26 Sep President’s Message – October, 2013
I recently heard a quote from George Burns that struck home. When asked how he had managed to live so long, he purportedly said, “If you are asking what the single most important key to longevity is, I would have to say it is avoiding worry, stress and tension. And if you didn’t ask me, I’d still have to say it.” My first thought was, “Makes sense to me” and my second thought was, “If it makes so much sense why haven’t I managed to do it?” I have always been both a worrier and a planner. It was a rare day–or year—in my life when I did not consider what I should be doing to plan for and ensure my future and that often meant I lost sight of the present.
However, retirement has gifted me with a new sense of living in the moment. Perhaps because there are fewer years to plan for, I find myself more able to attend to the moment and its pleasures. Sitting on the porch and listening to the birds, noticing the changing of the seasons, and even doing puzzles in the middle of the day all seem like valid uses of time–or that is true at least part of the time. My willingness to cede some control has given me an opportunity to appreciate the changes around the Village and to enjoy seeing so many of you as I walk, exercise, drive or make my regular visits to the Gathering Place.
One of those changes is the date and time of the annual meeting. Our 2013 Annual Meeting will be held on Sunday, November 17, in the Barn. The Board looks forward to seeing you at the social hour from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. when Ruth Kreisman will provide refreshments and you will have an opportunity to socialize with neighbors and interact with Club representatives. The business meeting will follow from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. and we trust that you will enjoy that too.
Details about voting appear elsewhere in this newsletter and will be in our November edition as well. However, I would like to urge as many of you as possible to vote early. That will help ensure that we meet our quorum requirements and makes things easier for the Nominating Committee members on the day of the meeting. Of course, ballots are always available at the meeting itself. Last year we received more than 400 ballots and hope to exceed that number this year!
With autumn comes a variety of activities, all mentioned elsewhere in the newsletter. I know that we all appreciate the efforts of our Directors, who work so hard to ensure that the shredding event, newcomer’s meet and greet and leaf- pick ups happen so dependably. I’d like to send a special shout out to Debbie DiSabatino and Ken Benjamin who work tirelessly to serve all of us. As my mother, who taught high school Spanish, would have said,
Gail Mazzocco