OCSMR-Ocean County Society of Model Railroaders Club Latest update 3/5/2025

Bub, that looks like it will be a busy harbor!  I like the 611 and RS3 a lot!  I wish I was a lot closer.  Have a great time with the open house!!

Some pix of our Open House this weekend.  Saturday's attendance was light,  Sunday's was a bit better.

O-Gauge.

"And that...", Ted explaining to Armen from the Historical Museum.

Solitude...wonder where they're going.

Nick, on the left, our newest Junior member, a train expert who easily challenges the train knowledge of older members.  Sean, another Junior member, on the right.

Tale of two Big Boys, one Premier the other RailKing.

Smokin'.

Take me to your leader or...just let me take your cow.

Nick's train.

Where's the subway?

HO-Gauge.

Help.  I'm stuck and can't get out.

Enrapt.

Manning the raffle table...busy, busy, busy.

Bud, It looks like a great open house!  Thank you for the photographs!  Yes Ted is doing a great job!  Junior members are great!!

Ballasting was done in the roundhouse area.  Next will be powering the floodlights.

The surface of the elevated area in the northwest corner was painted.

We did trouble shooting on TIU 1 used on tracks 1 and 2 by connecting TIU 2 to tracks 1 and 2.  TIU 2 is used on tracks 3 and 4.  DCS worked with TIU 2 on tracks 1 and 2.   Looks like TIU 1 is toast and will need to be replaced.  In an earlier part of the thread, trouble shooting found that TIU 1's fixed output for track 2 had shorted and we switched to the variable output but that did not work either.  Haven't been able to use DCS on tracks 1 and 2 because of this.  We also have Remote Kommanders connected on tracks 1 and 2.  Wasn't able to try them with the TIU 2 setup since we didn't have a DCS engine set to factory reset.  MTH says that they will work when both are connected but not to be used at the same time.  We operated both when TIU 1 was working.

Wow! The layout really looks great. You guys did a heck of a job on it! I will try to make it to one of the next open houses. I would love to see it in person. 

Phil,

You do not have to wait for an open house to visit us. We always have an open invite to folks in the area. Summer is coming and if anyone plans on coming to the Jersey shore, we are not far from there.

Yep, the painting and ballasting crew (me) was busy at work yesterday so we can start wiring up the MTH operating accessories. The tracks by the roundhouse were ballasted and Elmer's glue sprayed to harden that down. 

Bill was busy planting more shrubbery and putting blue matting down underneath our Atlas bridge. I think water belongs under a bridge!

The layout designer/master was busy playing with his TIU's and the professor came to the conclusion that TIU 1 is fried beyond recognition!

Next Thursday we have a club visit from the South Knolls, Jackson, NJ car club where I live.

At our Business Meeting this past Tuesday, treasurer Frank presented a Lionel Bar Stool to our past President Dennis in appreciation for the many years he had to put up with us as President.

Then we celebrated by running trains.

Tom's repainted E7 in NJ Transit colors.

Doug's Santa Fe and Dennis' AMTRAK  rounding the roundhouse curve.

Dennis' AMTRAK rounding our horseshoe curve hauling the mail.  Tom in the "back" ground.

My Pennsy K4 on the hi-line.  Tony's NJT to the side.

Who's going where?

Doug running more of his vintage AF and praying that all the operating hopper cars stay connected.

Looks like a great time, Bud!!

Pics from the visit by the South Knolls Car Club.

Oops.  Thought I had placed by Cab-1 securely on the layout.  It fell to the floor and shattered the outer covering of the "rubber ducky" antenna that I had installed (so much for "flexibility").  Will probably cover the exposed antenna with heat shrink unless I find the original antenna and reinstall that.

Looks like a nice bunch of folks visiting!  Sorry for the damaged antenna 

To pretty much paraphrase Strummers' comment somewhere above, I took a L O N G stroll through this thread....finally..... and have to exclaim how great it looks.  It's raining outside, like all get out, so I logged on, saw this thread and have to say kudos to y'all for sharing, even daring to point out the HO interlopers..LOL 

RedJimmy,

You can say it is a rarity to have a multi gauge club with the scale freaks of our HO buddies and the O gauge guys who want to run trains and do some scenery work no matter what the sizes are!

Ted

Update to our MTH TIU issues:

We ordered the new TIU and Wifi package, had our TIU which was thought to be bad being repaired and having everything updated to tbe latest version by our local MTH repair person, All Aboard Trains in Barnegat,NJ who I highly recommend using for MTH repairs.

Hooked everything up on Thursday with the help of our junior member, Sean, who helped wire up the TIU's and Wifi to the layout. Installed those into the remotes and got Wifi operating in my phone. Amazing how these younger guys know this stuff!

All 4 lines worked perfectly with the remotes and the MTH Wifi system performed GREAT via my IPhone SE. I am sold on Wifi and don't need the competitor's wifi. MTH system runs it all. Good job, MTH.

Pictures to follow when Bud gets down to the club with his roving camera.

As promised while Bud has been nursing his wife's fractured arm, we have done plenty without the professor's supervision. Plenty indeed! We've been busy.

Glued addtional building fronts to the walls with liquid nails and some wooden supports to hold them in place. Check out the skyscraper's left support beam to keep it from becoming the Leaning Tower of Lakewood, NJ! 

Our American Flyer Army Lieutenant Colonel, Doug, has been busy acquiring real estate for our S gauge addtion and started to spread his wings with a switch siding. Makes sense to stage the AF trains there than climbing on the layout. Also, we cut a nice "to be" lift up hatch and re-designed the EZ streets to circumvent inside the AF loop. More work to follow.

Some action from the HO New York & Long Branch side. 

An Atlas CNJ H16 leads a mail train through Matawan. Second scene is also Matawan with a JC local freight. 

Ted and Joe, thank you for the photographs and videos of the current state of affairs!

The question is, did you have to wait until Bud was away to sneak in Doug with the AF??    Looks great, Doug!!!

Today the O gauge building crew was at work putting up some urban development neighborhoods along our elevated trestle system. The skyscrapers have LED lighting so wiring them next.

A little glue here and there with temporary wooden reinforcement till the footings took hold!! The rock wall paper cut to proper lengths and elmer glued to the walls.

There is a picture of the S Gauge spur in its building process encroaching space over the O gauge lines! Give Doug some space and now spreading the wealth.

Picture from today's show at Brick, NJ with junior club member, Sean Kenney and our small 3 loop fastrack layout. We run trains there for the public.

Notice Sean's NGauge in the very middle running of a 9 volt battery. I had a large monitor wired to my Ipad connected to the Lionel Wifi caboose.

Sean looks like a happy young train enthusiast!  That is good your club was represented at the Sale.

Ran a rocket train using the cars from Lionel's Orbiter set for the 50th Anniversary of Apollo 11.

Jim and Ted, the development crew, have been busy adding hi and low rises on the west wall.

Bill has made additional investment/development of  buildings on the north wall.

Bud, Welcome back!  The train looks great!  The buildings look very good 

Bill still needs to plant some bushes and trees to go along with his urban re-development plan. Figures the added shrubbery will increase his investment property by 50%!!

Next up will be John Brandt to enhance the barren areas with his artistry!

Work has been halted temporarily for the past week due to a Disney vacation in Orlando. Sitting at the station is their Mickey Mouse Express train that stopped running indefinitely while they build a new roller coaster next to Space Mountain. The tracks need to be re-routed there, hence the train is parked at the station on display. 

Ted, I'm sorry the MME isn't running, but nice photographs!!  I have never been south of Atlanta.  How is the weather in Orlando?  I would think you are melting!  

Hello Guys,

Now that I am back from my leave of absence, work can begin again on the remaining sections of the O Gauge Layout's mural.

For starters, there was an area on the South end of the layout where a tunnel portal was going to go.  This tunnel would have a road coming to the town above the lower level right where the cemetery is going.

However, this tunnel, if installed, would offset the perspective of the distance between that and the trees and mountain in the background seen in the mural.

In other words,.................IT WOULDN'T LOOK RIGHT!!!

So,......I came up with a resolve for this.  I painted a road going into the woodlands on the mural having it curve to the left, and then paint trees to show the path.  I made sure to match the road's color to the roadbed placed by Budd.  The results were good, and the president and vice president plus others agreed.

Excellent use of a "vanishing point" perspective !   

Very nice John!

I had the opportunity to visit this impressive layout as part of the NMRA open house tour yesterday.  What a beautiful layout.  Great job guy's.  

Chris - Thanks for the compliment.  Was there but guess I missed talking to you.

I was there in the early am working on the rear part of the building cleaning out and realigning the drainage downspouts so water will stay away from the building and not come into the basement.

Next up, we will be back wiring up all the lighting and buildings. Have done some but summer kicked in. Now that summer is almost behind us, we will resume wiring operations under the careful eye of the nutty professor Mr. Bud. Lol!

Moonman posted:

Excellent use of a "vanishing point" perspective !   

Thanks, Moonman!

Mark Boyce posted:

Very nice John!

Thanks, Mark!

OCSMR is having a Halloween Open House this weekend, 26 and 27 October from 1 to 4 pm on both days.

Here're a few pix form today.

Johnbrandt did the decorating.

John's Roswell.

Some of the players.

S-gauge.

Some guests from Saturday.

Anthony really got into running John's train   His enthusiasm is an understatement.  Anthony's mother is a coworker of Ted at radio station WORK.

And, some HO.

A tale of two retired light Colonel's.  Joe on the left and Doug on the right.  Doug is our S-gauge superintendent; however, he seems to be buying more and more O-gauge.

If you're in the area, stop by and say Hi.  We'll be there on Sunday from 1 to 4 pm.

Nice presentation - the dementor car on the Potter train can scare anyone - looks like it was a fun day!

Looks like a great presentation and a lot of folks attended!  A good time was had by all!

I trust no monsters were injured in the making of this presentation! 

Hey Bud,

My part time WORK is called Staples in Brick, at least I do work there instead of being just employed for 30 or more years on the same project! Lol! Excellent pictures from Bud with a lot more coming from Sunday's turnout.

It was a good weekend to showcase the club and the toy train hobby to the public.

Sunday was a rainy dreary day.  Did have a fairly good turnout tho.

Prospective Junior Member Tor (his dad applied for club membership at the show).  He's not just enthusiastic about trains but is extremely energetic about them too.  He came to the show prepared to run his Wizard of Oz train.  He and his dad placed his train on track 1 and away he went running his train for most of the day.

This is how TMCC works.

Junior Member Sean (light blue club shirt) setting up his train.  Looks like he put as many of club cars as he could find behind his engine.  Not too sure about the "bearded" guy.

Sean using MTH's Wifi to control his train.

A pensive Sean.

Steve Wexler (on the left), President of the Lakewood Heritage Commission, talking to our club's past President Dennis.  Steve was instrumental in getting the club into our current location (he's also and O-gauge guy and past club member).  The building houses the Lakewood Historical Society's collection of artifacts.

Another junior train enthusiast.

Runnin' Ted's train.

Some guests from Sunday.

That bearded guy.  Who is he?  Where is he from?  Who let him in?  What does he want?  Appears to be interested in "trains".

Apparently he's looking for a "hand out", maybe to buy more American Flyer trains.

Don't encourage him.

And, Godzilla defeats King Kong.

Looks like a great day, Bud!!  I'm excited about the youngsters enjoying trains and the mums and dads who are interested and encouraging it.  As for the bearded fellow...well you had better keep an eye on him if he shows up again!  

Nice pictures from Bud. Had a neighbor with her daughter and grandson there. Gave him the 30 second cab-1 tutorial and away he went running my WL&E Mallet for part of the day. He really enjoyed running a big steamer.

As for the bearded guy and retired army colonel, he is our in-house American Flyer expert and slowly, we are converting him to O gauge, 1 engine at a time!

Next open house is December 28-29.

This is what the hobby is all about. Bringing young kids into the trains.

Hey Guys,

Here is another update on the mural.

Back in February, I had painted a number of areas of moulding on the walls where the club could use their imagination to cover or make them into buildings that would blend in with the rest of the towns and city.  The club was able to find a few building reliefs to cover some of those areas, and it worked rather well.

However, due to the committee's decision, it was decided that they wanted the rest of those areas to be "touched up" to match the sky and land in the mural.  It was a test of my creativity and better judgement, but I came to a resolve with some compromises. 

There are five areas I need to finish, which then the mural will be completed.  In the next few posts I make, you will see those changes.  For now, I will discuss two of them.

Below you will see two photos of the mouldings where I made a base paint of a building.  As you see, there are electrical outlets at the top with plugs and cords that lead to the AC for the room...

For the outlet on the left, I decided to blend that area in with the sky, including the plug for the AC.  The only things I did not paint are the reset buttons on the plug and the MTH signal box...

For the other outlet, I was inspired by my vice president, Dennis Hodge.  After I worked on that area of the mural, Dennis made a army base right under the outlet.  So, I said to myself, "Self,....why not make that into a military headquarters type building?"

So, that I have started.  The first stage of its transformation is camouflage paint on the lower part of the building...

The next stage will be shown next time.

Until then!!!

Looks great, John!

Mark Boyce posted:

Looks great, John!

Thanks, Mark!

Happy Belated Thanksgiving!

Playing with my highly overpriced set, something made by Lionel in the '50s controlling it with a Legacy remote. Total cost of this USA-made set - $25. $24 for the cars and a whopping $1 for the engine/tender.

In reality, a set made up for my grandson.

Ted, looks great for your grandson, and the price was right!!!

Pix from our Christmas Open House.

Looks like a good time 

Hey Guys,

Here's an update on the mural (and possibly the last one).

With the exception of a fabricated piece being done at home, the mural is complete!

There were four areas left to be "touched up", and all were conquered in one afternoon. 

The first was an area originally set up for a large office building or a Times Square look-a-like that our past president wanted.  The idea was being juggled as to what to do with this area, which BTW is also the spot where water flooded in from outside when heavy rains came (an issue resolved in the last year).  But in the end, I did what our current president asked me to do: cover the area to match the rest of the sky. 

The second area was under and on the sides of a building flat placed on the wall.  Unfortunately, the building is in a spot blocked off by five sets of track, three Christmas trains, two large bridges, and a little ice cream parlorrrrrr..........you have to excuse me for I have a Christmas song playing in my head as I'm typing.

Anyway, after dodging these obstacles,  the edges around this building were painted.

The third area was a moulding in between EIGHT building flats.  THIS spot I did what I envisioned: paint this area brown and add pieces to it so the result would be a building to match the other flats.

Last but not least, I had enough time to fabricate a top to the military headquarters, as I mention earlier, using plastic sheets and a little hot glue.  A photo will be shown later when it is complete.

Anyway, thanks for watching.  See ya around!

Hi John!  Thank you for the update.  You have done a fantastic job!  I can only see the last two photographs.  Anyone else have the same problem?

Same here, Mark.

Mark Boyce posted:

Hi John!  Thank you for the update.  You have done a fantastic job!  I can only see the last two photographs.  Anyone else have the same problem?

Wow.  I can't explain how this happened.  I'll fix this within the next few days.

John T.

Wow - I had the pleasure of being a member of this club many years ago. The new layout is truly a thing of beauty. I will make it a point to come visit one day.

Thanks for all the pictures and updates.

Paul

OK, Guys.  The photos of the recent work on the mural is fixed.

Just scroll up to see the original post from a few days ago.

Later.

Ah, superb, John!  You did an excellent job blending in those columns so they won’t be noticed!  The whole project is excellent!!

John, wonderful craftsmanship on those excellent modifications.

Suggestion:  Perhaps you can ask the Moderator to edit the thread's title to include the date of an update; this alerts folks like me who find it easier to click a serial thread when we know there is new info or photos.  I suggest the moderator only because you are not the thread's starter and only that person can, as far as I know, edit a thread's title.

Again, thanks for the photographic update and explanation.

The 5 skyscrapers are wired up for lighting and each contains LED lighting strips. Some of the windows are blocked out to show that not every window or room is lit up.

Suggestion:  Perhaps you can ask the Moderator to edit the thread's title to include the date of an update; this alerts folks like me who find it easier to click a serial thread when we know there is new info or photos.  I suggest the moderator only because you are not the thread's starter and only that person can, as far as I know, edit a thread's title.

I can do that and sounds like an excellent idea. Just have to remind myself to add the alert when something new is added here.

Ted

Thanks, Ted.

Awesome job John.

John T. posted:

As of today, the mural for the layout is DONE!  I had applied the last item to the painting:  a hot air balloon with an OCSMR banner flying in the wind.

Below is a video clip of the entire mural from beginning to end. 

John, I hope you don't mind me saying, but I see your art skills sharpening as the mural progresses. Great job.

Mark Boyce posted:

Ah, superb, John!  You did an excellent job blending in those columns so they won’t be noticed!  The whole project is excellent!!

Thank you very much, Mark.  It was a big project, but it was well worth it.  Now, I just have to put the cherry on top (aka the military tower top) and it's done.

Thank you for watching.

Pingman posted:

John, wonderful craftsmanship on those excellent modifications.

Suggestion:  Perhaps you can ask the Moderator to edit the thread's title to include the date of an update; this alerts folks like me who find it easier to click a serial thread when we know there is new info or photos.  I suggest the moderator only because you are not the thread's starter and only that person can, as far as I know, edit a thread's title.

Again, thanks for the photographic update and explanation.

Thanks and you're welcome, Pingman.

And, needless to say, the Moderator has spoken.

PSU1980 posted:

Awesome job John.

Thank you, buddy!

Will posted:

John T. posted:

As of today, the mural for the layout is DONE!  I had applied the last item to the painting:  a hot air balloon with an OCSMR banner flying in the wind.

Below is a video clip of the entire mural from beginning to end. 

John, I hope you don't mind me saying, but I see your art skills sharpening as the mural progresses. Great job.

Thank you kindly, Will.   I appreciate your observation.

Hi Guys,

The military base now has the final touch.

The top to the lookout tower is now installed over the electric outlet above the base.  This box can be removed and put back easily in case any O Scale crew member needs to access the outlet for plugging in appliances or resetting the AC.

Also, as an extra update, I have added to my last post regarding the other 3 touch-ups with photos of what they were before.

Anyway, thanks for watching!

Scenery work  continued. Greenery appeared in the area near the transformers.  Ted had the easy job of climbing on the layout.  Additional details were added in other areas too.

Started cutting and fitting plywood to build up the road surface to the level of the EZ-Streets in the northwest corner of the layout.  Scenery on the inside area of the tracks will be mostly streets and pavement since it's an "urban" area.

I added a bunch of ducks lined up like they usually float in the water, put a fisherman on tne inside of the bridge dropping his fishing line into water and added 2 more boats to the water below the Atlas double line bridge. The bridge is in the background behind where I was scenicking. More pictures to follow.

The lift up hatch in the center of our American Flyer area to be attached real soon with scenery work to take place on the southern end of the layout. Bud is currently working on the elevated area on the south end and wiring of those accessories will be done soon.

Ted, Excellent job!.  It sounds like you added a lot of very interesting details.  My knees ache just looking at the photographs.  Of course, I just had one replaced before Thanksgiving.

The city street area is taking shape nicely!

Bud, I'll look forward to seeing the area you are working on!!

Ducks in a row swimming under the bridge in our man-made lake.

Man fishing off the bridge. 

More photos will be coming as we worked some more on the layout today.

Isn't that ducky!  Bad joke, I know.

The water scene looks great with all the activity.

Ted and Jim added some buildings to the once barren area by the transformers.

Added trim to the edge of the elevated area on the northwest of the layout.

The Jersey Central getting ready for Valentine's day.

Everything looks great!

Well done!

Peter

If you look closely, you will see the fisherman in the front of the Atlas bridge in the 2nd or 3rd picture that Bud posted recently. It may not be a fisherman but...  "could it be Bud himself jumping off the bridge cause he cut a piece of wood incorrectly after 20 attempts"? Lol!

Moving along as the lift up hatch in the center of the S gauge loop was installed. We will be moving scenery operations to the south end of the layout and we will be constructing the corner pop up in the far left corner and placing the Menards power and light building there.

Oh no!!  There is someone on the bridge!!  Bud!!  Don't do it!!

SPLASH......glub….glub...glu……..OoOoOo

Some pix from our Open House on Saturday.

Pix from Sunday.

Looks like you had a nice number in attendance; adults and children of all ages!  Thank you for posting!

A shot similar to a wider angle shot of the coaling station area that appears on our Facebook page taken bytour HO superintendent Chris.  That shot prompted Steve Ross to contact us to let us know that a piece of center rail was missing from one of our Ross switches.  Anyway...

Don't let your cars sit out in the rain.  They shrink to HO size.

The hatch on the upper level.

Tom framed out the access hatch for the southwest corner.  No pix cause of obstructed view.  The power station will be located in that area.

Ted soldering extension  wires to power the EZ Streets roadway after receiving instructions on "How to Solder Two Wires Together in One Thousand Words or Less."

The EZ Streets controller located and installed.

Taking EZ Streets car for a test drive.

Applied first coat of paint (needs at least 2 coats) to the plywood used to widen the roadway next to the EZ Streets.  The unpainted area will have a second layer of plywood added and painted for sidewalk.

Bud instructed me how to solder 2 wires together in his 1000 words or less manual( really is 999 words, the scaled-down version). 3 wires, then you need to get the expanded Bud encyclopedia book!

The triangular pop up in the corner was built yesterday by our in house carpenter, Tom. Then Doug and I cut the double wide green foam and glued that onto thin wood board. Letting the glue dry and will pop it in and place the Menards power/ light building there in the corner.

Good job following instructions!  The EZ streets and power house will look great!

Ted installed the access cover for the southwest corner of the layout and placed the power station for a trial fit.

A trial fit for the road extension on the northwest corner before gluing down.

Waitin' for the glue to set.

It's all looking great!

Scenery work to start up again this week in the area where the Power/Light building is located, then moving towards the S gauge area and to the front. Still have wiring of those buildings there to do. 

Then, finally running power feeds to all the terminal strips under the layout from the transformers we have set up on a cart below the layout. I've tested each building lights so tnry do work.

More work done today. Wired up the Kline billboard, need to find a person that goes up and down, wired the Lionel kiddie swings and the Kline smoking caboose with the campfire.

Take note of the prehistoric dinosaurs surrounding the kids on the swings. Guess they want to use the swings.

Menards power light building was installed on the rear pop up with scenery and a few trees. Need to add transformer plug for the Led lighting in it.

Also added a ballfield directly on top of the hinged pop down which is in the middle of the S gauge loop. The wooden stand, 2 dugouts and the 2 refreshment stands have been liquid-nailed to the surface so when the pop down is opened downward, nothing will fall off. Still have to add the actual ballfield with players. 

Moving along till next time...

Well folks, it's going to be a few months until you see any new work done of our layout. With the club closing due to the pandemic, we are waiting for the town to have a professional cleaning company come in to sanitize the entire building.

Only project on the board is a showcase being built by a member to house the American Flyer collection that is on loan to us from the Ocean County Historical Museum. The collection was donated to them by the widow of John Bartlett who passed away a few years ago and was the lead Ocean County Freeholder. They wanted it fully displayed someplace and contacted me. We can use it if we choose to do so. The collection will be on display at our club and will show whose collection this was. A very nice American Flyer collection.

That's all for now...

The final running of trains on our layout last Friday after we got the word that the Museum would be closed was Tom's train which was left out in the rain too long.

Hello folks,

It has been almost 2 months since we closed temporarily and one of my club members built this wooden showcase with 3 glass shelves so we can store and show off the American Flyer collection we received. If you read my previous post, it tells you all about this nice collection. We delivered it today and we really wanted to fire up the layout but we are not allowed to stay there for a length of time. Getting antsy to get back there to work on the layout and do some additional scenery and wiring.

Since there are no train shows happening and our club is closed, I loaded about 15 old and new YouTube videos of our club from about 10 years ago to one or two from our present location. 
Check them out on our website. I created a separate page/tab for these videos. 

Nothing else to report on the club. 

The cabinet housing our power supplies and storage for command had to be removed due to water damage and mold due to a leak in the basement from recent torrential rains.  Replaced with two carts.

The cart with the transformer will serve as power for all the lighting and accessories we have wired and will have when wired. Need to paint that cart a brown color.

 There is room for a second S-Gauge loop. 

Any idea when you folks will be able to open back up?

We are still waiting for the town to reopen the various public buildings.

Just want to let everyone know that our club still exists and patiently waiting for the township to reopen the public buildings and our building is in the rural area of Lakewood away from the mini-city it has become.

2020 has been a rough year for us besides having to shut down on March 19th, we lost 4 club members who passed away as well. We look forward to getting back there to continue our work on the HO and O gauge layouts with the hope we can reopen and meet as a club in April 2021. I really miss the camaderie that our club has with the 40 members we have.

For now, everyone who has followed our progress over the years since we moved 6 years ago, thank you and have a Happy Thanksgiving.

Ted Bertiger

Ted, It sure is frustrating that you can't even access the building just to work on the layouts.  I am certainly sorry four members have passed on this year.  My condolences to the families and club.  I'll be here watching for any updates.

Thank you and have a Happy Thanksgiving!