Men's Club Recent Events
Navy Vet Paul Stein Talks to the Men’s Club
Breakfast at Buffy’s
At about 8.30 a.m. three days
a week, anywhere from 15
to 20 members of the North
Shore Towers Men’s Club begin
straggling into Buffy’s. They are
there to have their breakfasts, but
more importantly to discuss the
major topics of the day. Topics range
from doctors’ visits to attacking everyone’s
bête noire (I’ll let you guess
who that might be).
If you aren’t a Men’s Club member,
now is the time to join us. Due
to the annual Florida migration,
some choice seats are still available.
With the dishes of choice being oatmeal
at $4.30 or eggs and potatoes
at $5.40, how can you go wrong? I
try to get to breakfast early, which
gives me the opportunity to partake
in the conversations which interest
me the most.
Never having been a poker
player, I cannot lend much to
Jack Savita’s and Jerry Siegel’s
discussion of the previous night’s
game. I have learned that some
poker players are better than others
though. Not knowing a “put” from
a “call” leaves me somewhat at a
loss in the Yale Kessler, Ron Levin
and Steve Auerbach stock market
discussions, but I now know that
Alibaba was not only some Arabian
character involved with 40 thieves
but is also China’s equivalent to
Amazon. One subject that does not
get as much attention, however, is
sports. Someone might come down
and mention a Met or Yankees win
or loss, but it doesn’t go much
beyond that. John Rondinelli,
having been a Suffolk County
Police Department inspector, has
given us some interesting insights
into the differences between the
New York City and Suffolk County
police departments.
Harold Hershman, our resident
attorney, has given us some sound
legal advice on occasion, and so far
his services have been pro bono. I’m
afraid to ask what his hourly rates
usually are! The other day, Jerry
Siegel told me that when he was
courting his future wife, Marion,
he had to take four different trains
from the Cypress Avenue station in
the Bronx to the Sumner Avenue
station in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
The man must have surely slept late
on Sunday mornings.
As the years go by, we have
less opportunity to hear of
the personal experiences
of the men of the greatest generation.
On October 9, the North
Shore Towers Men’s Club was
privileged to hear a talk by fellow
North Shore Towers resident
Paul Stein. Paul is the author of
a book titled “In the Beginning.”
The book covers Paul’s service in
the Navy, beginning with his enlisting
shortly after the Japanese
attack on Pearl Harbor until his
discharge in 1946.
Paul saw action in three theaters
of war: North Africa, Europe and the
South Pacific. Not all of Paul’s fights
were confined to the battlefields--he
describes an encounter with an
anti-Semitic shipmate in which
he did not quite come out on the
winning end. His opponent also had
some scars to show for the encounter,
but he also had a greater respect
for the Jew who fought back. P.S.
Paul got to the gym and there were
no more problems.
It was a common practice in
the service to never volunteer
for anything, but Paul saw it
differently and volunteered to
go into the Navy diver program.
Far more danger awaited him in
this program than remaining a
seaman. On June 5, 1944, he was
assigned to a submarine which left
southern England for the coast
of Normandy, one day before the
Normandy invasion. Its mission
was to destroy German emplacements.
The mission was successful,
but some of Paul’s fellow divers
did not survive it.
After the war in Europe ended,
Paul was sent to the Pacific
and eventually to occupied Japan.
His ship, the Vulcan, was docked
in Kobe which is not too far from
Hiroshima and Paul feels that some
of his shipmates’ early deaths after
the war might have resulted from
the radiation caused by the dropping
of the A bomb.
His final trip home passing the
Statue of Liberty and going by his
home town’s Navy yard had to
give Paul a wonderful feeling. Our
country owes him and all of those
who served with him our everlasting
gratitude.
MEN'S CLUB SCHEDULE OF EVENTS-FEBRUARY 2020
Breakfast every Tuesday,
Wednesday and Friday at Buffy's
at 9am
• Sunday, February 2,
6pm-10pm: Super Bowl Party in
the Coleridge Lounge. Members
only. This is a free event catered
by Ben's Delicatessen. Limit of 40
members.
• Thursday, February 6, 9am:
Events Committee meeting at
Buffy's
• Monday, February 10, 10:30am:
Current Events in the Coleridge
Lounge
• Thursday, February 13, 7:30pm:
Men's Club meeting in the Large
Card Room, Building 2. Speaker:
Saul Fathi, Author/Topic: Current
International Affairs
Guests welcome for a fee of $5
payable at the door.
• Wednesday, February 19,
12:15pm: Members only lunch at
Opa Grill Greek and American
Cuisine, 432 Hillside Ave.,
Williston Park. Choose from any
entree on the lunch menu which
includes soup and 20 dishes
including Greek and American
dishes and coffee. Cash bar.
$17 per person including tax
and tip.
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, February 23, 7:30pm:
BINGO in the Large Card Room,
Building 2. Guests welcome.
• Monday, February 24, 10:30am:
Current Events in the Coleridge
Lounge
• Thursday, February 27,
7pm: Member/Guest dinner at
Jonathan’s, 2499 Jericho Turnpike,
New Hyde Park. Outstanding
menu including salad and choice
of 7 entrees including salmon,
chicken, veal, shrimp and pot
roast. Coffee, tea and special cake
included.
$46 per person including tax
and tip. Cash bar. 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).
Call Jerry Siegel at 347-235-4513
if you have any questions.
Paul Stein
Breakfast
BY HOWARD ARKIN
The highlight of the January
1, breakfast was having Toby
Horowitz back. Toby underwent a
successful kidney transplant operation
and he looks and feels great!
His return has been a great addition
to the table.
2020 figures to be an exciting
year, and the discussions--some
brilliant and some not so brilliant-
-will resonate throughout NST.
So in the immortal words of The
Price is Right, "Come on down!"
to Breakfast at Buffy's.
26 NORTH SHORE TOWERS COURIER ¢ February 2020