• Our program coordinator was also the presenter, Mark 1. He shared some history, observations and photos from his and Sally's recent visit to Cuba. It was not recorded, so, if you weren't there... Here are a few of Mark's observations: the local currency is called the cuc with an 87-1 U.S. dollar exchange rate, cigar rollers can make more money that doctors,there is virtually no population growth on the island (it's about the size of Pennsylvania),they saw almost no new construction, revolutionary heros Fidel and Che t-shirts were everywhere, the only thing they saw that was remotely familiar were a couple cans of Coke, 8% of Havana is occupied by a cemetery (It appears that Sally did not get her wish), horses are still widely used in the rural areas, their local guides indicated that since Raul Castro's rise to power in 2008 the country is slowly improving.
• We broke our string of consecutive meetings with 19 in the house, but in a good way. We had 21 on hand. Mark 1, Allen, Pat and Rod represented the early birds. Matt, Paul, Fred and Mark 2 arrived after noon. 
• Mark 2 and Rod reported that the Franklin Vaughn open house last week  was well attended. But Bill didn't make it.
• Dave hit the trifecta. He covered all the opening duties. He was preparing for his role as leader of the Edwardsville Muni Band that evening. After he was finished speaking , we hope that there was some time for a bit of music.
• Rick subbed for ASS SAA Bill. Chris did a fine job as the "lugmeister".  Among the trivia topics covered were tunnels, baseball, hockey, Florida hurricanes,  SIUE and Fortune 500 companies. 
• Florida land baron Dick returned, primarily to make sure that we were still meeting at Julia's.
• Lunch featured beef 'n noodles, g-beans, salad, apple crisp and choco cake.
• Wendell has fixed the bell. Roger promises to make sure that the bell is kept safe until he can turn it over to Sherry on the 30th.
• Don't forget to sign up for the Installation Dinner.
• Lori reports that we have sold a total of 151 mania tickets, including 127 paper ones. Our net is now approaching $1000. We keep $6.50 per ticket.
• Our solo guest was Sally. Pat and Paul presented make-ups from Florissant and Troy respectively. 
• The quote of the day comes from Dick-"beats dirt in your face."
• Don't forget the tip box for Karen.
• The 50-50 jackpot tickets went to Cory and Brad 1. Fred had a chance to scratch. The $83 jackpot rolled.
• That's all from here. Have a fine and dry weekend.

HOW YOU KNOW YOU ARE LIVING  IN 2016 

• You accidentally enter your PIN on the microwave. 
• You haven't played solitaire with real cards in years. 
•  You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you. 
• Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is that they don't have e-mail addresses. 
• You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if anyone is home to help you carry in the groceries.
• You get up in the morning and go online before getting your coffee. 
• You're reading this and nodding and laughing.