To Be...Or...Not To Be

Entertainment Club....Something New on the Sun City Anthem Horizon?

Beginning last November, an idea that was being considered by a number of residents, has recently started to "take shape" in 2014...

...with both Praise...and...Controversy !

Praise...by most residents.

Controversy....by a Lifestyle Committee

As an individual who attended a Lifestyle Committee meeting on Friday, January 11th, what was envisioned by some as a "wonderful gesture" by The Vegas Voice to bring FREE professional entertainment to our community, appeared to be met with suspicion by a number of members on that committee.

We, at Anthem Opinions, will watch this very carefully, and as we have always done in the past....

...will PULL NO PUNCHES as to our OPINIONS.

At the present time, to bring the matter to the attention of our readers, two alternative Sun City publications have recently posted articles that we believe you should be aware of as the process proceeds.

First...from Anthem Today....

A NEW SOCIAL ENTERTAINMENT CLUB GOING FOR A SCA CHARTER

by Rana Goodman on Sat Jan 11, 2014 

As of this date we have approximately 50 plus residents in the process of working with the Lifestyles Committee as a group of us attempt to become a chartered club which will be called the SCA Entertainment Club.

Purpose of Club

The goal of the SCA Entertainment Club is to bring like-minded residents together to enjoy the many outlets of professional entertainment our city has to offer. The club intends to utilize the resources available to our members who have shown a desire to bring professional performers, without charge whenever possible, to the club's functions in our Sun City Anthem facilities. Club activities may include off-site events such as special performances or gatherings in surrounding areas. Additional activates will include events such as holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, and other special fund raisers supporting charities and/or disaster relief efforts.SCA Entertainment Club does not intend to duplicate other clubs activities except to have fun, enhance the Sun City Anthem Community and to enjoy each other’s company. While there might appear to be vague similarities with other SCA clubs in some activities now and then, professional entertainment is the major thrust of this club since it is strictly a social club where the goal is free and professional entertainment.

It is also the clubs intent, whenever possible, to joint venture with other clubs allowing all club to enjoy-professional entertainment at a greatly reduced, if not free of financial cost. 

If you have an interest in joining our ranks please send me an e-mail at info@anthemtoday.com This e-mail will go directly to me and is private. I will need your full name and SCA membership number at this time so that we can submit the list to the Lifestyle committee. The membership number is a committee requirement.

The name of the game is FUN!

A second article was also published by Ron Johnson in his publication, Today's Anthem View.

In the case of the proposed SCA Entertainment Club, some committee members were unreceptive, others, based on their questions, demonstrated their obvious confusion, and still others were suspicious. Why, some wondered, would Las Vegas professional performers agree to donate their services to Sun City residents at no cost? What’s the catch? Was there really a free lunch waiting for Sun City residents to enjoy? The short answer is “YES.” The proposed charter club was offering something of valve for the nominal cost of joining the club, just like the Lifelong Learning Club and other clubs do now.

 On reading this summary of the workshop, one might conclude that the club’s proponents had merely ginned up their proposal without much thought or preparation. That would be wrong. As disclosed at the workshop, the Club held a meeting and communicated with the committee in advance to determine the information that would be needed in support of the club’s proposal for a charter. In retrospect, it would seem that some opportunities for better communications between the Committee and the club were missed.  

 In the end, the committee could not see their way to provide any help to the proponents of this proposed club. The proponents, Dan Roberts, Rana Goodman and Forrest Fetherolf, were clearly dismayed by the committee’s unexpected treatment and apparent obtuseness in appreciating let alone accepting what amounted to a gift horse for the benefit of the community.

 The club’s so called gift horse was their offer to provide the community with professional performers who would share their talents at club events at no cost. Why would they do that? They would donate their professional services for Sun City’s benefit in the hopes of generating future interest in their shows. It’s not that complicated. Unfortunately, rather than focusing on the Club’s potential entertainment value to the community, the Committee focused their attention on attempting to attribute a pecuniary motive for what would be a valuable and free gift of professional entertainment for residents to enjoy. 

 

 The burden of finding and securing professional talent would fall on the Club and Dan Roberts. Dan is the publisher of the Vegas Voice newspaper and has extensive contacts among the Las Vegas professional community. Club performances would complement and not conflict with Activities Department shows or the Performing Arts Club. George Gingerelli, who spoke at the meeting, said that he saw no issue with the proposed club nor would it conflict with the mission of the Performing Arts Club.

    

 If you as a resident have any interest in this possible club, let them or us know.

This appears to be wonderful idea....

and we too have our suspicions...

...not the motives of those who are attempting to bring a wonderful new venue to our community that DOES NOT EXIST ANYWHERE IN THE VALLEY...

...But others who seem to create unnecessary hostility for some unknown reason.

Special Guests...Sun City Anthem Residents Helen & Tosh Yasuda

The Vegas Voice Show Saturday, January 11th

 

Join  Radio host, Dick Arendt,  this Saturday, January 11h at 7:00am and again at noon on Sunday for The Vegas Voice Show on  KLAV radio, AM 1230, on your dial.

 

Dick's Special Guests this week are Sun City Anthem Residents, Tosh and Helen Yasuda. 

 

Both Helen and Tosh were interned in Detention Camps for years following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

 

Listen and learn how these individuals, young children in 1942, were taken from their homes and interned in camps for three years.

 

They'll tell you what it was like to be placed on a train with nothing other than the clothes on their backs, taken to various locations, and housed in"tar paper" buildings for the duration of World War II.

 

They'll tell you the hardships they faced; the lack of privacy they were afforded, their crowded surroundings in a single room...

 

...all the while behind barbed wire fences with military personnel having loaded rifles pointed at them each moment of every day.

 

...and the loss of all their possessions...when they were finally sent home with nothing but a TRAIN TICKET and $25.00.

 

...and these two people were NATURAL BORN AMERICAN CITIZENS...Helen being 4th Generation American...never even speaking the Japanese language.

 

Their crimes....being of Japanese descent.

 

All part of a new Vegas Voice venture...

 

...participation is a national program entitled "Keep the Spirit of '45 Alive".

 

And don't forget to read The Vegas Voice, the largest Age 50+ Senior newspaper in the Las Vegas valley.

 

http://www.thevegasvoice.net/

 

And....if you miss the broadcast, and would still like to hear it, all you have to do is go the Vegas Voice website under the "Radio" section.  All the past shows are available at the click of mouse.

 

And...don't forget to check our "History and Holidays" Information Page on Tuesday, January 14th, for an article entitled "January 14, 1942...The Day the Statue Cried".

 

 

A New Show at the Venetian...Panda

There's plenty to do this weekend...including a new show that's opening at the Venetian !

 

Norm Johnson's Weekend Entertainment News

 

 CLICK HERE for Full Information

or

 

For complete details, just click on our Information Page...

 

"What's Up in Weekend Entertainment"

News Reports Show Concerns

Do you text and drive? 

Report: Adult Drivers Texting More than Teens

How's the real estate market doing in Las Vegas?

Nevada Continues to Lead Nation in Underwater Homes

CLICK HERE for Full Information 

or

Click on our Information Page...

 "Henderson...LasVegas...Nevada...Happenings"

Some Great Tips on Savings Energy Bills

Mr. Fix-It loves to save money....and he's got some great new tips on...

 

Saving Energy Costs

 

CLICK HERE for Full Information

 

or

 

Click on our Information Page, "Mr. Fix-It's World of Home Improvement"

Great News for "Strip" Lovers...and...Homeowners

There's going to be a new addition to The Strip... ...and... because business is booming... ...so are property values around town.
 

Las Vegas to Get New Arena

Las Vegas Home Prices Rise in December

CLICK HERE for Full Information 

or

 

Click on our Information Page...

 

 "Henderson...LasVegas...Nevada...Happenings"

Let's Start 2014 the Right Way

Though we've said it for the past few days, we want to say it again...

...Happy New Year to the many of you who subscribe to Anthem Opinions.

...and to those or you who have not yet subscribed...

YOU SHOULD ! 

It's free and it's filled with items for EVERYONE.

The holidays are now "officially" over, and "normalcy" will hopefully be reappearing in our daily retirement lives.

So...as a new "publishing year" begins, we thought we'd start it in a positive direction....with humor !

Here is an expanded version of my "Say What !?!"  January, 2014 column in the next "The Vegas Voice" publication that should be "hitting your mail box' in the next few days.

...and...

...tell your friends and neighbors about us....

We like making new friends !

We've tried hard to make Anthem Opinions a benefit to all in examining the many aspects of our beautiful community with "Mr. Fix-It" and "Garden Wizard" articles; looking closely at the true meaning of historical events in "History and Holidays"; providing you valued information in Las Vegas, Henderson and Nevada newsworthy items; and  keeping you abreast of the many dining and entertainment options we are so fortunate to have by living in this exciting part of the United States.

Wishing all of you a healthy, productive, exciting and most importantly. a fun filled...2014.

----------------------------------------------

New Year's Resolutions...a Guarantee in Keeping Them

It's January and like most people, I too, make New Years resolutions; and like most people, I never keep them.

2014 is THE YEAR I'm going to keep them...but this year they're going to be different....

...and if for some reason I fail,  I'll still be "winning" by "losing" in the eyes of my #1 critic, WIFEY. 

What I finally figured out, was that those resolutions were always to change my bad habits, habits she’s reminded of for 28 years;  but this year, in order to keep those 2014 promises, I'm reversing gears, and instead...

...have decided  to KEEP THEM.

That's right...I'm pledging to KEEP MY BAD HABITS, so on December 31, 2014, I can look at my wife and say, "Ah hah...I told you I could do it".

So for all of you men out there, here's my 2014 list you too may wish to consider telling wifey when she insists you change your evil ways.

First, I pledge I will only gain 20 POUNDS this year rather than my normal 10.   Let's see if she complains if I don't keep that one...AND...I'm gonna make her a deal...if she doesn't stop spending money like it's Christmas every day, I might as well look like Santa too !  Besides, who cares any longer, I'm 67 and the twenty something cocktail waitresses now call me "mister" anyway, so they might as well call me FAT...BUT HAPPY...MISTER !

Second, I promise to ACCUMULATE only 25 MORE $100 "free tee shirts" from the casinos in the best way I know how...by LOSING EVEN MORE MONEY IN THE SLOTS.  Let's see if she complains about that one if I fail ! More money in the slots, gets me on more casino mailing lists, and the more casino mailing lists I'm on, the more free food I get...thereby ensuring keeping New Year's resolution #1.

Third, I promise to HAVE ONLY 10 DRINKS PER DAY RATHER THAN MY USUAL 5 while losing more money getting those "free" tee-shirts...while I enjoy all those extra "free" meals because I’m on more lists, trying to erase the memory of the last VISA bill summarizing the number of shoes she bought during the month.

So...there you have it...three promises, all tied together in one neat little package, that shouldn't be a big a deal in keeping.

Finally, I figured it out....think NEGATIVE...AND...IT'S WIN-WIN.

Gain 20 pounds, lose more money, and drink more… you'll merely be keeping your 2014 resolutions.

...and... if you somehow lose 10 pounds, make money at the slots, and stop drinking, that means you didn't enjoy the cake and ice cream that would have made you look like Santa ...and you'll be more aware of wifey's VISA shoe bill.  

There's even more if you don't keep those promises !

You probably gave wifey the money you were going to lose; the casinos wouldn't have sent you free food; and even worse, you were sober during the entire ordeal...the entire time you deprived yourself...trying to keep those New Year's resolutions.

How's that for an incentive to keep those initial pledges ?

Men...I want all of you to think carefully about this and the ultimate prize in keeping them.....

....after all those years, you'll finally be in the position of looking at her, and saying, "It's Your Fault...I did it just for you" !

Anyway...that's my story...and...I'm sticking to it.

Happy New Year.

Dick Arendt

Negative Commentaries Turn Off Residents

Resident Sounds Off in Disgust of Negative Remarks on David's Anthem Journal

 

The following email was sent to Anthem Opinions and other commmunity blogs to reprint without making any changes.

It was written in response to the recent article authored by Mr. Berman ridiculing Ron Johnson's Liberty Center proposal, entitled "Croquet at Liberty Center?"

 

...and we are happy to convey this message to our readers.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Sadly, 2014 has begun with NEGATIVES on one web site - Can we work together and eliminate this high school behavior?

 

Date: January 4, 2014 4:04:52 PM PST

 

The below information was posted on Anthem Journal by David Berman.  Must we begin our NEW YEAR with negatives, rather than positives and working together for the benefit of ALL, not just a few with an agenda?

Our club members and neighbors are so tired of hearing about the miniature golf and the lack of disclosures when David Berman obtained signatures from many innocents. I say innocents as when asked about costs, they were told it was FREE (?).   Hopefully the Property and Grounds Committee realizes that he shared NO costs with folks and elaborated on it "costing nothing" since it came out of a FEE that we, are residents,  pay when we sell a house.  He and three previous board members were overheard talking, at Buckman's,  about what THEY planned on doing to make changes in OUR community since THEY had the VOTES (?).  Doesn't anyone, with power to make decisions,  care about what the majority of the residents in Sun City Anthem desire?  Who can concerns be forwarded to? Board members do NOT respond to emails and some committee chairman do not respond.  It's frustrating for many!   Please feel free to send this email to anyone to any committee member that is "voting/vetting" on the miniature golf course as it WILL be an expensive endeavor. 

 I viewed a personal putting green at a house, close to Liberty Center, not long ago that was installed by a professional company that works with the various Nevada golf courses. The landscaping was beautiful (and expensive), as well as the putting green but the owner said it was rarely used.  In retrospect, they would have put in a larger swimming pool and not installed the putting green. I've been to Summerlin four times and asked various residents at the various golf courses and clubs IF their miniature golf course is used as there is never anyone playing. Their comments were "it was a waste of money but Pulte installed it as part of their selling the community to those that didn't golf".  

It's my understanding that one of the suggestions for the Liberty Center Bocce Courts (which I regret and not able to use since they  were not built correctly) was a DUAL purpose activity where one could play SHUFFLEBOARD OR BOCCE (four of each would also work?)  and it seems the cost was minimal, compared to other proposals. No one seems to be talking about the LOW COST and the enjoyment to MANY for this and other venues submitted, other than the COSTLY miniature golf course proposal. Drive to Summerlin and talk to the residents, they do NOT use it (summer, spring, or winter) and little usage in the fall. Are we doing to invest big bucks into something else that won't be used. The Tennis Club has adequate courts, in my opinion, as the courts at Liberty Center are not used often. It's my understanding that Property and Grounds approved the conversion of tennis courts to Paddle Tennis and Pickle Ball yet the Tennis courts are not busy on a regular basis and sit "idle".  Bocce is idle as it wasn't built correctly and the SCA President, at the time, didn't have PULTE make the needed corrections before "accepting" Liberty Center and it's related conditions.  

Residents in our neighborhood and club activities are hopeful that Property and Grounds, in the vetting process, will realize that residents don't attend meetings. The last owner's meeting (not board meeting) was an example yet it was handled like a board meeting.  Residents feel it's not worth their time and that the "elite few" seem to have control over all decisions made in this community.  I find it interesting that existing board members meet at Buckmans, during off hours, rather than going to Vic's. This is a small community and conversations overheard are soon spread and rumors begin, sadly.  

It is hoped that our various committees will encourage our board to "disclose ALL information on ANY venue that would be important" BEFORE they approve same. Many are still stunned by the decision to CHANGE an already negotiated CONTRACT for the Vic's restaurant, reduce rent, make arrangements for payment of "past due utility bills" WITHOUT providing this information to ALL residents of Sun City Anthem.  IF rents are not paid in a prompt manner on my properties, I give them "notice to vacate", I do NOT "reward" them for ignoring the terms of a lease and not having consequences for this inexcusable behavior.

There are residents that have second homes in SCA and that live here part time, many investors, and full time residents. The SPIRIT is the BEST way to educate residents on EVERYTHING that is happening in this community as EACH household receives a copy each month. Individual mailers are expensive and NOT necessary IF the Spirit is used and any feedback from the board could be requested by using a form for same on one page.  I've lived in three different HOA's and have never experienced such a "split" in communities or finger pointing by those that feel they "have the votes". 

 

We need to put a stop to the negative remarks against specific residents as we ALL contribute something, and may it be positive for 2014 and not negative. The board, in my opinion, needs to listen to the majority of residents, not just a few.  This CAN be done by utilizing the Spirit on a monthly basis.  It's obvious the meeting attendance is getting worse, over the years, and not increasing.  It's time for positive changes.  

Thank you.

Linda Thomas

January Starts New Year with Lots of Fun Planned

The Latest Las Vegas Buzz

 

CLICK HERE for Full Information

 

or

 

Click on our Information Page, "Entertainment Bargains for Sun City Anthem Residents

Happy New Year...Past & Future    

 

Within the past day, I have received a number of wonderful "Happy Birthday" messages that have been filled with best wishes from so many of you.

...and to those of you who took the time to express your thoughts....

Thanks so much.

As many of you know, I enjoy laughter, the entertainment offered by this "Entertainment Capital of the World", and the wonderful relationships my wife and I have made over the 8+ years of living in Sun City Anthem.

Yesterday I received two emails from a valued reader, Valerie Lapin, and I would like to share them with you.

The first was LOOKING BACK....

It's a video entitled "I Can't Believe We Made It" 

It looks at YESTERDAY...the yesterday many of us knew...and loved...and appreciated in a world in which we lived as children.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

http://vimeo.com/52231459

Later in the day, I received yet another video from Valerie that LOOKS FORWARD 

..filled with hope of a PEACEFUL NEW YEAR examining the many aspects of this world dependent on PEACE...those innocent members of our world who have no control over it, yet whose very existence depends on it.


  This video is entitled "Auld Lang Syne".

So. I hope you also enjoy this video as well, and the message it conveys.

http://biggeekdad.com/2011/01/happy-new-year/

And to you Valerie Lapin, I, on behalf of Anthem Opinions, thank you for allowing our readers to look at just what the words HAPPY NEW YEAR should mean.

Dick Arendt

Let Us Entertain You...and...Happy New Year 2014

The Curse of Being Born on December 31st

I know... "Merry Christmas", "Happy Holidays", "Happy New Year"...I've heard it for almost 67 years.

And until now, I've just smiled and replied in kind; however, I am now a senior citizen; and as one, I am expected to complain...and I'm gonna complain!

So after all these years....It's time !

I was born 26 minutes from 1947, on December 31, 1946...

...and the only one who got a good deal out of that was my dad !

He got an extra income tax exemption of what was $600 way back when.

I loved my dad; he was a character, and I previously wrote an article about him last Father's Day, but knowing him for the "frugality" he displayed during his life, I can certainly visualize him saying, "Rosie, push...we need the deduction"!

My mother must have spent New Years Eve in agony, and I actually have a clipping from the Chicago Tribune announcing my being one of the kids born closest to the new year of 1947.

La De Da !  Big deal !

I was too young to eat any ice cream or birthday cake.

Anyone out there who was born near Christmas knows where I'm headed with this...

...It's called "Christmas/Birthday" presents your whole life !

Not one for Christmas and another for Birthday...

NOPE...just ONE...for both !

It all started as a child....a few toys....with  SOCKS and UNDERWEAR....

...stuff that a kid hates to get...much less for Christmas or a Birthday...

...and whatever I received...was to cover both days.

La De Da !

Meanwhile my little brother who was born in March would get the socks and underwear and toys on Christmas, and still get another stockpile shortly thereafter for his birthday !

It wasn't fair, and finally, after 67 years...I'm complaining.

And what was even worse, I couldn't even SLEEP late the morning after my birthday because Catholics have to attend mass on January 1st....

...or suffer eternal damnation in the next life !

Being from Chicago, I had to get up early every January 1st in the freezing, arctic cold (put on my new"Christmas/birthday" socks and underwear) and get to church to avoid the pains of hell !

I wasn't even allowed to wear those new cowboy boots Santa brought me either.  The nuns didn't consider that proper "church attire" and on top of that, my mother would always make me wear those big black goulashes even if it wasn't snowing. They came from Santa too, according to her !

Then what do I do? 

I marry a Jewish girl who looks at Christmas and New Years as days she'll be without jazzercise or zumba because our Recreation Center will be closed..

To add to my misery, she doesn't cook baked ham and I can't afford the prices of a New Years Eve meal...

...and waiting 'til the next day doesn't work, because the restaurants are usually closed on the "holiday".

Some holiday !!!

When I do go out on New Years Eve, I look for places with menus that fit the occasion...and my mood.

And then to top it all off...the world can't wait for the very moment your BIRTHDAY ENDS !  People eat, drink, are merry, fall all over themselves wearing silly hats (none say Happy Birthday)...

...and portray New Years Eve with a picture of an old man called "Father Time"...usually with a baby behind him---and YOU are the Father Time ! 

Oh...the joy of being born on December 31st ! 

And it all started with a spring day in late March, when the Chicago cold needed a little "bodily warmth" to create a human being who entered this world on December 31, 1946 !

However...they say "what goes around, comes around" and...

..To my dad, who thought he was saving $600 in 1946 on his income taxes...

...I ended up getting sweet revenge over the years, wrecking just about every one of his new cars !

…To my little brother, who never sends me a birthday card or ever picks up the phone to wish his older brother a Happy Birthday or Merry Christmas,  now gets MONOGRAMED Las Vegas tee-shirts as gifts for his "thoughtfulness"….

...on BOTH Christmas AND his Birthday ! 

…and To wifey, who now celebrates hubby's birthday with some strange ceremony of first checking if my life insurance premiums have been paid, then holding a mirror under my nose as she gazes at that once sleek beast who now falls asleep at 8:30pm on that day...

...now gets the "privilege" of buying those smelly socks and "expanding"  undies !

But to all of them...

I wouldn't have changed a single moment for the memories they gave me on each and every "Christmas/Birthday" over all the years.

…I don’t know what I ever would have done without you in my life.

Happy New Year to all of you !

Dick Arendt