President Paul Urtz opened the meeting Monday by having all of the past presidents, whether of this club or another, to stand up. He then wished them all a happy President's Day. Thanks, Paul.
Our speaker Monday was Prof. Larry Steel from the Community College of Aurora. Larry is an historian and has taught Colorado and American history for many years. He was also elected to be a member of the Colorado electoral college for the 2012 presidential election. His topic for the day was genealogy. With the advent of things like Ancenstry.com, this has become somewhere between a mild interest for most to an absolute obsession to others.
At Ash Wednesday services this week, our pastor began his sermon with, "You are all going to die." Not a real revelation there. Indeed, that is the principal message of Ash Wednesday-from dust you came and to dust you will return. Nevertheless, it is not usually stated in such a direct fashion. We know it is intellectually true, but we live most of our lives avoiding the reality of that statement. I once read an article about a group of WWII fighter pilots who had gone through training and were about to be assigned to their combat units. The military wanted to know what psychological makeup made a good fighter pilot, so they gathered them together and told them that within 6 months, 9 out of 10 of them would be killed in combat. They then interviewed them individually and asked what their immediate thought was to that revelation. The overwhelming response, in one fashion or another, was, "I am really going to miss those guys." That's us! We intellectually know we are going to die, but it generally doesn't sink in as an imminent reality.
Mar. 30 Tom Canino - Denver Police Dept.
Apr.6 Dave Fisher - Personal Safety/Firearms
Apr. 13 Camy Bell - UofC Health Sciences Burn Unit
Apr. 20 Colorado State Treasurer, Walker Stapleton
Apr. 27 Jim Hilton - Spellbinders
May 4 Donald Tallman - Colorado Railroad Museum
May 11 Kevin Hougen - Aurora Chamber/Gaylord Hotel (Update)
May 18 Susan Schulten - DU/Professor of History
May 25 No program
June 1 Gary Wheat-Visit Aurora
June 8 TBA
June 15 TBA
I went looking for an ancestor I cannot find him still.
He moved around from place to place and did not leave a will.
He married where a courthouse burned. He mended all his fences.
He avoided any man who came to take the US census.
He always kept his luggage packed, this man who had no fame.
And every 20 years, this rascal changed his name.
His parents came from Europe, they could be on some list.
Of passengers to the USA, but somehow he got missed.
And no one else anywhere is searching for this man.
So I play geneasolitaire to find him if I can.
I'm told he's buried in a plot, with tombstone he was blessed.
But the weather took the engraving and some vandal took the rest.
He died before the county clerks decided to keep records.
No family Bible has emerged in spite of all my efforts.
To top it off this ancestor, who has caused me many groans,
Just to give me one more pain, betrothed a girl named JONES!
Last week's question: March Madness is upon us. One of the most famous plays in the history of the tournament is when Duke forward Christian Laetner caught a pass made from one end of the court to the other and then hit a jumper at the buzzer to beat Kentucky in a regional final. Who threw the pass to Laetner? Answer-Grant Hill.
This week's question: In 1949, the movie The Treasure of the Sierra Madre was awarded Oscars for best director and best supporting actor. The interesting thing is that the two so honored were father and son. Who won the two Oscars? Answer next week.
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