UC November 2011 Newsletter

8/3/2019 UC November 2011 Newsletter

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The statement, "That’s the way it has al-ways been" can mean one of two things:a respect for tradition or a surrender to it.What is the best response? Do we honor tradition and resist change, or challengethe status quo? We think it comes downto finding the right balance between thetwo. It is important to try new things andimagine new possibilities, but it isequally important to maintain links withour past. Carrying on traditions and pro-viding something for people to rely on is

so more important in our lives these dayswhen so much is fleeting. Activities thatare observed year in and year out create asense of stability and provide continuity between generations and an importantconnection with the past.

Tradition meets Fun...

One great way to celebrate a true UC tra-dition (and have a blast while you’re do-ing it!) is to take part in the Annual

Duck Dinner which, this year, will be

held on Thursday, November 10th. Thisannual dinner was first held in 1908 at“Kapps” in Rensselaer. According toClub history, the members who attendedthat first event gathered at a tobacco store(then located where the Post Office nowstands downtown) and, in a body, crossedthe river-some say on foot via the MaidenLane* Bridge- while others say in a char-tered trolley by way of the lower bridge.

Once established as an annual affair, such

dinners were moved to the clubhouse.Before 1935 ‘wild’ duck was provided byUniversity Club member, Dr. MortonVan Loan; but, since then, either becauseof a scarcity of the wild variety or fearfulthat the Entertainment Committee wouldshoot one another, ‘tame’ duck has beenon the menu.

University Club Duck Dinners are trulythe stuff of legend. A November 20. 1910article in the Albany Evening Journal

gives us a glimpse: “There was some-

2011-2012Board of Directors

Officers

President

Warren Abriel

Vice President

Colleen Ryan

Secretary

Amy Kramer

Treasurer

Matt Badalucco

Past President Tom Pandick

Directors

Calvin Berger

Joe Brady

Kevin Clancy

Jeff Hill

David Hochfelder

Amy Kramer

Nate Maloney

Frank Nemeth

Bill Ross

Timothy Varney

In this issue...

A Taste of Italy 2

Welcome New Member 3

Say Thank You 3

Sonny & Perley 2

Torch Club Dinner Speaker 2

Yoga Classes 3

Lunch Speaker- Rex Smith 2

A Bridge Story 3

Off the Record 3

thing doing lastnight across theriver, for a merrycrew from theUniversity Clubhad gathered atKapp’s hostelry atDr. Van Loan’srequest to aid inthe destruction of sundry duckswhich he had

bought, shot or stolen for the oc-casion. Therewere 79 high brows in all, from big Shorty Ben-

nett to wee Jerry Finch, and every-one present had a wonderful, all consum-ing appetite. G.W. Van Slyke had invitedthe guests to meet at his Broadway nico-tine depot and it was from there that thehordes made their descent by chartered

trolley and trusty Shank’s mare on thefeast. It is needless to say that there waseverything to whet the appetite and whetthe thirst...there were no fatalities andonly two reported half shot. Pool, bridgeand a rousing chorus at the UniversityClub ended the evening.”

Some things have changed since the earlydays, but the spirit of those first duck rev-elers lives on. There’s still duck on themenu and “everything to whet the appetite

and whet the thirst”, but these days youmight also see some crazy duck or turkeyhats and hear the thud of frozen turkeyshitting the floor and maybe even a duck call or two. Don’t miss it! Drinks (sign- basis) & hors d’oeuvres (complimentary) begin at 5:30 p.m. followed by dinner &the infamous Turkey Raffle at 7. $24.95 per person. Get there early to get your raf-fle tickets. The number of frozen turkeysyou take home is your badge of honor.

*See page 3 for more about the Maiden Lane

Bridge.

Early photo from club

archives of Van Loanhunting party and

some unlucky ducks.



Do you enjoy talking...andlistening? Do you love tolearn? Then come to thenext Torch Club meeting.You'll hear an interesting

speaker on a timely topic followed by discussion over dinner with peoplefrom various professions and back-grounds. Torch meets the first Monday

of each month from October to June beginning at 5:30 p.m. at the Univer-sity Club. Dinner is $30 per person(your first dinner is refunded if you become a member). Reservations arerequired and made through Torch Clubsecretary Pat Fishbough: [email protected] .

Upcoming Meetings/Talks:

11/07 Advantages of Single Payer Health Care

Richard Propp, MD, Chair, CapitalDistrict Alliance for Universal HealthCare.

12/05 Kissinger's China or Mine? Meng Lin Liu, President, 20th CenturyDesigns.

01/09 The Impact of an Aging Soci-ety: Globally, Nationally and in NY Robert Scardamalia, President, RLSDemographics, Inc.

02/06 Picking Your Battles: Governor Cuomo's Approach to the Budget Robert Ward, Deputy Director, NelsonA. Rockefeller Institute of Govern-ment

03/05 The Future of Public EmployeeUnions Kenneth Brynian, President, PublicEmployees Federation of NY

04/02 The Israeli-Palestinian Con-

flict: A Balanced View

Ethan Bloch, Ph.D., Professor of Mathematics, Bard College

05/07 Why Do Services in New York

Cost So Much?E.J. McMahon, Senior Fellow, EmpireCenter for NYS Policy at the Manhat-tan Institute

06/04 How Has Television Changed in the 21st Century? Robert Altman, President and CEO,WMHT

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Rex Smith has been Editor and VicePresident the Times Union since 2002He had been Managing Editor/Newsof the paper for seven years beforethat, and had come to the Times Un-ion after serving four years as Editorof The Troy Record. Mr. Smith cameto the Capital Region as state capito bureau chief and national correspon

dent for Newsday, where he spent 11years on various reporting beats. Earlier in his career, Rex was a congressional aide in Washington and editorof the daily newspaper Indiana. He isa recipient of the Distinguished Service Award from the national Societyof Professional Journalists, the WorldHunger Media Award, the New YorkLeague of Women Voters Citizen ofthe Year Award and numerous others.

The luncheon (hot & cold buffet)which is served from noon until 1 pmis open to the public and the cost is$15, which may be paid at the doorThe program begins at 12:30. For reservations call Albany-Colonie Cham ber of Commerce at 431-1400 oe-mail [email protected].

Join us on Friday, November 18th foran evening of fine Italian cuisine andwines. Chef Kevin Pagano is planninga smorgasbord of flavors for the evening. Everything will be homemadeand delicious. Dinner will be buffet-

style and will feature (among otherthings) Baked Lasagna, ShrimpScampi, Chicken Parmesan, Pasta &Clam Sauce, and of course, Italiancookies and pastries. We will also befeaturing some delicious Italian winesavailable for tasting and purchasethroughout the evening.

$23.95 per person. Reservations arenecessary. Call the Front Desk at 463-1151.

The duo of Sonny Daye and PerleyRousseau achieves a rare musical

symbiosis. The husband and wifeteam have spent years developing and perfecting their unique blend of Jazz,Bossa Nova, American Songbook Standards and International Cabaret,which has become their musical sig-nature.

Tom Pierce of The Jazz Observer notes that “Perley’s beautifully richvoice, with the emotional power,swing and improvisational feel of atrue jazz singer, enunciates Englishlyrics with bell like clarity and Portu-guese lyrics with an authenticity Bra-zilians hearing their CD’s mistake her for a native. She does all this with acaptivating effervescence and saucystage presence... accented by an in-triguing assortment of exotic instru-ments.” Of Sonny he says, his “facile,slightly percussive keyboard work andappealing arrangements are key com- ponents of their crowd pleasing pres-entation.”

Stop by for their return engagement inthe Grille Room where they will per-form the timeless standards from Ber-lin, Gershwin and Porter and irresisti- ble Bossa Nova melodies and make plans to join us for dinner as well. Alacarte dining will be available in theMain Dining Room from 5:30-8:30 p.m. and in the Grille Room from 5-9 pm. For reservations call 463-1151.

Rex Smith, Editor and VP of theTimes Union, will speak on Wednes-day, November 9th. As he does onThe Media Project, which airs weeklyon WAMC, Smith will offer an insidelook at media coverage of current

events.



Besides the great food, lovelyevents, and friendly atmosphere, oneof the nicest things about being amember of the University Club isknowing how well I and my guestswill be taken care of whenever I visit

the clubhouse. We are fortunate tohave a wonderful group of peopleworking for us, making our ‘homeaway from home’ a welcoming ref-uge. They always greet us with asmile, take time to get to know usand our friends and family, and con-sistently go out of their way, doingwhatever needs to be done, to makeour club experience a positive one.In fact, they do their jobs so well Isometimes think people don’t realize

how hard they work!

I hope you will join me in letting our employees know just how much weappreciate everything they do for us by giving generously to the Annual

Employee Holiday Fund. You willfind a pledge card enclosed with thismonth’s billing statement.

Colleen RyanVice President, Board of Directors

Chair, House Committee

________________________________________________________________________________________________

The Membership Committee is proud to announce the election ofthe following new University Clubmember:

Mary Beth Finnerty

Ms. Finnerty joined the Club in lateSeptember through our special Cor- porate Membership with Siena Col-lege. She is the Director of AlumniRelations at Siena and is a 1985graduate of the college as well. Shewas introduced to membership by Nate Maloney and co-sponsored byTim Varney.

Welcome to the U Club family!

The Maiden Lane Bridge we men-tioned as having been crossed by thefirst Duck Dinner attendees was a rail-road bridge across the Hudson River

between Albany and Rensselaer. Itwas designed by Kellogg, Clark &Co., and was one of the largest bridges they designed. The bridge wasowned and built by the Hudson River Bridge Company, which was owned jointly by the New York Central andHudson River Railroad Company. Itwas often referred to as the "SouthBridge", while the Livingston AvenueBridge was referred to as the "NorthBridge". The Livingston Ave. Bridge

was used for freight (and through-traffic passenger trains) while passen-ger trains used the Maiden LaneBridge for access to Union Station.Construction began in May 1870, andthe first train crossed on December 28, 1871. The bridge consisted of four 185.5-foot long fixed spans, one 274-foot draw span, seven 73-foot spansover the Albany Basin, one 110-footspan over Quay Street, and one 63-foot span over Maiden Lane. All the

spans except the one over MaidenLane were double tracked. A recon-struction of the bridge, except for thedraw span, was done in 1899 by Pen-coyd Bridge Company and finished byJanuary 3, 1900. The bridge lasteduntil the 1960s, when the Albany-Rensselaer Amtrak Station was builtin the city of Rensselaer and 787 was built along the west side in Albany,thereby eliminating the need of the bridge.

Join us for the swingin’ sounds of the

60’s with Joanna Paladino, Lou San-sivero and Bob Resnick of Off the Re-

cord . The Main Dining Room will beopen that evening and will serve din-ner from 5:30-8:30 p.m. The Grilleroom will serve from 5:00-9:00 pm.The performance is free as part of theUniversity Club Foundation’s supportof 1st Friday. Reservations please!Call the front desk at 463-1151.

____________________________

YOGA with Ellen

Ongoing classes

Every Tuesday

10:30 a.m. & 5:30 p.m.

Yoga is good for what ailsyou. Research shows that it can helpmanage anxiety, arthritis, asthma, back pain, blood pressure, carpal tun-nel syndrome, chronic fatigue, depres-sion, headaches, stress and many other conditions.

Ellen’s classes focus on basic pos-tures, proper breathing & relaxation.All levels and abilities welcome. Noyoga experience needed. Anyone cando it!

UC member payment options:$12 per class drop-in feePre-paid 5 class card $50Pre-paid 10 class card $90

Non-member guest payment options:$15 per class drop-in feePre-paid 5 class card $60Pre-paid 10 class card $100

For more information or to sign upcontact Ellen at 463-1151or [email protected].

Maiden Lane Bridgewith Rensselaer in background,

Albany Yacht Club in foreground

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Still not convinced?

Sign up for a

FREE TRIAL CLASS!(Pre-registration is necessary )

Continued from Page One...



This space available.

Call Ellen at 463-1151for details.

SUNDAYSUNDAYSUNDAYSUNDAY MONDAYMONDAYMONDAYMONDAY TUESDAYTUESDAYTUESDAYTUESDAY WEDNESDAYWEDNESDAYWEDNESDAYWEDNESDAY THURSDAYTHURSDAYTHURSDAYTHURSDAY FRIDAYFRIDAYFRIDAYFRIDAY SATURDAYSATURDAYSATURDAYSATURDAY

NOV 1 Grille Room

Lunch & dinner

Yoga 10:30 & 5:30

Mixed League 7 pm

2

Lunch in Grilleand Dining Room

3


4 Lunch & Dinner

Grille & Dining Rm

Sonny & PerleyGrille Room 8-10

5

Private PartyClub Closed

6

Club Closed

7 Grille Room

Lunch & dinner

Bowling 7 p.m.

TORCH CLUB

22 8

Grille RoomLunch & dinner

Yoga 10:30 & 5:30

9

REX SMITHROUNDTABLE

LUNCH SPEAKER Noon

10

DUCK DINNER5:30 PM

11

CLUB CLOSEDVETERAN’S DAY

12

Club Closed

13

Club Closed

14 Grille Room

Lunch & dinner

Bowling 7 p.m.

15 Grille RoomLunch & dinner

Yoga 10:30 & 5:30

Mixed League 7 pm

16


17


18 Lunch & Dinner

Grille & Dining Rm

TASTE OF ITALYBUFFET & WINE TASTING 6 PM

19

Club Closed

20

Club Closed


Bowling 7 p.m.

22

Grille Room

Lunch & dinner

Yoga 10:30 & 5:30

23


24

CLUB CLOSEDHAPPYTHANKSGIVING!

25 Lunch & Dinner Grille & Dining Rm

26

Club Closed

27

Club Closed

28 Grille Room

Lunch & dinner

Bowling 7 p.m.


Yoga 10:30 & 5:30

Mixed League 7 pm

30


DECEMBER 1


2 Lunch & Dinner Grille & Dining Rm

OFF THE RECORD GRILLE 8-10 PM

3Private PartiesClub Closed

Documents

UC November 2011 Newsletter