Root Beer Float October Root 2020 page Beer 1 and Checker Club Established 1944 Root Beer Float October 2020

IN THIS

ISSUE

Schedule of Events Club/Other News 8-Ball Award Sailing to Maine with the Zagers (Part 4) More Tales from the Bunker Business Bulletin Bd.

OFFICERS President Bruce Eagleson Vice President Al Zager Treasurer Richard Huff Asst. Charlie Parr Secretary Hello everyone, things are still very busy Duncan Jay and I’m sorry to report that I won’t be able

A publication of the to provide my president’s message Root Beer and this month. Checker Club P. O. Box 6121 Stay safe and thanks for your patience. Fair Haven, NJ 07704 Bruce www.rootbeerclub.org Editors Jim Powers Bill Tice

Issue 169

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Club News

Our Birthdays This Month

Edwin Barnwell 3 John Steinhauser 4

Schedule of Events: Root Beer and Checker Club

Gentlemen, Please keep Friday noontime on October 9th open !

Charley Shay connected via email with Chris Brenner and he has agreed to present his latest historical film “What About an Airport?”

He spoke previously on “Highlands Beach and Rumson Hill: and was well received. His Zoom talk with film clips can be joined with a Root Beer & Checker Club invitation sent out by Bill Tice.

Club social events (such as live stage performances, evening parties, etc.) have been postponed until further notice The monthly publication of the Float will continue. Also, note the informal Tuesday noontime lunch meetings that members have been attending using Zoom software online. Check your emails for instructions on how to join in on the fun.

When appropriate and the club is able to gather again a Welcome Back party will be scheduled at minimal or no charge !

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Club News (cont.)

George Kirkham Westhead Jr.

1/14/31 ~ 9/12/20

RB&CC member George Kirkham Westhead, Jr., 89, passed away on September 12, 2020 at his home. He was born in Montclair to the late George and Margaret (Dwyer) Westhead and had been living in Rumson for the past 45 years. George worked in construction sales for Equipco in Somerset County for many years and he proudly served our country in the Marines and was a sharpshooter as well as a Captain. He is predeceased by his wife of 55 years, Mary (Dettinger) Westhead. Surviving are his children: George K. Westhead and wife Linda of CA, John Jude Westhead and wife Diane of WA, Dr. Kathleen Dennis and husband Thomas of MA, Dr. Mary Elizabeth Westhead of Long Branch, Marguerite Chavez and husband Patrick of Oceanport, Teresa Westhead and husband Mark Roesner of MD and Dorothy Westhead and her husband Daniel Thormann of Monmouth Beach. Also surviving are his 19 grandchildren, Elizabeth, Joseph, Matthew, Jennifer, Mark, Marguerite, Rachel, Miles, Jack, Patrick, Pierre, Phelan, Olivia, Mary Nola, Jessica, Jacob, Billy, Gidget, Sidney and 5 great grandchildren. Visitation will take place at the John E. Day Funeral Home 85 Riverside Avenue Red Bank, NJ 07701 on Friday September 18, 2020 from 4-8PM. A Mass of Christian burial was held at Church of the Nativity in Fair Haven on Saturday September 19, 2020 at 12PM. Please no flowers, instead memorial donations can be made in George’s memory to: Disabled Americans Veterans, P.O. Box 14301, Cincinnati OH 45250-0301

Root Beer Float October 2020 page 4 The 2020 8-Ball Award - Al Zager

What follows is Richard Huff’s introduction of this year’s 8-Ball Award.

“The 8-Ball Committee had a meeting out on my porch; we all stayed about six to eight feet away from each other, and we elected this year's new 8 Ball award winner. I have the plaque here on my dining room table with the winner’s name on it.

The 8 Ball is awarded not by the Trustees, but by the votes of the 8-Ball Committee, which is composed of the previous winners of this distinguished Award.

The votes are based on each Committee Member’s opinion as to who among the present members of our Club who have not previously won the award, deserves special recognition for services rendered int eh community (local, state, national, international) or who has performed services of great benefit to our Club.

The identity of the winner is kept secret util the award is presented at the ANNUAL 8-BALL LUNCHEON. Of course, this year via Zoom.

Our new winner was born locally in this area in 1948. He went to Red Bank High School not Red Bank Regional. I guess from what I hear. I can't document this, but he was a quite a person in high school - lots of achievements, lots of honors and whatnot, but I couldn't find one.

When he went from high school to college he went to Wharton’s School of Economics. In 1970, he graduated. Three years later he graduated from Rutgers School of Law in 1973. He was admitted to both the New Jersey Bar and the New Jersey District of the Federal District Court in the same year. In ‘74 to ‘77 he served as a lieutenant in the Navy Reserve as a member of the Judge Advocate General Corps. (cont.)

Root Beer Float October 2020 page 5 The 2020 8-Ball Award - Al Zager (cont.)

He became a named member of his law firm in 2005. He also served as a director of Foodarama Supermarkets from 1995 till 2006 when it went private. He was the past president of the Board of Directors of the Center for Holocaust Human rights and Genocide Education at Brookdale community college and he was a founding director of EMACC Educational Foundation.

He's the past president of the Congregation of B’nai Israel in Rumson. Our newest winner is an avid sailor and as a member of the Atlantic Highlands Yacht Club. In 1988, the club held an annual danger days festival with a great number of contests one special event was a costume parade. Our winner won that dressed in a bridal gown. Not sure we didn't make a mistake here.

This should be in the Float, maybe we can get a picture. Soon after this win his son was to be married in Florida. The groom was the guest of honor at a bachelor party and late in the evening was shocked to see his fiancée approaching him at the party in her wedding gown.

Shortly his son realized it was not his bride but his father once again in the bridal gown..

Unless you have not guessed it, our new member is Al Zager. Well, maybe we can get him to bring his bridal down to one of the lunches. “

Al Zager: “Thank you, thank you very, very much. I truly am shocked and surprised. I'm a relatively new member and I have such high regard for everybody in the club, and for the club itself. This is truly an honor that I didn't think I deserved yet, and I appreciate, to the end of the earth, being given this great honor, thank you.”

Root Beer Float October 2020 page 6 An Outing in Allaire - Jim Powers, the Tices, and Mike Lanza

On Friday, 9/11, your stir crazy editors and Mike Lanza ventured to Allaire for an outdoor lunch and to take some photos. Allaire is very familiar to all of us and presents a challenge to find photos of interest. Here’s what we came up with. Enjoy...

Photos

By

Jim Powers

Root Beer Float October 2020 page 7 An Outing in Allaire - Jim Powers, the Tices, and Mike Lanza (cont.)

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An Outing in Allaire - Jim Powers, the Tices, and Mike Lanza (cont.)

Photos by BT/LT and Mike Lanza

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Sailing to Maine with Al and Robin Zager - Part 4

September 5th - We have been in 5 different harbors this week, all in . Motoring under rainy, gray skies from Manchester by the Sea to Marblehead last Saturday, I started to hear the darn rattling sound even though I had tightened the screw for the zinc the night before.

On arrival in Marblehead, the Yacht Club launch driver helped us find the mooring loaned by the gentleman we'd met the week before who said we were welcome to use it since he was cruising , saying, "Tell him you are Bill M's good friend." We hunkered down for the remnants of the storm and watched a movie on our computer, but not before calling several marine supply stores in town to see if they had the correct size zinc for our propeller. West Marine had one and the store manager put it aside for us. Early Sunday morning we took our dinghy to the town dock and enjoyed a delightful stroll through the neighborhood where, it seemed, all of the buildings were constructed in the 1800's for bricklayers, shipwrights, Captains, etc. They are all beautifully maintained and repurposed for modern uses. We got to the West Marine store just before the 9:00 am opening and, as promised, the zinc was waiting for us.

We probably had the best sail of the summer from Marblehead to Hull Harbor on Sunday. The rain was gone, but the wind was blowing steady at 15-20 knots, with gusts to 30 knots. We reefed the mainsail, unfurled the mizzen (small jib) and enjoyed the north to south passage with the Boston skyline on our starboard side.

David Smookler, my college freshman year friend of 54 years ago, greeted us with extreme warmth and hospitality. He and his wife, Debbie, entertained us with delicious and plentiful food and libations (not necessarily in that order) at their beach home while we brought each other up-to-date on our lives for the past half-century. We constantly amazed each other by numerous parallels. During our three day stay we toured their Hull-Hingham area by car and on "Melody", David and Debbie's 36' racer-cruiser sailboat.

On Tuesday afternoon, Luke, the diver we found via the local harbormaster, installed the new zinc on our propeller. We departed the next morning at 0600 as we had a long passage ahead. We had to motor-sail because the southeast winds were not quite at the best angle for us to make the eastern end of the Canal before the current turned against us. We made it just in time for an uneventful passage. No rattling! (cont.)

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Sailing to Maine with Al and Robin Zager - Part 4 (cont.)

We arrived in Marion about 1830 and radioed the local Yacht Club to ask for a mooring. They we not all all friendly, saying they were not open to visitors this year due to COVID, even after we said we just needed to grab a mooring for the night and would not leave our boat. Since it was windy (about 15-20 knots), getting dark, and there was no room to anchor in the very crowded harbor, we just helped ourselves to an available mooring, as is the custom in Maine. Nobody bothered us.

The next morning was foggy and rainy. But it lifted enough for us the get fuel and water at a local marina and then depart for the 2 hour passage to Hadley Harbor, near Woods Hole, where we joined our very good sailing friends, Adrien and Nina Rock. We are playing here for a few days doing stuff like a dinghy ride to watch the sun set over Buzzards Bay, another to observe local wildlife (including a staring contest with a group of seals near a rock in Vineyard Sound), swimming off the boat and fishing from the dinghy. We caught an 18" stripper - fun to catch, but too small to keep.

By this time next week, we plan to be in Rhode Island where we will park the boat at a Warwick marina and then rent a car to get home in time for Rosh Hashannah, the Jewish New Year.

One photo shows Robin with our sailing friends, Adrien and Nina Rock, in Hadley Harbor with one of the summer homes of the Forbes family on in the background. The parcels of land on the island are leased for 99 years to members of the Forbes family who qualify financially. You must be a family member, guest of one, or a worker to go on the island. But the harbor is open to all. The previous email has a photo of the ferry that serves the island from Woods Hole.

We continue to be blessed with good health, the opportunity to enjoy life, and with loving family and friends. My best to all, Al. (cont.)

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Sailing to Maine with Al and Robin Zager - Part 4 (cont.)

September 13th - A wise man (must have been a member of RB&CC) is reputed to have said that "all good things must come to an end." And so, this week, we began to see the end of our 2020 Summer journey. It's not quite the end of our 2020 sailing season. Shamayim arrived in her slip at the Greenwich Bay Safe Harbor Marina in Warwick, Rhode Island on Saturday, September 12th. But what seems to have ended, at least for now, is the almost unbroken streak of near perfect weather we have been blessed to enjoy since sailing from Atlantic Highlands on June 23rd.

We spent last weekend in Lake Tashmoo, a once fresh water lake on Martha's Vineyard that became an inlet to Vineyard Sound during a 1930's hurricane and that remains a beautiful harbor to visit as it is well protected and less crowded (boats drawing more than 6 feet risk hitting the bottom in the narrow, shallow entrance to the harbor) than more well-know spots like Vineyard Haven, Oak Bluffs or Edgartown. It is an easy 1.3 mile walk from the town dock to the heart of Vineyard Haven. Or one can dinghy to the head of the lake to the famous Black Dog Cafe.

We relaxed with our friends, Adrien and Nina Rock, there as well. The first evening brought a dinghy cocktail ride to the north end of the harbor to enjoy hors devours, drink some wine and watch the sunset. We were very close to the MV homes of Kenneth Cole and Diane Sawyer. But we did not see them enjoying the colorful nightcap.

We and the Rocks spent a full day touring Edgartown and Oak Bluffs thanks to the all-day bus passes we got at the central bus terminal in Vineyard Haven. Each spot had its special fascination.

In Edgartown, we took in the view of the busy harbor from the town deck overlooking the goings and comings of sailboats of all types and vintages, the ferry that connects the two sides of the harbor, and the classic summer homes in meticulously landscapes neighborhoods. Some interesting notes: The huge tree that is probably 250 years old, the sight easement donated by a local church to ensure a view of the harbor despite development of the residential neighborhood with private, view-obstructing, homes and the home that was built with a two-car garage by owners who apparently did not have the heard to chop down a tree in the driveway that now obstructs entry into the garages. (cont.)

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Sailing to Maine with Al and Robin Zager - Part 4 (cont.)

Oak Bluffs is a the home of a Methodist Camp Meeting Association village that is very similar to Ocean Grove. But I found the tiny summer cottages a bit more colorful and the winding, narrow paths more inviting. The open air tabernacle is smaller than the one in OG. Oak Bluffs also has a vast "great lawn" (I'm guessing it is 30-40 acres) that oversees Nantucket Sound. The Rocks informed us that the annual fireworks show in August (not this year) brings spectators with blankets that literally completely "blanket" the lawn for the lucky ones getting there early enough to listen to the live band concert from the gazebo while watching the "best fireworks show anywhere". (cont.)

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Sailing to Maine with Al and Robin Zager - Part 4 (cont.)

On Tuesday, we departed Lake Tashmoo in fog for our 7 hour passage to Block Island. Thanks to our GPS chart display and the radar that shows on it, we had little difficulty safely navigating until the fog lifted about 3 hours into the passage. We were never closer than about 1/3 mile from any other vessels. The buoy that was our first "mark" on the passage appeared about 200 feet away in just the spot we were aiming for at just the right projected time!

We got to the Great Salt Pond on Block Island (this former fresh water pond was opened to the sea by mankind many years ago) without incident as the skies started to clear a bit. That evening brought us another breathtaking sunset.

We anchored in Great Salt Pond for 4 nights, despite less than inviting weather, just because we love the place. Our new "Rocna" anchor held us firmly in winds that sometimes reached 25 knots. At the beginning of our trip, our former CQR anchor had not held in the sometimes poor-holding soft mud in this harbor. We took a dinghy ride to the Fred Benson Town Beach on the eastern side of the island. Normally, this beach and its pavilion are jammed-packed with beach goers. On Wednesday it was not. This was partly due to the fact that the island quickly begins to shut down for the season after Labor Day. But COVID sealed things up more than normal. Oh well, even though the cloudy, cooler weather meant we did not take a dip in the ocean, we still enjoyed a couple of hours of socially-distanced beach- relaxing.

On Friday, Robin baked two loaves of challah, an egg bread traditionally eaten on the Jewish Sabbath. We enjoyed the challah with our long-time friends, Gloria and Harold Redlick, on the deck of their home. They live on the island year-round. We had rented their home for one-week stays with our children and grandchildren during two different summers and have become friends with them ever since who we visit each time we get to the island. Gloria wrote a column for the weekly Block Island Times for many years until she retired from that gig a year or two ago. (cont.)

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Sailing to Maine with Al and Robin Zager - Part 4 (cont.)

Our summer sailing ended with a blast! We sailed from Block Island in 20-25 knot northeasterly winds and 5-6 foot waves to Newport, R.I. As predicted, around 1:00 pm the winds shifted to the east and began to subside to a more comfortable 10-15 knots. This change eased our passage quite a bit. It also made it easier to navigate through the city-like boat (mostly sailboats) traffic in the Newport area (club racers, classic sloops, an America's Cup 12 meter that now takes tourists on rides, cruisers like us, etc.). As we slipped under the Newport Bay Bridge (our first time north of that structure) and into Narragansett Bays, we passed the former Newport Naval Base to our right and, further north just past the northern tip of Conanicut Island (Jamestown) and to our left, the Quonset Point Naval Base (formerly home to aircraft carriers). The winds subsided to about 5 knots as we got closer to Warwick. So we ended the day's adventure by deploying our 63 horsepower diesel "iron sail".

After the Jewish High Holidays, we plan to do some sailing on Narragansett Bay, From the looks of it, we will have some delightful Fall days here before we put Shamayim to sleep here in Warwick for the winter.

We’ve included a couple of photos from our 2015 visit to Martha's Vineyard. The one is a year 1900 view from South Street Edgartown (maybe by the person who planted the tree?) I think the tree is not too far from where the photo was taken. But I think it was at least 100 years old already. It's a HUGE tree. See you soon.

This afternoon Robin and I took a walk around the fairly large marina in Warwick, Rhode Island where we are keeping Shamayim until next summer. We came upon the boat in attached photo. Noting it was "homeported" in Little Silver and knowing it is the kind of boat that Marty Torbert sold not too long ago, I sent the photo to Marty. Sure enough, "Magic Girl III" was Marty's boat! Of all places she could be . . .

Marty did not know where she had landed after he sold her. (cont.)

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Sailing to Maine with Al and Robin Zager - Part 4 (cont.)

We are back on the boat sailing on Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island. Yesterday we spent the day in Bristol, R.I. It's a beautiful place with a rich history. It is home to the Herreshoff Maritime Museum. Herreshoff Mfg. Co. built 3 or 4 of the swift sailboats that defended the America's Cup in the very early days. They were reknown sail and power boat innovators and builders. The museum is about the heritage of the company and the America's Cup. They have one of the more modern Cup boats on display outside. Here are a few photos you might like for the Float. Robin is in the one showing the whole boat so you get an idea of its size.

We hope you have enjoyed these reports of our blessed summer of 2020. We pray that the summer of 2021 will be COVID-free and that we will all be blessed by a year of sweetness, peace, health and good fortune. Al and Robin Zager.

Many thanks to

Al and Robin

And welcome back !

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More Tales from the Bunker - Jim Powers

These are some photos from a recent fishing trip to the West Branch of the Delaware in New York State. One morning it was foggy the next it was clear. No wonder the fish tasted funny!

Cows in fog

Spotted this flying fish in Ocean Grove

Cows on a clear day

Sunset on the Delaware River

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More Tales from the Bunker - Dan Levine

Fall is coming so I started out early heading to Colts Neck and stopped by Beacon Stables Riding school Met one of the trainers while I was walking around who gave me a tour of the faculty.

Snowy mountain in China

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More Tales from the Bunker - Bill and Lynne Tice

9/26 - Caravaned with the Porsche Club to Batsto Village in the Pinelands where surprise surprise the Model T club also showed up. 10/2 - Birthday Gift go-karting at the New Jersey Motorsports Park in Millville, NJ.

Root Beer Float October 2020 page 19 More Tales from the Bunker - Art and Lilly Zeller

We were in PR for the winter, planning on returning to NJ the 1st of April when Covid heated up. At that time, NJ was starting to get bad and PR was in good shape so Lilly and I decided to ride it out in PR. Plus we had unprecedented demand to rent our home in NJ from people anxious to get out of NYC. Most of the time was spent in our house in Culebra where there were no cases until July. With our renter leaving Labor Day, the situation had reversed .... NJ was in good shape, PR was a disaster. So, the issue was the plane flight as the highest risk. My daughter found disposable hazard suits for $20. We put them on just after passing TSA, along with masks, face guards, and gloves. The flight itself was fine .... they booked for a small plane (about 150 people) but used a large one (about 500), so we had plenty of open spaces around us. Upon arrival, we kept everything on until we got to our car pick-up. And then took everything off and disposed of them. Needless to say, we were quite a sight .... no one else was wearing one … and most only had face masks which were required, but few gloves and few face guards.

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Business Bulletin Board

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Business Bulletin Board (continued)