November 6, 2001

THERE WILL BE NO MEETING NEXT MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12, IN HONOR OF VETERANS' DAY.

IN TWO WEEKS, ON MONDAY, NOVEMBER 19, we'll have our annual Thanksgiving meeting. Leading us this year will be our own Sister Dorothea from St. Dominic Health Services.

LAST MONDAY, NOVEMBER 5... Bill Lee of Gulf Guaranty gave us an intriguing look at the action of German submarines in the Gulf of Mexico during World War II. Bill, who has become an expert on this subject, told us about the mostly-forgotten shooting war that was waged in the Gulf during most of 1942, as German U-Boats found tankers and freighters in the Gulf relatively easy pickings. Many ships and cargoes were lost, mostly along the Louisiana coast, but within 39 miles of Mississippi. Bill said that many of those tankers are still on the bottom with loads of oil, and that when they rust through, there will be much ecological damage as a result. Thanks to Barbara Dorr for arranging and introducing this interesting program.

YOUR NOMINATING COMMITTEE... proposed a slate of twelve candidates for the six spots on our Board of Directors that will be filled in our annual election on December 3. (We will not elect an officer to the presidental rotation this year, since we recently changed our by-laws to have only one vice-president rather than two.) Jim Ingram, chairman of the nominating committee, entered the twelve names in nomination: Charlie Conerly, Barbara Dorr, Keith Ferguson, Jim Frier, Mickey McCardle, John McCullouch, Bill Moore, Heber Simmons III, Sister Dorothea Sondgeroth, Buck Stevens, James Threadgill, and Billy Walker. Six of the twelve will be elected in December.

YOUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS... has approved the following new member proposals. If no objections are received within 10 days, they will be introduced as new members: