President’s Message: by Martha Erwin What a wonderful September filled with wonderful Clutch Buster activities. We thank Don & Wynell S. for hosting the September Board meeting. Thank you to Don & Wynell S. for the Newer Dancer Graduation ceremony, it was a beautiful, meaningful ceremony. Gary K. used his music skills to masterfully enhance the ceremony with music just in the right places and microphones available right where needed, thanks Gary. Thanks to Bob K. & Bob E. who brought their friend, Fred Far-r-r-n-nbottom with a most interesting history lesson on the evolution of square dancing. My! My! What a long way square dancing has evolved. Thanks to John W. for extending a welcoming hand of club membership to the members of the newer dancer class. And, Welcome to our Eight New Clutch Buster Members. You have stuck it out through thick and thin for eight months in the newer dancer class and earned your official C.B. Club Badge. We look forward to getting better acquainted as we share square dancing and Clutch Buster club activities with you. A big Thank You goes to Gary K. for the skillful teaching of our Newer Dancer Class of 2004. The Picnic was a grand get-together, a beautiful day of food, games, and, yes, Jack G. even got his traditional afternoon nap, and was that Carl L. I saw catching a few z-z-z’s, also? Let’s put our hands together in appreciation of Chris & Bob K. They not only made arrangements for the park, they also picked up the ball in lieu of a picnic chairperson and did the food sign-ups, arranged for the cooks, arrived early and securely anchored covers on the tables. Then they made sure everything was picked up at the end of the day so the club would get their deposit back. A yeoman’s job you performed. Thank You. A BIG thank you to Dorothy & John E. for our 48th Anniversary Celebration. It was a lovely evening, from the festive room, to good food, to the special games, to the square dance tip - I’m sure Dorothy slept for the whole weekend afterwards! Thank you Gary K. for calling a tip. Thank you Bonnie Jo Z. for your poem, it caught the elements of our 48th year in prose just right. I do hope I haven’t left anyone or anything out. If so, I’m certain you will let me know. And here is October with outings on the 10th and 23rd on Terry’s - doesn’t seem quite right to call it a boat. “Boat” is something rather small, which Terry’s ‘boat’ is not. Yacht? We look forward to this new club outing. Then it’s Liz & Bob P. creating our Halloween Party extravaganza on the 28th. In November nominations will be open for the 2005 slate of officers to be nominated at the December General meeting and installed at the January meeting. Our by-laws say the seven board members to be elected by the general membership are: President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, Welcoming, Publicity, Refreshments. These elected members cannot succeed themselves in their job, although we have certainly found some creative ways to circumvent that by-law provision. The remaining seven positions are to be appointed by the in-coming president. These seven chair people may continue in the same office as long as the sitting president asks them to keep their job and they agree. They are chairpersons for: Arrangements, Decorations, New Dancers, Newspaper, NCSDA, Soda, Phone Contact. To date one person is actively seeking election. Hurray for one person! How about it, will this be the year of creative politicking for the Clutch Busters? Now wouldn’t that just be fun! In Sunshine Corner get well wishes go to Jack Strickler who is undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his knee - well, has undergone, by the time this is posted. Lisa Woodard has been stricken with shingles, and Don Lollich is under going physical therapy for his knee. See you with your dance shoes on, Martha. Birthdays Kim Rich-Hamblin 10/1 Erna Beutell 10/3 Cathy Hackbarth 10/6 Kathy O'Toole 10/30 Anniversaries Carol & Jack Giolitti 11/1/58 Job Descriptions by Martha Erwin based on submission from Don Snodgrass On Thursday, Oct. 7, the Clutch Busters club voted to look at the constitution and by laws and update them to more accurately reflect the way the club actually works today. It was decided that each Board member should review the description of their duties and recommend an update to more accurately reflect the way the position actually works. We would like to resolve this in the near future, so we would appreciate it if you could give your recommendations to Martha on Thursday, Oct. 14th or get them to me by Monday Oct. 18th. A committee, I will head, will review the recommendations and make draft recommendations to the club for incorp- oration into the Constitution. Below, is a copy of the duties for your office, as listed in the Constitution and the Duties of Board Members, two separate parts of the Constitution. So if there is a conflict between the two, this should be corrected as well as any revisions to the duties as actually performed now. Next month is beginning of nomination of officers. That does not mean you may not succeed yourself in your office though, you know. But we do have some new members and they probably do not know what the job description is for your office and may just be delighted to take your place. Well, maybe some of them, at least. So, will you please be ready to read your job description. It is in Article VI - the Executive Board, Section 2 of our Constitution and By-Laws. pg. 3 of the 4/99 revision. From your Official Halloween Headquarters- by Bob Phelan From your Official Halloween Headquarters. Guess the theme contest clues and Answers Clue 0: Definitely larceny. - December (Don’t pirates commit larceny on the high seas) Clue 1: My cold logs. - January (Or Shiver me timbers). Clue 2: It Slices, It dices, It shish kabobs too. - February (Like a sword.) Clue 3: Pittsburg has 'em. - March (If you watch baseball this one was a give away, Pirates). Clue 4: Moving across the board.- April (Or walking the plank). (Pirates have eye patches). Clue 5: Have you seen an eye doctor lately. -May (Pirates have eye patches). Clue 6: These boots are made for walking. - June (Like pirate Boots). Clue 7: Maps are required. - July (If you want to find the treasure or course). Clue 8: Polly want a cracker. - August (Long John Silver had a parrot.) Clue 9: If you haven't figured this out yet, you don't have a leg to stand on. - September THE THEME IS…“PIRATES”. You may dress for the theme if you would like. There will be a costume contest and pumpkin carving contest this year. There have been 6 correct guesses as of the September Newsletter. Sikorsky Hoedown The November 20th Clutch Buster, Mike Sikorsky, Hoedown is closer than it seems. The theme will be Fall related called “Down in the Pumpkin Patch.” Liz Phelan has the decorations ready and would probably appreciate some help in setting them up. Please bring a whole pumpkin or two for decorations. The food and work assignments were in last months news letter. If you have any questions contact Carol Giolitti. Carol has asked that everyone be generous with their food portions, as Mike usually draws quite a crowd. And don’t forget the after party at Jack and Carol Giolitti’s house after the dance. Defining Board Positions by Don Snodgrass edited by Martha Erwin On Thursday, Oct. 7 the Clutch Busters club voted to look at the Constitution and By-Laws and update them to more accurately reflect the way the club actually works today. It was decided that each Board member should review the description of their duties and recommend an update to more accurately reflect the way the position actually works today. Look in your By-Laws for a description of the officer’s job descriptions or ask Martha for a copy. We could like to resolve this in the near future, so we would appreciate it if you could give your recommendations to Martha on Thursday, Oct. 14th or get them to Don Snodgrass by Monday Oct.. 18th. A committee, headed by Don S. will review the recommendations and make draft recommendations to the club for incorporation into the Constitution and By-Laws. Martinez Swingers Anniversary Dance Deborah Caroll-Jones is coming all the way from Texas to call for the Martinez Swingers on Saturday, October 16, for their Anniversary Dance. This will be a plus level dance with a A1/A2 star tip and John Flora cueing rounds. This great dance will be held at Ygnacio Valley High School, 755 Oak Grove Rd. Concord with pre-rounds at 7:30 and we will square up at 8:00 pm. The Clutch Busters need to get a group to attend this event and have a wonderful evening together. But., that is this Saturday! News From the Alley by Avis Walker For a variety of reasons such as illness, travel and family obligations bowlers have been kind of scarce in the month of September. We started off the month with the first Tuesday of the month NO TAP. None of the ladies ended up in the money this month. John Walker was the only money winner from our group taking men’s third place and $6.00. He had a really good day by rolling 4 strikes in a row in the first game for a 218. Tom Lococo topped that score with a NO TAP 252. I thought I had rolled a respectable 176 but John topped that by 2 pins in the second game and Allen Wesdorf beat him out with a 179. There was no doubt who had top score when John rolled a 233 in the third game with 6 strikes in a row. The closest scores to him were Ken Wygal with a 161 and Bob Erwin with a 159. There was also no doubt who won the TOP DOG award that day as John beat me all 3 games and total pins by 149. He ended up with a 629 series, which we thought was very good until Don Snodgrass pointed out that he was supposed to be aiming for a 900 perfect series. On September 14th Wynell Snodgrass was the hot bowler of the day (What a change from being GG). For the first game she rolled the highest score of all with a 154. (This is for real not a NO TAP score). It was lucky for that she was my designated partner for the day in a lane competition with our hubbies Don and John. Wynell took Don by 24 pins total and John beat me by 1 pin so the girls only beat the guys 1 out of 3 games but took total pins for the day. So we tied for TOP DOG. We only had 8 bowlers that day and one of them was Pat Pardee who hobbled back for her first bowling since her fall and she limped up to the line and threw 2 strikes. SHE’S BACK!!! She tied John Walker at 151 for top score of the 2nd game. You just can’t keep that girl down. September 21st we had a few more folks join us. Mary Gregovich came out strong and beat Allen Wesdorf, Bob Erwin and husband Milan on her lane with a mighty fine 154. John Walker took top game for the group with a 167. Allen Wesdorf took the 2nd game with a 159 with John close behind with a 152. John Walker took the 3rd game with a 169, Avis was second with a 162 and Allen close in there with a 156. It was interesting looking at the print out that day where they had listed Wynell’s 154 from the week before and with her handicap added they gave her credit for a 253 game. We should take that girl on the road!! On September 28th our friends from Southern California Joan and Ron Trujillo were finally able to join the bowling group. Joan had the misfortune of pulling into our area to visit only to come up with a very bad ear infection that had kept her down for a few days. Unfortunately, that day I couldn’t make it bowling as my grand daugther Kaila was home from school with an ear infection. I had to depend on the information that John brought home for me and all I got was that John rolled the high game of the day with a 203. The bowling group got together at Baker’s Square for lunch and was joined by Lois and Don Lollich. I have much better information for the next weeks bowling. On Oct. 5th the alley hadn’t been able to set things up for NO TAP so we had a regular bowling day. Pat Pardee made another appearance minus most of her limp and Ron and Joan were there. Unfortunately, I was unable to bowl as I am having trouble with my left hip and lower back so I became a cheerleader for the day.. The major competition for the day settled into 2 teams of John Walker and Joan Trujillo versus Ron Trujillo and Allen Wesdorf. Now Ron is a very good bowler although he isn’t telling us what his average in the league he bowls in Southern California is but I think it’s around 210. So they agreed that Ron and Allen would give Joan and John 35 pins per game handicap. BAD MOVE!! John and Joan took the first game with a combined total of 319 to 303. Ron and Allen took the 2nd game with a combined total of 302 to 297 and John and Joan took the 3rd game with a combined total of 393 to 344 and also total pins 1009 to 949. However, the cheerleader who was keeping score made an error in math and Ron and Allen walked off thinking that they had won total pins so no money changed hands. (Sorry Ron). Along with all of this fun competition and the loud cheering there were some really good games bowled. Janet Lococo rolled high 1st game with a lovely 188.None-limping Pat Pardee had a 171 and Wynell rolled a very good 122. In the second game Ron Trujillo took high score with a 195 helped along with a turkey and also high 3rd game (with the only 200 of the day) and a 214 but not enough to make up that 35 pins per game handicap that they had given to Joan and John. Bob Erwin also had a very good day bowling 60 pins over his average series. Ex CBers Walt and Alice Jones dropped by to say hello and may come back to join us for lunch next week. Wally Everett had returned from her jaunt to Australia and Lois and Don Lollich joined us so we had 13 for lunch at El Tapatio. We are looking forward to NO TAP next week and we’ll see how generous Ron is with his handicap to John who usually does really well when he gets a strike even if he leaves the 10 pin standing. Come on down and join us some Tuesday either as a bowler or cheerleader or just for lunch. We’d love to have you. YRs from the bowling gang at the alley. Madeline Update Since our last visit to our d daughters home in Tacoma Washington Chris and I have been counting the days until our next visit to see our little Madeline. She now weights in at 11 pounds, almost doubling her 6 pound birth weight on July 14. The differences in her behavior over the past two months are astounding. She is now very expressive, both when she is happy and when she is not and her smile brightens your very life. When we arrived she would play with hanging toys by batting them around and attempting to hold on to them with one hand. The day we left, we were there 7 days, she held a ring in both hands and was able to put into her mouth. Quite an accomplishment. The information available on child development is amazing. Far advanced over what we had in our child raising years. One book our daughter Debbie has gives not only month by month or dexterity and learning progress, but tells what is going on in the brain to allow these advances, while explaining progress is different from child to child. They even go into what toys are the most stimulating and in what colors. Did you know that during the first three months (or so) babies focus better and responds more readily to black and white objects than to colors? Anyway, this time we got to change and bathe her and play with her as much as she would tolerate. We had a wonderful time. 2004 - C.B FALL COFFEE SCHEDULE by Carol Giolitti OCT. 14. Gregovich 21. Kratz 28. Leonard NOV: 04. Lollich 11. New Member 18. Pedersen 25. THANKSGIVING DEC: 02. Phelan 09. Roberts 16. Snodgrass 23. Strickler 30. Evans JAN: 2005 Zehrung 2004 - C.B FALL SODA SCHEDULE by Jack Strickler OCT: 07. Turgeon 14. Gregovich 21. 28. Lollich NOV: 04. Zehrung 11. 18. Hamblin 25. THANKSGIVING DEC: 02. 09. 16. CB Picnic a Success 40 party loving CBers gathered at Newhall Park in Concord for the annual Clutch Buster picnic last month. Along with the usual, wonderful, assortment of salads, hot dishes and desserts Jack Giolitti brought along a propane burner and a large pot to deep fry a whole lot of his beer batter coated Alaskan Halibut, Yum! Joe Zehrung and Bob Kratz BBQed the tri-tip roasts to perfection and, in true CB fashion, we all dug in. Everyone seemed to enjoy the individual competition instead of organized group competition in the games and settled into their favorites ranging from cribbage to horseshoes. Terry Leonard and Chris Kratz continued their grudge bocce ball match against the superior team of Bob Erwin and Bob Kratz. The two Bobs triumphed despite their opponents attempts to thwart them with trick ball throwing positions. “Ok”, Terry said. “This time you have to get on your knees, put your left hand on your heal and toss the ball over your right shoulder.” The main problem here was in getting back up. We all had a good time and many thanks to those who came to help with the setup and clean up, the cooking and to everyone who brought all that fantastic food. We will do it again next year. Any suggestions for changes to Bob & Chris Kratz. Election Time Is Almost Here NO, Not That Election The Clutch Buster Election! What would you like to do to help our club? Talk to Martha Erwin or Don Snodgrass