Men's Club Recent Events
BY HOWARD ARKIN
On December 12, the North
Shore Towers Men’s Club
had Clive Young as its
guest speaker. Previously, Mr.
Young spoke on the life of Sylvester
Stallone (Rocky Balboa) and movie
stunt men. His topic this evening
was “Great TV Theme Songs–1950
to 2000.” He told us the stories of
how these theme songs were created,
starting with “I Love Lucy” in
1951 to “The Simpsons.” The five
that resonated with me the most
were The “Davy Crockett Show”
(1955); “Gilligan’s Island” (1964);
“The Andy Griffith Show” (1960);
“Welcome Back Kotter” (1976); and
“Cheers” (1982). How many of you
can hum all five of them?
My family’s first TV set was purchased
in 1949: a 16” Magnavox.
16” was then considered a large
screen and Magnavox was topof
the-line. This might have been
the one extravagance the family
indulged in that year.
Everyone watched “Lucy,” Ed
Sullivan and “The Rifleman” together.
On Friday nights, however, my
grandfather, who was living with
us at the time, was a big boxing fan
and demanded TV-watching rights.
This conflicted with the telecasts
of Dodger, Giant and Yankee ball
games, so my father and I had to
listen to the games on (of all things)
RADIO. If there was an early
knockout, the TV was again ours,
letting us see the end of the game.
I am reminded that, if we really
wanted to see the entire Friday
night game, we could go down to
a small appliance store on Liberty
Avenue in my neighborhood
of Ozone Park where we could
watch through the store window.
The store owner thought that by
permitting people to watch, they
would become customers. He was
correct. His name was P.C. Richard.
On November 14, the North
Shore Towers Men’s Club
had the opportunity to
hear North Shore Towers’ First
Vice President Fred Chernow give
a lecture discussing the roles and
responsibilities of the North Shore
Towers’ Board of Directors. Fred
is considered to be NST’s “elder
statesman” and has been elected to
the board four times.
The Board of Directors leads
seven committees, each of which
is chaired by a Board member:
Capital Improvements; Country
Club; Finance; Marketing/Media
& Public Affairs; Special Projects;
House & Grounds; and Screening/
Cultural Programs, of which Fred
is the Chair.
Board meetings are held on the
third Thursday of each month;
however, the Board can choose
to call an open meeting spontaneously.
For example, in order to
get shareholders’ input pertaining
to the VIP Room expansion project,
an open meeting was held in
November. (During the question
and answer session of Fred’s
lecture, he informed us that the
Board has decided not to do the
VIP Room project and that Mario
Carmiciano and a committee led
by Ed Phalen will be working on
alternative plans.)
Fred went on to explain that
we have staggered elections for
the total eight members who are
elected, i.e. four candidates run
one year and the four who ran
the previous year do not. There is
also a ninth board member who
represents the sponsor; however,
the sponsor does not run for
election.
Due to more flexible approaches
for buyers, Fred said, we are
attracting and accepting more
applicants who actively participate
in our events.
One of the Board’s recent
achievements, thanks to Fred’s and
Bob Ricken’s efforts, was the introduction
of Broadway musicals to
the North Shore Towers’ Theater.
These live productions have proven
to be quite successful, thereby helping
the theater operator to continue
to offer quality films, which have
also seemed to improve.
Fred’s responsibility, along with
the other Board members, must be
stressful. I could only imagine how
making decisions for approximately
3,000 people could be daunting.
Imagine sitting on the theater stage
watching the line of some of your
fellow shareholders beginning to
form, many ready to share with you
all of the things they found fault
with and listening to all of the
things you haven’t done or what
you could have done better.
On a more personal note, I would
like to thank Fred, who was the
chief interviewer at my screening
interview in 2016. I thought they
may have found some indiscretions
from my past. However, they did
not, and Janette and I are eternally
grateful.
Inside the BOD
MEN’S CLUB SCHEDULE OF EVENTS - JANUARY 2020
Breakfast every Tuesday,
Wednesday and Friday at
Buffy’s - 9am
• Thursday, January 2, 9am:
Events Committee Meeting at
Buffy’s
• Tuesday, January 7, 10:30am:
Tour of NST Power Plant. Limit of
12 members. Meet in Management
Office at 10:15am. Email Jerry
Siegel at jerrysiegel18s@gmail.com
if you wish to participate.
• Thursday, January 9, 7:30pm:
Men’s Club Meeting in the Large
Card Room Building 2
Speaker: Paul Stein, NST
Resident and Author
Topic: “Memoirs of a WW II
Navy Diver”
Guests welcome for a fee of $5
payable at the door. Coffee and
Danish will be available.
• Monday, January 13, 10:30am:
Current Events in the Coleridge
Lounge
• Tuesday, January 14, 7pm:
Member/Guest Dinner at Piccolo
Bussola, 159 Jericho Turnpike,
Mineola.
Excellent Italian menu: Salad,
choice of entrees including chicken
(scarpariello or Marsala), veal
(parmigiana or pizzaiola), eggplant
parmigiana or salmon with
pasta and vegetables. Choice of
desserts, coffee or tea and red
and white wine on each table.
Valet parking and handicapped
accessible.
Price is $43.50 per person including
tax and tip. Make checks payable
to NST Men’s Club and leave
in Building 1 for Jerry Siegel (18s)
or Building 2 for Jack Sevita (9U).
Thursday, January 23, 12:15pm:
Members only lunch at Moonstone,
14 Northern Blvd., Great Neck.
Appetizer and main course from
lunch menu plus ice cream for
dessert.
Cost is $21 per person including
tax and tip. Handicapped accessible.
Make checks payable to NST
Men’s Club and leave for Jerry
Siegel in Building 1 (18s) or Jack
Sevita in Building 2 (9U).
Sunday, January 26, 7:30pm:
BINGO in the Large Card Room,
Building 2. Guests welcome
Monday, January 27, 10:30am:
Current Events in the Coleridge
Lounge
Call Jerry Siegel at 347-235-4513
if you have any questions.
Board First V.P. Fred Chernow
TV SHOW THEME SONGS & 1950’s TELEVISION
26 NORTH SHORE TOWERS COURIER ¢ January 2020
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