Alan Weinel, Editor

JERRY BUILT

November already! The SIRs year is about finished. I want to thank all of you for the privilege of being your Big Sir. It’s been a fun ride. Now on to Tony Vigil, who will be a superb Big Sir along with Pat Quinn as our Little Sir. Both are good men. Give them your

support.

Membership is still our overriding concern. We’ll finish the year down probably 4 members. For the last 4 months we haven’t had any candidates. We need to turn this around for Tony. All of us need to look at our friends and bring them in. The mix of new guys is what makes this branch continually interesting.

We’ve had some real successes this year, but the hassle over the Dante Club price increase cast a long shadow of dissent. I had hoped it would be resolved with the 2-year contract, but that needs to be seen over time.

Bowling seems to be going good, and we’ve had some wonderful weather for golf this fall after some burning days in mid-summer. It seemed there was a lot of “mid” this year. Here is to a good new season, maybe it won’t rain so hard on golf days this winter.

Finally, it’s getting to be time for our annual Ladies Day Holiday Luncheon. We’ve got the same band returning that lit up last year. They are good! Be sure to get your reservation to Jerry Buhlert and make this a great kick-off for the new year. Even if you are single, you can come and enjoy the good music. Come one, come all.

Jerry Schroeder, Big Sir

The Pony Express Branch #69 November — 2017 Edition

TONY’S TALK

Greetings fellow SIRs members: Memorable events that occurred for the month of November. On November 2, 1947 - The first and only flight of Howard Hughes' "Spruce Goose" flying boat occurred in Long Beach Harbor, California. It flew about a mile at an altitude of 70 feet. Costing $25 million, the 200-ton plywood eight-engine Hercules was the world's largest airplane, designed, built and flown by Hughes. It later became a tourist attraction alongside the Queen Mary ship at Long Beach and has since been moved to Oregon. On November 3, 1957 - Soviet Russia launched the world's first inhabited space capsule, Sputnik II, which carried a dog named Laika. On November 4, 1916 - Famed TV journalist Walter Cronkite (1916-2009) was born in St. Joseph, Missouri. He was a leading correspondent for United Press International during World War II. From 1962 to 1981, he was the anchorman of the CBS Evening News and was widely regarded as America's most trusted journalist.

Our speaker for this month will be Guy Hall. Guy’s presentation will be discussing the history, benefits and features of electric cars. The internal combustion engine has been the dominant propulsion method for motor vehicles for almost 100 years, but electric power has remained commonplace in other vehicle types, such as trains and smaller vehicles of all types.

At the beginning of the 21st century, interest in electric and other alternative fuel vehicles has increased due to growing concern over the problems associated with hydrocarbon-fueled vehicles, including damage to the environment caused by their emissions, and the sustainability of the current hydrocarbon-based transportation infrastructure as well as improvements in electric vehicle technology. Since 2010, combined sales of all-electric cars and utility vans achieved 1 million units delivered globally in September 2016.

Also, remember that our Ladies Day Holiday Luncheon is December 14th. Back by popular demand, The Band, “Mad Dash” (Michael Gregory – leader) will be performing. Sign-ups for our Ladies Day Holiday Luncheon - will be available at our November luncheon. See you all there!!

Tony Vigil, Little Sir

NOVEMBER 2017 LUNCHEON MENU Thursday November 9, 2017

Traditional Thanksgiving Fare. Vegetarian and Vegan Options are available,

Ask your Caller

Hal Copperberg 1 Mark Steffens 3 Jon Moniger 4 Tony Vigil 5 Jerry Buhlert 12 Orville Noel 20 Jack Osborne 20 Armond Delestrez 21 Tom Costello 22

Bud Rogers 24 81 Bob Sanchez ` 24 Joe Bowers 24 Darren Simonds 25

November Anniversaries

Nobel and Frances Zumwalt 5 74 Years!! Steve and Marilyn Flynn 5 Alex and Laree Canada 9 Louis and Michelle Pritchett 11 Lennie and Timmi Silva 26 Carl and Kathleen Cloud 27 Bob and Paulette Sanchez 28

Lorren and Jeanne Jacobs 30 55 years!

BOWLING NEWS

The bowling competition continues to be really close. The

Pocket Dwellers (Jim Smalling, Tom Page, Bob Clanton and

Jim Olbizalo) have a narrow lead over the Pin Killers (Don

Baldwin, Rick Lee, Patrick Fintel, and Bernie Moreno). Other

teams are trying hard to move up in the standings, too.

Some impressive scores have been turned in by our bowlers.

Darren Simonds rolled a 269 scratch game, with Jim Smalling

close behind at 268. Steve Eason nailed a 747 scratch series, just

topping Jim Smalling at 743. Allen Riker scored a 308 handicap

game, while Windy Curtis had a great 291 effort. Steve Eason

leads the handicap series with an 846.

Interested in joining our bowling fun? We can use

substitutes almost every week. Give me a call or email if you

might want to share the fun. .

Tom Page, League Secretary 488-6465

RECRUITING & PUBLICITY

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We’re not ending 2017 on a strong recruiting note, so our

efforts now will be to start out 2018 with a bang. Bring your

friends and golfing buddies from other groups to see if they might

be interested in our branch. That would really help to get next

year started off right.

I’ve been in touch with Morton Golf and my counterpart at

Branch 102 in Carmichael over our booth for Golf Expo next

year. Everything is all go on that front.

I’m looking forward to seeing all of you at the November

luncheon.

Tom Page Recruiting & Publicity Director

At the October Luncheon we had a total of 99 mem-bers in attendance, for an attendance of 66.0%

YTD attendance is 67.0%

Paul Sickert, Attendance Chairman

OCTOBER ATTENDANCE REPORT

November Birthdays

LADIES DAY HOLIDAY LUNCHEON

Thursday December 14, 2017

Choice of: Prime Rib; 1/4 Balsamic Chicken; .Vegetarian Lasagna. Vegan Menu available upon request.

REMINDER

If you will be 70 ½ by 12/31, and have a 401(k), IRA

or 403(b) plan, you are most likely subject to the “Required Minimum Distribution” (RMD) rules that Congress has put into the Income Tax Code. The RMD

must generally be taken by 12/31 — except if you turn 70

½ THIS YEAR, you can choose to take the 2017 RMD by

04/15/18. However, be aware that if you do THAT, then in 2018 you must ALSO take the 2018 RMD by 12/31/2018 (2 distributions in the same year.)

If you fail to take the RMD by due date, IRS can im-

pose a 50% penalty (ouch) on the amount you failed to withdraw.

Lastly, please note that completely different rules apply for Roth IRA’s.

Please consult with your tax advisor and your invest-

ment advisor for additional information.

Alan Weinel News Letter Editor

LADIES DAY HOLIDAY LUNCHEON

Please see the flyer on the last page for the annual Hol-iday Luncheon. It should be a Great time. The band (“Mad Dash”) got great reviews last year. AND the price for a nice prime rib dinner is only $31.00! This is a great opportunity to do something nice for that special some-one in your life!

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November Golf

11-02 Thurs 69/RC Bing Maloney. Turkey Shoot

11-03 Friday 69/RC Carmichael Elks Awards Lunch

11-06 Mon PGC River Oaks 4-Man Scramble White Tees

11-16 Thurs 69/RC Alister Mac. Low Net

11-20 Mon PGC Davis Stroke Play,

White Tees

December Golf

12-04 Mon PGC Antelope Greens 4 Clubs Only

12-07 Thurs 69/RC Wildhawk X-mas Shoot

12-18 Mon PGC Cavanaugh Stroke Play

White Tees

12-21 Thurs 69/RC Cavanaugh low Net

2018 SIRS BRANCH 69 ROSTER

I am working on the 2018 Roster. It will be finalized in December. In mid-November you will receive an email to review a 2018 draft roster. I’ll spend significant time to update the roster so please take a moment to review your information. We want our printed copy to be as clean as possible. Also, if you do not like your current branch pho-to, please see me at the November luncheon where I will be prepared to take an updated photo. For those members who do not have email I will attempt to track you down at the luncheon or call you to verify your roster information.

.Pat Quinn, Roster Chairman

Correction…

In the August Newsletter, I inadvertently omitted Assistant Treas-urer Hal Copperberg from the list of officers. My apologies to Sir Hal Copperberg.

Alan Weinel News Letter Editor

Tom Page

Even with difficult health issues, Tom Page continues to be a major contributor to Sirs Branch 69. In a time where it’s some-times difficult to find volunteers for branch

tasks, we have a member that takes on several roles. In my recent discussions with Tom he has made it clear he wants to continue to help out the branch. He plans on remaining active in all activities as long as possible. Tom is a tireless “behind the scenes” worker that every branch needs to be successful. You have to give him a lot of credit for his toughness and dedication.

Although not currently a Branch Officer, Tom is viewed as a branch leader by our membership. He is one of the leading influences and activists in the branch since he joined in 2006. He is outspoken, enthusiastic and very pos-itive about the benefits of being a Sir member.

The list of his accomplishments and contributions is very impressive. Tom spent three years as a Director great-ly assisting the Big Sir. In preparation to his becoming Lit-tle Sir, then Big Sir, Tom served as Assistant Secretary. After his branch officer duties, he volunteered to assume a number of other tasks and after many years continues these activities. They include: publishing bios of new members in the monthly newsletter; secretary of bowling; and the branch’s recruitment chairman. Tom volunteered to be the branch biographer. With the influx of new members, this is an important and time consuming endeavor. Tom also be-came the Secretary of the Bowling League and its spokes-man in 2011. Under his leadership, the bowling league has expanded from 8 to 14 teams. Much of this can be attribut-ed to his marketing of the enjoyment of bowling. As a re-cruiter, Tom got us back on the right track to improve our membership. He writes a column in each monthly news-letter on recruiting and talks about it at the luncheons. He formulated the idea of improving recruitment by making arrangements for a booth at the Haggin Oaks Golf Exposi-tion for the last five years. This has snowballed making a significant impact to our membership.

In 2015, through a unanimous vote at the Board Execu-tive Committee meeting, Tom was rightfully voted to re-ceive the prestigious Honorary Life Membership award. Thank you, Tom, for all your hard work and dedi-cation to Sirs Branch 69.

Joined Sirs Branch 69 in: 2006 Director: 2008, 2012, 2013 Assistant Secretary: 2009 Little Sir: 2010 & Big Sir: 2011 Honorary Life Membership Award: July 2015 Recruitment Chairman: 2011 to present Bowling Secretary: 2011 to present New Member Bio’s: 2012 to present

Pat Quinn, Roster Chairman

NON-RESPONSIBILITY DECLARATION: All activities arranged for or by, or sponsored by, Sons In Retirement, Incorporated, and its Branches, are for the convenience and pleasure of the members and their guests who desire to participate. Sons In Retirement, Incorporated, and its Branches do not assume any responsibility for the well-being or safety of the participants or their property, in any matters pertaining to said activities (Rule 345). Checks, money orders or credit cards for Travel for one day or less (no overnight), where a bus/busses is/are used as the primary means of transportation, may be made payable to the Branch sponsoring the event. All other checks, money orders or credit cards for travel must be made payable to the travel agency. (Rule 420 & 421). Members are obligated to attend all regular luncheon meetings unless prevented by illness or absence from the Branch locale. (Rule 60). REQUIRED ATTENDANCE – A member who misses three (3) consecutive luncheon meetings without having been excused by contacting the designated Branch Attendance person prior to the meeting date, and giving a valid reason, or did not attend one half of the regular luncheon meetings within the previous twelve consecutive month period. may be notified, by letter, of the pending termination of his membership in SIR. (Rule 60, 100 & 107).

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2017 Officers BIG SIR: JERRY SCHROEDER 801-2530

LITTLE SIR: TONY VIGIL 217-7816 SEC: PBS RON HUTCHESON 897-2807

ASST SEC: GEORGE LANGFORD 823-5493 TREAS: JERRY BUHLERT 704-0159 ASST TREAS HAL COPPERBERG 722-2606

PBS DAN CALCAGNO 481-8368

STEVE EASON 955-1813 JIM HUFFMAN 468-8197

Directors

BILL NICHOLS 844-9382 JIMMY BUCKLEY 284-2364 GREG SCHWEITZER 687-8629

State Officers STATE PRES: JERRY STRAIN REG. 3 DIRECTOR: ED BENSON AREA 3 GOV: BOB PEREZ

Committee Chairs Programs Tony Vigil 217-7816 Mail Pouch Alan Weinel (209) 843-1804 Chaplain Karl Munz 922-2482 Roster Pat Quinn 784-3729 Golf PBS Lennie Silva 487-9812 Golf (PGC) Greg Schweitzer 687-8629 Bowling PBS Tom Page 488-6465 Audit Don Neufeld 863-5228 Audit Jim Buckley 284-2364 Nominating PBS Jim Porterfield 743-7520 Attendance Paul Sickert 396-6230 Orientation Dick Borah 419-2214 Branch Apparel Mike Ratzlaff 768-6348 Day In The Park PBS Jim Porterfield 383-8156 Sunshine PBS Jim Carlson 635-8516 Bios PBS Tom Page 488-6465 Web Site Ross Martin 427-0559 Book Club Steve Goodman 521-6546 RV Bob Houghton 487-1190

Honored Members

HONORARY LIFE MEMBERS

PBS LENNIE SILVA (SHLM) PRD WARREN SENEGAL

PBS TOM PAGE PBS JIM PORTERFIELD PBS RON HUTCHESON

SENIOR CERTIFICATES

SIR SAM LeROUGE

SIR EDWARD GONSALVES SIR RIC NANNINI

SIR WINFIELD (WINDY) CURTIS

HOW ARE WE DOING? 9/25/2017

INCOME ACTUAL BUDG DIFF

Contributions $3,635 $3,700 $ 65

Other $ 10 $ 0 $ 10

Total INCOME $3,645 $3,700 $ 55

EXPENSES

Printing & Postage $ 133 $ 700 $ 567

Officers’ Expenses $ 359 $ 350 $ 5

Guest Expenses $ 0 $ 100 $ 100

State Pro Rata $ 893 $ 800 $ 93

Other, Golf Expo $ 147 $ 300 $ 153

Other, Misc. $ 914 $1,700 $ 783

TOTAL EXP. $ 2,449 $3,950 $ 1,501

PROJECTED CASH BALANCE AT END OF YEAR $3,814

PROJECTED CASH BALANCE PER MEMBER $ 24

Jerry Buhlert, Treasurer

Recruitment, Activities, Member Relations & Publicity (RAMP) RECRUITING/PUBLICITY PBS TOM PAGE 488-6465 ACTIVITIES PBS JIM PORTERFIELD 383-8156 MEMBERSHIP JOHN POPADAK 662-0695

SUNSHINE

OTIS BENNING Let’s keep Otis in or prayers as he

struggles to get off the feeding tube and back on solid

foods.

TOM KNOBLE Tom was back with us at the October

luncheon with his arm in a sling after undergoing shoulder

replacement.

ARMOND DELESTREZ Our continued prayers and

condolences go out to Armond, and his family due to the

passing of his wife Mary Lee.

JERRY SCHROEDER Big Sir Jerry had a hip

replacement on the 3rd of October and should be back with

us at the November luncheon.

If you know of any of our members or immediate family

with health problems give me a call @ 916 635 8516

TREASURER’S REPORT – OCTOBER 2017

Cash Balance 1/1/2017 = $4,064

OCTOBER YTD

Beginning Cash Balance $5,510 N/A

Contributions $0 $3,635

Expenses $346 $2,449

Ending Cash Balance $5,164 N/A

MEMBERSHIP Gain/Loss +0/-1 150

VETERANS DAY—November 11th This year marks the 99th anniversary of the end of hostil-ities in WWI. Please remember to honor all veterans: Buy a red Poppy and proudly wear it. To all Veterans, we extend a heartfelt “Thank You”.

Mere words cannot begin to express the gratitude we have for your service. THANK YOU!!