LEOH Newsletters for the Spring 2010 Session will be added to the top of this page after they are produced each week.
LEOH NEWSLETTER LEOH NEWSLETTER March 18, 2010 WELCOME - We welcome all LEOH members to the beginning of the Spring Session of LEOH. We especially welcome our new members: Patti Bailey, Don Ballard, Lila Ballard, Britemarie Bodorff, Gladwyn Dawson, Elsie Duff, David Fowler, Lillian Lavine, Charlotte McClain, Carolyn Phillips, Ed Rangel, David Rogers, Madeline Rogers, Lois Rushing, Barbara Van Laan, Gary Walters and Jan Walters. NAME TAGS AND BETHANY CAMPUS SECURITY – Because Bethany has a Weekday School, Texas licensing requirements are strict, especially as pertains to not allowing unauthorized, unsupervised people on campus. Therefore, we have several requests for LEOH members and guests. (1) WEAR YOUR NAME TAG!! Not only does it jog our senior memories as to who you are, but it informs the Church and the School that you have a legitimate reason to be here. If you do not have a name tag, you must wear a temporary LEOH badge; also, sign up for a name tag at the Registration table. (2) REMAIN in the areas utilized by LEOH – Room 42-43, the Fellowship Hall, the Parlor/Chapel and the walkway between the Fellowship Hall and the Parlor/Chapel. (3) USE only the Rest Rooms adjacent to the Fellowship Hall, the Parlor/Chapel and the Church office. Thanks for your cooperation. VOLUNTEER THANKS –Many thanks are due to Ella Lessig and Richard Lewis for helping prepare the brochures for the mail-out. Many thanks also to our members who have put together another outstanding program: Charlese Charlton and her Town Hall Committee, Tom Sanders on Spring Trips, Bill Bailey for continuing to present an arts class and to our afternoon teachers and coordinators. Thanks also to all those who shepherded members through the registration process last Thursday. CAKE DONATIONS - Thanks also to Jean Kopp who continues as our Cake Lady and our Party Time Munchies Lady (coordinator) and to those who have volunteered to donate. If you have volunteered to bring a cake, you will receive a phone call from Jean on Monday of the week she needs it. Or you can tell her at a Thursday LEOH session that you will bring one the following week. The cake may either be home-baked or store-bought. Please bring it to the kitchen by 11 AM. LUNCH DRAWING – We will continue the lunch drawing prize that occurs in the Chapel immediately following the Town Hall presentation. The drawing entitles the winner to free lunch. The lucky member must be on the Bethany campus to win. SPRING TRIP – The first fall is next MONDAY, March 22, to downtown Houston. Tom Sanders will coordinate the carpools to the Fannin South Parking Lot where we will catch the Metrorail to downtown. MAGAZINES – LEOH will continue its traditional magazine exchange. COMMENTS ON LIFE Never go to bed mad; stay up and fight. Ability is what will get you to the top if the boss does not have a daughter. A tax consultant is someone hired to explain that you did not make the money you did. A budget is a mathematical confirmation of your suspicions. LEOH NEWSLETTER March 25, 2010 WELCOME AND REMEMBRANCE- We want to welcome these additional new members to the beginning of the Spring Session of LEOH: Sabrina Gee, Kathryn James and Jerry McNeely. But we also want to remember the recent loss of two valued LEOH members. Marilyn Irvington, who died in December, was a devoted Watercolor painter and previously edited the LEOH Newsletter. Shirley Price, who died earlier this week, loved to go on the LEOH trips and was a member of our Telephone Committee. NAME TAGS AND BETHANY CAMPUS SECURITY – As noted last week, LEOH is trying to cooperate with Bethany’s Weekday School with respect to camps security. Therefore, we have several requests for LEOH members and guests. (1) WEAR YOUR NAME TAG!! If you do not have a name tag, you must wear a temporary LEOH badge; also, sign up for a name tag at the Registration table. (2) REMAIN in the areas utilized by LEOH – Room 42-43, the Fellowship Hall, the Parlor/Chapel and the walkway between the Fellowship Hall and the Parlor/Chapel. (3) USE only the Rest Rooms adjacent to the Fellowship Hall, the Parlor/Chapel and the Church office. Thanks for your cooperation. CAKE DONATIONS – Thankfully, Jean Kopp is continuing as our Cake Lady and our Party Time Munchies Lady (coordinator). If you have volunteered to bring a cake, you will receive a phone call from Jean on Monday of the week she needs it. Or you can tell her at a Thursday LEOH session that you will bring one the following week. The cake may either be home-baked or store-bought. Please bring it to the kitchen by 11 AM. THE PAST WEEK AT LEOH – The Town Hall started in great fashion with an excellent presentation by Gayle Goddard. We are all guilty of clutter, and one tip was to not delay decisions about saving or tossing when sorting one’s “stuff.” Also, do a little at one time. The first LEOH trip was Monday to downtown Houston where we were fascinated by the behind the scenes and scenery of the Alley Theater. Antioch Baptist Church is a special place, and we were thrilled by the potency and wide range of the organ at First United Methodist Church. LEOH AND BETHANY – Every so often it is desirable to explain the relationship of LEOH to Bethany. LEOH is an ecumenical organization and not a ministry of Bethany. The guiding force in starting LEOH, Dickie Harshman, was a member of Bethany, and a number of LEOH members have been and are members of LEOH, but many more are not. Bethany provides facilities and use of office space and equipment to LEOH, which pays rent. The brochure is currently produced at and mailed from Bethany. NEXT WEEK AT LEOH – In the Town Hall, Leigh Whitted, from the Houston Zoo, will talk about the Senior Safari, a new zoo program/tour for seniors. The next Spring trip will be on Tuesday, April 13, to Beaumont and the Neches River. MORE COMMENTS ABOUT LIFE What kills a skunk is the publicity it gives itself. (A Lincoln) When a man asks you for advice, you can figure he is not married. By the time we learn to watch our step, we are not stepping out very much. When a woman tells you her age, it is all right to look surprised, but do not scowl. Some people have an alarm clock; others have their spouse’s elbow. LEOH NEWSLETTER April 1, 2010 APRIL – Welcome to the month of April, where we expect a lot more pleasant weather than we have had in the past few months. Be careful today!! You could be the target of an April Fools Joke. LEOH STATISTICS – As we start the month of April, the number of LEOH members who have joined or renewed for the Spring Session is 131, a slight increase over this time last fall. If you note the absence of someone who is usually here, please phone them. They may be sick or have a need that somebody in LEOH can fill. LAST WEEK AT LEOH – In the Development of Arts course, Bill Bailey began his discussion of various art styles. In the Town Hall, Kevin Shanley of the Bayou Preservation Society discussed the Houston watershed and the on-going development of lakes and ponds and their surrounding areas in order to better retain rain water for use during dry periods. NAME TAG REMINDER – Wear your name tag!! If you cannot find it, we will provide you with another one for $2.00. Sign up at the Registration Table. In the meantime, please wear a LEOH Guest badge and return it at the end of the day. NEXT WEEK AT LEOH – In the Town Hall next week, activist Mark Juedeman tells us how we can meet the challenges that will come with the disappearance of cheap oil and climate change and how we can transition to a low-carbon economy and a satisfying future. SPRING TRIPS – There are a very limited number of spaces left in the remaining April, May and June trips. Please see Tom Sanders if you are interested, and if you find out that you cannot go, please let him know as soon as possible. For the May trip to the Coast Guard station, all visitors must be United States citizens and have picture identification. TOWN HALL SPEAKERS – Charlese Charlton and her Town Hall Committee members always welcome suggestions for speakers for the Town Hall. If you have heard someone or seen something interesting in the newspaper, please mention it to one of them. There are two areas that we try to avoid: politics and health. We do like to hear our elected representatives speak on what they are doing, hopefully on our behalf. However, we are a non-political organization whose members have a wide range of political views, so we stay away from overtly political topics. Also, many of our members have health issues themselves, or have family or friends with health problems. Therefore, we try to make LEOH a time and place where members can be not only educated, but enlightened and uplifted while they are here on Thursdays. THOUGHTS ABOUT “A” NOUNS Alimony is the fee you pay for name dropping. An allowance is what you pay your children to live with you. Ambition may be all right, but it can sure get a person into a lot of hard work. Men who miss an anniversary will catch it later. If it’s hard to dust, it must be an antique. LEOH NEWSLETTER April 8, 2010 LEOH STATISTICS – The number of LEOH members who have joined or renewed for the Spring Session is 134. If you know of a LEOH member who is sick or who has lost a close friend or loved one or of a LEOH member, past or present, who has died, please contact Violet Lewis (713-665-0494). She will send an appropriate card to express the concern of the LEOH family. LAST WEEK AT LEOH – In the Development of Schools of Art course, Bill Bailey discussed various types of the Futurist movement including forms of Cubism, Surrealism and Minimalism. In the Town Hall, Leigh Whitted of the Houston Zoo talked about the new program for senior adults, Senior Safari and the current development of an African Forest in addition to other new developments at the Zoo. NEXT WEEK AT LEOH - On Tuesday, April 13, LEOH members travel to Beaumont for a cruise on the Neches River. The bus will leave Bethany at 8:00 AM. Tom Sanders will be contacting those whose have signed up to go. After the cruise, lunch will be at Zydeco, a cafeteria style restaurant, in Beaumont. On the return trip we will stop at the San Jacinto Monument and Museum. In the Town Hall next Thursday, LEOH member Don Jones reviews his real-life novel, The Harp and the Eagle, about the life and times of Thomas Francis Meagher. LEOH SUMMER TRIPS – The Spring brochure lists two trips scheduled for the summer – June 8 is the return trip to Shangri-La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center in Orange, Texas, and July 18 is a car-pool trip to see the AD Players in “Leaving Iowa.” County buses have also been obtained for trips on Tuesday, July 27, and Tuesday, August 10. See the accompanying flyer for information on the July trip. LUNCHTIME FOR LONGTIME FRIENDS A group of 40 year-old girlfriends meet to discuss and discuss where they should meet for dinner. Finally it is agreed upon that they should meet at Luigi’s Restaurant because the waiters there are hot looking and muscular. 10 years later, at 50 years of age, the group meets again and once again they discuss and discuss where they should meet. Finally it is agreed upon that they should meet at Luigi’s Restaurant because the food and the wine selection there is very good. 10 years later, at 60 years of age, the group meets again and once again they discuss and discuss where they should meet. Finally it is agreed upon that they should meet at Luigi’s Restaurant because they can eat there in peace and quiet and the restaurant is smoke free. 10 years later, at 70 years of age, the group meets again and once again they discuss and discuss where they should meet. Finally it is agreed upon that they should meet at Luigi’s Restaurant because the establishment is wheel chair accessible and they even have an elevator. 10 years later, at 80 years of age, the group meets again and once again they discuss and discuss where they should meet. Finally it is agreed upon that they should meet at Luigi’s Restaurant since they have never been there before. LEOH NEWSLETTER April 15, 2010 LAST WEEK AT LEOH – In the Arts class we continued our study of modern art styles. In the Town Hall, activist and organizer Mark Juedeman discussed current problems of reduced energy sources and quality of living and the development of “transition towns” including several in the Houston area. In these towns, communities of people work together to examine all areas of life to use energy more efficiently and reduce their “carbon footprint” so that future generations will have the benefits that we have had. APRIL ON THE NECHES – This past Tuesday LEOH seafarers cruised the Neches River north of Beaumont. After going under the I-10 overpass, we found the area almost totally undeveloped with large quantities of cypress and other water loving trees growing at the river’s edge and on the banks. Some wildlife was observed, including some seabirds, a turtle, a snake and a ferocious alligator about two feet long. On our return trip to Houston, we stopped at the San Jacinto Monument, which reminds of our Texas heritage. The timing of this visit is very logical since the fight for independence occurred between early March and April 21. BIKER EXTRAORDINAIRE – This weekend LEOH member Carl Lincoln will be joining many other bikers on the annual MS bicycle trek from Houston to Austin. Carl has been riding for seven years and deserves the encouragement and applause of us old-timers who are not sure we could ride to the end of our streets successfully. NEXT WEEK AT LEOH – Keith Rosen, the owner and operator of Houston Historical Tours, talks about the architects and architecture of the Houston area. Keith guided two LEOH bus tours last year and is scheduled for a LEOH tour on July 27. (See Tom Sanders to sign up for that tour or the May, June or July trips.) ART MUSEUM TRIP – As he indicated in the Spring brochure, Bill Bailey hopes to have a “field trip” to the Museum of Fine Arts. The tentative plans are for the Thursday following the conclusion of LEOH – May 12, while everyone is still accustomed to LEOH on Thursday. More details will follow. OLGA SEALE – The memorial service for Olga Seale was held at Bethany this past Monday at 1:00PM. Olga, who celebrated her 100th birthday last October, was a founding member of LEOH in 1981, started the bridge group that meets in room 42-43 and supervised the LEOH kitchen until about six years ago. In recognition of Olga’s contribution to LEOH, the LEOH tablecloths were used for the family luncheon prior to the service. NAME TAG CHARGE - All LEOH members, both new and renewing, have received a name tag and are expected to wear them at LEOH classes. The cost for obtaining a new tag is $2.00. COMMENTS ON LIFE, PART III You know that you have achieved fame when some crazy person imagines he is you. Dieting is a way of starving to death so that you can live longer. If you want to see what your family looks like, put a mirror on your TV set. Interest your children in bowling; get them off the streets and into the alleys. The difference between gossip and news is whether you hear it or tell it.