The Record
Vol
XXXXV
No. 11
December, 2004
Robert Kratz, Publisher
Merry Christmas To All!!!
President's Message:
by Martha Erwin
LAST President's Message;
One full year has come and is almost gone, seems impossibly short“ until it's time to write this message again, already! It seemed short.
It is always a pleasure to thank members who have helped keep our social life humming. Thank You to BONNIE JO and JOE Z. for chairing the Potluck. Our COOKS did it again with a delightful choice of soups and salads to please the palette. Then a big Thank You to EVERYONE in the club who pitched in to create a welcome to caller, cuer and square dance friends for our successful November hoedown.
I can't mention every individual, but I would like us to give a very special Thank You to MARY and MILAN G. for hosting Mike Sikorsky. They retrieved him from the airport, allowed for his necessary afternoon rest, took him out to dinner, to and from the hoedown, and then were up at 5:00 a.m. to take Mike back to the airport.
When I asked for a committee to revise the Bylaws, I envisioned a bit of tinkering to make the Bylaws reflect our present-day practices. But Chairman DON S. saw otherwise and under his direction and enabled by his organizational skills the committee, which has met during November for three long sessions (two-banana long) and sent numerous e-mails, rewrote our Constitution and Bylaws. Although not entirely completed, nor ratified by the club, the document should serve the Club well. Thank You to the committee for their work: DON S., DOROTHY E., JACK G., JOHN W., and myself.
This month we can look forward to our Club Christmas Party on December 16 hosted by LISA, TRACY, DIANA & CARL. In advance a Thank You to them as new dancers for stepping right in to host this event.
Our new slate of officers will take charge in January, but we are missing one vital standing committee chairperson, that of Refreshments. Our membership has decreased which means we all have to dig in and take responsibility as committee chairs to keep our very active club functioning. My phone number, Dorothy E's is in the Club Roster. Get the hint? Besides, Board members, Standing Committee chairpersons and social event chairpersons get to attend the President's Board Christmas Party!
Now it is December and my time to thank all of you who have been Board members, hosted social events and opened your homes for Board meetings and hoedown After Parties throughout this past year. It has been a good year, a very good year. Thank you for making it so.
Martha, Your 2004 President.
Birthdays
Alfreda Young
12/17
Helen Williamson
12/20
Carl Lorentzen
12/21
Jack Strickler
12/25
Bonnie Zehrung
12/27
Carol Giolitti
1/7
Inger Pedersen
1/8
Anniversaries
Egon & Inger Pedersen
12/26/54
John & Avis Walker
1/4/58
Joe & Bonnie Zehrung
1/8/63
Love Bug Dances
by Joe Gerhards
At the last two general meetings Alfreda and I wanted to announce our wedding plans. However, each meeting ran right up to 10 PM because of the 2005 election posturing. Our wedding will be on March 19th and quite small, limited to family and a few close friends.
We did tell several club members in response to their request that we fill 2005 CB board positions.
2005 will be a very busy time for us, both planning around the wedding, but also combining households and plans for some extended travel.
Later in the spring we plan to have an open house inviting CB members to share in our happiness.
--Congratulations--
Christmas Party
by Diana Lorentzen
Come kick up your heels at the annual Christmas party that will be held December 16, 2004 at 7:30 in the
So come join in this fun holiday celebration ---
bring your dancing shoes
your singing voice
a snack food to share
any food items (or monetary donation) you would like to donate to the Contra Costa and Solano County Food Bank holiday food drive
Any questions call: Lisa and Tracy Woodard
Or Diana and Carl Lorentzen
Clutch Buster Board for 2005
Here is the list of the prodigious people who will make this club function through 2005.
Officers
President
-
Dorothy Evans
Vice Pres.
-
Liz Phelan
Secretary
-
Don Snodgrass
Treasurer
-
Frank Birsa
Publicity
-
Carol Giolitti
Refreshments
-
OPEN“ your opportunity
Welcoming
-
Avis Walker
Committee Chairs
Arrangements
-
John Evans
Decorations
-
Erna Beutel
New Dancers
-
Martha Erwin
News Paper
-
Bob Kratz
N.C.S.D.A.
-
Tracy Woodard
Sodas
-
Jack Strickler
Telephone
-
Ted Turgeon
Dues due
To allow our illustrious book keeper to balance our books by years end anyone in arrears is asked to pay their due dues right away. See Frank Birsa before he sees you.
BOWLING/PIZZA PARTY
by Avis Walker
Sunday, January 23. 2005
Mary and Milan Gregovich and Avis and John Walker are hosting our annual Bowling/Pizza Party this year on Sunday January 23, 2005. We will meet at Diablo Lanes,
Bowling starts at 1 p.m. so show up by 12:30 to check in with Mary and receive your lane assignments.
We will be bowling 2 games @ $3.75 per game ($7.50 per person). This amount is to be prepaid to Mary before the date of the bowling party.
See Mary and sign up soon so we will have an accurate head count and know how many lanes we will need.
If you need bowling shoes they will be an extra $2.50 per person payable at the desk. Be sure and tell them you are with The Clutch Buster group to get the $2.50 price. Any questions about this call Mary. Even if you don't want to bowl please come and join us.
There will be trophies for some and prizes for all and lots and lots of fun and laughter.
Pizza eating and awards will follow at the Round Table Pizza Parlor,
Avis has a menu (with tax added) and will be signing up those who wish to order pizza.
Please pay for your pizza order ahead of time as I need a head count to work the best deal with the pizza parlor. I will turn in our pizza order the day before our party and they will have your order pre-prepped and ready for the oven.
However, you will still have to stand in line to let them know you are there and to order and pay for any drinks or salad bar you wish to have. John Walker will be near the line in case you need help remembering what you ordered.
Please bring your patience with you as the pizza parlor tries really hard to accommodate our group and 40 or so people descending at one time is just time consuming.
We have organized it as well as we can to move things along. We hope you will all be free to join the fun.
Any questions call Avis and John.
Club Web Site
Remember to visit
the CB Web Site built and maintained by Bob Phelan.
http://free.hostdepartment.com/B/Bobliz/CBWEB.html
CB Budget
The budget committee, consisting of John and Dorothy Evans, Frank Birsa and Bob Kratz finalized our 2005 budget and presented
it to the membership at the December meeting where it was discussed and passed. Copies of the new budget were passed out to all members. If you did not receive a copy see Frank Birsa or John Evans.
The club is facing a funds shortfall of approximately $1.000 per year and if this can not be eased a dues increase may be required for 2006.
N.C.S.D.A. Anniversary Dance
Each year the Northern California Square Dance Association hosts an anniversary dance featuring the ten local callers voted the areas top callers by NCSDA clubs. Once again our very own Gary Kendall will be featured and is the MC for the event. A donation of $3.50 is requested at the door for NCSDA members. All Clutch Busters are NCSDA members.
The dance will be on January 9th between 2 pm and 5pm at the Benicia Clock Tower in
Dinner reservations must be made by Dec. 22. Notify Peggy Brock in writing at
grannydance@msn.com . Cost of the dinner is $14.00 per person.
This is always a great dance and hopefully we can get a group together to attend again this year.
Board Christmas Party
It was all there, murder, sex, a scantily clad red headed midget and people bursting into song. Yep, it was another Clutch Buster Board Christmas Party, this one hosted by President Martha Erwin.
The evening started calm enough, people arriving between 7:15 and 7:45 pm at the Erwin household, all bearing gifts for the white elephant exchange. Being told to only bring wrapped gifts that could be held easily on a lap, Wynell Snodgrass told Martha she was not sure she could hold a white elephant on her lap.Well, Martha responded,as long as it's house broken.
People gathered around in small clusters, some near the mulled wine, some the mulled cider, some at the fruit punch bowl and everyone found their way to the delicious hors d'oeuvres in the kitchen and the office /computer room.
Soon Martha was passing out strips of paper with the words of one line from a Christmas Carol. Each recipient had to identify the carol and then find others with other lines from the same song. How many people know the second verse words to"Dashing Through The Snow (aka Jingle Bells).
It did not take long before CBers were bellowing out their carols and lines and looking for their fellow carol mates. Once groups were formed, some practiced their lines in proper order and others pointed and laughed at efforts of their friends. Finally Martha took her place at the piano and called carolers forward to sing their song. There are some surprisingly good voices among our CB members and some surprisingly well let's just keep with some very
good voices.
Once the carols were finished Martha called on Bob Kratz to sing a cute little song he wrote about his new granddaughter, Madeline.
Then it was time for presents. Martha brought a new twist to the white elephant gift taking. In the past, each person drew a number and then selected a wrapped gift from the pile in numerical order. If you did not like what you got, you could exchange it for one already opened by someone preceding you in the selection process. A maximum of three exchanges allowed on any one item.
This year we were each given a gift to hold. Then Bob Erwin read The Night Before Christmas and each time he read the word"the everyone passed gifts to the right and continued passing them until he read the word
"and at which time the direction changed with the presents flowing to the left. There are a lot of Thes and Ands in that Christmas poem. The present passing was going great until
Once the poem was over, Martha had everyone count off from one to five. Then all the ones and all the twos, the threes etc through the fives formed in groups, each group in a separate room where they opened their gifts and then had to create a skit using all the gifts as props or part of the story line.
There were some great skits. A murder in Los Vegas, an adaptation of the Night Before Christmas, good vs evil with our red headed scantily clad midget (you had to be there), a tryst for Santa (I can't believe Dorothy E. said that) and another with a naughty ending.
When the skits ended it was dessert time. The only way to tell what was the most scrumptious, the hors d'oeuvres or the desserts, was determined on which you were eating at the time. It was an evening of Great food, wonderful imaginations and fantastic fellowship. The party ended with John and Dorothy Evans presenting our outgoing president Martha with a gift certificate for the Walnut Creek Lesher Theater
How do you become a part of all this? It's easy. Serve on the board, plan or host an event, be a lot of help. Hope to see you there next year.
The Game Is A Foot
by Erna (Sherlock) Beutel
Money laundering in our club?
Shocking, just shocking!
You might not believe it, but its true. A respectable member of our dance club and a leading bowling figure in bowling fell prey to the temptation to launder money. She was caught red handed at the cash register while paying for a square dance luncheon. The bills were still wet.
The verdict is not in yet as the jury is still debating. For this reason and considering her age, only the initials can be released."W.S.
Future Dance Events
Mark you calendars for these events.
Memorial Day Weekend, May 27, 28 and 29
At the
The National's
In
Anyone attending this event will get to meet Madeline, who will be attending dressed in square dance clothes matching her mother's outfit. Well worth the trip.
Club Roster Changes
Please make the following e-mail address changes to your club roster.
Tom and Kim Hamblin“
thermann18@yahoo.com
Jack and Jean Strickler“
jandjstrick@sbcglobal.net
News From the Alley
by Avis Walker
The results of our Nov. 2nd NO TAP Tuesday put
3 of our group in the money this month.
Avis Walker took women's 2nd place for a win of $5.00 and Mary Gregovich took 3rd to win $3.00 to put into her Tahoe gambling account.
Allen Wesdorf's top series of 545 that day for our group only won him men's 4th place over all so there must have been some hot men's bowling going on at the other end of the alley.
November 9th brought us some new visitors.
Wally and Bill Everett had a young couple from
John Walker started his first game off with a smashing gutter ball and then came back with six REAL, NOT NO TAP strikes in a row for a great 226.
Allen took second place with a 169 acing Avis out by 2 pins and Wynell (our former GG) rolled a wonderful 138.
For the second game John W. lost his stride but took top score with a 160 acing Avis out by 5 pins.
Don Orton came over from alleys 9-10 to be sure that I was aware that he had rolled a 112 but had beaten both Allen W. and Bob Erwin.
Sometimes we are proud of strange things.
In the 3rd game both Wynell and Wally started out with 2 strikes in a row.
Wally worked hers up to a 158 game and Wynell who is now carrying a 103 average made her's into a 124.
In the 3rd game I was finally able to get 5 more pins than John for top score of 175 and even though he beat me 2 out of 3 and total pins I'm going to fall back on Wynell's belief that the last score counts the most as you remember it the longest.
Then, to knock that belief; on the recap the next week John's name was in first place for the men's high game, high series, handicapped high game and handicapped high series.
He had taken a total sweep of all the guys in the league in all categories.
Congratulations John.
Good Bowling!!
The following week on November 16th my hubby wasn't there for me to pick on as he was home nursing a bad cold.
I had high score for the first game with a 170.
Allen and
Pat Pardee tied for 2nd and Janet Lococo and Bob Erwin tied for 3rd.
In the second game the high score for all of us was a 146 and Allen and Wynell tied at 111.
During the third game Wynell and Don Snodgrass had to leave us before they could finish so with the help of Allen; Don took high score of 167 and with the help of Bob Erwin; Wynell rolled a very nice 138.
I was so worried about poor John home alone that I missed making 100 by 1 pin and then we all went out to lunch at Co Co's.
On Nov. 23 I was home nursing the cold that John had gotten rid of.
He didn't bring me much information about bowling that day other than our friend Don Orton was celebrating his 82nd birthday and his whole family congregated from all directions to be there as bowlers, cheerleaders and lunch bunch.
He said that Allen had the high game of the day and that Pat Pardee and Wynell tied at 102.
He also said that he had not been able to beat my high game of 170 from the week before but did not tell me what he did bowl.
It sounds like they had their usual make your own fun Tuesday and would have good friend and companionship to be thankful for on Thanksgiving Thurs.
Then I went into my e-mail and found that I have a special friend to be thankful for as the following email was there from Don Snodgrass.
Bowling
Nov. 23, 2004
Because your normal Bowling correspondent decided she needed to stay home and rest, I will try to put a few thoughts together about this week's event.
On Nov. 23, we had a large crowd at Bowling, largely due to the fact it was Don Orton's birthday.
Much of his family came to watch him bowl, and have lunch afterward.
His daughter and her husband joined us in the bowling.
It was apparent they were bowling to be able to bowl with Don, but they seemed to enjoy it and we sure welcomed them.
For the ladies, Rachel Ireland, who has joined us on previous occasions, took both high game at 167 and high series of 442.
But we had a good contest going between Pat Pardee and Wynell Snodgrass.
They tied one game and split the other two and wound up with high series for Pat at
333 and for Wynell at
332.
For the men, Allen Wesdorf took high game at 175 and high series at 494.
Milan Gregovich had a high game of 154 and high series of 427, and John Walker had a high game of 145 and also high series of
427.
Incidentally, Don and Wynell wish to thank Allen and Bob Erwin for finishing their last games the previous week.
Both managed to finish our games well above our normal scores.
Sure raised Cain with my handicap.
Thanks guys.
After the bowling most of us convened at Lyons Restaurant for lunch and good conversation where Don Orton's son and his wife joined us. Thank you Don for filing in the gaps that John left out.
November 30th found John and I both back at the alley and some of the folks appeared to have gotten added energy from all that turkey.
Janet Lococo led off with a smashing 190 high game followed by Allen with a 172.
Bob Erwin took the second game with a great 189 followed by Allen with a 183.
Don Snodgrass picked up a 5-10 split in the third game and John W. took high game with a 169.
Allen romped home with the high series of 510.
At lunch Tom Lococo confessed that wife Janet had beat him total pins by 1 and Pat Pardee tells us that Wynell beat her the first game by 9 pins.
All in all we had a fun filled month so come share the fun with us sometime.
Recipe Corner
---
By Lisa Woodard
As requested, here are the recipes for the Hello Dolly Bar Cookies that were a great favorite at the CB'ers Picnic and the Pan Rolls that went over so well at the Soup / Salad Potluck.
Happy
Hello Dolly Bars
1 stick Margarine or Butter
1“ 1 ½ cups Graham Cracker Crumbs
1 cup Shredded Coconut
1 cup Chocolate Chips
1 cup Butterscotch Chips
1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 cup Chopped Nuts ( Pecan or Walnut )
Melt butter / margarine in 9 x 13 pan.
Mix in graham cracker crumbs, press into bottom of pan.
Sprinkle on the coconut, then chips, and then nuts.
Drizzle the condensed milk over all.
Bake for 30 minutes in a 350°F oven.
Let cool, then cut into bars.
Note: Butterscotch, Semi-sweet Chocolate,
Milk Chocolate or White Chocolate Chips
can be used in any combination“ to equal
two cups of chips.
Easy Pan Rolls
1 package Yeast
2 ¼ cups Warm Water
½ cup plus 1 tablespoon Sugar
¼ cup Shortening
2 teaspoons Salt
6 cups All-purpose Flour
In a small bowl, combine yeast and ¼ cup warm water.
In a large mixing bowl“
Combine 2 cups warm water, sugar, shortening and salt, mix well.
Blend in the yeast mixture.
Let Stand for 5 minutes.
Add 3 cups of flour; mix well.
Add remaining flour, stirring just until well mixed.
Turn dough into a greased bowl and lightly cover.
Set in a warm place and let rise for 2 hours.
Shape into 18 rolls, and place in greased 9x 13 baking pan.
Set in a warm place and let rise for 2 hours.
Bake for 30 minutes in a preheated, 350°F oven.
2004 - C.B FALL COFFEE SCHEDULE
by Carol Giolitti
DEC
:
09. Roberts
16. Snodgrass
JAN: 2005
06.
Zehrung
2004 - C.B FALL SODA SCHEDULE
DEC:
09.
Leonard
16
Strickler
JAN 2005
06
Phelan
13
Birsa
20
Evans
27
Kratz
FEB:
03
10
Gregovich
17
Giolitti
24
Lollich
MAR:
03
Woodard
Contributors to the Record
Thank you to the following people who contributed their time and effort to the creation of this newsletter.
Editing
Chris Kratz
Stories
Martha Erwin
Joe Gerhards
Diana Lorentzen
Avis Walker
Carol Giolitti
Jack Strickler
Lisa Woodard