COGS March 2015 (Mar 31, 2015)

Stories

COGS 3/26/15

Posted by Warren Tockerman on Mar 30, 2015

President Denise started the meeting at 12:15 PM and Bill S. said a prayer…to bless this meeting, for all who work for Rotary, and all those around the world having problems.

Music: Let A Smile Be, Singing In The Rain, Over The Rainbow, April Showers, Smile, Button Up Your Overcoat (Correction from last week: songs were from Scotch origin, not Irish)

Food: Navesink house salad, chicken parmesan with marinara sauce on linguine, vegetable medley, chocolate layer cake, coffee & tea

Guests: Doug, Niosi, Two River Financial Services, Red Bank, a fine prospective member, and Michael Mahon, guest of Lynda Rose, who is with the Monmouth Council, Boy Scouts of America, in Morganville. Thank both of you for joining us today.

Fines: Horton, for sitting next to our guest speaker and for paying Harriet’s fine; Mike Toscano- almost late and not wearing his Rotary watch; Late: Joe, Jon, Frank & Rob; Jack Chesbro- picture of late uncle famous baseball player; Lynda Rose- picture in paper; Steve Sanfilippo’s table- everybody fined $2 (??).

Happy Dollars: Rob – for all good things, and for being back from absent last week; Mike DeNofa – thank you for get-well cards; Gail- for NY Times article; Bill D. - for guest Doug and for blurb published in Asbury Park Press about our Food & Wine event next month.

Birthdays & Anniversaries: Liz Panella – March 29^th - happy birthday

Announcements:

March 28^th – 6:00 PM - Gift of Life “Spring Fling” Annual Dinner at Merion Caterers, 1901 Route 130 South, Cinnaminson, NJ. Speaker will talk about the mission to the Philippines.
April 9^th – Installation at NCC of satellite club members, currently 7.
April 9^th – Club Assembly and Joke-A-Thon winner
April 11^th & 18^th – Rotary Leadership Institute courses.11^th at West Orange, NJ and on 18^th, at Wilmington, DE. Please visit www.rlinea.org
April 16^th – Career Day - please contact Addie to sign up.
April 20^th – Food & Wine Event at Branches, West Long Branch – proceeds of which will go to Lunch Break – invitations going out next week…and need ad journal participation.
May 1-3, 2015 – District Conference, Mystic, Connecticut
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Use Rotary business/thank you cards when patronizing restaurants and other businesses and club supporters in the area

Mike DeNofa asked that if you know of any speakers, to please let him know. It would be helpful if you would let him know if we have any comments, positive or negative, about the speakers.
If anybody has ideas for a Community Service project, please send them to any Board member.Thank you.

EXTRA! Did you know that for $12.00 a year you can give a 1-year gift subscription of The Rotarian to anybody in the USA, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands? What a great idea for a prospective member, a friend, family member, holiday gift and as a thank-you for somebody for whom you want to show appreciation. Please contact the Circulation Department at 847-424-5217, or email data@rotary.org for details.

Speaker: Capt. Richard C. (Rick) Valentine, Commanding Officer, Naval Weapons Station Earle, who gave us some updates on Earle.

Rick mentioned that the mission of Earle is to provide ordinance for all the Naval Atlantic Fleet Carriers north of Norfolk, Virginia. Earle loaded the majority of ammunition used by allied forces in the invasion of Normandy during WWII, in 1944. The name of the base was changed to Earle in 1974, and there are approximately 11,000 acres of land in Colts Neck; some 705 acres in Leonard and about 253 acres of land on the waterfront. Capt. Valentine noted that there is a tenant workforce of about 1200 and a full-time military workforce of 1038. He vigorously denied that any nuclear weapons were located at Earle.

Capt. Valentine told us that he is retiring in the next few months after serving 44 years with the Navy, and may return to his hometown of Deland, Florida. Thanks, Rick for a delightful talk, and may you have safe journeys for the many years to come.

50/50 of $20 went to Steve Sanfilippo – congrats, Steve!

Meeting ended at 1:33 PM

25 members attended today’s meeting

Success is getting what you want. Happiness is like what you get.

– Unknown

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Any comments concerning information published in this newsletter would greatly be appreciated. Please email to alphapromo@aol.com

COGS 3/19/15

Posted by Warren Tockerman on Mar 19, 2015

President Denise started the meeting at 12:15 and Chuck said a prayer for the future of Rotary International and Red Bank Rotary, for all of its members and for the food we are about to eat.

Music: You Take The Highland, Annie Laurie, Drink To Me Only With Thine Eyes, Commin’ Through The Rye, Pomp & Circumstance (!), and other Irish musical masterpieces.

Food: Caesar’s salad, grilled flat iron steak whipped potatoes and vegetables, carrot cake, coffee & tea.

Guests: Ward DeGroot – “…great to be back and that Teddy played [my] favorite song…”

Fines: Late: Harry, Frank, Jon, Mike T; No pins: Liz, Tony, Barbara N, Gloria; Frank- vacation and absent a month; Barbara N- skiing and out for 3 weeks; Chuck- for wearing green today; Harriet- on phone; Robin- checking messages on phone; Horton- for not being quiet when his wife was speaking.

Happy Dollars: Horton- didn’t have to pay for lunch today since his wife was speaking; Gloria- for being with her 80-year old aunt; Joe- for St. Joseph’s Day today (his son is also named Joe!); Mike T- kidney stones at Riverview…is OK, and for Al C who is also at Riverview and OK, and for dictionary project being a success; Harriet- Lombardi Dinner, Ward DeGrott; Rhonda- March Madness Basketball begins today; Chuck, Bill D., and Addie –for successful Lombardi Dinner, and best we ever had; Denise- for St. Pat’s parade; Warren- for Lombardi Dinner and grateful talk from Jeff Feagles.

Birthdays & Anniversaries Gail Abrams – March 19^th – happy birthday

Announcements:

Said a prayer for Clark Mulheren’s wife who is in the hospital
March 28^th – 6:00 PM - Gift of Life “Spring Fling” Annual Dinner at Merion Caterers, 1901 Route 130 South, Cinnaminson, NJ. Speaker will talk about the mission to the Philippines.
April 9^th – Club Assembly and Joke-A-Thon winner
April 11^th & 18^th – Rotary Leadership Institute courses. 11^th at West Orange, NJ and on 18^th, at Wilmington, DE. Please visit www.rlinea.org
April 16^th – Career Day - please contact Addie to sign up.
April 20^th – Food & Wine Event at Branches, West Long Branch – proceeds of which will go to Lunch Break – invitations going out next week…and need ad journal participation.
May 1-3, 2015 – District Conference, Mystic, Connecticut
Reminders –
1. Use Rotary business/thank you cards when patronizing restaurants and other businesses and club supporters in the area
Mike DeNofa asked that if you know of any speakers, to please let him know. It would be helpful if you would let him know if we have any comments, positive or negative, about the speakers.
If anybody has ideas for a Community Service project, please send them to any Board member. Thank you.

EXTRA, EXTRA!: Those of you who attended last nights Vince Lombardi Dinner at the Sheraton had the pleasure of hearing a wonderful speaker, Jeffrey Allan Feagles, a former punter for the N.Y. Giants. Feagles retired in 2010 and held some of the highest stats in professional football in at the end of 2009, namely (1) most consecutive games played, career: 352, (2) most total games play, career: third place at 352, (3) most punts, career: 1713, (4) most punts inside the 20, career: 497, and (5) most punting yards, career: 71,211.

Jeff spoke for more than 25 minutes and captured the eyes and hearts of all the high school football award winners and the audience. His very humble and forgiving style attributed his success mainly to the vision of his father who saw that even though Jeff excelled at baseball in high school, that Jeff had some extra talent in football and arranged for a scout to see him kick, which led to a junior college scholarship in Scottsdale, AZ, and then that trip to St. Louis to sport his excellence, which gave him a full scholarship to the University of Miami. Throughout his presentation Jeff never took credit for his accomplishments, but rather extended praise to his dad, his coaches and of course, Vince Lombardi, who Jeff said that his coach at the University of Miami must have told Lombardi quotes hundreds of times to the players, with the hope of making them accomplish that goal of success. The rest is history and a story that couldn’t be told by a finer person, at a better event, to a group of more interested people. It would be an honor and pleasure to have Jeff back in a few years to tell his story again to the next group of budding athletes. Who knows…Jeff could be the next Vince Lombardi. (Ed.-Warren Tockerman)

Speaker: Susan Goldring, Certified Elder Law Attorney, member of Zager, Fuchs Law Firm, Red Bank, who spoke to us about the ABLE Act, which is new legislation.

This is the ability of parents of a disabled child to get a 529 account for their disabled child, which is called a §529(A). It is a savings plan funded with after-tax dollars, and grows tax-free and can be used on allowable expenses.

Disabilities must be: (a) established before age 26 of recipient, and (b) can have only one ABLE account, and (c) maximum in account can be $100,000 (maximum) IF one wants to also receive SSI Disability payments, and (d) each State has to enable this system, BUT NO STATE HAS YET!, and in the state where the recipient lives, the account must be handled by an in-state institution, and (e) can transfer UGMA money to ABLE account ONLY IF done before age 18, and (f) the recipient can manage his/her own money if they are physically OK, and can use the money for related purposes (e.g. special handicapped auto, electronic devices, etc.) and depends on amount of $$ in the account, and (g) if the disabled child dies, the money in the account is subject to “clawback”. (Ed- since most of the members of our Rotary group are seniors, it might have been beneficial to hear a talk relating to a senior/elder topic).

50/50 $20 went to one of the waitresses

Meeting ended at 1:21 PM

25 members attended today’s meeting

All wisdom is derived from great conversation

---Socrates

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Any comments concerning information published in this newsletter would greatly be appreciated. Please email to alphapromo@aol.com

COGS 3/12/15

Posted by Warren Tockerman on Mar 16, 2015

The Prez started the meeting at 12:15 PM and Chuck said a prayer for promise of spring, Rotary and blessings of today and our food. Let us pass them on to others.

Music: Oh Danny Boy, When Irish Eyes Are Smiling, Casey, Tura Lura, And The Band Played On

Food: Mixed Greens, stuffed sole with crab and scallops, vegetable rice, green bean medley, chocolate torte (Wow…good!), coffee and tea

Guests: (none)

Fines: Late: Rob, Jon; Jim: picture in paper for dictionary distribution; All those not wearing green paid $1.00; Rhonda: picture in paper…attended a gala event at Red Bank Woman’s Club.

Happy Dollars: Liz: for spring being soon; Rhonda: in memory of her cousin who passed away in South Carolina; Tony: $100 for his ----th birthday and for Patti’s birthday; Bill D: for many good occasions…the parade, Rob’s hat, etc.; Joe: for Teddy’s green outfit; Rob: his hat, his Dad’s tie and father-in-laws 50-year old blazer; Horton: for great PETS meeting; Lou: for Denise and Lou being at St. Pats parade in Rumson, and for Rotarians giving out books; Harriet: for Bill D. being District Grand Chairman and other great events in Rotary; Addie: in memoriam to Barbara Tuttle of Matawan Rotary, and for Mike DeNofa being in hospital with bad back; Horton (again!): for Barbara Tuttle; Bill D.: for 2 more satellite club members; Jim, Joe: for Addie’s great St. Pattie’s outfit.

Birthdays & Anniversaries

Tony Micale – for his birthday

Patti Micale – for her birthday

Announcements:

Those who didn’t yet pay 2014-15 dues, please pay.
Dictionary Project working out well and we received a Thank You from the group.
Denise is collecting “socks for the needy”; they can be used or new, just as long as in good condition.
March 18^th [Wednesday evening] – Lombardi Dinner – Sheraton Hotel, Eatontown – $55 per person; Addie asked that baskets be donated for this event. Checks can be made out to the Center For Vocational Rehabilitation (CVR). Pro football New York Giants punter, Jeff Feagles, will be the key speaker. Baskets are still needed, please.
March 28^th – 6:00 PM - Gift of Life “Spring Fling” Annual Dinner at Merion Caterers, 1901 Route 130 South, Cinnaminson, NJ. Speaker will talk about the mission to the Philippines.
April 16^th – Career Day - please contact Addie to sign up.
April 11^th & 18^th – Rotary Leadership Institute courses. 11^th at West Orange, NJ and on 18^th, at Wilmington, DE. Please visit www.rlinea.org
April 20^th – Food & Wine Event at Branches, West Long Branch – proceeds of which will go to Lunch Break – invitations going out next week…and need ad journal participation.
May 1-3, 2015 – District Conference, Mystic, Connecticut
Reminders –
1. Use Rotary business/thank you cards when patronizing restaurants and other businesses and club supporters in the area
Mike DeNofa asked that if you know of any speakers, to please let him know. It would be helpful if you would let him know if we have any comments, positive or negative, about the speakers.
If anybody has ideas for a Community Service project, please send them to any Board member. Thank you.

Speaker: Allison Hollows, Seton Hall Law Investor Advocacy Project. Allison gave a very informative, factual and indeed, interesting talk about some of the things that can go wrong with a stock broker/financial planner. She is a member of FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority), which has set strict & clear standards for brokers and people in the financial industry selling financial products.

Allison gave us a listing of concerns that FINRA has established for individuals in selecting an investment professional. Such includes asking about their experience; what investment products they recommend to clients…and why; what would you recommend to me…and why; what are the fees (transaction or hourly fees as compared with a flat fee; frequency of meeting with the financial advisor.

She also commented on common causes of action against brokers, etc., which include: (1) unsuitability- where a broker doesn’t know essential facts about the product, (2) churning- where a broker makes excessive trades on one’s account to accumulate commission fees, (3) unauthorized trading- where a broker buys a product w/o permission of the client in a non-discretionary account, (4) misrepresentation- clear misinformation of fact given to client.

Several substantial concerns were noted, which include (1) How can one see what a broker receives per year from your account in commission, (2) Review older parent’s accounts to make sure what is done is supposed to be done, (3) For more info, google “broker check” or visit www.finra.org, or email Allison at investoradvocacy@shu.edu (4) Brokers working with most large firms (and certainly quality smaller ones) are members of FINRA and are held to the highest fiduciary standards.

50/50 of $20 went to Chuck

Meeting ended at 1:30 PM

20 members attended today’s meeting

Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.

– Abraham Lincoln

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Any comments concerning information published in this newsletter would greatly be appreciated. Please email to alphapromo@aol.com