IT’S WINTER!!! …….. 2012 NEWSLETTER
Wishing all the members of Dan Rice Tent, and their families, a belated:
Merry Christmas and success and happiness in the New Year.
By the time you receive this Winter will have already arrived. The Winter Solstice arrived here at 42.086 degrees North, 80.132 degrees West, on December 22nd, @ 05:30 UTC; that would have been 12:30 AM on the watch that you are wearing here in ERI. Although Winter is always accompanied by Cold and Snow, from the positive side it also marks the beginning of longer days. This week has 7 more minutes of daylight than a week and a half ago, and by the end of January we will have about an hour more daylight to celebrate. If that doesn’t make you fell better about shoveling snow, I don’t know what else to say.
Following common tradition, the beginning of a new year usually is accompanied by a look at what has passed. To that end, in the past year we have said farewell to five of our brothers:
- Donald C. Meyers……….. April 7th
- Thomas Magan…………. April 14th
- James Klie……………… September 7Th
- Joseph Kleiner…………. October 23rd
- Ronald McNally………. November 4th
We also welcomed sixteen new members to our tent now totaling 127 Saints & Sinners:
- February… Dan Horn
- May……… Terry E Crowe, Thomas Flick, Robert F Luther, David Saccamozzone
- August …… Glenn T Bailey PhD, Charles Tissue
- September… Jack Ciecierski, Donald Laird, Ronald E Walters
- November… Michael McLaughlin, Craig R Ross, Thomas Scully, Richard Valahovic
- December…. Urban Behringer, Greg Martin
To talk about our mission for a minute, this year we have helped around 20 individuals and groups in the Erie County Area. In addition to our annual donation for Bob Boorum’s, Erie Maennerchor Christmas party for Exceptional Children we were able to help brighten the Christmas for the residents at Erie’s Soldiers and Sailors Home with a donation to their party. When David Johns received a request asking for help, he was unsure whether this was in our mission statement. But when you consider what motivated our group’s founder, that 78 year old circus wagon driver with no place to go; the Charity Committee felt this was more than in line. What a better way to say “Thank You” to some of our older veterans who made the sacrifice and served our Country in time of need.
Please don’t forget that we count on all of you to help identify those in the Erie County Area who need our help. If you have never made a request for Charity and you know of a need, just write down as much information as you can and submit to a charity committee member, or just mail to our P.O. Box address, or send an e-mail to rjsundy@verizon.net and I will be happy to forward to all the members of the Charity Committee.
Charity Committee…. Chair: Wayne Rose, David Johns, Ron King, George Trost, Dutch Zabrosky
To talk about this year’s 7th Annual Auction for a moment, we had a nice turn out of around 130 guests. Many thanks and kudos to Chairman David Johns and his committee of: Dutch Zabrosky, Gary Gnacinski, and Mitch Easly. We need to acknowledge the services of Volunteer Auctioneer Corey Brown from Green Gables Auction Village in Great Valley New Your for providing his professional services. At the Board Meeting following the auction David Johns wanted to thank all the others, to numerous to mention, who helped support the Activity and particularly those individuals and organizations who made contributions of cash, merchandise, or services to auction.
On a sad note, David Johns made it know that this would be his last year as Chairman of our Annual Auction sighting personal and family commitment. He did say that he would make himself available to act as a consultant if we need his help and expertise. Please keep this in mind as our next auction along with the normal request for volunteers will also be looking for a chairman.
Enclosed in this Newsletter mailing find attached the flyer for our next event, our Annual Reorganization Meeting. You will note that this is a for “members only” meeting, and the only one which we conduct the business issues of Dan Rice Tent. A full disclosure of or financial picture will be available, and election of officers for 2012 highlight the business at hand. If you have an interest in running for office, Ron King is the chairman of the election committee and will be happy to hear from you. Nominations for office will also be accepted from the floor.
Your organization is always looking for volunteers to help with the planning and conduct of events. If you have any interest and would like to become more involved, this is a good time to make your interests known. The new officers will be appointing the chairmen to head our upcoming events in the next month. In particular, we are in need of someone who would like to become involved in the Newsletter that we try to send out 2 or 3 times a year. This was a labor of love that Ron McNally handled so very well in past. Ron, I really miss you!!!
As a matter of information, the annual dues for Dan Rice Tent will remain at $35.00, and are due now thru our Spring Fling Event which will take place in late March or early April. One change, the Board has decided that a late fee of $10.00 will be added to those who do not pay their dues within the first three months of the year. You can pay your dues by sending them with your reservation to January’s Meeting in the envelope provided, send them any time to our P.O. Box between now and the Spring Fling, or place them in an envelope and mark it to the Attention of Greg Inman and leave it behind the bar at the EMC. In case you didn’t know, if you are a newer member who joined us last year at of after the picnic, IE: September thru December, your dues are paid for 2012. (Not a bad deal)
In closing, I’d like to remind all of you, that we have launched our new and improved website a few months ago back in October 2011. We owe a great deal of thanks to Mike Halasz who did a lot to develop this site and allows it to reside on hardware at his business, Northshore Technological. We seem to think that it has a lot to offer and will be trying to update it monthly or at the minimum as the need dictates. It will offer new News items, great pictures from events, and links to other sites. There currently is a link that takes you to the web-site from the Circus Saints and Sinners of America’s National site. I would certainly appreciate your constructive comments on this website.
The address is: www.danricetent.org Take a minute and visit and do so often.
Thank You one and all for your support during 2011.
Ron Sundy, Secretary
