costs of monitoring, staffing tabulating etc .the actual votes, was FOUR BILLION DOLLARS!!!. Yup, $4B, and oh yeah, it was a mid-term election. Think of what will be spent on the general election. One may or may not agree with the Roberts Supreme Court decision regarding political interest group spending, but…oh well, never mind.
As we are want to say in Chicago,” vote early and often.”
Really important stuff…jokes, speakers and cookies. We had all on Tuesday, but no guests. Previous guest Bill Harrison has cast his lot with a lot of friendly Gyros and now eligible to get a membership bill from Rick Carr. To that last point, Rick has informed the Board that there are a few Gyros who are AWOL on sending in their checks. Rick has contacted two swarthy fellows in ill-fitting suits named Guido and Sal who may be making house calls to give you an offer you can’t refuse. The check better be in the mail. Our speaker was Dan Spriestersbach, one time Huskie defensive back and currently Pac 10 side judge. Dan didn’t really have a presentation but shared with us everything from his opinion on the Ducks (awesome) to the Huskies (not quite awesome), of the players and actual football fields today as compared to 25 years ago and how things like that have dramatically changed the game. Here are some of his comments as responses to 45 minutes of questions;
The kids are respectful
No trash talking like the pros
His crew works together almost the entire season
Even tougher penalties next season for “showboating”
The refs go to a 2-3 day pre-season school every year
Most of the coaches are very respectful
The modern day football fields are engineering marvels of sub-surface watering and draining. Alas, no more Woody Hayes type slogging through muddy fields for 3 yards
Oregon’s offense is incredibly fast. They want to run 100 plays a game.
The refs were getting booed by the Duck fans because they weren’t spotting the ball fast enough to allow them to get off a new play in 11 SECONDS!
The athletes are so much bigger, stronger and faster now than during his college playing career, but still very, very few will make it to the pros, and of those few that do, very few of those will survive (can we say Ryan Leif?)
There was undoubtedly a lot more but in sharing these with my long suffering “football widow” wife she rolls her eyes with a well deserved “who cares” about cover two defenses, especially since I’m not getting paid to know these things. You know, wives just don’t understand how important this stuff is or how my entire Sunday (after church, of course) can be spent sloth-like in front of the television. I mean come on, Peyton Manning truly needs my help as do the refs.
Next week we will have an appropriate topic presented by Jim Gallinatti about WWII as we are celebrating Veteran’s Day this week. Jim has neither confirmed nor denied that he did serve in the “Great War” with Black Jack Pershing. But Jim does know all the words to “Over There.” Humm.
Your loyal scribe and ‘til the anon,
D. Loving
GYRO Bulletin for November 2nd 2010:
Authored by David Loving
THANK GOD the election is over! If I had to watch one more commercial, I would have voted for a Cocker Spaniel if I thought it would have stopped the endless, and often mindless, commercials. But the blathering will just continue. The “talking heads” will drive us to despair with a never-ending evaluation of the review of the recap of the re-evaluation of the recap. Regardless if one agrees or disagrees with Rush Limbaugh, there is something perverse about a President of the United States of America earning $400,000 a year and Rush earning, according to Newsweek magazine, $58,000,000 a year. But enough of an “ed.note.”
As the late, great voice of the Chicago Cubs would say, “Holy Cow.” The same goes for the attendance at Gyro on Tuesday. Thirty two Gyros and guests. The sandwich buffet had to be refilled and there was a scarcity of cookies. But decorum and diplomacy prevailed and a serious amount of “family hold back” allowed for a modicum of munching. Dave Sheean introduced four, that’s right, four guests: Steve Anderson, George Ballasiotas, Rod Stowell and Duncan McMillan. Dave claimed that they have been friends for years. One wag promptly interjected that he didn’t know that Dave had four friends. Phil Hayes returned the order to order by introducing Bill Harrison who claims to want to join our merry band. Surprise, surprise, no jokes, so off we went to our speaker, Rob Wekell. Rob is the president of North Star Glove Company that has been existence in Tacoma for a hundred years. Rob shared some insights into the glove business but even more so into the running of a family business. Simply stated, there is no such thing as absentee landlordism in a family business if you want to survive. North Shore Glove once employed 150 employees and is now down to 75. The workforce displays a snapshot of the continuing and evolutionary process of the fabric of labor in America. Twenty years ago, the work force was largely Vietnamese struggling to get a piece of the hopefully still vital American dream. Today, the employees are largely Hispanic. Reflective not only of who is making the gloves, this same demographic has altered the product mix of who is wearing the gloves. North Star makes gloves for the industrial market. The industrial customer has evolved from large lumber jack type hands to smaller Hispanic workers with smaller hands. Lurking on the horizon with an ever increasing presence is not the smaller hands of the Hispanic users who wear the gloves but the ever expanding hands of Chinese making gloves. That will be a challenge for the next generation of Wekells and small businesses everywhere.
Next week will be another doozie! I know that everyone is on the edge of their proverbial seats about the upcoming battle for gridiron supremacy in the Great Northwest between the Ory-gon Ducks and the Washington Huskies. It will be a real nail biter and the suspense regarding the eventual outcome might well last halfway into the first quarter before it is decided. Dan Speistenbach is a big time college football official and will be the line judge (I think) in that game. That may be corrected but as I understand it he is the zebra in the defensive backfield squatting behind the line backers and avoiding getting run over. If one were to ask my wife, she would claim that based on the number of games I watch on TV, and my helping the refs make their calls from my Bark-O-Lounger, I should qualify as a referee. But then, what does she know about football. Regardless of the outcome of the game, OK, that was a sop for Huskie fans, next Tuesday will definitely be a day of great stories.
Following up on old war stories, on the following Tuesday, Brother Jim Gallinatti will talk about D-Day, which by the way, is not November 16 as we all know, but June 6th. Armistice Day which is no longer referred to by that name, or even the memorable Poppy Day, and now appropriately called Veterans Day is November 11. Allegedly the armistice signing to end The Great War (and I am prompt to remind people that Jim may not have been in that war) was signed at the eleventh minute of the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. You may need to know that for the next time you appear on Jeopardy.
Speaking of speakers, we are good to go for the balance of 2010. 2011 is wide open so put the bite on interesting friends and neighbors to join us for a bite on Tuesdays.
‘Til the anon,
D. Loving, Scribe in Waiting
GYRO Bulletin for October 26th 2010:
Authored by David Loving
He had a suit on! You may remember what those things are, that’s where the jacket and trousers match. He was wearing a white shirt and even a tie and the tie didn’t have a picture of Homer Simpson saying “Bite Me.” So, clever fellows as we naturally are, we figured he had either wandered into the wrong place looking for a funeral or he was our speaker. More about Brad Lawson later. But first things first. No guests if you don’t count Rick Kirk who just returned from yet another cruise of almost a month. We are going to have to find a new planet for Rick since he has visited about every place on this one. There were jokes, really good Clam Chowder and it wasn’t even Friday and cookies.
Brad Lawson manages a new hedge fund located right here in the GNW. Brad and a couple of cronies left Frank Russell and started their own company. He shared with us just what a hedge funds is, how it works, and its legal and financial requirements. As to the latter, they can be comfortably written on the back of a match book. He quickly addressed the stigma surrounding “Hedge Funds” and admitted the reputation was often richly deserved. Hedge fund managers to me were just slightly above Three Card Monty dealers, and that may be an unfair comparison to Three Card Monty dealers. There are 3 restrictions on hedge funds: only a limited number of investors, only investors with a reasonably high net worth and they can’t advertise. Yup, moms and dads, boys and girls, those are the only restrictions. Hellloooo, Bernie M. Warren Buffett said it best. “You only find out who has been swimming naked when the tide goes out.” The late great bank robber Willie Sutton stated the obvious and said it best when asked why he robbed banks. “That’s where the money is.” But we did give Brad his due for honesty and integrity. After all, he did have a sincere suit on. His guidelines for investors: know what you are going to own, know when you can get your money out, and how often the fund is going to communicate with you. Hedge funds are expensive to own. They charge one and one half per cent management fee and take 20% of the profits. So when you win, they win, and, oh yeah, when you lose, they still win. Hopefully they are really smart fellows in really expensive suits and the fund really will out perform the market.
Next week, a modest change in subject matter; “gloves”, not a spangly silver glove like Michael Jackson wore, but just plain gloves that working people wear. Actually, Rob Wekell will share with us the trials and tribulations of operating a family owned business, North Star Glove Company that has been in existence for 100 years. So come one, come all. Enjoy the pleasure of the company of fellow Gyros.
’til the anon,
D. Loving, Scribe
GYRO Bulletin for October 19th 2010:
Authored by David Loving
I mean, come on! Your dutiful scribe had been back on the job for one whole week after a five month vacation and certainly deserved a sabbatical. The Siren’s song of a late season expedition in search of the wily trout pulled me to the rocks of the Big Hole River in Montana. Its like that great line from The God Father II, you try to get out but it pulls you back in. Anyway, since you did (n’t) ask, it was mixed. Ask any fisherman how he did and he will ware you out with dissertations about falling barometers and the impact on fishing realizing of course the fish has a brain smaller than the point of a pin yet knows more about barometric pressure than Willard Scott. If you are really lucky, you may hear about the subtleties of a #16 versus a #18 Hare’s Ear nymph. You’re safer striking up a conversation with a life insurance salesman or asking your new neighbor about his colonoscopy.
Oh yeah, Gyro. No guests . We were delighted to see the return of the native Carl Geist who did have to cross a big bridge to get to Gyro so he sorta counts as a guest. There were jokes that you could have heard twice; once by the original teller followed promptly by someone else at the table who retold it in a louder voice. We will hopefully have a lavaliere mike in the near future. Our speaker was John Rodenburg who is a “Certified Business Planer.” There are 28 such people all of whom are volunteers who possess varied business expertise and provide free and confidential advice to small businesses. This service is financed jointly by The Small Business Administration and Washington State University. John works only with established businesses, not start-ups. He is a resource that small business owners may use on everything from writing a business plan to legal advice. He does not actually write a plan or provide legal advice but presents a list of three such companies or firms that may do so. John guides them with experience and valued cadre of outside experts. In 2009, the Certified Business Advisors worked with 157 different clients throughout Washington State.
Mr. Brad Larson will be our next speaker. Brad is with Point Defiance Capital Management and will give us a primer on Hedge Funds. They seemingly have the same stigma as the above mentioned colonoscopy in that you really don’t want someone performing said services working with a “Learners Permit”, so to speak. Brad assures us it will be”Hedge Fund 101” and not a veiled attempt to lure money out of your spot-welded shut wallet. Even if it was a sneaky way, which it ain’t, the Country Club has a hard time just getting 15 bucks from those Gyro guys for a 3 course lunch, plus cookies!
And a 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4, 1,2,3,4 Start practicing your waltz steps in anticipation of the annual Christmas gala and Dancing with the Stars wanna be. The jolly fat man in the red suit will know if you’ve been naughty or nice and missed the Christmas Party. ‘Best not to make him mad that time of year. More later.
‘til the anon,
Your not too dutiful scribe,
D. Loving
GYRO Bulletin for October 12th 2010:
Authored by Nick Malden
If you missed our meeting on the 12th we’ll give you the benefit of the doubt that your absence had nothing to do with one of our speakers being an actual bounty hunter here in Pierce County. That’s right, our speakers were Mike “Darkside” Beakley a decorated retired Tacoma Police Officer turned bounty hunter and Pam Phree, one of the first women to be licensed as a bail agent in the State of Washington many years ago. They recently collaborated in authoring a book entitled Murder, Betrayal and Greed which is the true story of their exploits bailing out criminals and then chasing them down right here in Pierce County. It was encouraging to hear that none of our members seemed particularly familiar with the bail process not to mention what happens to bail jumpers! Interestingly, some local governments are looking at getting into this heretofore private industry. Believe it or not, there are some jurisdictions where criminals can pay their own bail by credit card! Talk about a revolving door. .. or is that credit?
Of course we had a few jokes from our regular jokesters and Dug Stewart regaled us with actual historical quotes on technology that seem ludicrous when considered against the facts as we know them today. An IBM executive quoted years ago as saying there was a world¬wide market for only FIVE computers! We still have a great roster of speakers lined up for weeks to come (see schedule attached). Don’t worry about missing the last session … come to the next one! Of course, you can always be looking to fill in our open spots in 2011 too.
As you look at the schedule you’ll also see we have the Founder’s Day event coming up October 20th at Jolmny’s in Fife starting at 6:30PM. This is a gathering of several Gyro Clubs in the area and it would be good if we could have at least some modest representation (it’s in our backyard after all). If you plan to go, from the voice of experience …. come to a dead stop before making a right turn on red in Fife. There won’t be any press at this event so if you see a f1ash, expect a letter in the mail! Also, mark your calendars now for the December 14th Christmas gala.
Under the category of “you can’t please all the people all the time” (but you can try), I’d also like to confirm that we plan to hold our lunches at the Tacoma Golf and Country Club for the foreseeable future. Not everyone will be happy with the decision, but it seems to make the most sense and is certainly the EASIEST to manage. We will continue to meet downstairs at the main clubhouse in the room that looks like a bar.
Well, that’s it for this week. David Loving should be back next week with a fish story or two from Montana.
sous scribe,
N Malden
GYRO Bulletin for October 5th 2010:
Authored by David Loving
As I put pen to paper, rhetorically speaking, or is it allegorically or maybe even apocryphally speaking, I share the pleasure of returning to munch and bunch with my comrades in arms in the merry band of Gyros. ‘Tis sad to leave the leaves of northern Michigan which are now a cacophony of reds, oranges, golds and yellows but not the daily arrival of “leaf peepers” with belching buses disgorging same like the clowns at the circus tumbling out of a small car. They are regaled in odd mixtures of plaids and stripes with the women marveling at the leaves and the men looking for a men’s room (one never passes up an opportunity!) Anyway, I am training myself to stop leaving my car keys in the ignition all the time unless desiring an “unforeseen” insurance claim for a stolen vehicle. But enough of personal snarky revelations.
Oh, yeah, Gyro. There was a good group of 20 plus Gyros for the Tuesday lunch bunch, no guests, and good, or bad, depending on one’s perspective, jokes. Party Tsar/Czar comrade John Winterski urged more members to sign up for the upcoming Fall Dinner Gala October 14 at the Tacoma Yacht Club, price per couple to be decided later depending upon the numbers of attendees and Rick Carr’s eraser. Please give John a call ASAP. But come on, what’s a few bucks in exchange for a night of eats and drinks with Gyros and Gyrettes. I am absolutely positive that one not need to be reminded of the District IV investiture ceremony, or somethin’ like that scheduled for October 20th at 6:30 at Johnny’s Dock in Fife. I am confident than Tacoma Gyro will be represented in its’ accustomed fashion. If planning to attend, swords, capes and plumed hats not required Speaking, again rhetorically; mark down DECEMBER 14 FOR THE ANNUAL CHRISTMAS GALA. The Country Club needs to have at least 66 folks eating and tripping the light fantastic. Group co-President and first among equals Nick Malden shared with the group the results of the survey undertaken before our adjournment last spring. The focus of the survey was the future direction of Tacoma Gyro, membership and the relationship if attaing new members and retaining existing member and where to meet, downtown or the current venue of the Country Club. Though no overwhelming positions were identified, it was agreed that for the foreseeable future, the benefits of staying at the Country Club dictated no changes. More later.
FOREWARNED IS FOREARMED! Next week we have two speakers; Pam Phree, bail bondswoman, and Mike Beakley, bounty hunter. So if you are on the lam, you may want to reconsider attending, or at least not wear your name badge, or better still, wear your Groucho fake nose and eyebrows disguise. They would never arouse suspicion. So you better be there, and they aren’t kidding around!
‘til the anon,
D. Loving Scribe
GYRO Bulletin for September 28th 2010:
Authored by Laird Brown
Hey, the kids are stumbling along in good shape, despite the absence of our “A Team” officers! The following relates the collaborative efforts of many well-deserving members:
Approximately 17 Gyros, plus guest, Marv Colbo (kindness of Dave Sheean) ,met and dined happily upon our accustomed buffet spread, in time to listen to the remarks of our speaker; but not before receiving the following vital info:
– Howie Hunter and Dave Sheean had some PRETTY GOOD jokes to share (you had to be there)
(Regional?) GYRO Founders’ Night gathering on 20 October, 6:30PM @ Johnny’s in Fife
– Dr. John Winters wants your RSVP (582-6373) for Fall Get-Together Party @ Tacoma Yacht Club Thurs Oct 14th, beginning 5:30 PM – Dug Stewart announced Speakers’ lineup so far:
Oct 5 – Nick Malden – Club-wide discussion of last season’s Survey (everybody come!)
Oct 12 – Pham Phree (Bail Bondswoman) & Mike Beasley (Bounty Hunter)
Oct 19 – John Rodenburg – Small Business Development Center, Tacoma Business Activity
Oct 26 – Brad Larson – Pt Defiance Hedge Fund (per Stan Carl- son)
Nov 2 – Rob Wekell, Pres. of North Star Glove (100 years of family business) (per Phil Sloan)
Nov 9 – Dan Speiestenbach Pac 10 Football Official (per Jim Gallinatti)
Nov 16 – (we need help, please!)
Bring your appetite and GUESTS (whom you think might also enjoy thi s … and US!)
Gotta stop, now
Your SUBscribe,
Laird Brown – LSMFT (Let’s stop, my fingers’r ired! )
GYRO Bulletin for September 21st 2010:
Authored by Laird Brown
17 Gyros, speaker and assistant, no guests. The Club’s hospitality ex¬tended to the accustomed sandwich buffet, with cookies; and ours to good company, including the season’s first round of jokes duly re¬ceived and appreciated!
Our speaker, Greg Stewart, of Orbiter LLC, (AKA son of our own Dug Stewart), along with his engineer cohort, another Greg [?], regaled us with tales of the joy and challenges of introducing new technology, namely radio frequency identification chips tailored to customer requirements, while arguing vociferously that they are available at bargain prices! Their list of surprised and happy customers is growing, and we look forward to future reports of their adventures as they dislodge Microsoft from prominence!
Next week (29 Sept) we will meet at this same location, and our speaker will be introduced by Phil Hayes, namely Rich Friend, concerning upcoming US Amateur and US Open golfing events future and recently past.
Party Czar John Winters (Ph: 582-6373 , see also bottom of this sheet) wants your call for headcount (including spouse and guests) at our belated Season-opening Get-together Party, which will be held, as usual, at the Tacoma Yacht Club on Thursday, October 14th, doors open at 5:30 PM. You will have a wonderful time, and you will be billed!!!
All this while awaiting the return of erstwhile officers and other persons of questionable responsibility,
Your Sub-sous secyjauteur,
Laird Brown
GYRO Bulletin for September 14th 2010:
Authored by Laird Brown
Headcount of 22 Gyros effortlessly read their Bulletins and emails, and showed up at the usual time and place (TG&C, Lakewood) to “open the season”! It appears, unfortunately, that no one happened to inform TG&C about us, BUT the dining room was very sparsely attended that noon, and we greatly enjoyed food and drink ordered off the Menu, and then adjourned to the downstairs meeting room for another delightful update on the Waterfront Maritime Museum project by Admiral Tom Cashman, kindness of Jim McCormack.
It was so much fun, we decided to do it again next week, Tues Sept 21st, when our speaker will be Greg Stewart (son of Dug), of Orbiter llc, which works with FRID technology (to be explained) to help others keep track of things like trees in Washington, penguins in Antarctica, ski racers in Ontario, athletic testing of military personnel, etc. This will definitely be instructive!
Until then, keep the faith! –
Your sous-sous-sous Scribe,
Laird Brown
GYRO Bulletin for September 7th 2010:
Authored by Nick Malden
“.. Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends, we’re so glad you could attend, come inside come inside ” (Emerson, Lake and Palmer/rom the 1973 album Brain Salad Sur- gery)>
Yes, another Gyro season is upon us and our first get together is scheduled for noon on September 14th at the Tacoma Golf and Country Club. I know, same old same old, but our new “Gyro Board” felt it best to review the survey results at an upcoming meeting before making any changes. This should please the 44% that preferred the status quo and give us all a chance to review the survey results and comments in the friendly confines of the club house basement. I will tabulate the responses and prepare an overview presentation to be given in early October (I’m motorcycling east to west on Route 66 for the month of September).
Hopefully you’ve all had great summer time experiences loaded with terrific stories that you plan to regale us with at an upcoming meeting. Of course, you may also have met some fascinating people, come across some great causes or otherwise been exposed to a slice of life you think the rest of our chapter might enjoy hearing from or learning about. Let your imaginations run wild, then sign-up to be responsible for getting a speaker for a Tuesday session this Fall, Winter, Spring or all three! The good news is there is absolutely no limit on how many speakers you’re allowed to book.
The good news is that we DO have a speaker for the 14th thanks to Jim McConnack. Tom Cashman, Executive Director of the Foss Waterway Seaport will be our guest. I’m sure Tom will have a lot to tell us about the activities down on the waterway including (in reverse order of velocity) hydro’s, steamboats and even tall ships not to mention the growth in the museum and progress on programs at the Seaport.
Anyway, that’s the kick off bulletin. Hope you can join the group on the 14th. As for me, I’ll see you in October.
Filling in for “D Loving Scribe” while he enjoys the wilds of northern Michigan,
Sous Scribe: Nick Malden
The beginning of the fall 2010 season!