The Adventurers' Club News Dec 1990adventurersclub.org/archives/AC News/AC News Dec...

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GODDARDHR I STJANRUBINMENTEJORGENSENL I B[CAPMORRISHYSONL OVEMANWI RTZHALBERTLANDESMANHARRTSBERNESDAHLJOHNSONCARR MOORELANEODIERANDERSONPETERMANKOGENPOI NDEXTERSCHWE IGHA RTMORROWMAK I NENDICHNERWAHLROOSL I NEHANMCARTHURSTEEflVALO I SMEYE RSE VALENKOYAMADAKI NDREDBRAHMS ROTH ROCKSELMANR I DGE WAYWINNLEIGHTONBI RN IEHELSPERNACCREADYJOHNSONS[NTERMOOR EMCKEEWHEELE RZANEBARJAKJACKSONBEENEBANCROFTBAYL!YANDE R SONKLIKAWHITEFINIIEYREDAYYANDACARRPARKERSMITHLYTEBURLI NGAMES I [BE RTKN I GHTDONNELLYBIXONBROWNOCALLAGHANEPSTE I ND ELMONTEHUE1DI NGFIAUSDIJBOSEDEWEYPETERSONCHEESMANTAYLORSTO RMSDRAKERAMSAYN LLSSONSANDWICHBROCKHARMSWILL I AMSF REDER I CKSONBROWNHELLERDRINKWINECARRKYLEKENDALLCLARKMELCH I ORR OBERTSPAIGEBLIXTGILLILANDGLOVERtIARIJCOREYNETCEILKJTCH[NV OIISEYFRIE DHURLBUTTALBERTZEANANBALEYREEDCOOKCOILTATEREE DBOOTHFERR ISRANSDENSUTCLIFFEELRODROUSIILINDHOLMDELOACHP ETZAKCARRROSENBERTPARF ITTN[THERYMERRYIIUMELBAUGHBARKERB LOOMHANCOCKWOODARDARONOFFGERSTELCAMERONBARR[TFA ILLACEG AILSECHRISTCLEARYRIDINGTONPECKF1AMEBSENLABERGEILCZEKOL SONSEAMANOROSZENIIERLEHOBGOODFRI EDMANNDOOLITTLEPOL VE HAW K I NSONCOPELANDBABBITTBROWNRAZOOKBASCOMPLOUINMICHAELROS EDECOURSEYROBERTSBAGLEYGRIFFITHPIERREJOHNSONROIL ACARMS TRONG ZUMSTEI NMACDONALDLENKERMACDONALDNEIMANBACOMHOUSEE SHEKELTYPRICECOOKROLAI REMEEKERSONKEGEEROSSSIDELLBODEN ROB INSONALTF ILL I SCHS ILVERBROWNELLMUELLERCRAI GLAII RDCHAT WELLKLOHSMORGANMINOUDISMILLERLEWISBROWNBENNERLUDWIGJAN [S P RESTONCLEMENTSTRENHAIITHURAIJBERGMANCOREYADAMSHOWA R DD EW I TTFARNEYYOUNGCRA$ERRATHMANNBRIJCEFIELFERBROGERMOOREDA VISCHAS[BOIJENMCCARTNEYMURPHYNELSONBIVENSBERSSENHAGOPIA NMART I NEKH I GGERROSSGR[ENROBI NSONLI NDTRUESSMAHONTHOMSON ROULACJESSONCH[N[YWARDSECHR I STLEMONYONWHITMARSHCASSELL CALHOUNON[ALSTEPP SEASONS GREETINGS COLGANLAURANCEKERL ERJENSENYOUNGREEDSTORMHAALANDBAILEYGORI NRUCKERPR I CESTE V[NSONGODDARDWALLACEJOHNSTONAK I NG ILLESP I ELI NELEEKEMPLE

DECEMBER 1990

IMPORTANT NOTICE

ADVENTURERS CLUB NEWS

PUBLICATION OFFICE

HAS MOVED!

As of December 1, 1990

the Editorial and Publication Office

p.. has moved from Lake Havasu City, Arizona

to

2044 Ortega Court

Hemet, CA 92343

Phone: 1-714-658-3037

[Please note: in the November issue the area code was incorrectly listed as 619. The correct area code is 7141

Office Hours will remain the same

8:00 AN to 8:00 PM

'4.

ctub pebJ5 USPS 389-310

DECEMBER 1990

In this issue you will find - - on page

Unification, On A Smaller Scale --by lb Melchior #892

A Word From The Bridge --by President Bob Sandwick #909

Adventure Is Another Word For Danger --by Keith Young #565

Board Authorizes Quarters --A Report from President Sandwick

December 7, 1941-Hawaii-Pearl Harbor Day --by Bill Carr #855

Hurricane-Eye To Eye (Chapter 4) --by Al A. Adams #688

Meeting of October 18, 1990 --Bob Aronoff #837, Reporting

Sailing Around The Pacific Rim --by Peter Klika #943

OTHER FEATURES

S Some Important Dates

14 Annual Christmas Party

31 A Christmas Wish

3 9 11

15 19

23

26

28

December 1990 1090

ZlbbenturerzCtub Aau .5 USPS 389-310

The ADVENTURERS CLUB NEWS is the official publication of The Adventurers Club of

Los Angeles, California

ROBERT SANDWICK #909, Publisher

ROBERT WILLIAMS #905, Editor

S

ROBERT SANDWICK #909...............President

ROBERT SILVER #728......First Vice President

NOBLE TRENHAM #694.....Second Vice President

ROBERT PEREZ #958..................Secretary

KEITH CHASE #664...................Treasurer

FRANK HAIGLER #825 ............Past President

DIRECTORS

BIL BROWN #708 ALAN SIEBERT #932

ROBERT SECHRIST #828 MILT VALOIS #974

SVEN WAHLROOS #978 ART POINDEXTER #984

ROBERT SILVER #728 Program Chairman

(Res) 213-472-2062 (FAX) 213-478-3390

The ADVENTURERS CLUB NEWS (USPS 389-310) is published monthly by The Adventurers

Club of Los Angeles. P. 0. Box 15791, Los Angeles, California 90015

Subscription $15.00 per year

S

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Adventurers Club, P. 0. Box 15791, Los

Angeles, CA 90015.

Manuscripts and other items intended for publication by the mem-bers of the Club should be sent to the Publication Office, 2044 Ortega Court, Hemet, CA 92343. 'Phone is 1-714-658-3037. Hours are 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM. Lead time for publication is a minimum of three months. Adventure stories, human interest stories, Or other items submitted by the author are always welcome.

Page 2 ADVENTURERS CLUB NEWS

by lb Melchior #892

UN+F'ICAT•I•Q N ON A SMALLER SCALE

lb Melchior #892

I As I walked along the beach the sand was getting into my low cut shoes. The last time I had made that walk, that had not been a problem. I had worn GI boots. Omaha Beach was the same, and

yet it was not. Where forty-six years before it had been strewn with military equipment, cram-med with soldiers, pocked with shell craters and peppered with jagged, sharply pointed landing craft obstacles and the debris Of war amid tangles of barbed wire, now it was dotted with COlOrful beach towels on which bare-breasted young women soaked in the sun, a beach where chil-

Omaha Beach, France and Germany re-

visited forty six years later. lb has

an unusual experience.

dren and dogs frolicked merrily. The steeply rising stony bluffs and sheer cliffs immediately beyond the sand had then been denuded of all vegetation which might have provided cover for an advancing enemy and obstruc-ted the view from the massive bunkers and pillboxes that stud-ded the bluffs; now lush green vegetation concealed the hostile and threatening heights.

Following a photocopy of an old, tattered, military map, split in all the folds and wa-ter stained in one corner, a map which I had carried all through World War II, with my wife I was retracing that route road by road, villageby village forty-five years later, begin-ning at Omaha Beach, where, as a member of the US Military In-telligence Service, I had waded ashore shortly after D-Day.

And now, in this year of 1990 I was about to visit all the memories that still filled my mind, and carry out a German

December 1990 Page 3

UNIFICATION... (Continued)

unification of my own, albeit on a smaller scale than the one on everybody's lips.2

Before we set out on our trek we paid our respects at the Am-erican Military Cemetary. As I stood in the midst of the vast sea of stark, white crosses and Stars of David, I could not help reflecting that by giving their lives all these young men had made it possible for me to wade ashore on that beach unharmed. It was a humbling feeling.

We then began our odyssey of remembrance. We drove through the little Normandy villages with still remembered names that I had passed through forty-five years ago: Saint Lo, Caen, and Falaise, then ravaged by war, now rebuilt and as charming and picturesque as ever, on to Pa-ris. In Paris I was attached to CIC Detachment 212 the Coun-ter Intelligence Corps detach-ment of XII Corps, spearhead of Patton's famed Third Army.

The detachment consisted of 36 men, divided into six teams, and as a member of one of these teams I advanced through eas-tern Ftance, the Saar and Lux-embourg during the Battle of the Bulge, across the Rhine not on a beautiful and graceful bridge, but on a pontoon bridge

2 The unification of East and West Ger-

many, as this story was being written.

protected from enemy artillery fire by a pall of smoke, and thrust through Germany from

west to east working as a CIC agent on a great variety of ca-ses which sometimes took us be-hind emeny lines.

As I retraced this route, this time with my wife instead of my CIC team mates, and in a Sierra Ford instead of a jeep equipped with a wire cutter, each case, each encounter once again came alive in my mind. Even though therehad been chan-ges through the years, I recog-nized the towns and villages, and I even found many of the buildings we had occupied as CIC Headquarters still standing.

Some of the towns we visited were in what was still East Ger-many, although the borders were abandoned. It was eerie to be able to drive past the looming watch towers and the forboding guard houses, past the concrete barriers and the barbed wire fences, all totally deserted, and realize that only a few short months before people ris-ked and sometimes lost their lives in attempting to reach freedom.

In East Germany we stopped at the huge prison complex sit-uated on the outskirts of the village of Untermasefeld Which looms, forbidding and grim over the peaceful landscape. I had been there before. In April,


UNIFICATION (continued)

1945, when American forces li-berated the notorious prison where thousands of men and wo-men slowly were being starved to death by the Nazis. It was the first such prison or camp I had seen, and I was shaken. The survivors who could still func-tion, had composed, and on the prison press, run off a note of gratitude written in French and Dutch. It said: "Our glorious American liberators wrest us from the inhuman life of impri-sonment at Untermassfeld. The radiant sun of liberty floods our overflowing hearts with hope."

yE-Day found me on a sortie into Czechoslovakia. The war in Europe had come to an end, but I stayed on in Germany for several months of occupation duty in Bavaria, most of the time in a little town called Kotzting, where we had taken o-ver a small hotel called Gastof Karl Dreger as our dC Head- quarters. The hotel was still there. It was still called Gas-tof Karl Dreger.

In Regensburg, where we were also stationed for a while, as I Stood watching the building on Maxjmjljanstrasse that had ser-ved as our CIC quarters, I re-called with great fondness the fabulous woman who, for a week, had stayed with us. Each mor-ning at 6:00 AM she would greet

us with hot coffee, fresh toast and a radiant smile. We all fell in love with her. Her name was Marlene Deitrich; she was in Germany entertaining the troops and she had elected to stay with us while in Regens- burg. She was as fabulous as she looked and, being German-born, she spoke the language fluently. We let her do some routine interrogation and she was excellent at it.

We had to confiscate the cameras of everyone

in the town of Simmern

But the incident on my re-visit to World War II which was the most memorable took place in Simmern, a colorful little town some fifty miles west of Mainz.

I had been in Simmern in March of 1945. At that time every German who owned a camera was - for obvious reasons - ordered to turn it in; we could not af-ford to have snapshots of our activities fall into the wrong hands. These confiscated cam-eras were collected in a big bin or trough, often a bathtub from a bombed-out house. Gasoline was poured over them and they were burned.

In Simmern I spied a beauti-ful, in those days state-of-the-art, Zeiss-Ikon Konta camera on a tub full of cameras to be de-stroyed. Having no camera of


The Camera -

'Liberated' in 1945, returned in 1990

UNIFICATION (Continued)

my own, I 'liberated' it for my personal use. When I opened it I noticed that the owner had scratched his name and address into it. I thought nothing of it at the time.

I carried this camera with me all through the campaign. With it I photographed images of the ravages of war and the re-building of peace - and, of course, Marlene Detrich. When I returned to America I took the first pictures of my son in New York, and at the rehearsals of the Perry Como Show on CBS-TV, which I directed, and later when I moved to California, I chronicled my Son's first visit

to Disneyland and took pictures onthe sets of the first motion pictures I directed in Holly- wood. For many years I used this camera; it had seen and recorded for me many wonderful moments and places the world over.

And now, as I was about to return to Simmern, I thought how interesting it would be if I could return this camera to its erstwhile owner, forty-five years later.

I had been in Simmern - or rather through Simmern - once before after the war. It was in 1970. With my father, the late Wagnerian tenor, Lauritz Melchior, I was touring Germany visiting his old fellow opera singers. We were on our way to Mainz, driving along the Rhine, when we ran into trouble. The Rhine had overflowed. There was no way to reach Mainz except by a detour. And what a detour! Bumper to bumper traffic, sna-king and snailing up into the Rhine mountains following the only main road available, a de-tour of over one hundred miles. It was a bleak picture of hours and hours of tedious driving.

And then, all of a sudden there was a sign pointing down a narrow side road. SIMJ'IERN. Quickly I turned off. It was a jump back in time, but I remem-bered the road. Tweflty_fjve


UNIFICATION (C0ntlnued)

years before I had pushed along it in my jeep, and I knew that the road through Simmern would take us right down to the city of Mainz. In the pitch darkness we followed it - and arrived at our destination less than two hours later.

In the glove compartment of our car lay the camera I had 'liberated' in Simmern with the name of the town scratched into it! Now would bemy first chance really to re-visit the town. And by then I had a new camera of my own.

So, I wrote a letter to the mayor of Simmern, explaining the circumstance of the 'liberated' camera to him and asking him if he could put me in touch with a Herr Schnig and gave him the address which had been scratched into the camera. I quickly received a reply.

Birgermeister Bungenstab had, he wrote, been astonished at my letter. Herr Schnig, the elder had passed away but his son Die-ter Sch3nig still lived in Sim-mer, in fact, he worked at the mayoralty as a City architect. He Would be delighted to get the camera back which he remembered using as a fifteen-year-old. Moreover, Mayor Bungenstab invited us to a special recep-tion at the Rathaus in Simmern, at Which occasion I might return

the camera with proper ceremony. And so, on August 30, 1990,

at a festive reception in the Town Hall of Simmern, at which I was presented with a memorial plate and a beautiful illustra-ted book about the town, with press and radio representatives recording speeches by Mayor Bun-genstab, Herr Schnig and me, I ceremoniously returned the cam-era to Herr Schnig, thanking him for the loan of it.

In my conversation with Herr Schnig after the reception I told him of my attempt to find and re-photograph alithe places Ihad photographed with his cam-era during the War. Unfortuna-tely, I told him, the only pic-

lb Melchior photographing Dieter Sch6nig photographing him with the returned camera on the steps of lb's former dC Headquarters.


UNIFICATION (Conc I us ion)

ture from Simmern was one of me standing at the front door to a villa we had used as our dC offices, a door with an intri-cate iron grill across the glass front and a distinctive stone carving on a pillar next to it. But there was, of course, no way of finding Just a door. I had a xerox copy of the photo along and I showed it to Herr Schnig. His eyes lit up. But that is

no problem, he said, no problem at all. That is the front door to the house of my neighbor, two houses removed!

And with the mayor and Herr Schonig leading the way we all trouped to the house Herr Sch-nig had pointed out - and there was the door, the iron grill and the stone carving!

As I posed on the steps as I had in 1945, I watched Herr Schnig, re-united with a small piece of his past, delightedly examine his camera and I thought it was symbolic of another uni-fication, that of his country, that of East Germany and West Germany, and I silently prayed thatthat unification would bode well for Europe - and for the world.

Pick up a copy of lb Meichior's latest book: "QUEST - SEARCHING FOR GERMANY'S NAZI PAST". (Presidio Press $19.98).

SOME IMPORTANT BATES

NOVEMBER 29TH LADIES NIGHT

AND

INSPECTION OF PROPOSED NEW QUARTERS

DECEMBER 6111 BUSINESS MEETING

AND A

SPECIAL MEETING OF

THE MEMBERSHIP

DECEMBER 13TH ANNUAL

CHRISTMAS PARTY

NO MEETINGS DECEMBER 20 & 27


& M OOMID) E©R1 VHI~ 0:)) ROD Ri[E... ¶ president Bob Sandwick brings us a review of recent events.

§

Your President has been away on a badly needed vacation to several locations in the East that included Central New York State primarily in the Finger Lakes area, Blue Mountain Lake in the Adirondack Mountains, a convention in St. Louisand cen-tral Indiana. All this included visiting friends and relatives, some fresh water sailing (for a change) canoeing and climbing a small mountain in the Adiron-dacks. The reason for this ope-ning paragraph is a big excuse for not having "A Word From The Bridge" in last month's edition of the NEWS.

Immediately upon my return, the Club had a delightful boa-ting weekend at the Isthmus of Catalina Island. Over 70 members and their friends, wives or whoever found their way over on various boats or commercial transportation. Six of our mem-ber's boats were pressed into service to make the crossing, with the farthest crossing being from Oxnard by past president

Chet Sidell. Even though the wind was light, your President with the able crew of his wife Ruthie and John and Carol God-dard was able to make half the crossing over under sail and all the way back without the aid of power.

Board member Milt Valois put

together a fine array ofactivi-ties that included two social hours and one picnic style din-ner at the Banning House and a dinner atDougs Harbor Reef Res-taurant. The west end of the island, which is seldom visited was explored up to Parsons Lan-ding. And who did we find? Dave Dahl who was camping out with the Sierra Club. Thanks are al-


A WORD FROM THE BRIDGE (Continued) -

so in order for Steve Peterman for procuring the liquid re-freshment and transporting them to the island and up the hill for our traditional Puka Puka bar. It was appreciated by ev-eryone.

It was a great weekend and we owe a great deal of thanks to Milt for the many hours of work making arrangements inclu-ding several phone calls to in-sure that we would have a great weekend. Thank you Milt.

THE NIGHT OF HIGH ADVENTURE

Two weeks later was our an-nual "Night of High Adventure' at the Odyssey Restaurant in Granada Hills. At last report, 375 members and their guests attended the affair. In his usual style, Alan saw to it that the night was well thought out, the food delicious and the pro-gram superb.

Alan spent many hours or more likely, man-days putting this event together which he did vir-tually single handed. Every-thing went well except that the President screwed up the Silent Toast and put the salute to our flag in the wrong place. After one of our prominent members described 'adventure' as a person bouncing off a bungee cord from the Royal Gorge bridge and another who described adventure as an expedition that got screwed

up, your President, before the meeting broke up, properly de-fined adventure as written by Wilfred Peterson which you will find on page 3 of your Roster.

Thank you Alan for your hard work to produce such an outstan-ding evening.

AND NOW ABOUT NEW QUARTERS

Other events are scheduled for the remainder of this year. You will be reading in this is-sue about the great possibility of renting quarters for our Club. The Board has listened to your many concerns about this subject which are as follows: location, size and cost. It was decided to take another look at downtown Los Angeles and Alan Siebert did and came up with a new location which is part of the Transamer-ica complex. These quarters are about 6 blocks from our old quar-ters on Pico Blvd. This will make it easier for everyone, for you will be driving the opposite direction of the commuters.

There is an article about these quarters in this edition of the ACNEWS. A 10 year lease requires a vote of the member-ship, but before that happens, another event is scheduled at the 485-seat auditorium in the Transamerica Building. This event will be called "The Pres-ident's Night." Maybe this will become the start of a new tra-dition in the Club. The purpose of this event is to have an ev-

(Concluded on page T)


A•D•V•E•NT•U.R•E

Is Another Word For DANGER

by Keith D. Young 1#565

EDITOR'S NOTE: The L.A. Times recently ran a piece entitled THE THRILL THAT CAN KILL. It pointed out that wild river rafting can be dangerous to your health. Not only are rafters sometimes injured in collisions with rocks and other submerged obstacles but a number have even been drowned. As a one—time wild river man himself, Keith Young 565 wrote a trenchant response to the arti-cle, only to see merely half or less of it published. Herewith is the article in its original form. (RCW)

§

Running river rapids can in-duce adrenaline highs, and they Can indeed be adventures. Which is how they are often commerci-ally advertised. This being acceptable to those responding to these hyperbolic ads which seem to place inordinate reli-ance on the word 'adventure'. The amusing thing is that come-ons such as these are, I believe Unconsciously correct. So much SO that if the basic responders

to such urgings were to compre-hend and appreciate the exact meaning of the word 'adventure' there might be a dramatic fall-ing-off in such paid adventures and their possible concomitants.

The fact appears to be that what most people desire and are willing to pay for is not genu-ine adventure but rather a dan-ger-free simulacrum of such. Thrill me, they implore; scare me even, however (they imply) just don't put me in any real danger or cause me injury, or


ADVENTURE IS ANOTHER WORD FOR DANGER (Continued)

I'll sue the pants off you. Theme parks, with their high

speed, cleverly-designed rides, are especially good at this sort of thing, and people swarm to enjoy these attractions. But let there be some mishap, fatal or even non-fatal, and though responsibility may have been priorly disclaimed, lust watch the multi-million dollar law suit that will almost inevitably ensue.

In fact, however, if the ride had been advertised as an 'adventure', then the unfortunate rider would really have only himself to blame if he had fal- len or been thrown out of his seat, or had otherwise suffered personal injury or death. This last, of course, stemming from his acceptance of what had been represented to him as being on the order of a real adventure with thrills enough to be long remembered.

If we turn to the dictionary (in this case Webster's Seventh New Collegiate) we find first that the word itself is defined not once but twice, thus:

1) ad-ven-ture: an under-taking involving danger and unknown risks, 2) adventure: to expose to danger or loss.

This is precisely why I and fellow-adventurers smile wryly and raise a dubious eyebrow When we read an advertisement for some restaurant offering what it seems pleased to call Adven-tures in Eating. Not that some of us haven't dined in just such restaurants. Cheap Charlie's in downtown Saigon was one such.

Greasy Nicks was a prime Nazi bombing target.

Charlie specialized in sea food (invariably of questionable age and condition) and you were vir-tually guaranteed the runs, if lucky, or hepatitis if not so lucky. Then there was Greasy Mick's off Fleet Street in Lon-don during the "Blitz". He of-fered tasty cuts of off-ration horse meat, and for a modest enough price, but his place of business seemed uncomfortably close to prime Nazi bomber tar-gets in the vicinity.

These and other adventures I survived. However, even at my now some-what advanced age I yet seek the odd adventure or two. Though not on today's somewhat crowded rivers I might say. I made my descent of the Colorado years ago in a four-man, oar-powered raft, taking 13 days to go from Lee's Ferry to Peachtree Canyon, some 200 plus miles.

But I would still insist on the real thing rather than some


ADVENTURE IS ANOTHER WORD FOR DANGER (Conclusion)

essentially safe but thrilling motorized ride open to paraple-

gics and dialysis patients. No put-down intended there, by the way; I heartily and sincerely commend these handicapped folk for essaying such trips and un-der such conditions.

Not all of us, even at our best, were capable of Everest, but we could at least try the Matterhorn, half the height of Everest. Then, later, in our declining years, the other one at Disneyland. But please, do not call this an adventure when what you really mean is nothing more than a safe thrill. Same thing for our rivers, East, West and hemispheric, remembering, however, that some are still hostile and dangerous enough to be truly adventuresome.

§

ADDENDUM: Leaving out such gen-uine articles as solo round-the worlders such as Joshua Slocum, Ed Boden and others, how does one identify adventure afloat? Well, how's this for starters? Transiting the Canadian North-west Passage, a voyage which even today is somewhat off the beaten trail. Even though the trail has been beaten.

In its 80 year history, the Canadian Northwest Passage from

the Pacific Ocean through Baf-fin Bay, Davis Strait and the Labrador Sea to the Atlantic Ocean has seen only 45 complete transits, 29 of these being by Canadian ships. The 16 foreign crossings comprised 11 U. S. ships, one Norwegian,cne Dutch, one Japanese, one Bahamian and one Liberian.

The historic Norwegian cros-sing by Roald Amundsen (Los An-geles Adventurers Club member no. 188A) was one of discovery, of exploration; the Dutch and the Japanese were adventure crossings; while the Bahamian and Liberian were pleasure crui-ses for wealthy tourists, these being by the Lindblad Explorer and the World Discovery, and some considerable time after the trail had been beaten by pre-vious ships which, with their crews, might properly be said to have embarked on "an under-taking involving danger and un-known risks." Now that's adven-ture.

NOVEMBER 29TH Ladies Night

and Inspection of

Proposed New Quarters

Page 13 December 1990

0(nuttal (Ebri".0ma.5Vartv DECEMBER 13, 1990

Mendocino St.

C

> Q)

a

New Yor, Drive .

C a

Washington 3oulevard

Orange Grove Boulevard

210 EHE AY

olorado B ulevard NORTH

The President, Robert K. Sandwick,

and the Board of Directors wish to in-

vite you and your gentleman guest to

the Annual Traditional Christmas Party

at the Altadena Town and Country Club,

on the evening of December 13, 1990.

Reception at 7:00 pm, no host bar.

Dinner at 8:00 pm. Roast turkey with

all the fixings. Join with the distin-guished membership and guests of the

evening. Please send reservation requests to

Keith Chase made out to THE ADVENTUR-

ERS CLUB in advance. $30 per person. Our limit is 120 so be in early with

your reservations to guarantee a place

for you and your guest. The traditional dinner is a dress

affair so black tie, business, ethic

as well as military mess dress with miniatures. Of course gentlemen only.

Send checks made out to the Adven-

turers Club to: Keith Chase

918 Avenida Salvador

San Clemente, CA 92672


Atk thae. q&6 we may have sound a home.

BOARD AUTHORIZES QUARTERS GOOD NEWS! At the October 6,

1990 meeting of the Board of Directors, they unanimously au-thorized a negotiating team to hammer out the final terms of a ten-year lease for quarters for our Club. If successful with the negotiationsarri with appro-val of the Club, a meeting could occur in our own quarters as early as March of next year.

During the past 3 years over 150 properties were reviewed by many members of the Club and the right place at the right time or at the right price was not found. Many members expressed displeasure of air present loca-tion because of the difficult, frustrating drive to reach Pas-adena. It seemed that anything affordable was way out from downtown Los Angeles. For that reason, another look was taken of downtown, and we found that to lease it would be approxima-telythe same as Glendale, Pasa-dena, Monrovia, Torrance and other far-flung areas.

With the efforts of Alan Sie-bert, he found the Transamerica complex and they are interested in us. The original 32 floor tower has been around for seve-

ral years. However, they recently built a parking structure and a brand new building next to that. It is in the basement of this virgin building that cur quarters would be located. De- tails about this location that is about a half a dozen blocks from our former Pico Blvd quar-ters are as follows:

Size: 3,485 square feet Parking: Secured free par-king, attached structure Accessibility: Opposite to commuter traffic, from all directions. Inside building elevators Catering: We can use our own Improvements: Up to $70,000 of tenant improvements paid for by the landlord (this includes Us, hung ceilings carpets, lighting, fire spr-inklers, heating, air condi-tioning, Puka Puka bar. Ex-tent of tenant improvements are still under negotiations Lease Terms: Ten years with one rent adjustment at the five year mark. Rent: Dollar amount is still under negotiations. It is expected that the final

terms of the lease will be pre- (Continued on page 18)


SECRETARY

ow -.1wjj' fr" FIRST VICE PRESIDENT

SILVER, ROBERT H. I.

JANE S.

O1F1FlIC/ 1RW 1UF

LANE, MARK

DIRECTOR

MORROW, CARL

GALLOW)

SECOND VICE PRESIDENT

PETERMAN, STEVEN A.

CHASE, KEITH H.

I DENT

CTO(I FOR 119911

DIRECTOR

(, JACK, M.D. TRENHAM, NOBLE B.

MORE ON QUARTERS sented to tI Board of Directors at their November meeting. If the terms are acceptable to the Board, the mechanism will be set in motion for voting by the membership at a Special Meeting either December 6th or 13th. The November 29,'1990 meeting

will be The President's Night witha special adventure program open to guests and ladies. Spe-cial invitations will be sent to our membership, former mem-bers that live in the Southern California area and to all the offices in the Transamerica Building complex.

With the army of employees that migrate tothe Central City every day to work in that buil-ding complex, there has to be many qualified adventurers who would love to avoid the going home traffic at least one day a week by spending an evening at The Adventurers Club. This spe-cial meeting will be a great showcase to snag several pros-pective members and to the many former members who have dropped their membership because of our inability to find reasonably located quarters. It is hoped that we will be able to walk through air prospective new quar-ters.

Be sure to save the evening of November 29th.

SEE YOU THERE!

THE PRESIDENT'S COLUMN (Concluded)

nirigwith an outstanding adven-ture program and (hopefully) a walk through where our quarters would be located. It is sched-uled for Thursday evening, No-vember 29th and guests (inclu-ding ladies) are invited. You willte receiving a letter invi-ting you to this special event.

The last two events will be a special meeting of the member-ship to approve the lease for the quarters and our traditional Christmas Party. They will oc-cur on December 6th and 13th. So mark your calendars accor-dingly.

This has been an exciting year and it is most over. The real frosting on the cake would be to know that we could again oc-cupy our own quarters and hang up our heads and horns in 1991.

--Bob Sandwick, President

I.]•;ii H[$JI.1uJ'I[e

uii i .i .4c


December 7, 1941 - Pearl Harbor Day - Do you remember where you were on that fateful day? Bill Carr remembers, all

too well .....

DECEMBER 7,1941-HAWAII- PEARL HARBOR DAY

A SOLDIER'S STORY OF THE ATTACK

by William L. Carr 1855

It was peaceful in Des Moines Iowa my home town in July 1941. Our country was not at war how-ever Germany's Hitler was rava-ging Europe. It seemed far away to most Americans. There was a large isolation movement in our country. Some famous people, such as Charles Lindberg, the famed trans-Atlantic pilot was very active in seeking to keep our country out of Europe's pro-lerns.

I was employed with a large wholesale food company and was twenty two years old at that time. One day on my lunch hour I walked to down town Des Moines and entered the US Army Recrui-ting Office. In somewhat dismal surroundings, a sergeant was surprised to see a young man dressed in a suit and tie stan-ding in his small office. I in-formed him I wished to join the Army. He eagerly invited me to sit down and discuss the matter. He had me fill out all the ne-cessary papers and affix my sig-nature to them. I then informed the sergeant I had never been out of the state of Iowa and wished to 1e sent some place far away. He answered that instead of Fort Des Moines he could send me to the state of Missouri for my recruit training. I replied "You don't understand, sergeant


PEARL HARBOR DAY 1941 (Continued)

I want to be sent far, far away for my training and duty". He spent some time going through papers and manuals and then in-formed me he could send me to Hawaii or to the Philippines. "Where is that?" I asked. He said "It's out there in the Pa-cific Ocean someplace. Now which do you want?" At this point in time it was like asking to go to the moon! I hesitated a few minutes and replied "Oh I don't know. Well, let's make it Ha-waii". That decision would have an important effect upon the rest of my life.

Within three days I was on a train heading for San Francisco, California. I was seeing coun-try I had never seen before. An Army tug boat took me to Angel Island, (next to Alcatraz Is- land). Within two weeks I was on a troop ship sailing to the Hawaiian Islands. It was ncAu-gust, 1941. Hawaii was a para-dise in those days and it was exciting for me to be there.

My recruit training was with the famous 21st Division Wolf Hounds at Schofield Barracks. Becoming a regular Army soldier was a proud event for me in my new profession as a soldier.

Saturday, December 6, 1941, a group of friends and I were in a car about to drive over to the small town of Wahiawa to have a

good time. A sergeant called out "Carr, you have a letter" and handed it to me in the auto. As we drove off I opened the letter from my former employer in Des Moines. It notified me that it was necessary for them to cancel my group life insur-ance effective immediately. I

I 1IXJLD REMEMBER IIDSE - REMARKS 17 HOURS lATER!

laughed and told my buddies in the car that I sure didn't need life insurance in this beauti-ful, peaceful Hawaii. I would remember those remarks about 17 hours later! At that time we did not have GI Insurance. That night,Saturday December 6, 1941 I went to bed early, got under my mosquito net, looked out of the window atthe beautiful moon and went to sleep in peaceful Hawaii. I was not to enjoy this sleep of peace for more than three more long years.

Sunday morning, December 7th all of the soldiers in our bar-racks were sleeping in. A few were in Honolulu or other parts of the island. I got up early, my usual custom, to have break-fast down in the mess hall. It was necessary to be in proper uniform to do this. Only a very small number of us had breakfast on Sunday mornings. Most soldiers preferred to sleep in.

After my meal I went back up stairs, sat on my bunk and looked

Page -20 ADVENTURERS CLUB NEWS

DECEMBER 7, 1941 (Continued) -

out of the window toward Kole-Kole Pass, a large V-shape Cut in the mountain. Within minutes I noticed a large flight of sin-gle engine aircraft flying thru the pass and coming our way. The U.S. Army was the first target of the Japanese. (I had a life long interest in aviation because my uncle wasa pilot and I had been around air planes all my life. I also built model planes. I subsequently became a pilot). I mention this be-cause of what follows.

PLANES--RED MEATBALLS ON THE WINGS--ZEROS!!

Schofield Army Barracks was adjacent to Wheeler Field, home of U.S. Army fighter planes. As I watched the fighters coming in fast andlaw I knew they were Japanese! I could see the large round, red meat balls on the wings and recognized the Zeros. They came in solo that I could see the mustache on the Japanese pilot's face. They were shoot-ing at us with their machine guns.

I shouted loudly, "Everybody get up. These are Jap planes and are attacking us". The soldiers yelled at me saying these were our own planes on exerci- ses. (Unfortunately most people on the island, military and civilian, shared this opinion).

I was told to shut up and let them sleep. I then ran down stairs to find our old 1st Ser-geant. I located him and advi-sed him that the planes were Japanese. He told me I was a Section 8 - nuts - in army lan-guage.

It was not too long before everyone realized we were under attack by Japanese fighters and fighter bombers. Wheeler Field hangars were being bombed. I could see hangars completely explode with airplanes and men going straight up. The Japs were strafing rows ofP40's and other types of air craft setting them on fire. Every time a bomb ex-ploded the pressure of the shock wave made me feel like I was being squeezed and my ears were ringing from strafing and bomb explosions.

During the attack I saw a Hawaiian woman run out of her small house in the NCO area. It was the wrong time! A Zero was coming in low strafing us and I could see the bullets from his machine guns hitting the dirt right up to the woman and beyond. She appeared to be dead with an unborn baby. All of this action started about 7:55 A.M.

Schofield Barracks was in a state of pandemonium. We were trying to get ammunition so we could fire back at the planes. Machine guns were being set up on top of most barracks. Sol-


tack we proceeded to get organ-ized and most units began to leave for their assigned posi-tions on the island. We expec-ted the air attack to be fol-lowed up by landings of Japanese troops. My unit sat up all night at Schofield holding our rifles with fixed bayonets. The Japa-nese never came back. That night we shot at anything that

I EMPTIED MY RIFLE INTO THE FLYING PLANE...

moved including airplanes. One plane came over us low. We could see the flashes from his exhaust stacks. I emptied my rifle into the flying plane as did every one else. We heard him go down near Wheeler Field. The next day we went out to get a piece of the Japanese plane. It was one of our own Navy planes which had been trying to land. I be-lieve the pilot got out alive. This same day I had to go to the Schofield Cemetery and saw rows of dead soldiers. The Navy dead were buried near Pearl Harbor at a place called Red Hill.

Subsequently I went to the South Pacific to participate in capturing islands from the ene-my. After three years I was sent back to Officers School in the States.

December 7, 1941, Pearl Har-bor Day, is a time in history this country should always re-member.

E ANOTHER PEARL HARBOR

PEARL HARBOR 1941 (Continued)

diers were shooting back with rifles, B.A.R.'s, pistols and anything we could get our hands on. In the sky above us a few of our own fighters were flying. They shot down some Zeros and we cheered loudly!

Sometime during the attack I was assigned, with threenen and a sergeant, to go over to an area between Schofield and Whee-ler -to look for a crated emer- gency generator. There was a white milk truck in froritof our barracks. Our sergeant told the local Japanese civilian driver to get out. He confiscated the milk truck and we drove off to- wards Wheeler. It was a mad- house. Airplanes flying low, hangars and planes burning, run-fling men, wounded men and dead men. There were long lines of ambulances.

We located the large crate containing the generator. I climbed up on top to try to cut the metal bands. At that time I felt a hot, sharp pain in my left hand. A piece of metal had gone through the knuckle of my thumb on the left hand. Proba-bly a piece of shrapnel from a bomb. There was no time for first aid. I just wrapped it up tight with my handkerchief. The scars are still there.

After the second and last at-NEVER SHALL THERE E


by Al A. Adams #688

Hurricane-Eye To Eye Chapter 4

Through the crashing and the yacht's rolling every movement was dangerous. Tons of water outside seemed striving to get at them. It was frightening below decks on this violent gyra-ting roller coaster in the black darkness where sounds, vertigo and violent movements were not the least sympathetic!

oOo - -- We shot out of the cone now

at hull speed with no sail up. QUEEN MAB had retained her masts for which I was thankful. We needed those masts for the en-gine gears were a problem. This was now a sailing vessel with no operable auxiliary power.

For the next seven hours the QUEEN was kept dead before the whole gale and seas. Our escape was working, the hurricane's center was moving away from us, I hoped. We slammed through the darkness until dawn. What a re-lief, to see around this wild scene with its black ominous clouds and crashing seas. What a sight the QUEEN must have been in those tumultous seas scudding along without sails, getting slammed and buried, rolling and pitching with a bone in her

teeth. The wind velocity dropped and

hovered between 63 and 70 mph and the seas seemed larger and more mountainous, peaking high-er asthe velocity was dropping. Their breaking tops were not be-ing blown off so much as the wind decreased. Rain poured down. The big drops in that ve-locity stung. It was the nois-iest storm I have ever experi-enced.

A beautiful rainbow was some cheer but the moment was sud-denly jarred. I looked over my shoulder as two big seas came slamming together. The rogue wave peaked and broke heavily over the yacht. The crash was a chiller. As soon as the QUEEN rose so I could breathe, I saw only the masts. All 83 feet of


HURRICANE-EYE TO EYE (Continued from preceding page)

the hull was buried in deep blue green and foam. First up, came the davits and finally the decks. This wave could have brought our demise. It sounded like the decks had caved in. The next big sea crashed into her broad transom and shot water high in all directions. The hatch opened and heads popped out as the seas poured away. The crew was anx-ious to learn my fate as well as their own. The crash on deck and on the transom turned them pale. It was good to see signs of life. None were hurt but all were soaked and bruised.

I asked that somebody go for-ward below decks and check the hull for damage. The crew re-turned and reported that the foredeck had sprung, knocking some washers off the copper ri-vets of the deck beams, other-wise she had held. That was too close.

The seas continued huge and crashing. The gale held but seemed to be changing and vary-ing its velocity which was still too much wind for making sail. There was plenty of hull speed without sail. The rudder became loose and was thumping and was a worry for I couldn't undo my safety lines to begin an inspec-tion to see what was happening. It was a sheathed wooden rudder

post, probably the original from 1910. Over every big comber there was a hard thump. We nee-ded that rudder.

By mid-afternoon, the wind dropped to 44 m.p.h. No engine and a loose rudder were things to anticipate. Hal came up and I got a rundown of events below decks that had occurred at the peak of the hurricane. Several were bruised from being thrown across their cabins. One girl had tried to light the galley

Through the crashing and the yacht's rolling, every movement was

dangerous.

stove. The several tries as the boat rolled had allowed gas to accumulate around the burners. That free gas exploded in her face singing her hair and burn-ing her eyelids and eyebrows.

Later, I learned that at each heavy crash the crew below would groan, lie tight in their cor-ners, wedged flat with arms and legs stretched tense to keep from rolling and being thrown across the cabin. Tons of water outside seemed striving to get at them. It was frightening be-low decks on this violent gyra-ting roller coaster inthe black darkness where sounds, vertigo and violent movements were not the least sympathetic.

Through the crashing and the


HURRICANE (Continued)

yacht's rolling, every movement was dangerous. Just to be lying down was labor and to hear the shrieking and vibrating that had raged all about gave little com-fort. One of the crew later said "The howls and high pitched screaming wind through the rig-ging was something of human sounds during rage and pain."

To open the hatch was to let in those frenzied sounds of the hurricane and the solid salt brine that seemed to take the opportunity to rush below. The entire interior had been running with water as though the horren-dous pressures were driving it through the seams and joiner work.

The table, the fireplace and the big desk had come loose and

were trashing the salon.

The gimbled table throw bolt had let go so the table with its heavy lead ballast, had disin-tegrated. The fireplace had come free of the bulkhead and had raced so many times around the salon that it no longer was a fireplace. The roll top desk was jammed against the salon door so the crew had no access to the salon. The interior of the yacht was as wet as the ex-

tenor with water coming in from everywhere. Hurricane velocity had driven the water through ev-ery crevice. Wood panels and cabinetry ran with water. The fellows had spelled each other for fifteen hours of manning the manual bilge pumps.

I was exhausted, shaking and hungry. Hal took the helm after untying me. We could live with 45 miles of wind. It seemed like nothing now, but it pushed the seas hard. My eyes had no whites and the lids and my face were swollen. One of the crew remarked, "You don't look like yourself".

I didn't feel like myself. My legs wouldn't work. I was cold and numb. Everyone rallied to overcome our situation as best we could. The forward hatch was opened between seas so that one of the fellows could get be-low. It was closed again and battened. We waited for him to clear the desk, table, fireplace pieces and all to be able to move through the salon and pas-sages.

Hal yelled, "Ship on the ho-rizon ahead to port!"

[A ship, a dying wind and some food brings this wild ride to a close in

our January issue.]

December 1990. •-. Page 25

A Recording of History OUR THURSDAY NIGHT MEETINGS

October 18, 1990

Reported by Bob Aronoff

I President Bob Sandwick opened the meeting by noting the

recent large spread in the Bus-iness Section of the Los Angel-es Times on our new member, Jeff Goddard. Jeff is the en-trepeneur for whom "no moss grows on his back" is so abso-lutely true. He's a real go getter from the start and that is just what he did after re-turning from Japan with his beautiful bride Kacru.

I Chet Sidell reported back or his adventure to England and France. In France he tempted the fates with a hair-raising experience in a hot air baloon that became a real thriller. The sight he recalled most viv-idly was the pastoral French farmlands rolling away to the horizon while the moon gently made its nocturnal appearance framing a picture never to be forgotten.

I Dave Dahl reported on his trip into the high Sierras with Don Cheesman and Jack Galloway. These guys are real north woo-dsmen in the spirit of the frontier.

Dave also brought in the latest scoop on what's happening up in Yukon Territory. He gets co-pies of the YUKON NEWS. Pub-lished bi-weekly, it has come to be a popular newspaper that the members eat up to learn all the local goings-on. Dave of-fered copies to the members present and they were sold out in a very few minutes.

I Keith Chase and Bob Sandwick told of the good fortune that came to Bob Williams, our Club's Newsletter editor. Seems Bob put his house up for sale and in a day it was sold. Then, within four days he com-pleted tying down a home in Hemet. We can now expect to see Bob more often--at least he won't have to come 300 miles in from Arizona to go to a meet-ing!

I Nut Valois had some inter-esting photos of the great week end sail to Catalina that he brought in to pass around to the members. Thanks a lot, Milt, for a fine bit of organi-zation on the Catalina outing.

I On a disquieting note, young Bill Brahms graced us with his presence with some news about


OCTORBER 18, 1990 (Continued)

his dad. Seems the irrepres-sible spirit, Bob Brahms, has gone on The Great Adventure. September 30th was the date. Bill was called to the podium to tell us about things we might not have known about his dad. Bill said it was nothing for him to work 18 hours a day, day in and day Out. He was an enterprising person all his life.

Around 45, after having made a niche for himself, Bob set out to see the world. Many of these trips were made with fam- ily members, some alone. Bill displayed a map of the world marked by countries Bob has seen. He was on every conti- nent, in over 100 countries. Only the middle portion of Af- rica escaped his footprints.

Who can forget his going to the Falklands as soon as the Argentine-British War ended? Who can forget his North Viet-nam visit--and those cigars he came back with to give for the members? His jump into Grenada? His trips to Tibet's hinter-land? His getting shots of the dead sacrificed for ritual burials in Tibet? His China and Burma trips? He brought a museum of attractions, a vir-tual menagerie of things like the world's biggest hand-carved

Garuda bird, the first typewri-ter (wooden, too) and just about anything he could cart by the US Customs that he would like for the Club to see.

He would not sell one of these items but he did provide that the Club would be the re-pository for many. But I re-member him for his unlimited generosity. When there was a call for funds, he reached into his pocket and was generous to a fault. Or bringing his la-test 'find' for all to see, gape over and handle. What an adventurer!

I A fellow not always seen in these parts showed up at our meeting tonight and was greeted like the proverbial long lost cousin. "Brother' Dick Kelty sauntered in and was quickly asked about what he has been up to of recent. Answer: Russia. Dick and his lovely wife Nena spent a good deal of time in the USSR this summer.

Dick reported that things are worse than we read. Bare shelves and low grade food marked the daily fare for every one. Hotels and restaurants were jokes, at times. Adven-turers that they be, it was a good trip which they would enjoy no matter the conditions faced.

I Keith chase knows what it is


OCTOBER 18, 1990 (Bob Aronoff Reports)

to wrestle an alligator right down to the ground. This one was being able to get a handle on the Club's financial record-keeping so ably controlled by Charlie Ross down through the years. When you haven't earned an "A' in accounting and sud-denly get the word "it's all yours" it reminds me of what Harry Truman is reputed to have said when told to hustle over to the White House because the President had just died.

The former Vice President is supposed to have looked around the room and said, 'Boys, if you ever prayed, pray for me now." Well, Keith has mounted another challenge and won. I say he has earned an "A" and maybe even an "A+" in accoun-ting for a job well done.

I Alan Siebert reports that Paul Cramer has been moved up north to be closer to his chil-dren. Paul suffered another stroke a couple of months ago and speech was hard to come by the last time Alan saw him but Paul understood all that was spoken to him.

I Carroll Craig is coming along slow but sure and we can thankfully say the same about Chet Wilczek. Some guys not only aren't quitters, but they will turn on you for even

talking in those terms. Here's to you, Carroll and Chet, here's to you!

I Channing Clark's plane was seen on display at a local air-plane exhibit.

October 13, 1990 - The Program

"SAILING AROUND THE PACIFIC RIM" by Peter Klika #943

There used to be a familiar advertisement that went some-thing like this: "I'd walk a mile for a Camel". Well, it needs to be modernized for the Club in 1990. There's a heavy turnout of true-blue adventurers whenever Peter Klika gives one of his programs.

Peter is no ordinary adven-turer. He's got an inventive mind in which his talents devel-oped what he calls a Life Knife. This is a high quality product that someone, lost in the wilds, would find that could save ones life. The knife is a precision instrument with a handle that holds a whole bunch of goods like a compass, fishing string, matches, etc. I personally saw Peter demonstrate this knife to the largest privately-held spor-ting goods distributor west of the Mississippi. He was turned down.

This didn't deter Peter. He found a few key magazines to


OCTOBER 18th PROGRAM (Continued)

advertise in.. .and now you know the rest of the story. He re-cently sold the company for megabucks. After that came Float Knife for boaters. And now to his program.

§

Back in the early 1970's, before Peter decided to master UCLA Law School, he was a young chap who enjoyed a life of ex-citement. He crossed paths with a wealthy Australian cou-ple at a social gathering in Hawaii. Little did he know that the couple were so impres-sed with his talents at sea, that, two years later, they asked him to join them and other crew members for a couple of years traversing the Pacific Rim.

Making this trip more unus-ual was that Peter was one of the crew who received a salary for his presence while others were well-fed and housed guests. He piloted the 75-foot fiber-glass ketch, an English boat that was the largest of its type when fabricated in 1970. All told, Peter and the boat logged 30,000+ miles before the adventure ended but what a story Peter told in his des-cription of the north-south circumnavigation of the Pacific Rim.

While a law degree with out-standing credits will get you a top-flight spot in a major law firm as Peter has done, it is nothing compared to that which 30,000 miles at sea under sail will produce.

His pictures of such small atolls as Suwarrow and perpe-tually fog-shrouded Attu en-thralled the group through his remarkably precise recall of events.

The visit to Suwarrow Atoll turned up a story of an old ship spotter who lived alone on this atoll. The fellow's tour of duty, so to speak, was to live on the atoll during WWII with a powerful set of bino-culars supplied by the US mili-tary. His purpose was to spot and report ship movements from a camouflaged group of tropical trees, knowing full well that his life was in jeopardy if the enemy discovered him or heard his radio. He was defenseless against enemy commandoes.

While there's more to tell, I think that you can catch the flavor of the sea stories Peter told tonight. Suffice it to say, he did more than just pick up a smattering of Chinese and Japanese, which he uses when-ever travelling in China and Japan these days. Peter isn't


OCTOBER 18, 1990 (Concluded)

afraid of the landlocked na-tions, either, but that's an-other story. He and his bride went to Nepal just to get mar-ried in the custom and culture of the Nepalese. Want more? It will have to wait until next year when Peter will be back in the early months of 1992 to tell us of his latest escapade in the hidden reaches of Tibet.

Henry von Siefried says there is nothing like a Peter Klika program. There are others who meet the standard and might even exceed that standard from time to time, but Peter sure does qualify by any criteria as a true adventurer and story teller.

--Reported by Bob Aronoff #837

A WORD FROM THE BRIDGE (Concluded from page 10)

ening with an outstanding adven-ture program and (hopefully) a walk through where our quarters would be located. It is sched-uled for Thursday evening, No-vember 29th and guests (inclu-ding ladies) are invited. You will be receiving a letter invi-ting you to this special event.

The last two events will be a special meeting of the member-ship to approve the lease for the quarters and our traditional Christmas Party. They will oc-cur on December 6th and 13th. So mark your calendars accor-dingly.

This has been an exciting year and it is most over. The real frosting on the cake would be to know that we could again oc-cupy our own quarters and hang up our heads and horns in 1991.

--Bob Sandwick, President

Mt-

- "I guess there's just no getting away from politics In an election year."

Page 30 ADVENTUERRS CLUB NEWS

--by Carroll Craig #720

This was one Adventurers Christmas Party that Carroll will remember for a long, long time.

It waz the night o4 out aaat I Adventaketz C1.ab Chit.tnia'. Patty. It / wa4 Ve.ce.mbe't 1987 and thL6 wa-o to be out ueity £at meeting at 706 We.t Pico. We had been .the.ite 23 ye.aits, but the bwidng was to be toitn down and we had to move. Eie.&ybody wa-s Aute to be the.'te, e.ve.'tybody that iA but me.. I was stuck in a hopi.-ta-. bed in Fitance..

7 had been having a giteat time in A-geita tiding a cane n the Saha-'ict Ve.4Se.kt, but had p&Lnne.d to be bctcJa in -t-Lme. 4o)i the patty. But then I came down with a &t'to!ze., and wads aitti4ted to th hospJtaIL in PaitLs. So a.0 7 coatd do waA Lie. ke.'ie in bed and think o, aU my 4'tLe.nd4 and the 4an 7 wa4 mi4ng. Fo'i 23 yeatA I had neue.& mJ'ed a Tha'tday night at the C'ub unte4z 7 wct wo'thLng, 4ick, oit away on a titLp. The Adt'enta&e.'t.s Club waz my ,second home.. Now I would vie.e.'t -e.e tho4e 4amitiat qaa4te'uS again. Wo&4t o4 a/i wa-o mLong all -tho.se. giteat ,'t-Le.ndo. The mo/ri I thought about -Lt, the towvt my 6pititz d'toppe.d.

The next mo'tn.Lng I wa4 6titt down in the dump. The 'r.an had topped but the sky wa<s £Lze. eead. It wcz<s going to be anothe.'t

g'te.y day. PaitJ<s in Ve.aeinbvt - nothing U!ae. Ap'tLt in Pa't<s, o't Pa't-L.6 in the Sp'tng, a<s the <song <say.

Ju<st then the bed-<s-de. teLephone. 'tang. A 6amitiat voice 4ad he wa'j Bit &wwn and that he wa<s at the Ch't-<stma<s Patty and wanted to w1<sh me Me/rig Ch't-L<stma<s. 7 le-t out a whoop! I had gotgotten


Page. 2

aU about the nAne howL time dvtenc.e. The patty wa .ot(U go-ing on! 13At 4aid he had a bunch o4 guy6 a-ti tined up who wanted to wAh me Me-vty Chio.tma, -o I'd ju-t caem down a minute he'd put them on. So he.ke they came., one atvL anothe'L--Keith Cha.4e, Bob Co&e.y, Chet SLdeU, Chet W-tczez, John Mahan . I wanted to -teU each one aU my new.o but they wouLdn't eet me.. Each one w-44he.d me. Me'vLy Chk6tma.4, w..Lhe.d 1 wve -thvLe, and oa.d he had to move. uLong. U dawned on me that aU wvte conce&ned with the cost o, the tkan-Atan-tc caU. Then came. Atan Sie.bvtt. He had jwot been elected Pkedent 6olc next yecvi. Atv% w hLng him a Mvt'Ly Chtina.s I t-t.&d to o64ek him my but wJ-ohe..s 4ok hi6 coming yeak a.6 P4e4Ldent. He oad thank4 but -so/uLy we can't tatk. We've. 'tun out o6 time. So we 4ad good bye and hung up.

I don't know - we 4quee.zed aU that into the u-suat th'Le.e mn-ate-s, o' how many, i4 any, membek4 got cut o, but my 4p-L/rJt6 we.e tJtng me tight up out o6 the bed. 1 oand out what ctoud viLne. is tike. The docto'L aIae.d me whe-'te. did 7 get that -shot o ad'te.natLn. EuentuaUy I itelu'tned to ea&th, and though I wouLd ne.vvt see 706 West Pico again, I 5t-LU had aLt those g'te.at 'tends and wouLd -oe.e them again be4okc -too tong, l hoped.

-- - oOo - - - -

[This wonderful report was received at the Publication Office last July but I felt that it should be held until our ')ecember issue to give it its pro er place in time. Ed.]


ADVENTURERS CLUB NEWS Second Class Postage P. 0. Box 15791 paid at Los Angeles, CA 90015 Los Angeles, California

MR. WALLACE E. BACLEY 5962 STANTON AVE. BUENA ?ARK, CA 90621

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