In this issue …
Reflections: Different Journeys
Orlando Registration Form
Daytona Beach Event Report
2
2
2
From the Beach
Fitness: Food, Food, And More
Food
3
3
Co-President’s Message
4
2012-2013 Membership Campaign 4
Daytona Beach Report (Cont.)
Daytona Beach Photos
5
5
World Service Changes Lives
Co-President’s Message (Cont.)
AYR Membership
6
6
6
Lagniappe
7
History: Armed Services YMCA
8
C. B. Willis Chapter Officers
John & Kathy Shepherd
Presidents
[email protected]
Joe & Tonia DeGroote
Vice Presidents
[email protected]
Janet & Bob Ferguson
Treasurers
[email protected]
Pat Frazier
Secretary
[email protected]
Doug & Carol McLeod
Past Presidents
[email protected]
Get caught up on the YMCA Retirement Plan, the impact of the new
re-branding of “the Y” and experience the “Star Wars Exhibit” at
the Orlando Science Center … plus great fellowship!
The Orlando Best Western Gateway
Hotel is the “gateway” to enjoying another
Willis Chapter event. It is a full service
hotel featuring multiple amenities to make
this another “don’t miss” event.
This great hotel is offering our group
these super rates; $59.00++ Room only;
or $69.00++which includes 2 Breakfast
Vouchers in Sharky & Jack’s Restaurant. Can you believe these great room
rates?
The hotel has a great outdoor swimming pool and hot tub, private sun deck,
tennis court and basketball court, NY style
Deli, and a state of the art fitness center.
Registration fee for this event is
only $40.00 per person which includes
meeting room, hospitality, and admission tickets for the tour of the Orlando
Science Center.
Here is a partial list of activities for
this event:


Jeri Cushman
EAF Representative
[email protected]

Wednesday, arrive at hotel around
3:00 PM.
Gather by 4:30 PM in the Tomoka
Room on the first floor for a meeting
which will include an update by Jim
Ferber on the Central Florida
YMCA and an update by Bob Hastedt regarding the YMCA Retirement
Fund.
A short business meeting will follow.





led by President, John Shepherd.
Next, we will then meet in the hotel lobby
to travel to the dinner location.
Thursday, everyone will meet in the hotel
lobby by 9:30 AM to travel to the beautiful
Orlando Science Center for a tour and
view of the special "Star Wars Exhibit".
Lunch will be at the Science Center on
your own.
Return to the hotel and relax with everyone by the pool, play some tennis or enjoy
the hot tub before meeting in the lobby by
6:00 PM to go to our dinner location. The
same groups will travel together for both of
the day's activities.
Friday, folks can meet in for breakfast
before heading home or stay and enjoy
one of the close Orlando attractions such
as Universal, Disney World Parks, Sea
World/Aquatica and the next door Wet &
Wild.
Registration Form
Reflections: Different Journeys
Orlando “Gateway”
November 7-9, 2012
“You are my beloved child, with you I am pleased.”
Mark 1, 4-11
Rev. Harold C. Smith, D.D.
In a small African village two brothers
were about to leave to make their fortunes
far away. "Go with my blessing," their
father said, "but put your marks on the
trees lest you lose your way back."
So the brothers went off. The older
brother proceeded through the thick forest.
As he made his way he cut down some
trees and made his marks on others.
The younger brother took a different
route. As he traveled along his way he
stopped at various houses and offered to work in return for food and shelter. He returned his hosts kindness with generosity and gratitude. The
younger brother made many friends along the way.
The two brothers returned home and shared their adventures with
their father. Happy to have them back, their father said, "I would like to
see the marks you left." So the father went with the older son and saw all
the trees he had cut down and marked. Then the father went with the
second son and they were warmly welcomed by all the friends the son
had made.
After their return the father called the two sons together and said, "I
have seen the work you have done. I am old, I must give the affairs of the
family and village to one of you." To the older son he said, "My son, your
journey was marked with many fallen and damaged trees. But what good
are such marks? You must learn to care for people." To the second son
he said, "I have seen with great joy the marks of your journey in the lives
of others. You made the most important marks: kindness, friendship, understanding, generosity. Continue to mark such marks as you lead our
family and village."
Every human life is a journey through time in which we seek signs of
God in our midst. Along the way God calls on us to know that it is love in
all it's joys and sorrows that leaves it's mark and shows us God is with us.
Daytona Beach Event Report
CLIP AND MAIL TO
Janet Ferguson,
C. B. Willis Chapter Membership,
240 Sand Key Est. Dr. #26,
Clearwater, FL 33767
Please register:
Name (s)_____________________________
Address______________________________
City/State/Zip__________________________
for the Orlando event. Enclosed is the check
for $_____________ @ $40 per person.
Early Registration Deadline for
Science Center Tickets and Special
Room Rates: October 24
Make your room reservations directly
with Best Western Orlando Gateway
Hotel located at 7299 Universal Blvd.,
Orlando. Mention you are with the
“YMCA Retired Group.”
407-351-5009
Pat Frazier, Secretary
Our first event of the program year took place at Perry's Beach Resort, Daytona Beach on October 3rd to 5th. Members attending were Joe and Tonia DeGroote; Carole and Doug McLeod; Joan and Walt Jacoby; Carole and Larry Leiving; Lou
and Barbara Choquette; Jan and Frank Mark; Dorothy and Bill Markell; Jean and Marvin Van Metre;
Pat Frazier; John Gerard and friend Betty; and, we welcomed new members Don Macher from Tampa
and Doralee and Jack Mitchell from Palm Harbor.
John Shepherd called the chapter meeting to order at 4:30 PM on October 3rd. John stated that
AYR wants all chapters to have the same fiscal calendar year as AYR. Chapters’ fiscal year will no longer
run from September 1st to August 31st but from January 1st to December 31st. Chapters will still hold
meetings and events according to their own schedules.
Also, chapters will be collecting both AYR and chapter dues with each chapter sending the AYR
dues to the national AYR office. AYR will keep records and will send member lists to each chapter. There
will only be one national AYR meeting a year with 2013 being in May. Our next chapter meeting will be in
Orlando on November 7th to 9th.
(Please see “Daytona Beach,” page 5)
2
From The Beach
Fitness: Food, Food And More Food
Jan Mark, Correspondent
The holidays are upon us and our clothes
seem to shrink … especially around the waist!
After sixteen years in a big house
Frank and I found that moving in our
mid seventies was very stressful. Now
that we have downsized, I suppose our
next move will be to an apartment. The
garage sale went well except for the
breaking of my second toe and slipping
in the bathtub and hitting my head and
neck on the soap dish. Both are still
feeling many bumps and bruises but we are loving the house we
rented in a 55+ community with many amenities. Looking forward to hosting an event in our home when we take the cruse to
the Bahamas out of Palm Beach Harbor.
Gary (Meg) Foster, Bradenton, spent much of the summer
consulting for camps in the Northeast and Midwest before joining
Meg for three weeks in Alaska visiting their two sons who live
and work in Haines, near Skagway.
Dick and Kathy Larson, Englewood, live the summer on
the water in Narragansett, RI, and sail to Brock Island for a few
days. They spend the nights onboard. They also attended their
55th high school reunion in Wakefield, MA. Hoping their schedules enable them to get together with us.
Heard from Richard and Joan Hamlin, Naples, who spend
the summer right across the street from George Williams College
in Williams Bay, WI. They are enjoying all the new developments
at the college.
Gene (Donna) Long, Spring Hill, flew to San Diego for his
grandson’s high school graduation. He will be going to Berkeley
for mechanical engineering. September finds them vacationing
in San Antonio.
Dick Gerard, Clermont, visited his daughter and family in
Connecticut. October will find him fund raising for the Shrine.
Philomena (John) Myers, Palm Harbor, underwent spinal
surgery to relieve her pain and is now in rehab. She can walk
some, but it has limited their travel. Hope to see an improvement
and allow them to join us for some local events.
Tony and Patty Borton, Vero Beach, stopped in New Jersey to see the Giants opening game and visited family and
friends on the way from Maine to Vero.
Carl (Alice) Gaites, Venice, will be celebrating his 75th with
his daughter who was born on Carl’s 27th birthday.
Bill and Dorothy Markell are back in Bradenton.
While I was watching the Ellen Show, Sheryl Crow’s oncologist told her to never leave bottled water in her car. The heat
reacts with the chemicals in the plastic and releases dioxin, a
toxin increasingly found in breast cancer tissue. For the same
reason no plastic wraps in the microwave or water bottles in the
freezer. Warm in microwave in ceramic or glass containers and
cover with a paper towel. It is important to your life … it seems to
me, from the beach.
3
Phil Wortman
Let the celebrations begin whether
we’re ready or not! The time of year is
coming when families get together and
the tables abound with all kinds of
goodies to tempt our palates.
Pecan and apple pie. Pineapple
upside-down cake. Cookies of all
types. Adult beverages. And that
doesn’t even count the turkey and
mashed potatoes, pot roast and vegetables, or some other
feast that calls for more than one helping.
Do we hide the scales? Starve ourselves during the morning so we can “pig out” that evening? How do we deal with all
this? How do we keep the pounds from adding on?
Remember the old Alka-Seltzer commercial with the catch
phrase, “I can’t believe I ate the whole thing?” The key to any
form of weight control is not trying to eat “the whole thing!”
Yes, I know. I do it too. As a confirmed “chocolaholic” I
see a nice big slice of chocolate cake with dark chocolate,
gooey icing and my will power goes weak. I’m also a sucker for
one more slice of that standing rib roast.
The question becomes, do I take a small piece of cake and
savor its flavor, or attack a large slice with a vengeance as if it
is the last piece ever? As for the rib roast, if I only had chewed
my food a little better, eaten a little slower, I would have enjoyed the rich taste more and probably would have been satisfied … at least until it was time for leftovers.
For weight control purposes, one of the worst things you
can do is to “do without” during the holidays. The more you
deny yourself, the stronger the urge is to engulf the “whole
thing” the next chance you get.
If you have to make choices, pick the items you like. Small
portions. Don’t rush. Savor the goodness. Who cares whether
you eat desert first and skip the broccoli … that’s the privilege
of being the senior member of the family.
We’re not talking nutrition. We’re talking about simple
ways to control calorie intake, like don’t stand by the table with
snack food on it … make yourself have to get up (don’t ask
others to get it for you) and walk to get what you want. Space
your drinks with glasses of water. Don’t leave food out and
easy to pick on. Take small portions and enjoy each and every
bite. Be conscious of absent-minded eating, especially at parties. Increase your daily activity to utilize some of those extra
calories eaten.
But, enjoy the holiday seasons … so you gain a couple of
pounds … as long as you can still button your pants, you can
use January to fight that battle!
Co-President’s Report
Kathy and John Shepherd
Kathy and I hope everyone has had a great summer and is ready for join our wonderful
C.B. Willis Chapter this year. Membership is what drives any great organization and we have
been so very fortunate for 76 years to have one of the strongest chapters nationally. To date
we have had a very good response thus far from our mailers asking everyone—some 400+
retirees in Florida to join the Willis Chapter.
If you have already sent in your membership, we thank you. However, if you are still
thinking about joining the chapter Kathy and I would like to remind you what our chapter offers to you:
First, the best newsletter of any AYR Chapter nationally, “The Sandpaper,” an eight page
informative newsletter mailed to you six times per year. However, due to increasing cost of production and mailing the chapter will
only be mailing this great newsletter to our chapter members after this issue.
MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION
Please enroll me as a C. B. Willis Chapter member at the $_______________ Level.
Membership levels: $15-Basic; $25-Supporter; $50-Patron; $100-Benefactor
Membership includes both YMCA retiree and spouse.
Note: Life Membership (no dues required) is available to Y Retirees residing in Florida who have reached age 85 or older.
To apply, please provide your date of birth:__________________.


Enclosed is my check for $__________________
Please share new “happenings” in your lives:
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
Unless you are a new member or your information has changed you only need to fill in
your name. Thank you!
Name__________________________________Spouse Name_______________________
Address___________________________________City____________________________
State______________ Zip_______________ Email________________________________
Phone (_____ )___________________ Cell Phone (_____ )________________________
If you only spend the winter months in Florida, please include your other address.
Address___________________________________ City___________________________
State_____________ Zip_______________ Phone (_______)______________________
Dates at the address: From______________________ to______________________
Please mail to:
Janet Ferguson, C. B. Willis Chapter Membership
240 Sand Key Est. Dr. #26. Clearwater, FL 33767
Daytona Beach
(Continued from Page 2)
We then introduced ourselves to the new members and told
them about which YMCAs we worked for. After the meeting we
had a hospitality hour while Joan, Pat and Doralee cooked the
lasagna. Dorothy joined Pat and Joan to make the salad and cut
up bread. We also thank Joan, Pat and Dorothy for baking cakes
for our dessert.
We give a big thanks to Joan and John for doing all the shopping and putting the meal and meeting together. Phil and Gail
Wortman had to be out of town due to their birth of their great
granddaughter and could not cook Italian Shrimp as was planned.
On Thursday we went to Ormond Museum where we had a
tour of the beautiful gardens and a tour of the inside of the museum which had an artist showing. Very unusual work.
We then went to the Casements, which was the winter home
of John D. Rockefeller. Rockefeller helped start the retirement
fund for the YMCA. The house now belongs to the city of Ormond
Beach and is used by many groups. It was a very modest home
for such a rich man. Rockefeller was the very first U.S. billionaire.
We had a picnic lunch and then we had free time to swim in
the pools or ocean. The weather cooperated this year.
In the evening we went to Aunt Catfish's for dinner and then
back to Perry’s for hospitality. We all went to our rooms early. I
guess we were showing our ages.
Friday morning we had breakfast at IHOP and left for home.
See you all in Orlando in November.
PHOTOS. Top right: Doug McLeod sharing with new members Barbara
and Louis Choquertte, Don Macher, Jack Mitchell and in front Doralee
Mitchell. Center right: Chicken Little has just told the group that the sky
was falling. Bottom: Can we all really be this happy? Why not!
Photos contributed by Joe DeGroote.
5
World Service partners with YMCAs around the world to fund programs
that reach more than a million people each year. The Cambodia YMCA provides value-based academic and leadership development programs to over 500
street children who otherwise could not afford such opportunities. In addition
World Service offers job training programs to give young people the technical
skills and confidence for a better future.
The Jerusalem International
YMCA promotes diversity and multicultural understanding by bringing
together young people of all faith
traditions and cultures to learn and
play together in a safe, peaceful
environment.
The YMCA builds positive connections and leadership skills among young people in an effort to end the cycle of
prejudice. Your generous support creates lasting changes in lives and communities
worldwide. Visit www.ymca.net/world-service for more examples of the enormous
scope of work World Service does and the people it serves.
Co-President’s Message
(Continued from Page 4)
Second, we also offer five fantastic program events per year
across the state of Florida which is led by the best group of retired
volunteers in the country. Therefore, Kathy and I hope you will
seriously consider joining our chapter by October 31, 2012, so you
can continue to receive our newsletters and so you can stay informed about the Willis Family programs and the National AYR
movement.
This brings up a new membership process requested by the
National AYR organization. It will be implemented in 2013. The
AYR National Board of Governors has approved a new process to
be implemented by all AYR chapters as follows: “In 2013 the
chapters will collect both the local AYR Chapter dues and National AYR dues and then send that roster and the National
dues to the Springfield Office.”
This may require some adjustments by the local chapters and
justifiably so. However, it is our chapter’s contention that most of
our Willis Chapter members also join the National AYR membership too.
The main point made for this request is this: “In order for a Y-
retiree to receive EAF (Employee Assistance Funding) the
retiree must be a member of the AYR national organization
not just an AYR chapter.” We have been informed that a
number of retirees have been rejected for EAF financial
support over the past few years due to this misunderstanding.
If you have any further questions please contact me or
Len Wilson, AYR National President.
Our next chapter event is in Orlando on November 7-9.
Our friends Bill and Marci Ryan will be hosting a December 15th Christmas Flotilla Event in Port Charlotte. They are
also hosting our February 14 -15, 2013, event in the Punta
Gorda/Port Charlotte area. Watch for the details in a future
newsletter.
Finally, our Annual Meeting will be on board ship at our
April 2013 Cruise. How exciting for us all. Details will be in
a future Sandpaper.
Please let any of us know if someone needs help in
attending any of these events whether in your area or
across the state. We’d love to see you at all of them. Take
care and God Bless you ALL!
The Association of YMCA Retirees is the national umbrella 501(c)3
organization of YMCA retirees and spouses joining 20 chapters and 5
clusters together to provide local program events, services and news to its
members. YMCA retirees wishing to join AYR should contact AYR
Treasurer, Stitzer YMCA Center—2nd Floor, Springfield College, 263
Alden St., Springfield, MA 01109, or register on line at Yretiree.org.
Individuals who have been members of AYR for six months or longer are eligible to receive EAF grants in times of financial need.
6
Do You Know Florida?
Lightning Strike!
Membership Campaign
Thunderstorms are a fact of life here
in Florida. Just how near is a thunderstorm’s lightning strikes when you see
them off in the sky?
To have a good estimate, count the
number of seconds from the time you see
the lightning to the time you hear thunder.
Every five seconds equals about one
mile.
Remember, lightning is potentially
dangerous even if the storm seems to be
ten or more miles away. Find shelter!
With the publication of this Sandpaper
there has been four contact mailings made
to solicit chapter memberships. The first
three mailings went to all the names the
chapter had for current and past chapter
members and the entire list of current AYR
members living in Florida. The fourth
contact is in this newsletter and was
mailed only to past year’s and current year
chapter members..
The first was the “Kick-Off” piece
mailed in August with the theme, “You’re
the ONE.” That was followed by a full
page promotion in the September Sandpaper. The “Courtesy Invoice” piece was
mailed in mid-September, and a three
quarter page promotion is in this issue.
Future Sandpapers will only be mailed
to current chapter members, so this is the
last chance for Y-retirees living in Florida
to join and continue to receive the newsletter and participate in all the super chapter
events scheduled for this program year.
Membership is the life blood of any
organization. The results of this year’s
concerted effort through multiple contact
mailings won’t be complete until early November. Hopefully, those who have procrastinated and have not yet responded
will do so and the chapter’s membership
will show the growth that is inspired by an
active and vibrant organization.
AYReports: “It’s Time
To Plug In”
We live here, but do we know the
trivia that makes our state unique? Try
the following quiz. The answers are at
the end, upside down (don’t peek).
1. Who founded Florida?
2. What did he name Florida, and what
does that translate to in Spanish?
3. What is the state bird?
4. What is the state flower?
5. What is the state tree?
6. Where and how high is the highest
point in the state?
7. What is the state song (Can you
spell it correctly?)?
8. What is the state motto?
9. What year did Florida become a
state?
Answers (You didn’t peek, did you?):
You may have read in the last issue
of AYReports that in 2013 the newsletter
will go electronic.
An email notification will be sent out
letting the members know that the new
edition is on the web. Click the link and
there it will be. Those without email can
receive a printed copy.
Editions will be increased from six to
ten each year. “Plugging in” will allow a
significant re-direction of dues and contributions to go towards making the AYR
experience even more rewarding.
Only AYR Members Are
Eligible For EAF Grants
The guidelines established by the
Association of YMCA Professionals
Board (AYP) state that only AYR members are eligible for EAF grants. Just
being a chapter member does not qualify
a retiree for an EAF grant unless they are
also a member of the national AYR organization.
EAF is not a program of AYR, but is
under the auspices of AYP. Starting in
2013 separate chapter/national memberships will be discontinued and be combined into one membership which will
make all members eligible for an EAF
grant. This will be a significant change in
membership promotion.
7
1. Juan Ponce de Leon
2. “La Florida”, Flowery Land
3. Mockingbird
4. Orange blossom
5. Cabbage Palm
6. Britton Hill, 345 feet
7. Swanee River (Yes, this is spelled
correctly, though the river’s name is
actually spelled “Suwannee.”
8. “In God We Trust”
9. 1885
History: Armed Services YMCA
From YMCA in America 1851-2001
It was November 16,1861 when the Civil War began at Fort Sumter in Charleston, S.C., that fifteen YMCAs in the
North formed the United States Christian Commission to aid the soldiers. A conference with President Abraham
Lincoln led to a full-scale recruitment of more than 5,000
YMCA volunteers, known as “delegates” who worked in
the battlefields, hospitals, army camps, and prisoner of
war compounds.
The Christian Commission was the predecessor of
the Armed Services YMCA. Forty-three lost their lives
during their service. Its work won a national reputation
for the young YMCA.
Poet Walt Whitman and YMCA leader Dwight L.
Moody served as part of the Commission.
Last courtesy Sandpaper for past years C. B. Willis Chapter Members
Thank you for being a member of the C. B. Willis Chapter during the past years. Please take this opportunity
to continue your membership by completing the inside application and sending it in today to continue to
receive The Florida Sandpaper and be kept abreast of all that is happening within the Florida YMCA retirement
community. We’d miss not having you as part of the group!
The Florida Sandpaper is the newsletter of the C. B.
Willis Chapter of the Association of YMCA Retirees (AYR)
and is published six times a year.
Phil Wortman, Editor
5122 Sheffield Road
Lakeland, FL 33813