On May 1, 1960, Francis Gary Powers piloted a U-2 spy plane on a mission planned by the Central Intelligence Agency to assess Soviet military strength before an east-west summit conference scheduled to be held in Paris. The 9-hour flight plan had Powers taking off from Peshawar, Pakistan, to Bodo, Norway, which included a 2,900 mile incursion into Soviet airspace. Russian ground radar system began tracking the U-2 15 miles before it even reached the Soviet border with Afghanistan. Thirteen MIG-19 Russian fighters were scrambled to intercept the U-2, but they were unable to come close in altitude because it was flying 70,500 feet above the Ural Mountains.

A salvo of 3 surface-to-air missiles fired from the ground battery produced a fiery display that prompted cheers from the ground crew. One missile had exploded just behind Power’s plane. The wings ripped off the plane causing it to spin out of control. Powers bailed out and was captured. He confessed and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. In his prison journal, Powers wrote: “A tremendous orange flash lit the cockpit and the sky. I remember saying to myself, maybe aloud, I don’t know, Good Lord, I’ve had it now.”

What was the secret that enabled the Soviets to down a 13-mile high U-2 “spy-in-the-sky”? The secret was a device within the missile that contained a tiny radio transmitter and receiver that allowed the missile to explode in the proximity of the target rather than requiring the direct hit. The device is called proximity fuze. A fuze is a device used to detonate an explosive charge in an artillery shell, a missile, or projectile.  The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL) invented the concept of the proximity fuze, designed  it, constructed prototypes, and field test them. The design proposal faced many technical challenges: one was that the fuze components had to be ultra-rugged enough to withstand the crushing acceleration force of being fired from a gun. The laboratory integrated the technical efforts of many contractors during its production and gave guidance to the Navy, Army, and England for its deployment.

The first successful use of the proximity fuze in combat occurred on January 5, 1943 just south of Guadalcanal, when two Japanese dive bombers attacked the light cruiser USS HELENA (CL-50). Both were shot do by 5-inch (diameter) projectiles armed with the proximity fuze. Notable achievement of the fuze included (1) defense from Japanese kamikaze attacks in the South Pacific (2) neutralizing the German V-1 buzz bomb attack on England, and (3) killing Germans on the ground during the Battle of the Bulge in Dec. 1944. General George Patton remarked: “The new shell with the funny fuze is devastating.

How did the secret of the proximity fuze get into the hands of the Russians? American spy Julius Rosenberg, better known for his theft of the atomic bomb secrets, cleverly smuggled it out of the Emerson Electronics plant where he worked as an inspector for the Army Signal Corps. Emerson was contracted by JHU/ APL for manufacturing the fuze. Rosenberg handed the proximity fuze in a package over to his Russian contact, Aleksandr Feklisov, as a Christmas present in 1944. Feklisov, in turn, handed Rosenberg a package containing an Omega stainless steel watch for him, a crocodile handbag for his wife, Ethel, and a teddy bear for their only son at the time, Michael.

The U-2 incident and capture of Powers was a propaganda coup for the Soviets. At first the U.S. government tried to cover up the plane’s mission. However, it was forced to admit its military nature when the Soviets revealed the U-2’s intact remains and the captured pilot as well as photos of military bases in Russia taken by the U-2. The result was that the summit meeting was canceled between Soviet Premier Krushchev and President Eisenhower.

In 1962, two years after the U-2 was downed, Powers was released in a prisoner exchange for Colonel Abel, a Soviet spy, on the Glenicke Bridge in Berlin. This episode was dramatized in Steven Spielberg’s movie “Bridge of Spies.”

Unlike radar and the atomic bomb, the proximity fuze was truly the number one secret weapon of World War II. The story of the proximity fuze is one of the great classic achievements of America. It was placed in combat in less than one year from the time APL was tasked to develop it. The fact that the fuze was perfected and available by the time it was needed was the crowning achievement of APL’s contribution. [I retired as Principal Staff from the Laboratory after 25 years of service, but the work on the proximity fuze predated my stay.]

Yet, after the information on the proximity fuze became declassified, few people ever heard of it. Generals, politicians, and historians have described World War II in profuse detail but hardly mentioning the proximity fuze.

The ironic backlash to the success of the American secret proximity fuze is that it led to the destruction of the U-2 spy plane by the Russians in 1960, an event that occurred 17 years after the first successful combat use of the fuze in 1943.

Note: Major source of information is an article, A “Bridge of Spies Back Story,” appearing in the New York Times, Nov. 26, 2015.

So it’s March and before we know it one quarter of this year will be behind us. There’s much to do this month, including tax preparation. Therefore, we should all take the time to be grateful for so many people and things that have taken place in our lives to date.

To start, let me (if I have not already done it,) welcome Cathy and Mike Andrasko to Dorchester. If you haven’t met them, take the time to do so. Other pluses included Iris and Saul Levine becoming the warm and fun spot for lots of company from NY and CT. While the LeVines were busy with company, Harvey and I were busy cruising to the islands and Harvey was celebrating another fabulous birthday with family and friends. “Birthdays are good for you: the more you have the longer you live.” We are celebrating 56 years of making each other feel so special. Can’t ask for more than that! In our family, our daughter, Tracy Beckerman, humor columnist and author will be chairing the Erma Bombeck conference for writers from all over the country. It is quite the event each year.

We would like to take the time to wish Rita Zide a complete get-well and to Maxine Bender, who also had some surgery. Alan Katcher, hope your shoulder is on the mend. They miss you on the golf course.

March brings along the annual meeting of the Dorchester HOA. It is at that time that we will hold our election of officers for the coming year. It is our hope that we will have a large turnout and lots of people who want to participate in continuing to make this a wonderful Aberdeen community in which to live. We will keep you updated as to the results of this election.

Well, as we go through a period of gray skies and lower than usual temperature, which affects our dispositions, we need to remember: “You may be only one person in this world, but you may also be the world to one person.” So enjoy every day

This has been a very difficult time for me. My husband of 56 years, Stan Hyman, passed away. He was a “most happy fella” and a man with a love of people and animals. I thank, with my whole heart, all my friends and neighbors who have been there for me and my family.

Now for Sterling news: Happy Birthday to Ruth Rabinowitz, Sheila Hyman (me), Carol Finkel and Dot Shaker. We are not all the same age, just the same month.

I am sorry to report that Fran and Robert Lovett lost Fran’s father. They had to fly north for burial, but they are back at home now. I think we have had enough sadness in our community. We now need some happy news. If you have any happy news (or news) kindly e-mail me at domino7887@yahoo.com.

Take if from one who knows!

Aging is inevitable, intractable, and for some, frightening! It is a fact of life that needs to be dealt with; some of us do that better than others. For those who deal with it as “a state of mind,” aging opens doors to new experiences, new views of the world, opportunities to accomplish things never tried before, new friends, a fresh start … For those, for example, who become solitary, vegetate in the solitude of their homes after losing a spouse, who refuse comfort or support or advice, life can easily become a trial rather than a triumph. We are given a choice … move, create, become productive, or wither on the vine. The choice is yours to make!

“This is a new phenomenon. I’m seeing a new breed of people living with vitality at such old ages,” said Gropper, who remains just as vital herself.

A writer, teacher and the former director of the Center for Lifetime Learning at Palm Beach Community College (now Palm Beach State College), Gropper started taking notes on the seniors at her Lantana assisted-living facility who remain vibrant and engaged with the world.

She has a few rules for inspirational aging. Above all, she said, try to view the inevitable losses of aging through a prism of optimism, curiosity and humor.

Here are some more:

Find companionship. “Loneliness is a huge problem in old age,” said Gropper. If you don’t live in a group setting, you have to make an extra effort to find friends through a senior center, library group or religious organization.

Exercise the body every day. Gropper walks whenever she can and takes a yoga class three times a week.

Use your brain. “The greatest fear among seniors is not being able to function mentally,” she said. So she and her neighbors go to lectures, concerts and the theater. “After, hold discussion groups and talk about what you’ve seen,” she said.

Keep your sense of humor. At this age, life is tenuous, but “we can afford to laugh,” Gropper said. “Sometimes, we have to see the humor in a situation or sit down and cry, but a quick quip or witty remark is a good defense against depression.”

Plan your day, every day. Filling the day is a great challenge for people at this stage of life, but having the time to explore new adventures is a bless-ing. Get out of the house as much as possible. “You can have a fuller life than when you were younger because your time is your own now. If you’re not feeling well, get yourself to a comfy chair and read something uplifting.”

But I want to go one step further … I want to pro-mote the use of your brain power to make your older years exciting and interesting and rewarding. Many of us had high level, successful, productive careers before we retired; at the very least, even if that was not so, we came to retirement after many good years. My aim is now to give back, to be as useful and hard-working as I was when I worked … to have people see me perform, not “as good as someone my age,” but as someone who is respected as doing a damn good job. And doing that job (or jobs) … thinking, analyzing, organizing, listening, presenting … keeps the brain alert. That, to me, is the secret of the aging process. Go out and do something that will stimulate that brain. Volunteer at a meaningful site, join clubs and organizations and take active roles in them, enroll in adult classes, teach your skills to others (knitting, photography, creative writing, computers, etc., whatever you were great at in your former life). Get on a committee, go to meetings, write a book, put together a volume of poems or recipes, start a social – group. How about writing a column for the Aberdeen Times! The point is, you must use your brain to keep it alive and healthy … it will even help overcome some of the physical problems that beset us.

To everyone, best wishes for a happy holiday season and a healthy New Year.

A well-rounded physical-activity program that combines strength and weight-resistance training with aerobic activity is good for your heart and your overall health. Strength training gets results fast–do it twice a week for a few weeks and you’ll start to see and feel your body change, compared with three times a week with aerobics. Working out with weights can also reduce blood pressure, improve insulin risk of falls. Your quality of life will improve and you will be able to live independently for longer.

“The idea that people with certain heart conditions should completely avoid weight training is false,” says Kerry Stewart, director of clinical and research exercise physiology at Johns Hopkins University. “Exercise is for everybody. If you can do aerobic activity, you should be able to do resistance (weight) training.”

Strength training strengthens the heart as well as other muscles. The biggest benefit of strength training is that it dramatically increases muscle mass, which aerobic activity does not do. More muscle mass makes you stronger and increases your basal metabolic rate. Muscle cells, even at rest, burn more calories than fat cells.

Muscle strengthening can help prevent and limit heart disease by reducing some risk factors. There is good evidence that resistance training reduces total body fat. Weight training increase lean muscle mass and maintains body strength, so you’re able to do more or perform higher levels of aerobic activity. Multiple studies show that strength training lowers blood pressure an average 3mm of mercury, which is enough to reduce your risk of a stroke or of dying of a heart attack. Blood pressure does increase slightly just as you lift a weight, but this fleeting stress on the heart is less than it would be with aerobic activity, Stewart says. A bigger metabolic engine allows you to process glucose better or, if you have diabetes, to control blood sugar levels.

Research shows that muscle strengthening will protect you against bone loss and reduce your risk of dying from all causes. “Muscle strengthening helps prevent frailty and falls,” says Stewart. “Most people think weak bones cause fractures, but actually, its falls.” Weight training can help prevent falls and improve bone mineral density so that your bones are less susceptible to osteoporosis.

Resistance training can help improve your quality of life and allow you to maintain your independence. Stronger muscles, for example, will make it easier to climb stairs or lift a bag of groceries.

To maintain your health, exercise guidelines suggest you do two days of strength training each week, in addition to moderate aerobic activity for 30 minutes, five days a week. A regular regimen of 8 to 10 resistance exercises using the major muscle groups, on two nonconsecutive days, allows time for your muscles to adapt, which reduces the potential for excessive muscle soreness and injury. Once you start lifting weights, you will gain self-confidence and be able – and want – to do even more, Stewart says.

Author: Mark Fuerst is a Brooklyn-based health and medical writer

The American Legion Magazine -Apr. 2011

Pete Adkins is the greatest football coach you’ve never heard of. When I tried to tell that to the people who knew him best, boy, did I get in a lot of trouble. The time was 45 years ago. The place was a town in central Missouri not south of any border called Mexico. The population today is close to what is was (about 11,000) and it once proudly called itself “The Saddle Horse Capitol of the World.”

As sports editor of the Mexico Ledger, I wrote stories, headlines and captions, took photographs, edited my own stories and pasted the offset printing type on the sports page 6 mornings a week. It’s also where I invented my nom de plume: Mexico Moe.

Moe predicted NFL games every Friday and held a contest to see if Mexicoans (that’s what they called themselves) could outguess him. Moe’s post-weekend wrap-up would lament each of his losses squarely blaming a player, coach or referee for his imperfections. Each Mexico Moe story had a picture of me, shot from behind, sitting with my feet stretched high on the desktop, wearing a fedora to hide my head that was turned slightly to the side so my face wasn’t visible but the long stogie in my mouth was. My mother hated that picture.

Mexicoans loved Moe. What I didn’t know was how much they hated me.

Mexico High School was a medium-sized school that played in a conference with many bigger schools. They had talent, a small-town, farm-area attitude of not giving up and wonderful coaching, but couldn’t compete with perennial state champ Jefferson City, which was bigger, badder and coached by Adkins.

As a preview to the Friday night game, I sought out Adkins, got an interview, put together a story and even got a picture of him from his mother, who lived a half- block away from the newspaper office. Yes, Pete Adkins was a born and bred Mexicoan. It was a nice article detailing his many accomplishments, his nice thoughts about Mexico and how we wanted to coach there earlier in his career. He said many complimentary things about the Mexico football team and coaching staff.

What could go wrong? By 8 AM the day of the game, less than 3 hours after Ledgers landed on driveways, I knew. The town hated Adkins with a passion. Many readers called the managing editor to complain and alleged Adkins smacked his players on the helmet when coaching nearby Centralia High School earlier in his career. He’d wanted Mexico, but Mexico proudly wanted no part of him.

In the supermarket later that morning and the football field when I arrived at the game, all my small-town friends turned cold. They pretended not to see me. The supermarket’s owner, whose son was the team’s best lineman, approached me and told me to buy my food quickly and get out of his store.

Jefferson City defeated Mexico that night, but not soundly. The Bulldogs fought proudly and gave the winners a challenge for the first time in 2 decades. As the teams left the field and I went to the Jeff City school bus to interview Adkins after the game, several Mexicoans let me know what they thought of me. At least, I thought I knew.

I found out the whole truth a year later. When I finally got a new job in Bucks County, Pa., the first person I called to tell the good news was a man who was like a father to me in town. His name was Bud Hotop. He was a kind, jovial man who sold insurance. His two sons, Doug and Chris, were among the better players on the team. Bud immediately asked me to come to his office.

I’d never been there before. I’d been the basement in his house on many, many Saturday nights while his children were out roaming the town square. We watched “Mary Tyler Moore” and drank Harvey Wallbangers. For introducing him to HWs, as we called them, Bud would drive me to all the away football and basketball games so that I could claim the driving expense money. Most of Mexico’s road trips were really long and this helped supplement my $105 (pre-tax)-a-week paycheck.

In the office, Bud got right to the point with me. “Remember the weekend of the Jeff City game last year?” he began, “well, you don’t know how close you came …” And his voice trailed off.

“You were going to be tarred and feathered. Really tarred and feathered. I’m not exaggerating. The night after the game there was a quickly called town meeting. It was like a lynch party. Many of them wanted to get you. They finally settled on tar and feathering you. That’s when I got up and spoke. Several of the other football fathers (including the supermarket owner) backed me up and everyone settled down and nothing happened.”

I was so in shock that I’m sure the magnitude of what almost happened never really settled in my mind as Bud was talking. Before it did, he continued. “I’ve lived my entire life in small towns,” Bud continued, “in fact, Mexico is by far the largest town I’ve lived in. And if I learned something about life in a small town it’s that once your name is mud, once you’ve made your way into the gutter, no one gets out. I mean no one. “Until you,” he said. “You are the first person who got a bad, bad reputation in a small town and within a year did so much that the people in this town love you. Many are going to be upset when they hear that you are leaving. I can’t wait to go to the coffee shop tomorrow morning and tell the people who wanted to tar and feather you and see the sad looks on their faces. You earned their trust by writing about their children with warmth and appreciation like we haven’t seen before and we’ll never see again. “You did something I never thought I’d see happen. You should be really proud.”

Bud hit me with a gut punch that almost floored me and followed with a blow to the head that woke me up. Looking back at it I wonder what kind of a reporter I was to not know that I was a) hated so much and b) admired so much. (Aside: I did call Adkins the week after the game and said the Centralia story was a lie that grew out of proportion because he went to Jefferson City instead of Mexico.)

What might have changed the tide was a couple of weeks after the Jeff City loss, Mexico went to Columbia Hickman High School and pulled a major upset. After the game, Hickman students threw eggs at the school bus as it pulled away. I included that in the game story and the headline was: “Mexico upsets Hickman; the yolks on them.”

After I left Mexico, I didn’t go back until a baseball stadiums trip I took with my son in 2006. On our way from St. Louis to Kansas City we spent an afternoon in Mexico. At the office, a football field from the former home of Pete Adkins mother, I stared in awe at the place that hadn’t changed and met the current sport editor who had replaced me 35 years earlier. He told me the stories about all the players and coaches I could remember and some that I didn’t. Bud had moved away about 8 years earlier to live with his older son, and died a couple of years later.

But Chris, who I got named to the All-State team, was managing the Sears store next to the Dairy Queen we’d already chosen for lunch. We stopped by and told Chris the whole story. He’d never heard it. He promised to tell it to his brother and sister and to let them know that for 3 decades I’d carried the goodness of their father within me.

My son and I went to the Dairy Queen, ordered and sat down in a booth opposite each other. A minute later we were both sobbing, just like I am now.

Pete Adkins facts: retired as winningest high school coach in U.S. history with a record of 405- 60-4. Currently he’s eighth all-time. Centralia 51-12-2; Jefferson 341-18-2 from 1958-93 with 14 perfect seasons, one losing season and eight state titles.

Mexico, Mo., facts: Founded as New Mexico in 1836 as a stop for settlers heading to Texas. My boss at The Ledger was Robert M. White, who was MacArthur’s press liaison during WWII, one-time editor of New York Herald Tribune and accompanied Nixon on ground-breaking trip to China. His father said this about the naming of the town: “The first settlers found a wooden sign along the trail. It pointed southwest and on it had been painted Mexico. To avoid unnecessary labor, the sign was left in place. “It was easier to call their town ‘Mexico’ than to take down the old sign.” Let’s talk sports! Contact me at mexicomoe@gmail.com.

Defense … Choosing the card when returning partner’s suit

As we have discussed before, it is very important to return partner’s opening lead. However, the choice of which card to return is not always obvious. Let’s look at a hand.

Let’s say the opponents wind up in 3 No Trump. Your partner opens the 6♥. You, of course, play the Q and Declarer wins with the A. Using the Rule of 11 ( you, of course, remember that rule from a previous article) … Right? … declarer can see that a hold-up will do him no good. Declarer plays the J♠  and plays low in Dummy so you win with the Q. What do you do next? Of course, you return your partners suit. Now, the card you play is very important. If you lead the 8, Declarer will play the 9 and partner will win with the 10. So partner now knows that the Declarer has the Jack. If you had the J, you would have played it. The question now is does the declarer have the J alone or does he have 2. If the J is alone, he can play his K and run all his hearts to set the contract. But, if the J is accompanied by a lower heart, he had to get back to you so you can lead another heart through South.

The key here is let your partner know how many you have, so he can figure out how many the declarer has. How do we do that? Since you originally held 4 Hearts, the proper play is to return the 3, not the 8. Declarer will still play the 9 and partner will still win with the 10, but partner now knows that you started with 4, so he can lay down the K and the J will fall. Whoever said Bridge was an easy game?

But, interestingly enough, there’s more here. So partner knows you started with 4, but how many did partner start with? If he started with 4 also, it doesn’t matter which of you has the lead … but if he has 5 and you have 4, you must play so that he gets his last heart.

Partner has played his 6, and then his 10, and will now play his K. What will you play? You have played the Q and the 3, so you have to choose which of the 8 or 5 you will play next. If you play the 5, partner will win with the 7, but then your 8 will be the highest Heart and you will not be able to get back to partner. You must play the 8 first on the K, so that you can return the 5 to Partner’s 7. Then he will win and be able to cash his last Heart the deuce. In this example it was important to play the correct Heart in every instance to achieve the maximum result.

Another interesting point in this example is how did partner know that you started with exactly 4 Hearts when you played the 3? If declarer had the 5 or the 8, he would have played it instead of the 9. Also it’s possible that you only had 2 Hearts. But, if that were the case, the declarer would have to hold 5 and he would have opened a Heart.

There are many clues that allow partner to read your return correctly. But, you must play the right card and pay attention to what your partner plays. Also, the bidding auction will reveal clues, if you’re alert enough to remember them.

Submitted By: Lew Roth (Sheffield)

1. What starts with a T, ends with a T, and has T in it?

2. What do you throw out to use and take in when you’re done?

3. What can be written forward and backward and upside down and still be the same word?

4. There are 2 in a whole, 4 in a pair, 6 on a trio, and 8 in a quartet. But, what name is just one of me?

5. A boat full of people just went under a bridge and now not a single person is on it. How can this be?

6. Say my name and I disappear.

7. Why is the letter T like an island?

8. What gets wetter as it dries?

9. What is in seasons, seconds, centuries, and minutes, but not in decades, years, or days?

10. What always runs, but never walks … often murmurs or babbles, but never talks … has a bed, but never sleeps and has a mouth, but never eats?

11. What is special about the following series of numbers 8, 5, 4, 9, 1, 7, 6, 10, 3, 2, 0.

12. Forward I’m heavy … backwards I’m not.

13. How far will a blind man walk into the woods?

14. The more you have of it, the less you see.

As I sit down to write this, my final Ashford App, I would like to thank all of you who have read my column over the past few years, and also for the lovely comments many of you have given to me about it. I’ve really enjoyed sharing both my news and that of your neighbors. It’s been an absolute honor and a pleasure. I wish Leah all the best as she takes over from me, and I know I’m going to enjoy reading her contributions every month.

Our house here was sold much sooner than we anticipated, and by the time you read this, Chris and I will have moved into our half-finished home in Sheffield. Much work has already gone into the renovations, but there’s still a lot more to do, and for a while we won’t have a kitchen, which some women might consider a blessing. I guess I’m about to find out the joys of not slaving over a hot stove. Anyway, as long as I have my bedroom, laundry, and bathroom, complete with hair dryer, I think I’ll cope for a short while at least. I’ll probably be spending my days shoveling sawdust and passing tools up to the ‘worker.’

I’m looking out of my window at Mr. A our resident alligator, sunbathing in his reserved spot over at Waterford. He seems recently to have been joined in the lake by 2 other pals, one of whom just cruised past whilst we were eating lunch in the lanai. I’m really going to miss seeing these prehistoric creatures on an everyday basis and also the bevy of beautiful birds who often show up for a photo shoot. Miss Rosy Spoonbill arrived here for the season, flaunting her gorgeous pink outfit. She looked a bit lonely and even shy at first, but soon made friends with the Ibis family and had a long chat with Woody Wood Stork, probably about club rules. In fact the other day, there was a big bird convention with literally dozens of birds all congregated on the lawn. Maybe they were holding elections for Mayor of Ashford. I’d say there was no contest at all. Mr. GBH, great blue heron, was sure to win, as he’s obviously the boss around here.

The Color War dinner was a lot of fun, and I was very honored to be asked to play piano for the Gold Team’s song. Well done to them for winning, and congratulations to the Black Team for winning overall and taking the cup. The spirit of sportsmanship and camaraderie here at Aberdeen is really wonderful. I couldn’t think of a better place to live. We’re all so very fortunate.

Thank you all for your good wishes as we move over to Sheffield. It’s going to be a rather challenging period, as our son and family arrive to stay for 4 nights the weekend before we have to move out on the Thursday. They’d already booked their tickets before our house was sold, and plan to go on to Disney as a birthday treat for little Max who turns 5 on Feb. 15th. I’m trying to stay cool, calm and collected as I methodically go through our belongings, deciding what to pack in boxes and what can be donated to the VVA. It’s quite a task, as I’m sure you all know from past experience, but we all get through it.

I received this e-mail from Leah Keitz, your new News Reporter:

“Hello Ashford:

As Sylvia and Chris leave our wonderful village shortly to settle into another, we wish them the best of life in their new home. Of course we are sad that they are leaving here but know that we will still see them in our Aberdeen community. Good luck Sylvia and Chris.

Though a hard act to follow, Sylvia passes the baton on to me as the Ashford reporter for the Aberdeen Times.

My email is llkone@aol.com. Feel free to send your news as of Mar. 1 for inclusion in the April issue.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Leah Keitz”

Congratulations to George and Lillian Spiro who celebrated their 73rd anniversary with friends and family on Feb. 7th. George was 19 and Lil was just 18 when they were married in 1943. George went into active service soon after, and the newlyweds were apart for 2 years. When I said that I’d never known anyone who’d been married for so many years, George replied. “Oh yeah, and we’re still shooting for a few more.” That’s the spirit! I’m sure that we all wish this lovely couple lots of good health and happiness for many more years together.

The new owners of 7215 Ashford Lane are Bruce and Sharon Sussman from Westchester County NY, and we wish them much happiness in their new home.

We congratulate our Board of Directors Committees for 2016, and thank them all for the excellent job that they do to keep Ashford running so smoothly and to such a high standard.

Well all that remains is for me to sign off and say that it’s been wonderful to be part of the Ashford community. Almost 5 years ago, you welcomed Chris and myself with open arms as ‘sunbirds’ from South Africa, in spite of our strange accent. We’ve had some really fun times together and made many good friends. Fortunately, we won’t be far away and I know we’ll see many of you at the club from time to time. Thank you so much for all for the kindness shown to us whilst we’ve been living here. I’ll never forget dear Irving Breiter who was president at the time, calling round to welcome us to Ashford on the day we moved in, bearing the traditional Jewish housewarming gift of bread, salt, sugar and a few coins. I’m still using the salt. As my parting shot, here’s a quote from Miss Amelia Earhart, “A single act of kindness throws out roots in all directions and the roots spring up and make new trees.” The Nobel Laureate, Isaac Bashevis Singer, who was a resident of Surfside, FL, also had something to say on this important subject, “Kindness I’ve discovered, is everything in life.” Such true and wise words. Have a great month of March!