December 10, 2011 Club Meeting

December 10, 2011 at 11:30 -- the club met at the Route 7 diner in Latham.  A large, private room awaited the gang as everyone piled in, found a spot and quickly placed orders for coffee and breakfast.  The turn out was admirable, especially considering the time of year and the challenge of going anywhere during the last couple weeks before the holidays.  Clearly our meeting wasn't the first rodeo for the Route 7 diner staff as they swooped in, took orders and then just as quickly left us to our business.  It would be nice to get that kind of service consistently for a table of two at most restaurants, let alone a table of twenty-something hungry bird enthusiasts!

The time before and during the meal was more or less the 'social hour' as everyone made themselves comfortable and the conversations flew.  The tables were set up in a large rectangle and many pictures and even more stories were passed around.  While there were more than a few new faces in the room, there was a very familial feel to the proceedings and the strangers were quickly put at ease.

After the dishes were cleared and coffees refreshed, the meeting proper came to order.  A quick go-around got the formal introductions out of the way as each person in turn introduced themselves and gave a quick roll-call of their beloved flock.  Some folks came to the table with one or two feathered friends -- a few with enough to re-populate a small country!  The accounting was animated and fun -- collectively the club has a heckuva-lot of birds!

While everybody in attendance would have likely been happy to continue discussing their families, the official business of the meeting had to be gotten out of the way -- and this month's was a very important proceeding indeed:  Nomination and installation of club officers for the upcoming year.  After some awkward, yet entertaining confusion as to the formal nomination and installation procedure, the official business was carried out.  President Barbara Preisman brought each position to the table.  Nominations were made and carried with no dissent.  The board for 2012 will be the same as 2011 with one significant change:  Pat Huff will relinquish the role of Treasurer, with Lauren Palmateer accepting the new duties.  It didn't take long for Lauren to slip into her new role as membership checks began rolling her way as soon as the nomination proceedings were complete.

After the board nominations the conversation turned back to the birds.  The topic of discussion was "The Games Parrots Play."  An interesting and fun conversation ensued around the table and eventually evolved into islands of discussions which for those who were able to keep track of more than one conversation at once, were both instructional and exceptionally entertaining!

Before we knew it, the time had come to vacate the room -- I think some of the gang lost track of time -- a few might still be there.

A productive club meeting and a good time had by all!