Sun City clubs plan activities
Sun City clubs
Pinochle
Bob Ziwiski was high scorer with a 623 in pinochle's morning session July 9. Joe DeMay was low scorer with 377. Double pinochles went to Dan Bressler, Judy DeMay, Rich Heidorn and Henry Quathamer. In the afternoon session, Lach Stewart played the high score of 636. Ethel Burns had the low score of 401. Joe DeMay, Annette Martin and Ed Redker took double pinochles. Stewart won the roundhouse.
Contract bridge
Winning in contract bridge July 13 in Section A were Roger Clausen and John Petras for north-south. Kay Burda and Arvind Shah took first place for east-west. North-south runners-up were Nancy Berg and Grace Selby in second place. Janet Clark and David Germaine took third place. Georgia Jacobson and Ed Kain tied with Gini and Harry Leopold for fourth place. For east-west, Marie Nugent and Norma Thompson placed second. Janice Apel and Caroll Smith came in third. Dolores VonderHaar and Edna Williams were fourth.
In section B play, John Papaleo and Loren Price came in first for north-south while Lottie and Sig Konarski were first for east-west. Heike and Bill Kingery took second place for north-south, Jay Kadakia and Ron Schwarz were third. Jan Koerner and Betty Smith were fourth. For east-west, Donna Cassavoy and Irma Lee placed second. Paul Clark and Irene Crawford tied for third place with Enid and Don Busch.
Playing contract bridge on July 11, Barb Bonner came in first place with 5,370 points. Wally Westphal was second with 5,340. Third place went to Norma Thompson with 5,250. Also in the top seven were Marie Nugent, fourth, 5,120; Stewart Ellis, fifth, 4,950; John Papaleo, sixth, 4,880, and Paul Shumate, seventh, 4,430. Pairs contract bridge on June 10 gave first place to Geri and Larry Dale who scored 5,840. Betty and Bob Zimmerman came in second with 5,480. Marilyn Bailey and Norma Thompson were third with 5,400. Chere and Tom Anderson scored 4,760 for fourth place. Janice Apel and Carol Smith came in fifth with 4,560.
Triple play
Dee Potacki and Nancy Janczak scored 79,785 points to win first place in triple play canasta July 12.
Euchre
Scoring 72 points gave Fred Bartlett first place in euchre July 12. Sharon Elder and Ralph Wehnes tied for second place at 61 each. Bill Weikderkehr scored 59 points to place third. Don Glasgow came in fourth with 58.
Polish American Club
Polish American Club got rooted in the past July 11 when members, prospective members and guests filled the American Legion Hall in Huntley to listen to a presentation about finding their roots in Poland.
The guest speaker was Rosalie Janikowska Lindberg, former president of the Polish Genealogical Society of America, which was founded in 1978 and whose membership exceeds 2,000 from all 50 states. Lindberg began with background information on the history of Poland (meaning a flat plain) with its birth in 966, and the partitioning of the country and changes in its borders.
Birth, marriage, naturalization and death records are starting points. In Poland many records were kept by the churches, so baptismal documents are useful. Other sources include passenger manifests, obituaries and headstones in cemeteries. Lindberg encouraged her audience to photograph the latter.
Documents may be in Polish, German, Russian or Latin. Visits to Family History Centers in Schaumburg, Wilmette, or Crystal Lake, the National Archives regional site in Chicago, and the Harold Washington and Newberry libraries in Chicago were encouraged. Lists of suggested literature, relevant Web sites and other sources were distributed. Information packets also included a copy of the PGSA journal, Rodziny, meaning "Families."
Also present was Betty Iwanski, who offered a selection of materials for purchase. Lindberg indicated that she would like to return with a presentation on a related topic. For information on the Polish American Club or the PGSA, call Diane Tartol Faubl at (847) 515-7418.
Current events
Members at the Current Events meeting July 10 were informed the absence of co-moderator David Rosenfeldt was due to him being placed on one-week disciplinary leave for exceeding his authority in ejecting a fellow member from a prior meeting. The matter is deemed closed.
Therapy Animals: Member Mack Titus discussed the use of animals as therapeutic aids in helping challenged children. He noted that a local children's center was experiencing difficulty in obtaining insurance as a result of the program. Caring for animals has been found helpful in teaching life skills while improving the children's self image. Member George Sebastian noted that dogs used in these programs generally come from no-kill shelters and are trained and certified before being placed. Member John Sterling said the Sun City Woodchucks constructed structures for the Lighthouse Farm in Marengo, where animals are used to help teens work out problems.
Scooter scoots out of prison sentence: Member Alan Mogliner commented on President Bush's commutation of Lewis Libby's prison sentence. He also noted former President Clinton's comment in response to a radio host's mention of the 140 pardons at the close of Clinton's administration. In particular, Clinton was asked about his pardoning of Marc Rich, the fugitive broker whose former wife was a major donor to Democrats. Clinton, always adept at parsing words, responded that the facts were different. Member Garth Milne noted that Clinton's pardon completely cleared Rich while Bush's commutation let Libby's conviction stand, at least for now.
H1-B visa program: A corollary to the immigration debate -- Member Hermann Faubl discussed the H1-B visa program, which has been a side issue to the immigration debate in Congress. The program provides visas outside of normal immigration quotas for high-tech employees who are sponsored by U.S. employers claiming they are unable to fill critical positions with U.S. residents. The government has reduced the number of visas under the program which Faubl described as "shooting ourselves in the foot." Even though the U.S. is the leading technology country in the world, U.S. and multi-national companies are setting up research and development facilities in other countries. Members Stan Hoff and Arlene Anforth expressed concern about terrorists entering this country as technical or professional employees. George Sebastian said that U.S. screening requirements are among the most stringent. Faubl went on to say that our education system is not meeting the needs of American industry. Moderator Barry Marcus said in general, our elementary and secondary education systems are inadequate although our doctoral and post doctoral programs are among the world's best and attract many foreign students. Member Eileen Leznek said we are not spending enough on our own students so colleges are not getting enough quality, home grown talent.
Moderate Arabs to visit Israel: Member Matt Meyer said the 22-nation Arab League is sending envoys to Israel with a peace initiative designed to bolster Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas. Foreign ministers from Jordan and Egypt, the only two Arab countries who have signed peace treaties with Israel, will discuss trading full Arab recognition of Israel for Israeli withdrawal from all lands captured in the 1967 Mideast war and the creation of a Palestinian state.
Member Mogliner pointed out that the Arab countries represented are ruled by Sunnis who feel the threat of Iranian-supported Shiites and Islamic extremists. Other current events members cautioned that deal-breaker issues such as Palestinian insistence on their right to return to homes in Israel and the status of Jerusalem still remain unaddressed.
It was also noted that as long as Islamic extremists teach children to hate and mothers remain willing to encourage their children to be suicide bombers, peace will probably be generations away.
Chinese For dinner? Member Stuart Samson reported on the execution of the former head of China's food and drug watchdog agency for accepting bribes to approve untested medicine for export. Other members noted the vast number of food products now imported from China. It was also noted that many of these products are produced under unsanitary conditions and are not labeled with the country of origin.
Health care also a state issue: Moderator Barry Marcus read excerpts from an article relating the tribulations of Pennsylvania Gov. Edward Rendell as he attempts to reform his state's health care system. Rendell realized that in order to bring health coverage to 900,000 uninsured Pennsylvanians, he would have to successfully control health care costs. His efforts have run into roadblocks from those whose incomes would be negatively affected by his cost-cutting proposals. The resulting stalemate in constructing the state's budget has caused a partial shutdown of state operations. Members noted a similar situation in Illinois as Gov. Rod Blagojevich has failed to convince Illinois' legislators to go along with his plan for financing expanded health care coverage.
Cribbage
Elaine Kerechek took first place in cribbage July 11 with a perfect score of 484. There was a tie for second place between Bob Mis and David Petty with scores of 471. High individual hands were held by Don Baden, and Ralph Wehnes 24, Kerechek and Sue Chiodo, 23, John Kerechek, 22, Jerry Jarvis, 21, and Elaine Kerechek, Yvonne Petty, Marilyn Burhite and Jarvis, 20. There were nine skunks.
Historians
Sun City resident Bill Ziletti will lecture on the Battle of Midway July 20 to the Historians. Ziletti will present detailed information on what is considered a pivotal naval battle of the Pacific Theater in World War II. From June 4 to 7, 1942, six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States Navy defeated a Japanese attack against Midway Atoll, located northwest of Hawaii, and destroyed four Japanese aircraft carriers and a heavy cruiser while losing a carrier and a destroyer. The battle was a crushing defeat for the Japanese and is widely regarded as the most important naval battle of World War II. The battle permanently weakened the Japanese Navy, particularly through the loss of more than 200 naval aviators. Strategically, the U.S. Navy was able to seize the initiative in the Pacific and go on the offensive. Residents interested in American and world history are invited to join. Meetings are at 1 p.m. on the third Friday of the month at the Meadow View Lodge. Presentations are followed by discussions. For more information, call Hermann Faubl at 847-515-7418 or Fred Leznek at 847-515-3221.
-- Garry Winter