1. Congratulations to Mensa76 Wedding! – On July 29, Mensa76 members Sarah Shaw and Sheridan Saint-Michel were married at the A&M Gardens, Azle, in a ceremony solemnized by our own Hy Siegel. Both bride and groom have some Scottish heritage, so the ceremony was done as a Scottish wedding. The groomsmen all wore Scottish attire, including kilts and knee-length hose with garter flashers. All had a sgian-dhu (black knife) tucked into their hose and wore the sporran (kilt purse).

The bride was beautiful, wearing a pearl necklace and a full-length white dress with an attractive broche. Sarah’s father escorted her to the altar. The bridesmaids were attractive in light blue full-length dresses.

Sarah and Sheridan met at a Mensa76 meeting. Their honeymoon was to the 2006 World Gathering in Orlando, Florida. We wish them a happy and long-lasting marriage!

2. Turned Down an Invitation – The South Texas Mensa Group sent a letter of invitation to all the Texas Mensa group to commit to co-hosting the 2010 Texas Annual Gathering in San Antonio. I think it is great to have a Texas Annual Gathering and San Antonio is one of my favorite cities. The letter included the statement, “We pledge to participate in committees before and during the event, provide resources and access to relationships such as speakers and donors, take advantage of leadership and learning opportunities, and volunteer our efforts at the actual AG to the best of our abilities and commensurate with our membership size.”

Our Executive Committee discussed this at the August 14 meeting. Our consensus is that:

(1) We have no idea who will be running Mensa76 in 2010. Thus we cannot commit for others.

(2) It is difficult to get Mensa76 members to participate in local events. It would be extraordinary if we could get members to travel to San Antonio at their own expense to support the Annual Gathering. By the way, we are still looking for someone to coordinate our TINDOMO events.

(3) If the Annual Gathering is actually established, then there will be plenty of time for the 2009 Mensa76 officers and members to commit themselves.

Therefore, we declined the invitation. If anyone feels that we should have committed, please contact me and I will forward your personal commitment to the San Antonio group. Or if you desire to contact them directly, contact Roy Huff, President, South Texas Mensa, (210) 637-6161, rhuff@alumni.utexas.net, but please inform me of any commitment decision so that I can encourage additional participation in the future.

3. Earning Interest – With ExComm approval, our Treasurer, Al Celaya, Jr., has established an interest-bearing account for our group. We have placed $3,000 of our funds into the account and will gain whatever the Wells Fargo bank provides as interest. We had a little delay setting it up owing to the need to have a Tax ID. We don’t have a Mensa76 Tax ID and did not want to go through the paperwork (and required annual filings) to do so. So we are using American Mensa’s Tax ID (With their permission.). Thus we’re getting some income with a minimum of paperwork.

4. Successful Barking Rocks Winery Visit – As reported by Al Celaya, who organized the visit: “We had a good trip. Seven of us were there. We brought along some bread, cheese, a few apples and some prosciutto. We did the tasting and bought a bottle of Casena and of Orange Muscat. Tiberia (winery owner and wine maker) had an open bottle of Casena that had been breathing and a new, freshly opened bottle of Casena to show us what happens when a nice wine breathes. As it illustrated, it really makes a difference. We also tasted his 2002 Cabernet vs. his 2003 Cabernet. He told us about the differences in those vintages and it was interesting to taste them. It was a really nice trip. While we were there, at least 20 other people showed up, way above their normal Saturday crowd. Of course, we took full responsibility!”

5. TINDOMO (Things I’d Never Do On My Own)

a. World Aquarium in Dallas – This aquarium contains a walk-through tank and 10 other tanks displaying present marine life from around the world - Palau, Southern Australia, Lord Howe Island, Solomon Islands, Fiji, Bahamas, British Columbia, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Japan. Representing the waters of four continents, three oceans and various seas, the aquarium gives a glimpse of the underwater world. See details at http://www.dwazoo.com/aquarium.html. We plan it for October once we get a list of interested members. Contact Sarah Shaw (princess.santeri@gmail.com) if you’d like to participate

b. Outdoors Activity – We have settled on a docent-guided tour at Fort Worth Nature Center in September or October. Our member, Marilyn Sallee is a docent there and will provide tours. We will plan so that participants can select from several trails, so that whether you want a short walk or a long hike, the option will be available. http://www.fwnaturecenter.org/. If interested, contact Marilyn at marilynsallee@uwmail.com.

c. GrapeFest (Sept 7 – 10) – Grapevine is hosting the 20th GrapeFest and Al Celaya will be organizing a get together for a few hours on one of those days for our members. Activities include People’s Choice (1.5 hours to sample dozens of Texas wines), music, arts & crafts, premium wine and beer, and great variety of Texas festival food. Check it out at http://www.grapevinetexasusa.com/. Contact Al if you are interested.

6. TINDOMO Events Awaiting a Coordinator

The following activities have been suggested by members, but cannot be planned without a member stepping forward to be the planner and coordinator. Please consider these and if you’d like to lead the effort on any, contact me.

a. Kid-oriented event, such as a day in the park. When the weather has cooled, say in October or November, we could have a picnic in a park, fly kites, and have games for our children.

b. Lone Star Park – set up a day at the racetrack.

c. Mixer Meeting with North Texas Mensa. Expand your views and meet other Mensans from the Dallas, Plano, Grand Prairie and east.

Cordially,

Russ