SOMERSET POOL AND TENNIS COURT TO RE-OPEN

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Dave Israel

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KARAOKE - HOSTED BY MR. KARAOKE

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Dave Israel

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THANKSGIVING MEAL FOR THOSE ALONE

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Where was the 11:28 Mall Bus at WInnDixie?

Wednesday November 14, 2012, My wife was at the WinnDixie Bus Stop at 11.15am, the scheduled 11:28 MALL BUS never showed up. Is there an explanation? Or is it that the driver needed an extended lunch hour!

TWO GOOD READS

Two quite different and very interesting books I've read recently are "Killing Lincoln," by Bill O'Reilly, and "The Road," by Jack London. The first, on the Best Seller list, was lent me by a friend, and the second I got for free on my Kindle--because it's in the public domain--by inputting "Free classics." Both are easy reads.

O'Reilly's book covers the remarkably short period of time from when John Wilkes Booth and his fellow conspirators began plotting four simultaneous assassinations, to when Booth was hunted down and shot. A great deal, described in fascinating detail, took place in these few days: General Grant and the Union forces finally cornered the ragtag Confederate army at Appomattox, where Lee, a military escape artist if there ever was one, surrendered to the most gracious terms imposed by Lincoln. Lincoln was reelected President. Booth and the conspirators plotted to kill not only Lincoln, but also Andrew Johnson, the Vice President; General Grant, who had become a close friend of Lincoln; and William Seward, the Secretary of State. Seward was very badly injured, but recovered and bought Alaska for the US. The book tells how the plans to kill Grant and Johnson both went awry. Booth, a glory-seeker, coveted public recognition for his "pro-Confederation" assassination deed, but failed at every turn to be so credited, beginning with his leap from Lincoln's box in the Ford Theater onto the stage, only nine feet below. He tripped on a curtain and fell, breaking a bone in his foot. The book  has you on the edge of your seat and gives you a perfect picture of what took place during those critical days.

I understand the Steven Spielberg movie on Lincoln, soon to come out, also has great reviews.

I had read many Jack London books but never "The Road." It's all about London's days as a hobo. A hobo is a tramp who rides the rails. You can't put this book down, it's so gripping. A standout chapter describes how he and the more agile hobos escaped being thrown off the trains time after time by outwitting the train personnel in different ways. They rode in the rail cars, sometimes under them (dangerous if you fell asleep), and very occasionally on top of them (also dangerous). Another chapter describes his 30-day stay in a penitentiary, again explaining how he and others used their wits to get by. He and his fellow hobos--there were hundreds of them in those days--crossed and re-crossed the US and Canada. They communicated with one another through messages sometimes written on water towers, and they almost made a fine art out of begging for food at their stops. It's all explained in this very interesting book.

 

UCO OPEN MEETINGS - DECEMBER 2012

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Subject to Change

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Dave Israel

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UCO BYLAWS - AS AMENDED NOVEMBER 2, 2012 - LIVE IN CYBERSPACE

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The UCO Bylaws as amended November 2, 2012, are now live in Cyberspace.

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Thanks to Randall Borchardt, the amended Bylaws may be read at the following URL:

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http://goo.gl/oWy4F
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There is also a link in the sidebar under the heading "Core Documents"

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Dave Israel

President 

United Civic Organization

UCO REPORTER NOW HAS IT'S OWN BLOG

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Hi all,

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I am pleased to announce that the UCO Reporter has it's own Website.

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Ken Graff has created the site, which may be seen at the following URL:

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HTTP://UCOREPORTER.BLOGSPOT.COM

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A link to the site may also be found in the sidebar under the heading - UCO Reporter.

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The 2012 editions have been Posted.
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Thanks, Ken!

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Dave Israel

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PADDLE BALL PLAYER SEEKS PLAYERS

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Hi all,

Dr. Leon F Gerard sends along the following:

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“Avid paddleball player from the Rockaways looking for a 1-wall game in the West Palm Beach area. If anyone knows of a game going on or is interested in playing, please contact Leon at Dr.G@BocaDr.com or 561 504 6666. There is a single wall with 2 courts in Phipps Park near Southern and Dixie Hwy, but I don’t know when or even if anyone plays there.”

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Dave Israel

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Federal Holidays

	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016
New Year's Day	January 2	January 1	January 1	January 1	January 1
Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.	January 16	January 21	January 20	January 19	January 18
Washington's Birthday	February 20	February 18	February 17	February 16	February 15
Memorial Day	May 28	May 27	May 26	May 25	May 30
Independence Day	July 4	July 4	July 4	July 4*	July 4
Labor Day	September 3	September 2	September 1	September 7	September 5
Columbus Day	October 8	October 14	October 13	October 12	October 10
Veterans Day	November 12	November 11	November 11	November 11	November 11
Thanksgiving Day	November 22	November 28	November 27	November 26	November 24
Christmas Day	December 25	December 25	December 25	December 25	December 26

Is Channel 63 Out of Order?

My channel 63 is a blank screen, 
the slide show seems to be minimized in the lower right corner :-(

NORTHERN STARS RESUMES

 To all of our "Northern Stars" Fans and Friends, our Season Opener, is
tomorrow night, November 12th, from 6 to 9:30PM, clubhouse partyroom.
 prizes, galore, Dues of $5.00 will be collected..Please bring your own
snacks & drinks.
Posted on behalf of Janisse.

DISCOUNTS FOR VETERANS

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http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152215021675012&set=a.10151235463870012.797217.732560011&type=1&relevant_count=1&ref=nf

Hi Clarence,
Here is a link that I believe will open for most readers, it has local discounts and freebees for Veterans:

http://militaryandveteransdiscounts.com/location/florida/west-palm-beach.html

Dave Israel
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CITIZENS COMMITTEE ON AIRPORT NOISE - NOTICE OF MEETING

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Dave Israel

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Learn how to download free eBooks to your Kindle, Nook or iPad! Free Workshops at the Mandel Public Library of West Palm Beach

Did you know that the library contains a huge collection of FREE eBooks that can be downloaded to your Nook, iPad or Kindle?

The Mandel Public Library of West Palm Beach is offering a series of free workshops to teach you how to search our eBook collection to download and check out books to your eReader device.

The workshops will be held on the following dates:

• Friday, November 9th 10:30am-11:30am iPad
• Friday, November 16th 10:30am-11:30am Nook

• Tuesday, December 4th 6:00pm-7:00pm iPad
• Tuesday, December 11th 6:00pm-7:00pm Nook
• Tuesday, December 18th 6:00pm-7:00pm Kindle

Pre-registration is required due to limited seating.  Please call the library at 561-868-7701 to reserve your spot.

See you soon!

Theresa
Reference Librarian
Mandel Public Library
411 Clematis St.
West Palm Beach, FL 33401
www.mycitylibrary.org

NOTICE OF BOIL WATER ALERT - SOMERSET

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NOT DUE TO BE IN EFFECT UNTIL 13 NOVEMBER, 2012

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Dave Israel

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IDENTITY THEFT WORKING AID AVAILABLE

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Hi all,

We have 300  of these Federal Trade Commission Working Aids available. You may get one at UCO, the Main Clubhouse, or The Hastings Clubhouse. Get yours while the supply lasts.

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If there is enough interest, we will order more, they are free.

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Dave Israel

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TWO OF OUR SEASONAL RESIDENTS - A DIFFICULT HURRICANE SANDY STORY

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After the Flood, Election Fears

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A Jewish Democratic couple faces a ruined Rockaways home and fears ‘disaster’ at disorganized polling sites

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By Clancy Nolan| November 6, 2012 7:00 AM
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Harriet and Irving Fiebert have lived in the Neponsit neighborhood of the Rockaways for 30 years without experiencing a single flooded basement. Last Sunday, a day before Hurricane Sandy reached New York, Harriet, 79 years old, and Irving, 82, packed their toothbrushes and headed to their son’s house in Manhasset. “We were undecided,” Harriet said of her hesitancy to leave. “During Irene we all evacuated and nothing happened. We really thought we could stay in the house.”
They returned a few days later to find their home ruined. At some point during the storm, water stood three feet deep in the living room, judging by a layer of silt and muck along the wall. Their son, Eric, pumped out the water that remained, but floating paper, photographs, and other items kept clogging the line. By the weekend the water was gone, but the muck remained. The hardwood floors buckled. Floodwater had rearranged all the furniture. Like everyone else in the neighborhood, the Fieberts spent the weekend throwing things out.
Up and down the street, every house was the same: mountains of soaked sofas and mattresses, dressers, tables, clothes, and toys heaped outside. You could judge a homeowner’s progress by the contents in the yard. A pile of drywall, wainscoting, and crown molding meant you were ahead of the game. Sanitation workers made continuous loops, and people walked out to help them load the garbage trucks.
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Hurricane Sandy was particularly harsh  on the Rockaways. Parts of the five-mile-long boardwalk slid right off its foundation piers. In Breezy Point, at the western end the peninsula, fire and water combined to level more than 80 homes.
Harriet and Irving bought the house, a one-bedroom brick bungalow three blocks from the beach, after their three children were grown. It was the kind of home always ready for company: A hulking sectional sofa sat in the living room, another in the den, both with sleeper beds. “It was such a fun house,” Harriet said. “It was a party house, we had all the family holidays in that house. But we are very lucky. You lose everything but you've got your life. I have all these pictures I’m trying to save. But if you lose them, you still have all the wonderful memories.”
This past weekend, as volunteers arrived to help carry things to the curb, the Fieberts stood inside, mulling over their stuff. Harriet inspected a flat-screen television. A high-water mark left a strip of mud along the bottom of the LED screen. What would happen if it were plugged in again? A tower of CDs stood nearby. Would they still play? Irving opened the drawer of a wooden side table. Nothing of consequence: some pens, a photograph, buttons, and a small plastic recorder. He pulled it out and blew a note. He put it down again and closed the drawer.
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In the basement, a couple volunteers took a snow shovel to the closets. A hot tub, empty before the hurricane, was now filled with brown fetid water. Too heavy to move, too heavy to tip over and drain.
The basement closets were filled with family photos and clothes. “Anything in that closet was something I hated to throw out,” Harriet said. “I had a dress that I wore 13 years ago to my grandson’s bar mitzvah. I had plans to wear it again. I was proud that it fit.” A waterlogged pink chenille bathrobe broke its wooden hanger and lay on the closet floor. It’s incredible how much water a chenille bathrobe can hold. Harriet’s daughter, Mindy, walked downstairs.
“The water went all the way to the ceiling down here, mom,” she said. “And you know what’s above the ceiling?” “What? “The floor upstairs. And it’s all got to go.” Harriet groaned.
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Upstairs, one of the sleeper sofas was too swollen to fit out the door. How about dismantling it? “I have a sledge hammer,” said Irving. He turned and walked out to the garage.

Harriet’s fur coat. (Clancy Nolan)

Someone walked by with Harriet’s old full-length fur coat. It was raccoon fur. “We used to wear those to the football games,” she said. Back then, raccoon fur was popular. Her name was embroidered into the black lining. Someone hung Harriet’s fur from a telephone pole in the front yard. (For some reason, it’s hard to pitch a fur. A few miles away, another Rockaway fur hung from a fence post. Even when the garbage truck drove by later that afternoon, they took everything but the fur. It was still waving in the breeze when Harriet drove away from her house Sunday night.)
A FEMA worker drove up in a pickup truck. He walked through and declared the place uninhabitable. FEMA might provide some money to help with relocation, Harriet said, but it would take 48 hours to hear from them.
The insurance adjuster comes next, but Harriet and Irving are going to leave much of the rebuilding to their kids. This Friday, they will put their car onto the Amtrak auto train and ride to West Palm Beach, where they have a condo. The couple, both Democrats, are only staying in town to vote. “Normally we work the polls, but there was no coordination after the hurricane,” said Harriet. “They announced  that one of the schools is open, and they’re going to have all the polling in that place … I know it’s going to be a disaster.”
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Dave Israel
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Our Flowers die under the mango tree! Repeatedly!

 Aha! Mangoes produce chemicals that prevent other plants from growing. The reason for the poor growth of other plants under and near this tree is not just competition but due to an allelolpathic substance.

Allelopathic chemicals are produced in roots, leaves, flowers and bark. In the case of the mango they are mostly in the leaves and when it rains or the leaves fall from the trees, these chemicals are released into the soil.  

NOTICE OF MEETING - FINANCE COMMITTEE

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Dave Israel

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TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE MEETING

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Dave Israel

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PET DNA - THE FINAL FRONTIER IN ANTI-POOP

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Hi all,

This is not new, I have researched and reported on this project back in March 2011, right here on this BLOG. Please see:

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http://village-blog-and-chat.blogspot.com/2011/03/problem-of-dog-poop-new-approach.html

 

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Dave Israel

Palm Beach county Supervisor of elections is keeping the office on Military and Gun Hill Road open for voting today, Sunday,Nov 4,2012 Vote!!! 

Dogs

I am a devout animal lover and had quite a few pets in my life time.  I do miss having a dog the most but my husband and I chose to live in Century Village even though having a dog was out of the question.  Caring for pets is a full time job and as you get older it can be very trying  to  bend to pick up the poop.

Some associations have in their by laws that dogs are allowed but only to be walked on their association grounds.  Knowing this, why do these people walk their dogs around properties that don't allow dogs?  Recently, a women was walking her small dog down our pathway in front of our building on Wednesday November 1.  Our association doesn't allow dogs.   She was told this and had said that she didn't know.  Doesn't she know this is trespassing?  This is like walking into someone's backyard.  My husband has told her weeks ago that this area doesn't allow dogs and to walk her dog in her area. 

I am usually not a complainer but this is very annoying when residents don't respect the rules of other associations.  

Delegate Assembly

 Listen to Mollie, OR ELSE!

Century Village WPB Delegate Assembly 11-2-2012

Delegate Assembly 11-2-2012 from David B. Israel on Vimeo.

Delegate's Meetings 2012

Why have our delegates meetings degraded into hateful, personal attack acrimony?  This is so humiliating and unnecessary.

When a motion is made or a budget reported on, why do we need to hear the history of the world as an introduction to a business topic?

The procedure should be:

Motion, second, discussion.

A person against the motion should say in 50 words or less, I am against the motion because………..      Then    

The President or an officer should say: I am for the motion because …… and succinctly explain the research and rational that has gone into publishing the motion.

An active issue should allow several speakers but when the speakers are just repeating what has already been said, it is time to vote.

After the vote, we should accept it and move on.

I think we have all been driven crazy by the negative, untrue ads that have been a part of this campaign season.  We should not emulate this practice, we should remember that we are a community and we will have different opinions but we should be on the same side of the ultimate goal.  The good of Century Village is the important goal here.

The one political ad that I have enjoyed this year is one of Bob Nelson’s telling about flying up into space and seeing the whole earth as a whole entity, not political, racial, religious or other divisive blocks.

We are better than what we have become.  Just watch Ken Graff’s pictures and interviews of our centenarians.  You will see some of the good.  Century Village is a wonderful place, let’s let the good be seen by Frank Cerebino and all the world.

PBSO INFORMATION BULLETIN - DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME SAFETY

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Dave Israel

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What' The Secret

What's The Secret from grafficx on Vimeo.

Over the last two years I interviewed some of Century Village Centenarians, here are their thoughts

EXTENDED DATES RE : THANKSGIVING DINNER

Due to several requests from out of town resident's, we have extended the
deadline for Reservations, to FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 9TH.
Sign up dates will be:
FRIDAY, NOV 2ND,  MONDAY, NOV 5TH,  WEDNESDAY, NOV 7TH
and FRIDAY, NOV. 9TH.
THE HOURS ARE FROM 2 TO 4 PM, in the CLUBHOUSE LOBBY!
FURTHER INFORMATION, Contact:
Bettie L Bleckman - ucoreporter.bbleckman@gmail.com or
Marilyn Pomerantz- ucoreporter.mpomerantz@gmail.com.