The IAL

June 2010

   June 2010, the month I have been eagerly awaiting and dreading at the same time. The Annual Meeting and Voice Institute is fast approaching. Every day and night for months now have kept me on my lap top trying to ensure that the Louisville/ Clarksville convention goes off smoothly. On Thursday June 3, I took my niece, Lesley, and my mother to a beautiful winery on top of a small mountain in Wallingford Ct. We had a nice relaxing lunch and sampled some very good local wines. On Tuesday we took Lesley’s sister Cheryl to her favorite Seafood restaurant for lobster and drinks. The next day I had to take a stress test, which my legs and heart passed without much problem. On Thursday June 10 we packed the car for our road trip to Louisville.

     On Friday June 11 we left New Haven CT. and made it as far as Fairmont West Virginia. On Saturday morning we left for Louisville drove 426 miles and arrived at the hotel around 5:00pm. On Sunday June 13, I made about ten trips around the hotel and only got lost about 8 times. The Place was huge and had 4 wings and 3 to 9 levels. In the afternoon we drove through Louisville and into Southern Indiana. Monday and Tuesday consisted of all day committee meetings and preparation for the main events.  Wednesday began with the start of the Voice Institute program and ended with an excellent Meet and Greet poolside. The food was good, abundant, and there was an open bar for the duration hosted by Inhealth.

     Thursday morning brought us to the opening ceremonies, which started with Floyd Central High School ROTC Color Guard, followed by the National Anthem sung by Aimee McGinnis and the invocation also read by Aimee from WTRC (West Texas Rehab Center). Mary Jane Renner, Susan Reeves, myself, Terrie Hall and Jeff Searl all made opening remarks. The Key Note address was presented by Dr. “Uncle” Jim Shanks. Dr. Jim gave us an over view of IAL history from 1952 to the present. It was an excellent historical presentation. Following the opening Ceremonies a Town Hall meeting was also held in the Ballroom. I gave an hour plus Power Point presentation of where we are and how we got here focusing on finance. I promised that we would put a budget on our web site and make our financial information public, and I am working on that as we speak. The rough budget is done, and now we will fine tune it and break it down into more finite detail.

     Thursday Evening was the WW Reception and Banquet.  Pat Sanders made it fun, informative and serious all at the same time. Herb Simon read the Laryngectomee prayer and I had the honor of ringing the bell for our recently deceased brothers and sisters. During the days the Voice Institute continued its educational programs as well as the Annual Meeting programs. On Friday from noon to 1:00pm an informal swimming demonstration took place at the indoor pool. There were the usual suspects Pat S, Elizabeth F, Bob H, Tony T, last years newbie Terrie H and a gaggle of first timers Jeff Vander Hogan, Tom Herring Belinda and others. It was the best hour of the convention for those of us in the pool. In spite of some coughing there were endless smiles, and feelings of accomplishment and pride. It was priceless. That Afternoon a bus trip to Churchill Downs home of the Kentucky Derby was enjoyed by all attendees. It was hot but exciting and fun. I got Lesley and Terrie to bet on the favorites to show. They did not make much money but were at the winning window 4 out of 5 races. It’s amazing how much fun you can have with a two dollar bet on a horse that only has to come in third to put you at the winning window. Yee haw

    Saturday from 8am to noon was the Delegates meeting. I ran a Readers Digest version of the Power Point presentation and we had a friendly, mostly uneventful and constructive meeting. After the delegates meeting both programs continued until 3:pm. At 3:30 we held our raffle and pronounced the Annual Meeting closed. At 6:30 Saturday evening the IAL Banquet reception began. Dinner was buffet style and was pretty much complete by 8:00pm. At this point Tony Talmich and ELVIS (David Morin) took to the stage. Elvis sang his early songs and Tony played drums behind him. Richard Crum was looking antsy so I had them take a break and Elvis changed costumes to sing his hits from later in his career. Jeff Searl handed out some scholarships, then

Mary Jane Renner read the oath of office to the newly elected BOD and Richard Crum did a great job auctioning off donated items, considering what he had to work with. At this point Tony Talmich and ELVIS retook  the stage. At most IAL Banquets (with the exception of San Mateo)  the ball room usually starts emptying out by 9:30. Not this year. The event was to end at ten, but there were still people on the dance floor at 11pm. Tony and Elvis were fantastic. I never saw David Blevins, Joe Marasco or Phil Doyle move that fast or well in my life.

   On Sunday we held perhaps the most productive Board meeting in years. After much discussion on many topics we agreed to make getting our finances in order, priority one. After the meeting I took Les to Huber’s farm market and winery. It is so beautiful, that I wish we all could have had the time to experience it. That night we ate at Buckhead’s on the Ohio River, good food and not at all expensive. On Monday traveling through the gorgeous mountains of West Virginia the brakes on my caddy were sorely tested. Hour after hour and mile after mile of 5 and 6 degree down hill grades had me continually pumping my brakes. I was flying down hills between tractor trailers, riding the bumpers of other cars looking for a chance to pass while pumping the shite out of my brakes. Les kept saying slow down, and I was yelling I’m trying, I’m trying. My GPS topped out at 96.2 MPH on one down hill. When we finally hit the flats I had to pry my fingers off the wheel. We stopped the night in Frostburg Maryland. Who knew Maryland was also mountainous. Tuesday night June 22 we pulled into our driveway after the 1908 mile round trip. Two days later I had all new brakes and a bill for $610. 00.

     On Friday I had blood work done and my triglycerides were back over 1200, I’m told that 150 is normal. I have been on medications like Tricor for years. Other than that I seem to be pretty healthy. On Monday I took my son Adam out to dinner at a Ristorante named Goodfellas a Mafia themed restaurant, filled with customers that could be movie stand ins. They have great food and big screen TV’s playing not sports but films like Donnie Brasco, The Godfather, A Bronx Tale, and Goodfellas, Fugetaboudit. Tuesday Les and I had dinner at our friends and neighbors Walter and Karen. Walter was the grill man grilling corn on the cob (with water soaked husks to steam the corn) and Ferraro’s steaks. Karen made miniature twice baked potatoes (two delicious bites and they are gone). Then she came out with a fresh strawberry pie, with home made crust to die for. It was a great evening.

    Wednesday June 30 was  the last day of the month. Lesley and I try to have a Lost Cord Club picnic every summer at our home and today was the day. From noon to 3:30 we had 25 people, 12 of whom were laryngectomees. Arlene Quinlan our ACS representative and friend joined us after just starting her retirement. Frank, 2 Pauls, Larry, Nick, Brooks, Sal, Noah, Walter and Gerald all came with family members. A special Guest appearance was made by Tony and Laura Talmich all the way from Miami. The weather was perfect, the food and beverages were delicious the tide was high and the garden tour was pretty and relaxing. Now I can go back to working on the IAL 2010 Budget. Bob

March, April and 2/3 OF MAY 2010

 March 2010

    It has been 2 and one half months since my last Blog entry. I have been admonished by too many people to put it off another day. On Monday March first 2010 Lesley and I had a closing on another condo in the same building that we have spent the last 5 winters in. This is the third and final unit. I am now officially broke (almost) and out of the real estate business. The unit 601 is an end unit and the one that we intend to live in. It looks like little Havana with a spectacular view, a car port and a boat slip. I now have the other two units up for sale. I knew that it was a buyers market, and I bought (too much) now I need to sell both of the other units and will be taking a loss, but will end up living in the place we want to spend our retirement. The next day Tuesday I sponsored my friend Mark into the Elks Club in Fort Pierce Florida. They were trying to raise money to buy a pig from the 4H Club for a benefit pig roast and came up $50 bucks short. I raised my hand gave the Exalted Ruler a fifty, and Bella the pig became a temporary Elk.

 The first Wednesday of the month is when the Treasure Coast lost cord club meets and I joined them in Stuart. Russ and Wendy Buhl, Charlie Nail and Bud Smith were amongst the attendees. These are the three men that I often speak with in schools. We all have different stories and the classes fly by. The teachers and students remember us year after year in the schools and in the streets. The next several weeks were spent at Lowes, Home Depot, and renovating unit 608 so that it can be sold.

On Sunday the 21st we had an open house traveling Cocktail party that went on from 4:00pm until 10:30 pm. We had between 55 and 60 friends and neighbors tour all three units. Each condo had plenty of food and fully stocked bars. It was a wonderful party and the neighbors said that there has never been an event as good as that since the building was built in 1995. Needless to say I still own all three units. The next day Lesley’s Sister Cheryl the maniac came down from Connecticut for a visit. We hit some nice restaurants and gave her a nice tour of the area. She also got to sit, get some sun and relax for a few days. It was a great visit and we got her back to the airport in West Palm on that Friday. The Thursday before she left Les and I attended the Vero Beach LCC, with Jim and Janet Gilbert.

  Not even 24 hours had passed since Cheryl had left and Jim Lauder stopped by to visit. His daughter and friends had come to Florida to take in a concert and some sun, Jim had traveled with her as a chaperone, to make sure she was safely situated. There were five of us that were supposed to go deep sea fishing on the Last Mango, and Jim came up to join us. At the last minute the Captain called and said it was way too rough off shore and none of the boats were leaving the harbor. We changed plans and went golfing instead, way in the back woods of Florida near Lake Okeechobee. Jim, Lesley and I played a fun round of golf. We were dressed like the pros, Les wore Sandals, I wore sneakers, and Jim had on his famous flip flops. We had some wine and watched the sunset, then he retired to his lap top and I to mine. I guess we both spend way too much of our time on line, but it is unfortunately a necessary evil. Bob

April 2010

  On April 3 rd the postponed fishing trip was again in play. Jim could not make it back, but there were six of us that did. We caught our limit of Amber Jack from 35 to over 50 pounds each and a pile of King Mackerel. Everyone went home with enough fish filets to feed an army. The neighbors love it when we go fishing; they get to eat a ton of fresh fish. On Monday April 5th Les and I drove to Sebring with 6 other couples for a three day golf outing at the Inn on the Lakes. A pretty lady named Judy and I won sixty bucks somehow, must have been because of our handicaps. We got back Wednesday evening and the next day I drove to West Palm to pick up my mother Marie (Mitzie), my sister Julie and her daughter Marie. They stayed with us for a couple of days in 601. They loved little Havana, got plenty of sun, ate in some nice places and relaxed. Julie made a fantastic Jambalaya. My brother John has a beautiful place on Florida’s west coast in a town called Bonita Springs. Part of the reason for getting my 80 year old mother on a plane was to visit both my brother and I. The five of us headed for Bonita Springs across alligator alley and about four hours later reached his home.

   My mother also has a younger brother Robert, who lives in Naples and has been asking his sister to come visit for years. We all got together including John’s wife Tess, her daughter, my nephew Wally, Les, Julie, Marie and I and met at Robert’s place. It is a beautiful condo over looking jungle and the Gulf of Mexico. We had a great dinner, paid for by John and left all of our visitors the next day for the drive back to the Atlantic side. The trip was 175 miles over and 270 miles back. Les and I took a detour through the everglades, stopping at Big Cypress and Shark Valley national parks. We went off the beaten path onto seldom used, over grown, single lane dirt roads. I can’t tell you how many gators we saw, but many more than hundreds. It was dead quiet except for the birds, peaceful, beautiful, and a place I will return to.

    Lesley was going to have a birthday in a couple days on April 17th, and was hinting that she wanted a party. I pretty much ignored her hints and kept my head stuck in my laptop mostly doing IAL stuff.  About 3 days before her Birthday (THE BIG 60) I sent out about twenty emails and dropped printed invitations under the mats of some of our computer less friends. I ordered a big Tiramisu cake and told the local pizzeria to have two anti pastas and five large Pizzas ready for the 17th. We had at least 30 people up in 601 and we had a great night. On Friday the 23 rd we attended the Relay for Life in Vero. We did the survivors walk, bought a bunch of luminaries and met with the Vero LCC members. Last year there were probably 350 people at the Relay, this year there were well over one thousand. It was wonderful. The little Vero group that raised money for the Relay call themselves Butterfly Wings and raised over $15,000 just by themselves, Les and I helped a little. On Monday April 26th at 6:45 am Russ Buhl and I met in St. Lucie West at Centennial High School for a six class speakathon. I brought my film No ifs ands or Butts and Russ brought smoky Sue and we entertained, scared and made about 150 kids laugh and think. Russ talks about Alcohol as well as smoking, booze got him in trouble years ago and he got esophageal cancer not laryngeal cancer. He and I make a great speaking tandem, one that the kids surely remember.

      On Tuesday the 27th Lesley and I met with a group at a local restaurant called Harbor town. This group consists of people who are trying to help get the Indian River as clean as possible. Jim Oppenborn, April Price and others have a new project going on that we are involved with called S.H.I.P. Les and I have already contributed to the building of three artificial Reefs in the Atlantic off the coast of Fort Pierce.  They are the Bob Herbst Senior, Junior, and the Tug Lesley Lee Reef. This group now has set their sights on sinking a 700 foot long Naval Vessel that has been cleaned, decommissioned and is available for one million dollars. The Navy has no need for the ship, but knows that its scrap value exceeds that price. This ship once sunk would be a great dive destination for the region and more importantly would create a fantastic fish nursery and habitat. It will probably take a couple of years to come up with the million but we have started. April is coming to an end except for one more day of golfing with the geezers, and living at my lap top.  Bob

May 2010

   May First a day of infamy… It is my turn to join the BIG 60 club. Happy birthday Bob, thank you Bob, you are welcome Bob. No party no fanfare, just a great meal with one of our favorite couples, Russ and Wendy Buhl at a nice quiet restaurant Ian’s Tropical Grill in Jensen Beach. On May 5 th it was another good meeting at the monthly LCC in Stuart at the Martin Memorial Hospital. The next Day I spoke in Vero Beach at Oslo Middle school to their SWAT group. SWAT stands for Students Working Against Tobacco. This is the sixth year that Marie Blanchard has asked me to speak to her students. I brought Russ, Wendy, and Les along with me. Les comes with me about half the time and has seen me speak hundreds of times. Wendy had not seen Russ in action and had a 2 hour smile on. When he gets rolling he is terrific. On Saturday May 8 th Les and I manned the SHIP booth at the Fort Pierce Boat show for two hours showing people the 700 foot long ship that Saint Lucie county would love to acquire and sink. We raised a couple hundred and had more than a few interested in the project.

   Two days later on Monday May 10 th it was time for us to start heading north back to Connecticut. I have been working non stop with others on trying to make Louisville as good a convention as possible for months now. When I originally went to Louisville with Susan Reeves, Jeff Searl and Terrie Hall, we had a different Sales manager, and catering person. I wanted to meet our new Sales Manager, Becky Fulkerson and her in House Catering manager Heather Akers and take another look at the meeting rooms. I decided not to drive the 1350 miles straight up Rte 95 but to head due north. We left southern Florida and drove to Macon Georgia, then on to Nashville. Nashville was still cleaning up from the terrible floods two weeks ago when the Cumberland River over flowed its banks by more than eleven feet. The Grand Ole Opry, the Opry Hotel and Music Row suffered tremendous damage. There was mud in the streets and all over town, but businesses were opening slowly one at a time. We had dinner at a place called the Spaghetti and Steak, because I like both and it was on higher ground. The next day we left for Louisville and made only one stop, that being the George A. Dickle distillery. Dickle touts itself as being the “best sippin whiskey in Tennessee”. I tend to agree so I bought two bottles and a couple of shot glasses, and gave one of them to Richard Crum when I got to Louisville. You might see the bottle at the convention on the auxiliary table, if Richard hasn’t gotten to it first.

   As soon as I got to the Hotel, I called Richard and he picked me up and we had a meeting at The Sunnyside of Louisville Chamber of Commerce with Jim Keith, who has been very helpful with many of our AMVI logistical details and support. That night Richard took us out to dinner Lesley and Jan in tow and we went to a great little Italian restaurant called Come Back Inn, and had a quick tour of the area. It is beautiful. Bright and early the next morning, Jim Keith, Lesley and I met with five staff members from the Hotel and resolved all most all of my questions and concerns. We left for Silver Springs Maryland. On Friday May 14 we pulled into Silver Springs and landed at the home of Herb and Sally Simon. Whether we are driving north or south we always try to spend a night or two with Herb and Sally. Herb is a night owl like me and we spend hours answering emails and chit chatting while the girls sleep. We left the D.C. area and drove straight to New Haven Ct. we had driven 2020 miles and accomplished a lot. My dreaded lap top was always within arms reach. We are settling in, cleaning, unpacking and refueling the house with food for the next 5 months. We made it to the May New Haven Lost Cord Club meeting at Southern Ct State University on Wednesday. It was great to see Frank, Larry, Sal, Noah, Paul and some new members and their wives.

    On Thursday, I got an email from Jim Lauder that a new lary was in my area and wanted a visit. Lesley called his home, talked to a neighbor and arranged a visit that day. When we got to his home he was not able to speak at all clearly with his EL. He can not eat as he has a fistula and will have surgery in two weeks to try and fix that. All he wants is a hot dog and a Budweiser. He has lost 40 pounds, any way his inability to speak is mostly due to the swelling in his neck from the surgery and radiation. I pulled out an oral adapter and a soft tube and started talking with it. He had not seen that used before. I put my oral adapter on his EL, stuck in a new soft tube and handed it to him. He talked for the next 15 minutes non stop and clearly. I left him with info on the IAL, WW, and our local lost cord club (unfortunately he has no computer). That afternoon we stopped by our longest known and favorite neighbors Ellie and Claire. Claire is one of the many people who have yelled at me for not updating this Blog. So here I sit typing away with two fingers, because the Red Sox fans two doors up reminded me to get my butt in gear. Last night Lesley and I drove 36 miles to see the Leclair family. Ron Leclair is the IAL Webmaster. I was lucky to get to see him as he has been traveling all over the world doing startups of huge computer controlled rolling mills. He just returned from two startups one in South Korea and another in Brazil. He is scheduled to be in Turkey during our June AMVI. If he can get free for a couple of days in June I will have him fly into Louisville, but I don’t want to get my hopes up. To be continued……………..May is not over.  Bob

January and February 2010 

    2010 has arrived and we found ourselves in Sebring Florida with 5 other couples driving the 90 or so miles south east in pouring rain heading home. Three days later a cold front hit the entire East Coast including southern Florida. Night time temperatures dipped below 32 degrees for the next 9 nights. After the fourth night of this I looked out my bedroom window and saw thousands of white floating fish. I went down to the docks and saw a nightmare of dead and dying fish, including the highly sought after delicious game fish the Snook. Fish were literally belly up, some of them would try to right themselves while most were already dead. This went on for another 5 days. We plucked out as many as we could from shore and off the docks in our little 100 boat marina. Some men got in row boats and filled large garbage bags with the bodies.  We did this for 4 or 5 days and dumped them on an island where the vultures and pelicans filled them selves until they could eat no more. It was very sad watching the fish die as the river temperature plummeted.

One night Les spotted a tiny Gecko (anole) curled up near our elevator. I thought it was dead and was going to toss it off the balcony when it moved a leg. I handed it to Lesley and she brought it into the house and put it in a Tupper ware container. By morning he was walking around and she let it go in the sun around noon.

Citrus groves also suffered, luckily many had already been harvested, not so for the tomato crop, it was almost completely wiped out. There are literally thousands of tropical fish ponds down here. I always wondered how they were captured and shipped world wide. They are raised here in ponds and scooped out to order. Over 90% had complete fish kills to the tune of ten to twenty million dollars. 

    On Wednesday January 13 Les and I drove up to Melbourne Florida and met with Ian Kurka, and the President of the FLA, Bob Smiley. Dave Ross drove down from the Daytona area and joined us along with two local Speech path’s. We had a quiet but productive meeting at Holmes Regional Hospital.

On Sunday January 17 Tony and Laura Talmich invited us to the Broward County Lost Cord Club’s New Years Party (yes I know it was Jan 17, not Dec 31). We met with their new president Richard, Mike Rosencranz, Lenny Weinstein. Earl Mogk and many other long time Laryngectomees. I brought my EL and some new flex tubes and was successful in getting a newbie to speak clearly for the first time since his 3 month old operation. He and his wife were very happy and he left his pencil on the table.    

January 21 a Thursday we flew out of West Palm Beach and landed in Lubbock Texas for the TLA. The TLA like the FLA, are two terrific Regional’s much like our AMVI only on a smaller scale. We had a Meet and Greet on Friday, Opening ceremonies on Saturday morning, and learning sessions all day and again on Sunday. I got to sit in on several sessions, helping to teach Esophageal, and EL speech. My favorite class was helping Jesse Hart do a visitation class. She laid out all of the what to do, and what not to dos in such a funny and positive way, that those of us that attended will never forget. Jesse is a Texas treasure. We had mix and match sessions with John Ulrich, Susan Reeves, Elizabeth Durand, Candy Moltz, Rev Tom Holcomb, Carla Gress and others. Pam Ulrich and Kay Yetter, and Florence Holcomb made sure every one got registered and knew where to send us. Most of our vendors were there Luminaud (Dorothy and Tom), Tom Dodson of Romet, Jim Lauder, and Rick of Lauder Enterprises, Richard Crum of In Health, and Tony Talmich representing the Griffins.

Sunday afternoon we drove to Carlsbad New Mexico. I had been there before but I wanted Les to see the huge caverns and the bats fly out at dusk. The Caverns were spectacular and Les suffered no claustrophobia. The bats on the other hand spend the winter about 700 miles south in Mexico and won’t be back until around May. Who knew? While we were standing in line to pay our $6 entrance fee the park Ranger behind the counter said to me “are you handicapped”? I said no, not really. She pointed at the sponge on my neck and said “is that permanent”? I said yes I had larynx cancer and I will forever breathe through this little hole called a stoma. She pulled out a simple form told me to sign it, and gave me an Access Pass. This pass allows me and three others with me, to enter any National Park in the USA for free for life. I was stunned and lost for words. I just kept mumbling thank you, thank you, thanks maam.     

 The next day we drove to San Angelo to visit Susan Reeves and WTRC (West Texas Rehab Center). The WTRC is a beautiful facility, in every way. They get much of their funding from auctions, grants, foundations, and individuals. They charge patients what they can afford and do not turn any one away. Susan and her husband Ben have both worked there for 30 or more years. I can now see why. WTRC notified a local TV station KSAN that the President of the IAL would be in town and available for an interview. A real nice news guy interviewed me for about a half hour, what made it past the cutting floor and onto the news I don’t know as I was again driving back to Lubbock for an early flight out on the 27 th.     

Two days later I closed on a 3 bedroom condo unit in the same building that has been my winter home for 5 years now. The next day Jan 30 th my son Adam and his fiancé Amie drove down from Connecticut for a visit. We took them all over and even got in a round of golf (they have just started to learn) in Okeechobee. The course is in the middle of nowhere, $14 per person with a cart for 18 holes is unheard of. The course and surrounding area look like a segment out of a National Geographic special. We have seen sand hill Cranes, gators, black and brown wild boars, armadillos, herons, egrets, ospreys, turtles, long horn cattle, vultures and many other flora and fauna out there. I would pay $14 just to ride the course and look for critters. My son left to investigate southern Florida all the way down to Key West. They got off the beaten path in Everglades National Park and got to see hundreds of gators in the wild, and brought back spectacular pictures.

On Thursday Feb 4 th I was guest speaker in Port St Lucie at the tobacco free partnership of Saint Lucie County. Here is how it was billed. We will have a presentation from Bob Herbst with the NU-Voice Club that you will not want to miss!!  Come and see what tobacco prevention and intervention activities that are happening within the county to lead towards policy change.  An agenda will be forth coming. I showed my film and fielded questions, it was a good meeting with a lot of devoted anti drug and tobacco people from the county.     

Sunday Feb 7 th was Super Bowl Sunday, Les made Chili, others made wings, salads, etc while we watched the Saints beat Manning and the Colts. Thursday the 11 th I sent 60 IAL News letters to one of our BOD members Torbjorn Bull-Njaa in Norway to be distributed through out Europe. Torbjorn is also the President of Norwegian National Association of Laryngectomees (NLFL).

On Friday the 19 th we flew out of West Palm to Cleveland and finally into Hartford Connecticut. Saturday we had 46 family members meet in a nice restaurant on the Connecticut River to celebrate my mothers 80 th birthday. Marie or “Mitzie” Herbst looked beautiful and younger than her 80 years would suggest. The next day Sunday we flew back. On Monday we played golf in Okeechobee again and got into a down pour on the 15 th hole and scrambled back to the club house like drowned rats. One of our Fellow golfers John Cusullo had just turned 85.

Four days later on Thursday we joined the Vero Lost Cord club for their monthly meeting and lunch afterwards. Two days after that we traveled to Hobe Sound with Russ and Wendy Buhl and Eileen all members of the Treasure Coast Lost Cord club to the annual play put on in their community trailer park club house (two kinds of wine ”red or white” a dollar per cup). The set designer and my favorite actor /comedian Frankie Bud Smith is also a larrie and member of the Treasure Coast Club. There were about 200 people in the audience including Charlie and Ellie Nail and two more laryngectomy club members. The play was mostly hilarious and ended up being quite patriotic. Laryngectomees were well represented.

On the last day of February, I took four garbage bags and a grabber tool and cleaned the streets for three miles (a mile and a half each side) of litter, plastic bags, cans, bottles etc. Most people think I work for the county or am being forced to do community service. Two more precious months gone. Bob

December 2009

The last month of 2009 and one of the craziest years of my life finally came to a close.  It was also a time of upheaval in our nation.  It seems the present administration is not a big fan of capitalism, democracy, or the Constitution.  This group including thirty plus Czars ???, believe in big government and that government is more capable of running our banking industry, manufacturing, health care, insurance, security and car companies than the private sector.  You might say, what does this have to do with Laryngectomees.  Maybe a lot.  Many of us are getting on in age, we have all had Cancer and may have or already had reoccurrences of cancer and other life threatening ailments.  We will probably be last on their list for MRI's, CT, PET scans and all other expensive tests and future surgical procedures.  I hope the Congressional and Senatorial Heath Care bills do not merge and get quietly passed in the middle of the night with our input from the American citizens.  Ok, I am off my soap box.

On Dec first the IAL BOD approved the nomination of Wade Hampton as IAL Vice President.  This move made room for a new BOD member to be appointed later, and filled the important vacancy of VP.  Two days later Lesley and I attended a very nice lunch time Vero Beach LCC Christmas party with Jim and Janet Gilbert.  Earlier that morning I was invited and attended the Children Service Council meeting in Port St. Lucie.  The room was filled with people dedicated to keeping kids off tobacco, drugs and getting an education.  I was there representing two LCC and the IAL.  Late Tuesday evening my appointment of Dave Ross to replace the vacancy left when Wade Hampton was made VP was accepted unanimously by the BOD.  Dave's primary assignment will be to work on gathering up to date materials and information so that all new laryngectomees will know what they can expect physically, mentally, and make their best choice in reacquiring a new speech method.  Dave has been dedicating his time and efforts to this cause on his own, now he will be a great addition to our BOD and specifically the Community Outreach Committee.  On Wednesday we were in Stuart, FL with the Treasure Coast LCC for their Christmas party with Russ Buhl, Charlie Nail, Bud Smith, Patty Smeds our resident SLP and others at the Prawn Broker.

On Thursday I put in a bid and a 10% down payment on a 3 bedroom condo with wrap around views of the Indian River, a Marina and the Atlantic Ocean.  The unit is an end unit, one floor up from where we have been for six or so years.  We currently have a two bedroom unit with less room and a much smaller deck.  We are excited!!!  Most Fridays and some Mondays we play golf (rough life).  We are lucky to live in an area of Southern Florida where there is an abundance of inexpensive golf courses teeming with ospreys, vultures, wild boar, pelicans, huge turtles, deer, sand hill cranes, egrets, herons, armadillos and of course gators.  It feels like Animal Planet, and National Geographic more than golf.  On Friday the 18th we saw Avatar in 3D.  The visual effects were spectacular and I highly recommend seeing it.  On Christmas Day I  made Les a surprise breakfast of coffee, tea, fresh squeezed grapefruit juice, toast, a pound of bacon and an omelet topped with two kinds of cheese and finished off in the oven.  I guess it hit the spot because she is still talking about it.

Here is a true Christmas Story, written to my sister Julie in Connecticut.

We were going to stay home and take it easy, no Myrtle Beach or traveling this year.  Les was going to make veal, home made sauce and have some wine and champagne.  One of our friends at the golf course asked me if we were going to Myrtle, and I said no just the two of us were going to stay at home and have a nice dinner.  Evidently one of our other geezer friends overheard part of the conversation, and called us later that evening.  He is 84 and still works at the course cutting down trees, mowing fairways, fixing carts, etc in exchange for free golf (my son Adam med John when he was here, John was a ranger that day).  Anyhow he felt sorry for us that we would be alone on Christmas and invited us to his trailer park to have Christmas dinner in a single wide with him and his girlfriend.  How could I say no, so when you are thinking of us, picture a small kitchen table in the back of an old trailer holding hands and thanking God for our health, our friends, and the food on the table, ironic but nice.  Happy Festivus.  Tell mom I love her.

On Christmas Day we drove to Miami to join Laura and Tony Talmich for a fantastic cocktail party.  We stopped in West Palm and I took her to Lion country Safari,  It is just like going to Africa without spending thousands of dollars on flights, accommodations and hiring a safari guide.  We saw tons of giraffe, lion, gazelle, rhinos, ostrich, impala, elephant, monkey, wildebeest and more from the comfort of our car.  A rhino actually brushed the front of my car, no fences!!!  Fantastic!  The next day we were with Laura, Tony, and a very eclectic group of fun and intelligent people, eating all sorts of finger food homemade by Laura.  It was a great trip, but per usual after leaving Miami the next day I got another speeding ticket.  They said I was going 94 in a 65 MPH zone %$@!&*!$@%*.  I was clocked by an airplane, that the officer pointed out above us.

For New Years we drove to Sebring for two days of golf with 5 other couples from our geezer league.  New Years Eve was spent at the Inn on the Lake in Sebring with all of us geezers making it to midnight.  2009 is in the books.

Bob