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THE NORTH ATLANTA MEN’S CLUB May 2013

NAMC

NEWS AND VIEWS

President’s Message 1

New Members

Changes to Bowling Venue

3

Activity Attendance Guidelines 4

New Activity—Daytime Bridge 5

NAMC Dinner Dance 6

Book Club 1 7

Book Club 2 10

USO 11

Golf 12

Movie Night 13

Gin Rummy

Low Stakes Poker

14

Sunday Bowling 15

Investment Clubs 16

Cribbage 20

Discussion Group 21

Art and Creativity 23

Cribbage 24

Announcements and Calendar 25

Dinner Dance Pictures 26

Myron Play day 28

What’s Inside

President’s Message

By

Marshall Smith

I don’t know about you, but I am getting Spring Fever.

I am back in physical therapy and am moving better. I

hope improvement continues.

The Dinner Dance was a real “Blast from the Past”.

Everyone I spoke with was very complimentary and

had a great time. There were some real standouts in the

costume category.

Just to mention a

few; Bob and

Linda Blum who

were so made up I

had no idea who

they were until I

was told. Bob

should have been

given the booby

prize for the worst

rug at the affair. Mike and Sandy Geller looked like

they came from the comic strips of another planet.

Lynn and Linda Newport looked like they just came off

the set of the movie Grease. The music was the best

it has been in a while and the entire night was a super

success. Any suggestions or comments may be posted

on GroupSpaces under “forum”. Thanks again to

Bernie and the Fab Five for a very pleasurable experi-

ence.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Myron Play Day May 19

Fishing Trip June 23-25

Golf Trip July 21-23

White Water Rafting August 11

NAMC Picnic Sept. 29


President’s Message: By Marshall Smith (Continued)

The Spring calendars are filling up with some very interesting events. One that has my

attention is the Fishing trip to Destin, Florida. Those who went the last time and did not

get seasick, really enjoyed the camaraderie and the experience of catching some big

Red Snapper. I hope they are closer in to shore on this trip and the seas are more calm.

The Picnic is also coming up in September. I am sure Myron will be on top of that and

give us a real treat. Each year we always look forward to those times when we can en-

joy getting together and sharing the experience with our significant others and the

friends all of us have met in the club.

The Meet and Mingle dinners and discussion group luncheons are our most popular ac-

tivities. The venue choices for Meet and Mingle have been popular and the opportunity

to interact with members makes this activity essential for new members. Existing mem-

bers are encouraged to “mingle” with the new members and learn about them and help

them get into the swing of attending other activities. I want to thank Harmon Kling

and Larry Bailin for their hard work in setting up the dinners.

Similarly, the discussion luncheons provide the opportunity to meet Club members and

to hear a stimulating topic presented by a member of the Club. The individual and col-

lective member knowledge about virtually any topic is impressive. Give some thought

to sharing your knowledge or experience by leading one of these discussion groups. A

special thanks to Peter Jedel for leading this activity.

Speaking about the new members, I need to say a big thanks to Cary Rosenthal and

Lew Gruskin for administering the new member program. Over the last year, we have

brought 39 new members into the club. We now have 150 members. Getting these

guys off on the right foot is important. We also depend on the Ambassador program for

helping new members be successful and get the full value of our Club. If you are not

willing to fully function as an Ambassador, please don’t recommend new members.

You will remember that the By-Laws were changed last year to allow a cap of 185

members. With our current backlog of prospective members and the attrition which will

undoubtedly occur, we will have some decisions to make next year.

We are working on the By-Laws to bring them to a state that is more appropriate for

the needs of a much larger Club. It is our intention to get copies of major By-Law

changes into the hands of the membership prior to a special meeting for the members in

August to allow discussion and feedback. As plans for this meeting progresses, the

Board will keep you informed.

We have discussed the problem of attendance and making reservations using the Group-

Spaces program. On page 4 you will find “Activity Attendance Guidelines” developed


President’s Message: By Marshall Smith (Continued)

by Arnie Ross and Larry Brown and endorsed by the Board. Following these guidelines

will make the Club run smoother and be more considerate to the activity coordinators.

If you have difficulty using GroupSpaces please seek help.

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the newly elected President and

Vice President/Treasurer for 2013-15, Peter Jedel and Marv Davis respectively. Let me

say thank you to all the candidates who were running and to the Election Committee

who worked to make the election go so smoothly. The new slate of Board Members

will take office at the end of this fiscal year. I wish them the best.

New Members

The class Four of membership attended the Orientation meeting at the North Point Diner

on Friday, April 12th. Nine perspective members made the decision to join the NAMC

and many attended the Dinner Dance. Their names are:

Howard Berkowitz, Robert Cherniak, David Cooper, Harry Gibbs, Larry Jackson,

Ron Kurtz, Alvin Levy, Mal Roseman and Marty Rotter.

Please seek out these new members and get them involved with activities.

Bowling Changes: By Myron Bloom

The Spalding Bowling lanes will close for remodeling in mid June. When they reopen they are

increasing their prices, eliminating their Sunday and weekday discounts and will not open until

11 A.M.. So we have made the decision to change locations!

Our new plans are as follows:

The new location is Brunswick Zone, 785 Old Roswell Road, Roswell GA. 30076 (770-

998-9437)

We will start bowling there on Monday, June 10th.

Sunday evenings we will pay $1.99 per game and all other times will cost $0.99 per game.

PLEASE KEEP THESE RATES PRIVATE AS THEY ARE FOR US ALONE.

To get the above rates, you must show your NAMC Bowling Card. Many of you hopefully

still have the one I gave you. If you never got one or lost yours, please see me.

I bowl most Mondays and Wednesdays and will also be at non-NAMC couples bowling . Some

of you see me at a poker game, Thursday morning breakfast, and at the Lunch and Laugh ses-

sions. Or call me at 404-713-3699.

THANKS,

Myron Bloom


Activity Attendance Guidelines: By Arnie Ross and Larry Brown

Everyone’s favorite first lady, Eleanor Roosevelt,

once wrote “With freedom comes responsibility.”

And so it is in NAMC! With the freedom to partici-

pate in many outstanding activities comes the respon-

sibility to ensure that we meet any attendance or con-

duct commitments required by each activity.

There have been too many instances where RSVP’s

weren’t honored or where members showed up to an

RSVP event without making a reservation on Group-

Spaces. This has been brought to the membership’s

attention many times via News & Views and com-

ments by Activity Leaders at events or on Group-

Spaces.

Since the problems have continued, the Board assigned an Ad Hoc committee of Arnie

Ross, Larry Bailin, and Larry Brown to come

up with solutions. In turn, the Ad Hoc Com-

mittee received feedback from the Camarade-

rie and Community Service Committees and

the Board. The result is an “Activity Atten-

dance Guidelines” document which states the

responsibilities of both members and Activity

Leaders to ensure that everyone’s freedom to

enjoy events is maintained. The guidelines

will soon be posted on the NAMC Website

where you can read the full document. I’ve

summarized it below:

Members:

Are responsible for honoring GroupSpaces reservations.

Should not attend events that require GroupSpaces reservations without making

a reservation.

Must meet any conduct or dress code required for an activity.

Activity Leaders:

Must clearly communicate activity RSVP requirements.

Must state any activity conduct or dress code requirements.

Can penalize members for attendance or conduct problems.

Must give priority to members who follow the reservation and participation re-


Activity Attendance Guideline: By Arnie Ross and Larry Brown (Cont’d)

quirements of the activity.

Must communicate any problems to the offending member.

May escalate “repeat offender” problems to the Camaraderie Committee Chair-

man or Community Committee Chairman.

The Ad Hoc Committee and the Board agree that dealing with attendance and conduct

problems should be done at the Activity Leader/Member level and only escalated in

very rare (hopefully!) situations. For example, a no-show might be charged for an

event (like an NAMC dinner), if they knew they wouldn’t be able to make it and didn’t

notify the Activity Leader. Or, if a member shows up at a Poker game without an

RSVP, they shouldn’t expect to be rotated in. In all cases, the Activity Leader has the

discretion to address the problem as they see fit.

We all want to get as much as we can out of our NAMC activities, so let’s be consider-

ate of our Activity Leaders and fellow members by following the Guidelines!

Daytime Bridge—A New Activity: By Ed Schiffer

The initial gathering of the newly formed daytime bridge group occurred on Friday,

April 26th at Ed Schiffer’s home. Ten NAMC members participated, and we rotated

playing party bridge at two tables during the afternoon. Skill levels varied, but we uni-

formly enjoyed the competition and company.

Plans were made for the next few months for games to be played on the fourth Friday of

each month. As there will be a number of people traveling during the summer months,

you are encouraged to check the calendar and sign up to join on GroupSpaces.


The Sixth Annual NAMC Dinner Dance: By Bernie Kranz

The 6th Annual Dinner Dance on Sunday April 21st was indeed a very memorable eve-

ning.

For me as the NAMC founder and 2013 Committee Coordinator

For the other “Fab Five” Committee Members (Lew Gruskin, Lynn

Newport, Art Segan, Don Sommer)

For the 100 attending members

For the ladies of NAMC to whom we dedicate the Dinner Dance and follow-

ing tradition, were serenaded with “My Girl”

In 1918, it was said that “a picture is worth a thousand words”…and the Dinner Dance

pictures attest to that adage. That said, the following are a few excerpts from emails the

Dinner Dance Committee received:

“…everything was OUTSTANDING: the venue, the food, the entertainment,

the name badges with our high schools printed on it…the gifts and most of

all, the GREAT Camaraderie among the members and their guests.” From

Nat Tieman

“Everything was great… so many people were saying that it was ‘the best

dinner dance ever’…” From Don Berman

“All of The Sock Hops had such a great time… The crowd was awesome.

They danced and sang along with us and did what we want everyone to do at

a party… It was just plain fun!...We were all exhausted when it was over, but

it was the kind of exhaustion you get when you play all day at the beach…It

was a special evening.” From Courtney Oliver, The Sock Hops Leader

The Committee would like to acknowledge and recommend the party professionals that

made the evening a huge success:

The Metropolitan Club, 5895 Windward Pkwy, Alpharetta, GA 30005, web-

site: www.themetropolitanclub.net.

The Sock Hops, website: www.sockhops.com.C

orky Willis Photography website: www.corkywillisphoto.com

As for pictures, see page 26 and 27 for a sampling. Many more will be posted on the

NAMC website in the near future, and we will post all of the pictures on an external site

so you can order personal prints. We will send an email providing details when they are

ready.

The “Fab Five” hope y’all had a great time….as much as we did!

http://www.themetropolitanclub.net

http://www.sockhops.com

http://www.corkywillisphoto.com


Book Club 1: By Ed Feldstein

Despite the threat of hail, powerful thunder

storms and tornadoes, we had thirteen hardy

Book Club One members attend and partici-

pate in our analysis of Jane Leavy’s biography

of one of the great American heroes of the

1950s and 1960s, Mickey Mantle. Ms. Leavy

interviewed over five hundred friends, family

members, teammates and baseball players from

opposing teams. She used articles and books

about Mantle, as well as interviews she had

with “The Mick” himself one weekend in At-

lantic City in 1983, the year he was banned

from baseball because his employers were in-

volved with (legitimate) gambling businesses.

Although Mantle was one of her heroes grow-

ing up, Leavy did not hold back in presenting

an objective portrait of this baseball superstar

and American icon.

She skillfully portrayed Mantle’s life in and

outside of baseball. This young and innocent boy from the mining town of Commerce,

Oklahoma lead the Yankees to seven world championships, he was voted the American

League’s Most Valuable Player three times, he won the Triple Crown in 1956 and he

kept pace in 1961 with Roger Maris’ quest to beat Babe Ruth’s home run record of 60.

Jane Leavy documents Mantle’s challenging childhood, crippling injuries and a genetic

predisposition to alcoholism. In spite

of all of his flaws and issues, Mickey

Mantle had a mystifying hold on a

generation of baseball fans who ad-

mired his incredible baseball accom-

plishments.

On a scale of 1 – 10, we each rated

The Last Boy: The Biography of

Mickey Mantle. In our own personal

Book Club scoreboard, the scores

ranged from a high from Ed Feldstein

at a 9.5, to a low from Dick Williams

at a 3. Avid Brooklyn Dodger fan Lew

Gruskin declined to evaluate the book,


Book Club 1: By Ed Feldstein (Continued)

because he did not have an opportunity to read

it. Whatever the “grade,” the discussion was

widespread, lively, provocative and it revealed

a great deal about the growing up years of sev-

eral of our members. One of the results of our

dialogue was the fact that Joel Gewirtz dem-

onstrated once again that he was an amazing

source of an abundance of statistics and di-

verse trivia.

Harvey Rosenzweig and Mike Tuckman

pointed out that Mantle was self-destructive,

proving to be his own worst enemy. Chet Parver attributed his physical and emotional

deterioration to the environments he was a part of growing up and the fact that he was a

super star in the Big Apple, New York City. Ed

Feldstein mentioned Mantle’s alleged quotation

about himself, saying that if he knew he would

have lived so long, he would have taken much

better care of himself. Jay Levy gave a succinct

analysis of Mantle, pointing out that he was an

alcoholic like his father. Nevertheless, Jay em-

phasized some of his positive traits of always

being a team player, his refraining from ever

criticizing the other players, his assistance and

willingness to mentor young rookies on the

Yankees and the fact that he was in constant

pain, yet accomplished so many amazing feats.

Alan Feldman mentioned the fierce competition

among the fans of Willie (Mays), Mickey

(Mantle) and the Duke (Snider). For years the

baseball fans in New York had the good fortune

to compare, contrast and argue about the virtues of the premier centerfielders of the

New York Giants, New York Yankees and the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Peter Jedel and Lynn Newport brought up the very significant question of evaluating a

“successful” person. Do we just use the field that the person excelled in or do we look

at outside components and get a total picture of the person? Chet Parver argued that the

two should be treated as two completely separate issues. Whatever the conclusion, Lynn

indicated that his childhood idol, Mickey Mantle, was clearly knocked off the pedestal

with the revelation of the many facts of his non-baseball life. Lynn asked the question


Book Club 1: By Ed Feldstein (Continued)

why didn’t the New York Yankees do more to keep Mantle sober and straight, espe-

cially since he was such an incredibly valuable asset to the franchise.

Harold Simmons enjoyed the book because it was much more than a typical sports

book. He and Chet Parver felt it was a well-written biography that was presented on a

high literary level. We talked about Mickey Mantle’s multiple talents and compared

him to Ted Williams, Ty Cobb and Joe DiMaggio. We discussed the motivation of

Mantle’s wife, Merlyn, to stay married to him despite his multiple affairs, his one night

stands, his being an absentee father and his all-consuming drinking. Harvey

Rosenzweig was impressed with his plea for organ donations and his admission that he

really “screwed up,” not wanting others to live their lives like him. Chet Parver was im-

pressed that he took ownership of his mistakes. He told anyone who would listen in his

final years that he did not want the young people to use him as a role model. Harold

Simmons felt that the title, including the term: “The Last Boy” needed analysis. Lew

Gruskin felt that it was because Mickey Mantle remained a kid all his life. Overall, the

book suggested by our moderator, Harvey Rosenzweig, proved to be a good choice and

a good source of a number of discussions. If an avid Brooklyn Dodger fan like Alan

Granath liked the book about a star of the villainous enemy New York Yankees, it has

got to be a book worth reading.

Future Books: May - A Separate Peace By John Knowles; June - The Guns of August

by Barbara Tuchman


Book Club 2: By John Woodward

Bernie Kranz led the discussion of this month’s

book, The Great Santini by Pat Conroy. It describes

the life of Bull Meechum (a.k.a.,The Great Santini)

and his family. He is all Marine—fighter pilot, king

of the clouds, and absolute ruler of his family.

Lillian is his wife—beautiful, southern-bred, with a

core of velvet steel. Without her cool head, her kids

would be in real trouble. Ben is the oldest, a born

athlete whose best never satisfies the big man. Ben

has got to stand up, even fight back, against a father

who doesn’t give in—not to his men, not to his

wife, and certainly not to his son. The book is based

on Conroy's own childhood growing up in a military

family. His father was the inspiration for Bull

Meacham, a physically and emotionally abusive fa-

ther and spouse.

Among the observations during the discussion:

The family vacillates between feelings of love and hate for the authoritarian father.

We had previously read two other Conroy novels, but this was Conroy's first. His

other novels also draw on his disfunctional family experiences.

The book presents Bull Meeachum as cruel and controlling in the extreme, yet

claim

ing throughout to have his family's best interests at heart.

After writing this book, Conroy entered a period of personal desolation, resulting in

his divorce and that of his parents. His mother presented the book as evidence in

her divorce proceedings.

Conroy credits his mother with his love of literature and successful career as

a writer.

All except two members present had read

the book. Two did not like it.

All the rest liked it.


The USO: By Dick Fenster

The NAMC once again served the military at the USO facility at the Atlanta airport on

April 10th. As the Afghan war winds down, our military has made some significant

changes in their procedures, and those changes are having an impact on the USO, and

on us. At one point, the military “accumulated” military personnel going to the war

zone at two airports in preparation for sending them back to the war zone. As the war

“shrank”, Dallas was eliminated as an accumulation point, in favor of having the mili-

tary accumulate in Atlanta for charter flights to Europe. The result was that 300 to 600

military passed through the Atlanta USO each day. The latest change has the even

smaller military contingent flying to Europe on commercial flights from wherever they

might have easy or inexpensive access to overseas flights. The result is that far fewer

military personnel are flying through Atlanta—and visiting the USO. For the future, we

can expect 100 to 200 per day. In addition, those that do come in may not stay at USO

as long. Each person in transit stays only until time for them to go through security for

their flight. Many European flights depart in late afternoon, so we still have many who

stay for several hours.

We had scheduled 22 volunteers for April 10th. When we learned of the above changes,

we asked for volunteers to not participate and five of our members graciously gave up

their spots. A sixth volunteer did not stay as he felt ill. Those who did participate were

Andy Sacks, Dick Williams, Leon Lane, Al Finfer, Mido Edwy, Jim Bohanan, Peter

Jedel, Don Radman, Sid Polan, Bob Golden, Alan Mintz, Marv Mazer, Larry Bailin, Ed

Schiffer, Earl Kessler, and Dick Fenster.

Our mission is to make the military comfortable. Those military who came enjoyed

themselves and thanked us for the food and comfort. Our volunteers also enjoyed them-

selves, either in talking to the military, or bantering with each other. They also enjoyed

Finfer omelets, Lane pancakes, and hot dogs with all the trimmings prepared by a suc-

cession of our finest chefs. All in all, a very successful and enjoyable day for our

NAMC volunteers and our Service personnel.

The USO

Our Mission: The USO lifts the spirits of America’s troops and their families.

Millions of times each year at hundreds of locations around the world, the USO lifts the spirits

of America’s troops and their families. A nonprofit, congressionally chartered, private organi-

zation, the USO relies on the generosity of individuals, organizations and corporations to sup-

port its activities. The USO is not part of the U.S. government, but is recognized by the Depart-

ment of Defense, Congress and President of the United States, who serves as Honorary Chair.


Golf: Larry Bailin

After not playing golf for more than two months because of the weather, sunny skies

and warm temperatures greeted the NAMC golfers at St. Marlo Country Club on April

10th. Removing the dust from their golf clubs were: Larry Bailin, Harmon Kling, Joel

Stepakoff, Howie Pinkus, Bob Blum, Al Finfer, Marv Mazer, Jeff Mesquita and Don

Sommer.

The group of Harmon Kling, Don Sommer and Joel Stepakoff were so rusty, their sky-

rocketing scores weren't even posted on their score cards. A few bright spots were the

long par 5 fifth hole by none other than Harmon Kling and the 328 yard par 4 eighth

hole with Marv Mazer chipping in from some 50 yards off the green.

Low scores for the day were Larry Bailin with an 84 followed by Al Finfer with a 96.

Birdies were hard to come by as no one in the entire group had one, and few had pars.


Movie Night: By Peter Jedel

We often joke that the movie we go to see is one that

our wives would never wish to see. This implies that the

movie is of questionable value. However every once in a

while we are surprised. One example of this is “the

Avengers” which we saw earlier in the year. The super-

heros of "The Avengers" have taken the top prize at the

MTV Movie Awards. The action romp won three

awards, including the top prize, movie of the year.

Our latest movie, Olympus has Fallen, probably will not

be so honored. It is a story of an attack on the White

House by North Korean terrorists. Since the movie was

made at least a year or so ago, it is amazingly timely

with Korea so much in the current news. There were

16 NAMC members who went to see this and had dinner

afterwards. Eating after the movie gave us a chance to

visit and compare thoughts and feelings about the movie. As you might expect, there

were definite mixed feelings. Some thought the movie was "unrealistic", some thought

it made the Die Hard films seem slow moving, while others just loved the excitement.

Normally we have the theater to ourselves on a Tuesday night, and as one might think

our comments can be heard throughout the theater. Since we were not alone, we were

somewhat more subdued and saved our comments for dinner afterwards.

The general census was that the United States should never negotiate with terrorists. We

also felt that the President

should not have taken the Ko-

reans into the top secret bunker

room. We also continue to

marvel at the number of shots a

pistol can make without reload-

ing. Some of the sophisticated

weaponry in the show makes

us wonder if it was real or just

in the imagination of the movie

producer. Apparently the

NAMC has several latent

movie producers in our midst.

These questioned several as-

pects of the film and decided


Movie Night: By Peter Jedel (Continued)

they would not do it that way.

Several joined us for the first time and we hope they will continue to become regular

movie goers. It's not so much the movie we see as it is the friendships we develop from

being together .

Next month we will be seeing another "great" guy flick. We will be going to see "Iron

Man 3" on May 14th. Check time and location on GroupSpaces and if you wish to

travel back to your High School days with movies with your buddies, join us.

Gin Rummy and Low Stakes Poker: By Marv Davis

Another wonderful month of wealth sharing went on during April. First the Gin

Rummy game was held in April due to a healthy turnout of 10 players who were willing

to stake their reputations and fortunes on the turn of a card. Mike Tuckman was the host

and as usual provided lots of goodies to eat . Peter Jedel, Jed Goldstein, Alan Kessler,

Joel Stepakoff, Mike Geller, Jay Levy, and the irrepressible Larry Brown, aka “The

Skull”, were in attendance. Marv Davis claims to have had his worst night ever at Gin

losing in excess of $5, which is difficult to do at ¼ cent a point. Be warned he is look-

ing for revenge at the next game.

There was one interesting event that nobody remembers seeing in their experience base.

Mike Tuckman was playing Joel Stepakoff. Mike was the dealer. After dealing ten

cards each, Mike turned over the “knock card”. Joel had first choice of taking the

knock card and did so and announced “Gin”. The game was over before it began.

Low Stakes Poker was exciting with the addition of a new game on the 2nd Friday of

each month, due to demand. This makes three official games during the month. We did

have an accident when Art Segan dropped his

large bag of quarters and broke a floorboard at

the host’s house. We had several “newbies “

join the game, including; Stan Schwartz, Ron

Sternberg and Ron Klee. We wish to extend a

welcome to them and their money. There is a lot

of banter at the game most of which is incom-

prehensible. Jerry Brumer’s 75th Birthday was

on April 12th, and the players chipped in to buy

him a cake, and a brief celebratory pregame

ceremony was held prior to trying to take all his

cash. The game usually lasts 2 – 2 ½ hours and

is loads of fun.


Sunday Bowling: By Bernie Kranz

With the IRS deadline looming, the Hatfields and McCoys decided to set aside some

time to shoot the breeze and bowl.

Myron “Poker Face” Bloom, the McCoy family leader, took a sabbatical to protest to

Congress that it was okay to bring assault rifles to poker games, so nobody would dare

cheat. Who better to “stand-in’ for Myron, then the “Don Quixote” of NAMC, Chet

“The Windmill Fighter” Parver. Chet’s motto is “whether you win or lose is not impor-

tant; how well you argue your point is what counts”.

Joining Chet’s McCoy family this month was Joel ”The G-Man” Gewirtz, Dick “The

Man From SCORE” Fenster, The “Odd Couple” Mido Edwy and Earl Kessler

(bachelors for the weekend) and Larry “The Skull” Brown. The Hatfields Clan, led by

Art “The Wise Man” Segan, included Joel “Happy Go Lucky” Stepakoff, Tom “I Will

Beat Chet” Williams, Al “The Lefty” Stein, Peter “The New Pres” Jedel and last by not

least, yours truly, Bernie “Papa Bear” Kranz.

The Hatfields were looking to repeat last month’s victory and got off to a good start in

game one winning by 15 pins, thanks to Tom’s 196 (22 pins over average) and Al’s 180

(28 pins over average). Chet “The Windmill Fighter” changed his tune and told his fam-

ily members…”it is winning that counts”. They listened for a change, winning game

two by 106 pins, thanks to Joel G “filing his taxes early” with a 170 (54 pins over aver-

age) and the mediocre performance by the Hatfields.

It was “The Wise Man’s” turn to spur on his family, although “Papa Bear” shot himself

in the foot and had to hibernate until it healed. Joel S. stepped up to the plate with a 174

(34 pins over average), which was enough to win game three by 8 pins. Two out of

three is a great statistic except when total pins decides the winner…in this case The

McCoys got their revenge and the

chance to hold the coveted

NAMC trophy for April with a

net 83 pin victory.

If you have bowled before or

never bowled, come on down and

you will be adopted by one of the

families for the monthly shoot-

out. Why? Because the camarade-

rie is great, and you can see your

name in the May 19th Sunday

Bowling report.


Investment Clubs

INVESTMENT CLUB 1—By

Andy Sacks

Contrary to the rumor circulat-

ing throughtout NAMC, selected

members of Investment Club I

DID NOT abscond with our pro-

ceeds. We are doing fine and

figured it was time to share

some of our recent experiences

with the full club.

2012 saw us lose two valued

members, Sam Betor and Jerry Broder. It was sad to lose them, and we think about

them at our meetings, even now. When David Kaplan moved away in 2011, we did not

replace him, so in essence we filled three vacancies in 2012. We welcomed George Na-

than, George Nozick (no relation) and Don Sommer. This brings us up to our cap of 15.

At the end of 2012, we decided that our buy/sell/hold decision processes were not

working as well as most of us would have liked. Howard Veit, Harry Cynkus, Allan

Price and Andy Sacks worked together to formalize some of these processes. They es-

tablished a Portfolio Management Group (PMG) which meets before our regular meet-

ing to analyze our existing portfolio and assist the next few member presenters in their

efforts. This is to ensure a more consistant analysis and hopefully better results. Only

four months into this, we seem to be doing better. Our YTD return is just over 12%, not

exactly whipping the market, but acceptable.

We hold positions in 17 securities now

and have a portfolio value of about $90k.

Our winners include Biogen IDEC,

Amerisource Bergen, Tesoro, and Discov-

ery Communications. Some lagards are

Apple (which we bought low, decided not

to sell in the high 600's, but sold at $510

and immediately bought back at $510),

and a Silver ETF.

I think most members would agree (as

witnessed by our high retention rate) that

win or lose we always have serious dis-

cussions, fun and lots of laughs.


Investment Clubs (Continued)

INVESTMENT CLUB 2—By Mike Tuckman

In keeping with our older brethren

(Club 1), it is time to share our go-

ings on with the rest of the NAMC.

We were founded in June 2010

with a cap of fifteen members.

Over the almost three-year period,

we have lost and replaced approxi-

mately five members, with never

more than a month or two not at

full strength. The more “senior”

members have almost $4,000 each

invested in the club. We have one

member, Alan Kessler, who is a

member of both Club 1 and Club 2 (some might call this being a glutten for punish-

ment), so we do get some lessons learned shared between Clubs.

We currently own 17 stocks in our portfolio. We are most heavily invested in the Cus-

tomer Discretion (15.5%), Health Care (30.4%), Industrials (27.1%) and Energy sectors

(12.7%). We also tend to favor U.S. stocks (82%) and Growth Stocks (76%) and Large

Caps (60%).

The most difficult problem facing our Club is the matter of deciding what we want to

accomplish with our investment philosophy. With fifteen members, we have at least

twenty opinions. We seem to be

closing in on it, and I wouldn’t be

surprised to see us actually have a

working philosophy sometime this

decade. In truth, it is hard to de-

termine our investment philosophy

for the Club while having a differ-

ent philosophy for our private

portfolios.

A second problem is not having a

consistent methodology for evalu-

ating and ranking our potential in-

vestments against some standard.

Lew Gruskin and Art Abbey are


Investment Clubs (Continued)

two members who have been in Investment Clubs before and have recommended we

purchase a software program called The Investor’s Toolkit. Hopefully, this will resolve

this issue.

In the meantime, we continue to make money as long as the market continues to grow,

and lose money when the market falls. Right now, with the Bull market, few can com-

plain.

INVESTMENT CLUB 3– By Marv

Davis

Investment Club 3 is considering

changing our title to “ Eating and

Investment Club 3”, since we get

together now early enough to dine

prior to discussing our investments;

thereby satisfying two of life’s basic

needs, food and money.

We currently have 13 members and

14 stocks. Our total investment port-

folio plus cash amounts to $20,000

and our investments are up 6% since

inception. We are very diversified by being in everything from retail (Home Depot and

Costco) to Pharmacueticals (Baxter) to everybody’s favorite (or ex- favorite), Apple.

One of our major attempts is to utilize some type of rational analysis method to pick

stocks instead of what would appear to the outside world as SWAG (Scientific Wild

Ass Guesses). A recent member, Stan Schwartz has introduced us to a method devised

by the National Association of Investors Corp. that utilizes a combination of several

factors such as growth, yield, risk, etc. to evaluate and rank stocks numerically. We are

testing this method on several stocks that are being proposed at the next meeting at The

Hickory House. The problem we will have is not getting Bar B Que sauce on the analy-

sis sheets. We do have a lot of fun and lively discussion.

We are the newest of the Investment Clubs and therefore still have openings for mem-

bers who are interested in joining (bring your own napkin).


Food Club: By Al Finfer

The NAMC was the first, and continues to be the only group that receives private

cooking classes at the Buford Highway Farmers Market. On April 11th, our group, con-

sisting of Alan Kessler, Al Finfer, Harvey Yaschik, Marv Davis, Shelly Harrison, Mike

Tuckman, Don Radman, Leon Lane, Roy Lazarus, Stuart Frank, Tom Ulbricht and Joel

Gewirtz filled the Farmers

Market demonstation

kitchen to capacity.

Bill Schroeder treated us to

recipes from his Asian Fu-

sion restaurant. We started

off with Salmon Sweet Po-

tato Cakes with an orange

coconut cream sauce. This

was a specialty of the

PanAsia Bistro and incor-

porates Thai ingredients

cooked in a southern home

style, "comfortably exotic" and delicious. We then moved on to Korean sweet potato

cakes. This introduced us to Korean Sweet Potatoes which combine the flavor of sweet

potato with the versatility of white potato.

This was followed by Orange Cilantro Salmon and Stir Fry Bok Choy, a great dinner

combination.

We finished up with Sticky Rice with Mango

poached in Korean Black Raspberry Wine, a

great dessert.

Those who came to learn the recipes and tech-

niques as well as those that just came to eat had

an equally

great time.

We are all

l o o k i n g

forward to

our next

adventure.

Grandpa’s Making Extra Crispy Chicken


Container Gardening: By Ed Feldstein

You’ve heard of “Dancing with the Stars,” well this was “Planting with the Horticul-

tural Super Stars,” our second annual tomato planting workshop at The Home Depot on

Peachtree-Dunwoody Road in Sandy

Springs. Of the twelve hardworking and pro-

ductive agronomists (Alan Kessler, Dan

Leffman, Mike Tuckman, Lenny Berger, Jed

Goldstein, Harvey Yaschik, Norm Rosner,

Shelly Harrison, Tom Ulbricht, Ed Schiffer,

Marshall Smith and Peter Jedel, whose own

very successful tomato plant from last year

was the featured photo used on Group-

Spaces) only Norm, Lenny, Marshall and Ed

Schiffer were newcomers. Not only did Mar-

shall take home his tomato, he was also the

winner of two, yes two, raffles. How lucky can one get! Special recognition (I use the

word recognition intentionally since few people recognized Tom at the Sock Hop Ex-

travaganza) is due for Tom, who is going for surgery, yet he was determined to attend.

Thanks also to Norm Rosner, who was tremendously helpful in his role as financial en-

forcer.

We each planted our own Husky Cherry Red tomato in a three gallon container. Along

with the tomato, we planted beneficial companion plants (a sweet basil, petunia, mari-

gold, and a few edible pea pod seeds) that not only enhance the flavor of the specimens,

but help to protect each other from disease. Our mixture was approximately two-thirds

to three-fourths potting soil and the rest composted mushroom manure (it does not

smell). Into the pot we also mixed the “final four” ingredients (Epsom salt, lime, slow

release plant fertilizer and crystal gel for water retention) to enrich the soil to produce

the best tomatoes possible. With four to six hours of sun (the more the better), adequate

and consistent watering, and bi-weekly feeding, our agricultural efforts should pay off

with delicious and nutritious produce by Independence Day (I am not specifying which

Country’s independence day) and continue to close to Thanksgiving.

In addition to the tomato planting demonstration and hands on follow-up, we learned

about the creative possibility of a vertical planting arrangement, using four or five terra

cotta pots, potting soil and a six or seven foot rebar.

“Give an NAMC member an already planted and growing tomato plant, you give him a

plant for a season. Teach him to plant, water, fertilize, nurture and grow a tomato plant,

you make him a gardener for a lifetime.”


Discussion Group: By Peter Jedel

The discussion sessions continue to be one of the Club's best attended events. We

set a new record with 39 attending (over 25% of the club) the discussion led by Cary

Rosenthal. He updated us on the ever changing Middle East.

While at times it seems Cary is privy to secret in-

formation, he began by telling us that this was not

the case. He just reads a lot and has many excel-

lent sources of information. His being active in Is-

rael related organizations and activities opens

more doors than for the average person. That the

situation is fluid and subject to the interests of sev-

eral competing powers including the U.S., Russia,

Turkey, Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran and oth-

ers came as no surprise. Nor did the idea that there

is a constant flow of back door maneuvers taking

place.

Some of us were surprised to learn of the resur-

gence of Al Qaeda in northern Africa, Syria, the

Sinai and even Iraq, The hope for free and open elections “a la” the western model

seems further off.

Cary then turned to discuss the various countries in the area, and gave us an update.

He began with Israel and broke it down into bad and good news.

The bad news :

1. Iran is closer to having nuclear weapons

2. Mohammed Morsi in Egypt has tightened the noose on the general population

3. Instability in Syria

4. Gains made by Hamas

5. Weakness of Egyptian control in Sinai

Offsetting this is some good news.

1. Re-election of Benjamin Netanyahu, albeit with less seats and growth of new par-

ties

2. Development of the Arrow 3, a new defensive rocket system

3. Weakening of Hezbollah

4. U.S. military equipment in Israel now exceeds $1b

5. Chinese proposal to build a railroad from Red Sea to Ashdod (seaport) thereby

cutting costs of shipping in money and time


Discussion Group: By Peter Jedel

6. Tremendous natural gas finds are now starting to flow. The Tamar reservoir alone

can supply 50- 80% over the next ten years. When others come on-steam, perhaps

in 2014, Israel will become a net exporter

7. Through technology, the problem of water shortages has been largely met

8. Economic progress is good, unemployment down and tourism reaching new

heights

Cary then turned his

attention to giving us

a brief overview of

the other countries in

the area:

a) Iran: Drawing

closer to nuclear

weapons.

b) Syria: When As-

sad regime falls, what

will replace it.

c) Palestinians:

Hamas is gaining in-

fluence in the West

Bank.

d) Sinai Peninsula: Liken to the wild,wild west.

e) Jordan: Is an absolutely fragile state.

f) Lebanon: A country without a functioning government.

g) Turkey: Apparently is adding more requirements for resuming diplomatic relations

with Israel.

Cary concluded on a somewhat somber note by saying he did not feel Israel had the

ability to take out Iran's nuclear facilities. The Israeli defenses hopefully would be suffi-

cient but the path ahead is unclear.

Cary was asked to share his source material . The following is what he has sent to me.

--------- My primary sources are: debka; Enid Wurtman's "Daily Alert"; the Jerusalem Post

(subscription); Jerusalem Report (subscription); Israel's Consul General's report (a call to them

can get you on their list); Jewish Federation of Georgia's monthly Israel report (contact Cheri

Levitan at Federation); Foreign Ministry of Israel (free app for IPad or IPhone); AIPAC news-

letter; Shalom TV (free On Demand service from Comcast); Simon Wiesenthal Center report;

JTS. There are others, some personal like Yoram Etinger (a retired Israeli diplomat that I have

known for years), Stanley Davids (Rabbi Emeritus, Temple Emanu-El) and Dr. Robbie

Friedman (GILEE director).


Art and Creativity: By Lew Gruskin

There were seven of us willing to test

our inadequacies who joined together for

the April NAMC Art and Creativity ses-

sions. Yes, plural sessions as two trips

were needed to complete our pottery

works.

On consecutive Thursdays, Art Feinstein,

Bob Golden, Lew Gruskin, Alan Kessler,

Bernie Kranz, Howie Pinkus, and Arnie

Ross, now to be referred to as the Pot-

Heads, met at the ceramics workroom at

Abernathy Arts Center in Sandy Springs to learn about working with clay. Thanks to

Howie, our one experienced sculptor, for his perserverance in setting up the sessions.

Our instructor, Stevie (The Lady) Sackin teaches pottery to children at Abernathy

which is an appropriate skill set for the Pot-Heads. She began the first session with a

discussion of the clay we were using and why it was a good one for us. Up until then

Cassius was my favorite clay. Then we were instructed on the techniques of hand

building - pinch pot, coils, and slabs - which we were to use in our projects. We were

shown Georgia inspired pottery head jugs which we were to create reasonable responses

to. Okay, from now on we will be called the

Jug-Heads.

The balance of the session was a heads-down

creative session. Bernie’s Homer Simpson,

Art’s Smoking Dude, Arnie’s Spock started

taking shape as we coiled, molded, added and

subtracted clay from our jugs. By the end of the

session some had handles, some lids. But they

were ready for firing. I am not talking about

the Jug-Heads. So far so good.

Session two was the time to glaze. Stevie, a very good natured, skilled and knowledg-

able intructor came back anyway. The Jug-Heads were ready to select from the various

colored glazes that were laid out for us. Our creativity kicked in as we applied three

coats of color on our jugs. I would make a comment, but this article may be read by

families. We were shown application techniques and the use of tools to enhance the

look of the finished product.


Art and Creativity: By Lew Gruskin (Continued)

Throughout both sessions, there was conversa-

tion on a multitude of topics as our work con-

tinued. Stevie was very attentive working with

each of us. The final step in the ceramic proc-

ess is to apply a clear overglaze that Stevie ad-

ministered as she dunked our ceramics into a

bath of pinkish slime. It was promised that this

would help. And we’ll find out next week after

the second firing of our clay pots.

There was unanimous agreement among the

seven of us that this was a terrific activity. It will definitely be on the A&E calendar

again. We hope that you will join us at that time - unless you have a lot of experience

and know what you are doing which would make us very nervous.

Our May A&E activity will be a docent tour of the Carlos Museum to view the newly

opened Arts of the Americas exhibition. Sign-up on GroupSpaces and we’ll contact

you for carpooling.

The First Tri-Annual NAMC Cribbage Tournament has ended and the undisputed

winner is…(drum roll please!!)…the 12 contestants who had a great time playing a

great game with great company. The 12 winners (in alphabetical order) are Larry

Brown, Jerry Brumer, Dick Fenster, Peter Jedel, Alan Kessler, Leon Lane, Jerry Levine,

Jay Levy, Sid Newman, Chet Parver, Bill Shoulberg, and Mike Tuckman.

Yours truly created the tournament rules so it is no surprise that anarchy ensued when

we tried to figure out at the April event who obtained the most points. After a most cor-

dial discussion, it was determined that six of the 12 undisputed winners also were dis-

puted winners based on points depending upon whether we: (1) applied the written

scoring rules as of Jan 3; (2) applied the unwritten scoring rules used throughout the

tournament; (3) ended the tournament on the date of the April cribbage event or (4)

ended the tournament prior to the date of the May cribbage event.

Similar to the many “Tax Simplification Acts” implemented by the US Government, I

will simplify the rules for the next cribbage tournament which will likely increase the

confusion. Come and join us next month to either enter the second tournament or to

learn how to play this fascinating game. As Alan Kessler said, NAMC men playing

cribbage and the discussions regarding scoring are a better mental workout than cross-

word puzzles. Caution: Cribbage is addictive and may be harmful to your health.

Cribbage Tournament: By Larry Brown


May Birthdays

Alterman (6), Granath (6), Sacks (6), Newport (13),

Schiffer (13), Jedel (19), Roseman (25), Frank (26)

May

CALENDAR

1 Bowling

Gin Rummy

2 Breakfast

Mah Jongg

3 Backgammon

6 Hearts

7 Golf

Low Price Poker

Book Club 2

8 Bowling

Lunch and Laugh

9 Breakfast

Food Club

Book Club 1

10 Low Price Poker

12 Fitness walk

13 Mah Jongg

Pool

14 Tennis

Movie Night

15 Bowling

Investment 2

Bridge

16 Breakfast

Discussion Group

17 Board Meeting

19 Sunday Bowling

Myron Play Date

20 Mah Jongg

Medium Price Poker

Low Price Poker

21 Frisbee Golf

Hearts

22 Bowling

Investment Club 3

Investment Club 1

23 Breakfast

BBQ

Cribbage

24 Arts and Creativity

Bridge

Good and Welfare

This section of the News and Views is intended to let the

members of the Club know about the Life Cycle events that

affect our lives. Typical of this section are deaths, illnesses,

etc., but we’d like for it to also cover births, graduations, sig-

nificant anniversaries, etc. Please contact Howard Friedman to

start the notification process.

Condolences to:

Don Sommer on the recent death of his mother

Alan Feldman on the death of his brother Martin

Get Well Soon:

Tom Ulbricht recovering from back surgery

Congratulations To:

George Nozick played in a Champions Tour Event hosted at

Sugarloaf Country Club. There were four amateurs, Zack Klein

Atlanta sportscaster, George and two more amateurs playing

with Touring pro Esteban Toledo. George and his team went on

to win the Pro Am competition shooting 55. There were 40

teams competing in this two day event.

Chet Parver bowling a

298 game on Monday April 22nd!!!!!

27 Medium Price

Poker

28 NAMC Dinner

29 Bowling

Bald Ridge Boys

30 Breakfast


NAMC Dinner Dance Pictures

The Fab Five


The Sock Hops Grady High School Grads


MYRON’S PLAY DAY

Sunday, May 19, 2013

12:00—5:00

Come and Go as you want

4100 Amberfield Circle, Norcross, GA 30092

Food: $5.00 for all you care to eat—Shrimp, Roast Beef, Honey Turkey,

Salads, Desserts, and Much More

Activities: 1. See old friends and make new ones

2. Solve the problems of the world

3. Play card games, i.e. poker, bridge, hearts, cribbage, etc.

4. Play pool, table tennis, shuffleboard, air hockey, and foosball

5. Play Mah Jongg, chess, scrabble and trivia

6. Over 100 full size video games like Pac Man, Tetris, etc.

7. EAT, EAT EAT!

8. Have Fun!!!

Sign up on GroupSpaces if you plan to attend. Our previous record was 48 mem-

bers, and we are hoping for 60 members this time.

POKER:

Want to play poker? email Myron at [email protected]

You cannot sign up for Poker on GroupSpaces

Texas Holdem Tournament:

12:15—2:30

Maximum of 12 players

$25 Entry Fee

1ST PLACE $100

2ND PLACE $75

3RD PLACE $50

4TH PLACE $25

Dealer’s Choice: Full

2:30 until 4:30

Maximum of 9 Players $0.50/$1.00

Same Rules as NAMC Medium stakes Poker

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