Spindrift September 24, 2020
David Schapiro, Editor
LUNCHEON/ZOOM MEETING
Last Thursday’s live luncheon meeting at the Bahia Corinthian was held indoors for the first time since COVID-19 completely disrupted our lives. Tables were spaced more than the mandated six feet apart. In all, 16 members participated in the live luncheon. Notable attendees included Steve Pool (who again competently handled the ZOOM event), and Shirley Lashmett, along with her bag of Hershey’s Kisses (Welcome back!!!). Ed. Note: I have been attending the live luncheons, and find the venue, and its members, guests, and staff, to be complying with everything necessary to keep us safe. Please note all the pics taken at the club in this issue, which give some perspective on their social distancing.
IN MEMORIAM
Tom Naughton, an active member of our Club for 27 years, passed away peacefully last week while being in hospice care. Tom graduated from Georgia Tech with a degree in aeronautical engineering and served as an aircraft carrier pilot in the U.S. Navy during WW II. During his 38-year employment at McDonnell Douglas (MD) beginning in 1951, he compiled an impressive resume. Tom was the Program Manager for American Airlines MD-80 aircraft, and was Senior Project Engineer for DC-10s, also with American Airlines; he was Chief Engineer for all DC-10 Flight Simulators worldwide, a Flight Test Engineer for both Navy and Air Force Aircraft, and Manager of Systems Engineering for the Delta Launch Vehicle, which was built by MD prior to 1997. After his retirement in 1989, he served as a consultant to Mac-Donnell Douglas for a couple of years; was Airport Land Use Commissioner for the County of Orange for 2 years; and was President of the Airport Working Group of O.C. from 1997 to 2008. Tom was the Tuesday Greeter at the Oasis Senior Center for the last 10 years. Tom and his spouse, Jean, have been married for 75 years. A gravesite memorial service has been scheduled at Pacific View Memorial Park, 3500 Pacific View Dr., Corona Del Mar, on Wednesday, September 30, at 10:30 am. If you can, please plan on attending and pay your respects to one of our best.
OPENING
Our meeting began with the salute to Old Glory, led by Ross Stewart. In lieu of an invocation Pres. George Lesley relayed a few quotes passed on to him from former member Bruce Major, among them being “The less you respond to rude, argumentative people, the more peaceful your life will be.”
BUSINESS MEETING
Pres. George reviewed the proceedings of last week’s Board meeting: A $4,100 donation was approved to the Downey Family Sup-port Center ….. $25,000 was committed to the Priority Center (aka O.C. Child Abuse Prevention Center) in response to their “Pillars of Priority” Campaign to raise funds. The commitment was provisional on the spread of our contribution over a 2-year financial cycle and will include some detail on how our contribution will be spent. Their Board Room will be named in our honor…..Two canopies were purchased for use by our Field of Honor crews at the Newport Beach Yard site ….Member dues for the 4th quarter will be reduced to $55 per month …..At-large dues have been increased to $25 per month…. …..Lastly, Fran Murphy has been formally approved by the Board as our newest member!
PROGRAM
Two of our members were asked by Pres. George to present their two-minute bios: FRAN MURPHY – Raised in Boston’s Irish neighborhood (with the accent to boot!), Fran pursued her teaching career at Boston State College, located near Fenway Park, home of her beloved Bos-ton Red Sox. She spent as much time as she could at the park, and after graduating from college and taking a trip to Europe, she started out teaching in Boston’s inner city during the racially charged period of the ’60s. While taking a trip to California and staying in Laguna Beach during a summer recess, she became so enchanted with the weather and locale that she resigned her position as an educator with Boston Public and landed a teaching position with the Garden Grove Unified. After continuing her education at Pepperdine, she worked herself into being an Elementary School Principal in Newport Beach. She is now enjoying retirement, and likes to spend some of her time participating in activities involving walk-ing: she has completed marathons in Paris and in San Francisco (over the G.G. Bridge). Pres. George Lesley is her sponsor, and she has become attracted to ECNH because of its involvement with the prevention of child abuse, which she has witnessed too often during her career. Fran is our newest member, and she is most welcome!
ROY SHLEMON
Born on the North Side of Chicago, Roy also spent a lot of time attending Cubs games at Wrigley Field and has memories of their winning the National League pennant in 1945. After the war, he and his family moved to California in a 1947 Plymouth, starting out in Turlock, then moving to Modesto. He began his college education at Modesto J.C., where he took his first course in geology, which turned out to be his life’s work... He joined the National Guard and was stationed for a time at the Presidio in San Francisco, after which he matriculated at Fresno State for his undergraduate degree, and then the University of Wyoming in Laramie, then Washington and Berkeley. Roy taught at U.C. Davis and took a sabbatical at Louisiana State (LSU). The Sylmar Earthquake in 1971 somewhat altered his career from teacher to a consultant, when the State of California defined an “active fault” to mean a place where you shouldn’t be constructing anything. Since that time, he has been here in California and continues to consult because he is “too old to retire”. Roy is an 18-year, active member of our club, and has recently received the 2020 Volunteer of the Year Award from the CA/NV Exchange.
