Posted by Frances Chu in Massachusetts
TODAY IN HISTORY
It was 60 years ago, in 1949, that gasoline cost 17 cents a gallon, that average wages were $2,950.00 (a respectable sum at the time), and that soap operas began on TV…Ahh, yes, “The Good Old Days!”
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TODAY’S QUOTE
“More than any other time in history, Mankind faces a crossroads. One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness. The other, to total extinction. Let us pray we have the wisdom to choose correctly.”
--Woody Allen
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OPENING CEREMONY: Our weekly meeting was officially opened at 12:21 PM. It was celebrated by an Air Force flyover and a round of hearty cheers.
SALUTE TO OUR FLAG, PATRIOTIC SONG, AND BENEDICTION: The salute to our flag was patriotically fronted by Ernie Pacchiana. Following that, there was an uplifting version of “My Country ‘Tis of Thee,” gloriously sung by Sy Yuter, and—delivered with proper earnestness by Reverend Lee--a heartwrenching appeal to Our Lord for Divine Mercy and a generous uptick in the stock market.
CLUB PRESIDENT’S REMARKS: ANNOUNCEMENTS, OBSERVATIONS AND HAPPY THOUGHTS. There will be a meeting of the Briarcliff Rotary Board this coming Wednesday at Atria at 12 noon. On April 11th, there will be a local Blood Drive;and on May 3rd, Briarcliff Rotary will hold a Truck Show.
Mark Seiden rose to inform us of his Journal News interview, President Fulfree announced that his son has returned from college and has aspirations to be a fireman in Quincy, Mass., Frances Chu has named Dr. Alan Cohen as a Paul Harris Award recipient and was honored at the Rotary District's Paul Harris Luncheon, Etrusca Consentino reported news about Marie, and Sy Yuter reported on the doings of his grandson and the grandson’s Significant Other.
NEXT WEEK’S SPEAKER: Our guest speaker on April 3rd will be Mr. Tom Lichbacher, who will bring us up-to-date on “Briarcliff History.”
TODAY’S SPEAKER: Our speaker today was the recently-appointed Village Manager, (he’s been Village Manager for a scant four weeks), Philip Zegarelli, who talked about the ecstasies of life in Briarcliff Manor. First of all, taxes are going up and services are going down, which, decidedly, is not an ecstasy. But, after that, things are looking better.
After complementing the professionalism of Village Board and his staff, he launched into a discussion of the whys and wherefores of the budget. Recreation costs have risen, the new village library has just opened, and other expenses are rising, so budget cost-saving measures are necessary. There has been a cutback on personnel, and many cost-reducing efforts have been taken to put the village on a firm financial footing. Mr. Zegarellia’s goal: “Do more with less!”
A major problem for Briarcliff is the water project, but that is being addressed by an agreement between the village and Sleepy Hollow and Tarrytown to keep the cost of providing water within reasonable limits.
At one time or another, Mr. Zegarelli has been a banker, a teacher, a mayor (many years as mayor of Sleepy Hollow), and a world-traveler (Israel and Australia). To add to that impressive list, he comes from a family of doctors and dentists, (one of his relatives was Dean of the Columbia Dental School!) and is a personable, conscientious worker.
Judging from what we saw and heard today, the village of Braircliff Manor is in very good hands!
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THE DRAWING: The first winner was Zen Eidel; the second winner was an ecstatic Ernie Pacchiana, who shouted gleefully and did a fetching little dance.. An apoplectic Bishop John, who failed to win once again, was led off, gagged and manacled by the local constabulary, shouting, “This never wouldn’t have happened under a Republican administration!”
CLOSING CEREMONY: This week’s meeting drew to a close precisely at 1:33 pm, and was celebrated by a second flyover, by a pilot who seemed to be irretrievably lost.
Submitted by
Recording Secretary, Don Wilde
