Summer time and the living is easy

Best wishes for a fun-filled summer to our members, family and friends. Please let us know about your travels and other news.

Annual Meeting “live” again

After three years, our Annual Meeting went live again this month. A group of about 30 attended the meeting at the Penn Club in New York with the historic whale tooth gavel tapping in the event for the 122 time. All of the required business was conducted and approved. Importantly, the financial health of the Club and the Foundation are in excellent shape and our membership level has remained constant despite the challenges of the pandemic. The meeting was followed up by an absorbing presentation by President and CEO of the Museum of the American Revolution, Scott Stephenson. Dr. Stephenson highlighted the global nature of the war of independence. 

Esteemed former executive director over the horizon

Helen Jost, who served the club for many years passed away recently. She served as executive director for several decades and is acknowledged as the backbone of our historic club. Her daughter, Tracy Sancilio, succeeded her in the leadership post. Helen will be greatly missed and the sympathy from the Circumnavigators goes out to Helen’s family and friends. Here is a link to Helen’s Obituary.

New York Metro Party

The NY Metro branch of the Circumnavigators Club held a five-course dinner at a Manhattan Italian bistro with 18 participants, where Circumnavigator Marilu Ramirez provide a presentation on her new book “Travels with Marilu, A Spiritual Journey”. Besides a brief slide show about the seven continents, the presentation & book provided wonderful photographs of the world and famous sayings from important people in the past and present, concerning life and their life experiences. A wonderful time was had by all.

Planning for The LOG

Our publication is in the works and we need your help. Do you have a good travel story? If so, please contact David Mink or Tracy Sancilio with your idea. We will work with you to develop the story since we do not want completed stores to be submitted. Importantly, send us photos and short write ups about recent trips for All Over the Map.

Collectors Corner

Do you collect Christmas tree or holiday ornaments from your travels? Please send us photos of two or three or your favorites for this upcoming LOG Column.

Circumnavigators in Costa Rica…

Circumnavigators Paul and Pat Buescher (Pacific Northwest Chapter) report, “We are traveling again!  What better way, at least in Paul’s opinion, to go wandering around the world than a birding photography trip.  In March, we joined our friend and favorite bird photographer, Ralph Paonessa, for a trip to the highlands of Costa Rica.  We visited three birding-oriented lodges where we were able to see and photograph more hummingbirds than we could count.  We also were treated to sightings of Quetzals, Tanagers, Chachalacas, Owls, Montezuma’s Oropendola, Oriels, Woodpeckers, and a few snakes, rats, and other native creatures. While the weather was cool, it was great fun to travel again and be out with the birds and bees.

Circumnavigator in Algeria…

Circumnavigator Suzanne Frye (New York Metro) is always on the move. This time she visited Algeria to experience the culture. In Ghardaia, she photographed the women of the Ibadite Muslim sect who cover up in white and only show one eye. She also visited the historic city of Bob Saada.

Circumnavigators in Malta…

First Vice President Dan Peterson reported from Malta, “Several Circumnavigators Club members who also belong to the Travelers Century Club (TCC) attended TCC’s bi-annual international conference, held in Malta May.  Circumnavigator Jerry Allen (Naples) spoke about his recent trip to Iguazu Falls, while Steve Fuller (at-large) presided as incoming TCC president. Other Circumnavigators in attendance included Nan Allen, Bill Girtman & Donna Suddeth (Naples) and Virginia Mullin and Melanie & Dan Peterson (Chicago). In all 120 TCC members and guests gathered at the Malta Marriott Hotel & Spa for the event. The group toured three cities of Malta’s historic harbor area, as well as the adjacent island of Gozo.  The group even met one of only 37 remaining Knights of the Hospitalier Order of St John (a.k.a. the Sovereign Military Order of Malta), which ruled the islands for 270 years before Napoleon arrived then the British took over.  On the conference day, the attendees heard of many adventurous destinations, including Antarctica, Pitcairn island, Somaliland, Azeri-Karabakh, Tbilisi, Bolivia, and the Balkans. Weather was great, and the food and camaraderie superior. Discussions are underway for the site of the next such TCC International Conference, for 2024. 

Not an easy trip..

Circumnavigators Bill and Pam Girtman (Naples Chapter) spent four lovely days in Sicily before heading to Malta for the above-mentioned trip. Upon arriving in Malta, Pam tested positive for Covid and was quarantined for eight days. The Girtmans were forced to cancel their plans to finish their journey to Israel.

More from Malta and Italy…

Circumnavigators Sally and Larry Cole (Palm Beach Chapter) visited Malta and Italy where they enjoyed the spectacular sights and hiked on the Amalfi Coast.

The Last Shot

Do you have a good photo for The Last Shot? Please send to club@circumnavigators.org.

Luck to you!

David A. Mink
International President
davidamink@me.com

“We roamed the fields and river sides,
When we are young and gay;
We chased the bees and plucked the flowers,
In the merry, merry month of May.”
―Stephen Foster

Marvelous May has arrived

Everyone loves May with wonderful memories and anticipation for good times to come. We wish all our members, family and friends a great month. As Circumnavigators hit the road, please send us info and photos on your trips.

Reminder – join us for the Annual Meeting

The meeting will be held on Friday, June 3 at the Penn Club in New York City, featuring a presentation by R. Scott Stephenson, CEO & President of the Museum of the American Revolution. Link to invitation here 

Chapter News

The Circumnavigators Club may be getting a new chapter in Jacksonville, FL. Circumnavigator Fred Seely has initiated the process and more than 20 people have shown interest. Recently a Zoom meeting was organized to introduce the Club to prospective members.

UK Chapter

Chapter President Helen Jenkins reports that the chapter had a lovely lunch at the Savile Club in London and welcomed new member Alan Soper. The event was supposed to be at the Oriental Club but Lord Richard Inchcape was taken ill with pneumonia so John Constable rearranged at his Club. We hope Lord Inchcape is on the mend now.

Singapore Chapter

President of the Singapore Chapter, Ang Hao Yao and First Vice President Graham Bell hosted Stefan Krasowski and his wife Tess, members of the Pacific-Northwest Chapter, to a welcome lunch on the occasion of their visit to Singapore.

Scuttlebutt

Circumnavigators David, Fred and Ken Mink gathered in Clearwater Beach, FL to reunite with an old friend, World War II veteran Cewin Johnson who lost his arm in the war when he was just 19 years old. Now 98, Cewin regaled the Mink brothers with stories of the war and, with good spirit and humor, talked about his life as a disabled war hero.

Circumnavigator and Governor Ann Swinford (Michigan Chapter) sends a photo from her trip to Africa which she describes, “Very pale Ann Swinford with two beautiful Himba women in Namibia.  The Himba were dismayed that Ann has no children! After they did a dance for us I tried to inspire my group to do a dance for them.  I danced the hokey pokey alone.  Everyone laughed when I ‘put my whole self in and shook it all about’!  The hokey pokey is an ice breaker all over the world!”

Circumnavigators Norm and Susan Dailey (Washington DC Chapter) report from their ongoing Spring trip to Europe. They started in the tulip fields of Holland. Then on to visit the Aland Islands, shown here with a 92- year-old herring fisherman.Then to Andalusia, visiting Mijas, Malaga, Ronda, Seville, Granada and Cordova. Finally a visit to Northwest Spain for a wine-tasting pilgrimage.

The Last Shot

Do you have a good photo for The Last Shot? Please send to club@circumnavigators.org.

Luck to you!

David A. Mink
International President
davidamink@me.com

Spring has sprung!

Welcome to the wonderful season that ends winter and promises flowers, leafy trees and, of course, new plans to travel. Best wishes to our members, family and friends for a wonderful season.

Historian to address Annual Meeting

R. Scott Stephenson, CEO and President of the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia, will make a presentation at our meeting on June 3 in New York. The meeting will be held at the Penn Club. Members and guests are invited for the luncheon and presentation. Only members can attend the meeting. Dr. Stephenson will make a travel-related presentation on the major sites of the revolution. An invitation will be sent out soon.

New York Metro dinner

New York Metro members and guests gathered for dinner at Sinigual in New York City on March 30. Long-time member of 28 years, Lois Kahan, was presented with a certificate acknowledging her as Honorary President of the Circumnavigators Club. Lois has fostered international goodwill and friendship in her decades of world travel representing the highest ideals of our organization. Congratulations to Lois!

Wings of the World

Club President David Mink made a presentation in Naples to this club of former Pan Am flight attendants. Twenty-five former Pan Am’ers learned about the Circumnavigators Club and its ties the fabled airline. Several Circumnavigators took historic Pan Am flights, including Fred Myers (Naples Chapter) who took the fastest around-the-world flight on a commercial airline in 1976 and Brian Baum (Pacific Northwest Chapter) who circled the world over the north and south poles in 1977. Also, Juan Trippe, founder of Pan Am, was our Magellan honoree in 1969. Attending the event was Circumnavigator Leilani Pierce who is a member of both clubs.

Ukraine Trip Off

Circumnavigator Halyna Traversa (Naples Chapter) was born in Ukraine and planned a trip there with friends this summer. With a heavy heart, she had to cancel the trip because of the tragic war that is underway. Halyna last visited Ukraine several years ago and wrote about the trip in The LOG. She described her wonderful visit to Lviv in western Ukraine with its historic buildings, charming coffeehouses and restaurants and beautiful opera house. Now, we can only hope that this fabled city and other cities will not be destroyed and that peace will return. Our thoughts are with those caught up in this tragedy.

Circumnavigators Susan Stoddard and Stephen Carmichael took a break from “Mud Season” in Minnesota to visit the Yucatán peninsula. The Mayan ruins at Chichen Itza were most impressive. Here they “show the flag” at the great pyramid that the Spanish named the Citadel.

New Book

Circumnavigator Paulette Cooper, President of Palm Beach Chapter, has written many books and now has a new one, a memoir of her fascinating life. The Perils of Paulette draws on her Holocaust Survival, her expose of Scientology, her world travels and more. The book is available on Amazon.

Pacific Southwest Chapter

The chapter held a “live” meeting to welcome Cris and Henry Fuhrer home after their trip to Antarctica. Co-President Arthur Hammons served up Corned Beef with a mustard glaze and Circumnavigator Cristull Hasson provided a decadent chocolate cake as they heard about the Fuhrers’ adventure to their Seventh Continent.

Collector’s Corner

Circumnavigator Katie Koontz (New York Metro) is looking for member collections that she can feature in her LOG column. If you have an interesting travel-related collection, contact Katie through club headquarters.

Circumnavigators Cruise

Several Circumnavigators invite you to join them on a cruise from Lisbon to Rome in 2023. The previous announcement had the wrong dates. The correct dates are July 23 to August 3, 2023. This is not an official club-sponsored trip but we are hoping members will take this opportunity to get together for fun and camaraderie. Contact David Mink for more information: davidamink@me.com

The Last Shot

Do you have a good photo for The Last Shot? Please send to club@circumnavigators.org.

Luck to you!

David A. Mink
International President
davidamink@me.com