Sun City Anthem

Monday, March 31, 2014

Tickets Will be Gone....If You Procrastinate

American Trilogy Show
A Must See at the South Point 

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 "Entertainment Bargains for Sun City Anthem Residents

Entertainment Club News

Resident Takes on Entertainment Club Guest Policy Discrimination

Jim Long (Past SCA Board of Directors President and Current Board Vice-President) displayed his authority to discriminate against the newly formed SCA Entertainment Club.


Jim Long was successful in recruiting three followers (Mike Carey, Dan Forgeron, Jerry Gardberg) to modify our clubs Bylaws as he saw fit in direct violation of the 2014 Charter Club Guidelines, 2014 Club Bylaws, and Lifestyles Mission Statement.

SCA President Jean Capullipo,  Jim Mayfield, and Bella Meese strongly apposed the amendment.

The restrictions imposed ONLY on SCA Entertainment Club disallows any guests to attend our functions unless they hold a valid SCA Membership Card.

This means...

Special guests such as Veterans Treatment Court Judge Mark Stevens cannot attend our clubs Veterans fund raiser event.

Special guests such as representatives for the Philippines Disaster Relief Effort cannot attend any event.

Special guest speakers are disallowed to speak.

Your Mother, Father, Sister, Brother, Children, Grand Children, Great Grand Children, other Relatives, Friends, Neighbors, Business Associates, Girl Friends, Boy Friends, Visitors...and the list goes on and on, are disallowed.

This action by Long, Carey, Forgeron, Gardberg clearly demonstrates they can make up their own rules and regulations at will whenever they have a personal axe to grind with the participants of SCA Entertainment Club.

I doubt very much these four individuals are ignorant of the rules and regulations they passed only two months ago in January 2014.

So...What was their motive?   Not one of the other SCA 50 plus Charter Clubs have these restrictions.

______________________________________________________________
LIFESTYLES Mission Statement:

It is the mission of this committee to fulfill its duties to the community, the Chartered Club Program and the Board in such manner that interests and rights of all are respected as equitably as possible. These duties will be fulfilled in a timely manner.

The committee shall treat all Clubs in an equitable manner, showing no bias. Decisions regarding the
Clubs will be made in reference to the Charter Club Guidelines and will reflect what is deemed to be in
the best interest of the Clubs and the Community at large.
______________________________________________________________
SCA Charter Club Guidelines and Rules Approved by Lifestyles Committee and the BOD
January 2014:
2.5 Guests:

A. Clubs may exercise autonomy when establishing a guest policy as long as it does not contradict the governing documents of the Association. They may impose more stringent, but not less stringent, rules than those included in the Association documents governing guest policy.
Club guests may use Association facilities if they meet all respective club requirements for safety, training, and individual decorum.
Clubs may require a guest fee. All club guest policies should be clearly stated in club bylaws.

 
B. Eligible Resident Guests are defined as individuals who hold valid activity cards and are not members of the chartered club.
Eligible Resident Guests may attend a club’s activities no more than five times per calendar year without joining the club. Clubs may adopt a more restrictive policy.
C. Non-Eligible Guests are defined as individuals who do not hold a valid activity card and are not Association members.
Clubs may allow Non-Eligible Guests at club events, but they do not qualify for club membership.
Non-Eligible Guests must be accompanied by a club member at all times when participating in a club event at any facility/amenity of the Association.
A Non-Eligible Guest may attend a club’s events no more than five times per calendar year.

D. Club guests are defined as non-eligible guests invited by the Club Board/officers from other communities who wish to interact with similar clubs in our community.
Example: Tournament guests from like clubs participating with SCA clubs. These types of activities must first be approved by the Lifestyle Committee.

E. In planning events where space is limited, clubs should first accommodate their members, Eligible Guests, and then all others.

______________________________________________________________
Charter Club Bylaws Approved by Lifestyles Committee and the BOD January 2014

Section B: Guest Policy:

Eligible residents and non-resident guests may be extended privileges as long as they meet the Chartered Club Guidelines and Rules of the Association. Resident Guests are permitted to attend functions a maximum of five times per year and must then become members in order to continue enjoying benefits.


Non-Eligible Guests do not qualify for membership, must be accompanied by a member at all times, and not attend more than five (5) functions per year. Such guests may be charged a fee.

Sunday, March 30, 2014

A Tragic Comedy

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum*
 
 

 
Yes indeed, a funny thing happened on the way to the Forum (Sun City Anthem board meeting) last week when the subject of a new ENTERTAINMENT CLUB was to be voted on by the distinguished cast of the forum production...the board of directors.
 
For most people I know who do go to meetings, they often wish they hadn't...
 
...because they often witness children dressed like adults...acting like children !
 
One of those times was getting the news about an  ENTERTAINMENT CLUB, and all I could do was just sit back and smile, thinking my contribution to community leadership should include sending various members of that forum a two year supply of pabulum along with a large rattle in order that they are able to look the part in order to compliment their acting it. 
 

Oh...it got approved, but...it went through hell and hoops (by way of fruit loops) getting it approved !
 
Outside of going through session after session with a Lifestyle Committee trying to convince an entire group of people who literally define entertainment as...
 
...spending a Friday afternoon talking about stripes on a tennis court for an hour (only to have it sent to other committees for further input)....
 
...getting chastised for trying to provide FREE entertainment for a community...
 
...by a committee, only one of which has EVER attended any of the numerous FREE venues available to us old codgers in the Las Vegas valley...
 
...after having been responsible for providing FREE entertainment to assist a typhoon fund raising event....
 
Let's just say....
 
I went to bed that evening saying a prayer that started with...
 
 "Lord, thank you for not making me like the ones you subjected me to this afternoon".
 
....and asking Him if I could skip confession that week because I had done my penance to God by having to sit through that meeting.
 
"No", he said, "your sins require further resolve".
 
You must go through the ordeal again and again being judged by these same "jacks of all asses"... the same ones who say...
 
 "Do As I Say, Not As I Do."
 
Why I wondered?  What have I and the others done to deserve such punishment?
 
He then answered me in a peculiar manner I had once heard by a member of the current forum running for his office by saying...
 
 "that's the price you have to pay to enjoy PARADISE".
 
As many know, according to those who suffered through those meetings, that initial hurdle finally got crossed, yet two of the sub-forum still believed what was trying to be accomplished by the innocent parties...
 
...namely...trying to help a community "party"...
 
...at NO COST...
 
..was beyond their comprehension.
 
One was a committee chairman who has always been owned "lock, stock, and barrel" by the "system of good ole boys"; and the other was their apparent legal source....a "non-people" type person who believes any who look at life with a rosy attitude should be subject to suspicion. 
 
SO....on to the big forum...the BOARD OF DIRECTORS to determine that FATE of the "party animals".
 
In the crowded room of 25 people of the approximate population of 11,000 Sun City Anthem residents....
 
...they pondered...they discussed....they thought...
 
And then is was time for a vote...
 
WHOA...not just yet, said the former forum head honch who decided to enforce some rule that never existed...
 
 
"We need to place a restriction on these 'animals' who are attempting to convince others that life is more than a meeting on a Thursday or Friday afternoon".
 
We must MAKE SURE THEY ARE NOT PERMITTED ANY GUESTS who are not members of their community clan to attend such "free" functions.
 
"After all, we demand all the peasants who are MEMBERS, to financially support a restaurant we the "chosen honchos", find necessary for nourishment,"  he claimed....
 
...while a fellow forum member, agreed in a loud voice, banging a glass on the table, after picking himself off the floor following his early "happy hour" visit to the Royal bistro....
 
 
... the bistro that OUTSIDERS are allowed unlimited access.
 
BUT...allow any OUTSIDE NON-MEMBERS to attend any "free" outing this proposed new organization was planning ?????

NEVER...unreasonable...despicable....unconscionable !
 
Let them play mini-golf instead !
 
Well, despite a noble effort of one member of the forum to say....
 
"Hey, you can't make a rule for these guys without having the same rule for others"....
 
IT ACTUALLY PASSED !
 

 
That's right....You read it right....
 
NO GUESTS !
 
So Uncle Joe from Kokomo can sit at the Royal Bistro without a member discount eating and entertaining your dates, sons, daughters, nieces, nephews, concubines, etc....
 
While the "official" member animals party !
 
Who voted NOT TO ALLOW NON-MEMBERS to attend any of their functions (even though every other club in existence allows guests in some way or another  ?
 
Now this will surprise you, I'm sure (cough cough).
 
Other than the former main honch, Jimmy the "Legal Weasel", who came up with this absurd idea, there were  two outgoing forum members, Jerry the "Sleeping Gerbil", his pal, Dan the "Flim Flam Man"...and staunch anti-social ally, Mikey "the Mini-Mook".... 
 
... who  enjoy spending PUBLIC money for PRIVATE restaurants and $75,000 vestibules...believing that "the book" says, it's going to be the management company's responsibility to take the heat for all of the free wheel spending !
 
But how is a "NO GUEST POLICY" going to be policed?
 
It was determined that it was up to the "integrity" of the club do to so....
 
NOT SO FAST...their integrity has been questioned by both a committee and board,  but I have the solution to maintain that integrity....
 
HAVE THE ONES WHO DECIDED TO VOTE FOR THAT RULE STAND AT THE ENTRANCE TO EACH AND EVERY MEETING CHECKING MEMBERSHIP CARDS !
 
....after all, they've now decided that all of their responsibilities have been delegated elsewhere, so they should have the time to do so...
 
...AND....
 
...two of them won't be around to make more rules !
 
And doing so can accomplish yet another objective....
 
...making sure all of the community blogs not PROVIDE MISINFORMATION !
 
Oh yes...fun at the Forum on a Thursday afternoon....
 

 
...where life is determined as to HOW you should live it, by people who haven't the slightest idea...
 
 HOW TO LIVE !
 
* The characters in this piece are fictitious, and any resemblance to a person living, dead, living and appearing to be dead, or living and should be dead, is purely coincidental.

Friday, March 28, 2014

Times are getting better in Nevada



New economic report suggests Las Vegas on road to recovery


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

Thursday, March 27, 2014

Special Guests...The Lettermen

Vegas Voice Show Saturday, March 29th 

Join  Radio host, Dick Arendt,  this Saturday, March 29th at 7:00am and again at noon on Sunday for The Vegas Voice Show on  KLAV radioAM 1230, on your dial.





Dick's Special Guests this week are the legendary...

Lettermen...



...who will be performing this weekend at the South Point Showroom on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, March 29th-March 31st at 7:30pm

We'll get "up close and personal" with these outstanding personalities, talk about their beginnings some 55 years ago, and discuss The Vocal Group Hall of Fame, founded by original member, Tony Butala, to honor and protect the rights of original artists from those using their names. 

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

America's Got Talent Star Murray SawChuck Back at Tropicana

Norm Johnson's Weekend Entertainment News

 Murray SawChuck

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"What's Up in Weekend Entertainment"

Mixed Reviews on Home Sales in Las Vegas Valley

Nevada home sales continue to decline as prices rise
 


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

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Is Sun City Anthem Spending Making it Difficult on Future Residents ?

Nevada: Below average in financial security for future retirees


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

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

World War II...and the Importance of China

A special thanks goes out to Sun City Anthem resident, Dorothy Yu, who sent this historical piece to Anthem Opinions.  We believe that this too is a vital aspect of World War II that so many may not be aware of...but should be...and...

As part of its commitment to the Vegas Voice

"Keeping the Spirit of 45 Alive"

We are proud to bring this aspect of history to the attention of our community.

       The World’s Wartime Debt to China


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 "History and Holidays"

Local Entertainment At Its Best....Sunday, March 30th

Only $12.00 gets you the best Local Entertainment in Las Vegas on this coming Sunday, March 30th at 1:00pm.
 
Spring 2014 Awards Event
E-String Music Club

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 "Entertainment Bargains for Sun City Anthem Residents"

Monday, March 24, 2014

Keeping Your Eyes Open with 12 Ideas

 12 Tips For Finding The Best Airfares
 
 
 

or
 
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"Why Didn't I Think About That ? ....Tips"

Sunday, March 23, 2014

It's the Carver Management Style No Matter How You Try to Disguise It


A Reader Speaks Out...Can't Understand Board Logic in Delegating Responsibilities


The Carver Method of management is in the process of being implemented into Sun City Anthem, no matter how people try to disguise it.

As I understand the system from SCA communications:

Put more responsibility on the management company to handle some of the routine operations of the association.


Less " hands on" involvement from the board of directors.

The job of the board is to make policy; the management company carries out these policies;  therefore moving some of the less critical decisions to the EMPLOYEES of the company. 

So let me better understand this.

As an example, if someone were to create and sponsor a trip or a cruise,  the board would not get involved. 


The management company would have someone like a lifestyles director (who hopefully would be familiar with Nevada Homeowners Association Laws) review the proposal and set whatever guidelines would be required to complete the process.

The employee could make the decision to ignore the competitive bidding requirement since the association is not being charged any direct cost other than free rent for meetings and free advertising to help promote the trip. 

I guess it is assumed that lost revenue is not a cost. 

So the management company employee then adds a non- disclosure to any fee or cost arrangement with the vendor/agent. 

Conveniently, the management company neglects to vet the supplier of the trip. 
The management company NEVER checks to see if the vendor has a business license to operate in Henderson. 

The management company never checks the license number that the agents uses for advertising the agent's services.

The agent claims these services are free. 

I thought about this and tried to compare it to buying an insurance policy.

When an agent sells you insurance, normally you do not pay a fee to the insurance person.

Does that mean the insurance is free? 

Does that mean the insurance agent is not being paid?

Not all all;  the insurance company pays the agent directly from the premiums paid to the company.

If a travel person/agent/broker arranges a trip and gets others to agree to partake in the trip and then RECEIVES A FREE TRIP,  is that not compensation?

If this were really free, the agent / broker/person would tell the cruise company to take the value of this commission and reduce the cost to each participant.
FREE LUNCHES do no exist.

Now the board has to manage this arrangement, so they wait 11 months to sign the contract. 

We could even have the employee sign a contract without any SCA board member overseeing the contract !

This Carver Method of Management is starting to catch my eye and if that's not a perfect example of "passing the buck, so you won't get stuck, I don't know is ! 


 WHAT HAPPENED HERE AT SCA?


It looks pretty obvious to me.  The employee screwed up, and under this "new and improved" system", this board did not provide the proper oversight.

How disappointing....and typical.

Guest List for March 26th

An Afternoon Affair...Red Rock
 

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 "An Afternoon Affair...Red Rock Guest List"

Saturday, March 22, 2014

Upcoming Entertainment Around Town

Let's See...

You can stick around here and go to a candidate coffee, read the latest about a hight priced restaurant's menu, get the latest poop about board candidates who will spend your money like water,  watch basketball 'til you're blind...

or

Stay Young...Get Out... and Enjoy


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 "Entertainment Bargains for Sun City Anthem Residents"

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Second of a Two Parts....Bobby Brooks Wilson

Vegas Voice Show Saturday, March 22nd



Join  Radio host, Dick Arendt,  this Saturday, March 22nd at 7:00am and again at noon on Sunday for The Vegas Voice Show on  KLAV radioAM 1230, on your dial.




Dick's Special Guest this week is...

 Bobby Brooks Wilson...



We'll get "up close and personal" with  Bobby, learn about his childhood in foster care, the many health problems he overcame in his life....

...entering the entertainment field when health problems reappeared as an adult forcing him to give up a promising military career...

...his encounter with Paul Revere of 
"Paul Revere and the Raiders"

 asking him to do a

"Jackie Wilson" tribute

and

the eventual shock...

...when he learned he really was the son of rock 'n roll icon...

Jackie Wilson

...in the second of two interviews that will chronicle this humble man who overcame it all...

...to become one of the most exciting entertainers to hit Las Vegas
in years.

Yes, this is Bobby Brooks Wilson...

not Jackie !



And...if you miss the broadcast, you can always download it from The Vegas Voice website.

  Just go the "Radio" link, click on it, all past shows are archived for your convenience.

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

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

It's a Community Composed of Ordinary People...Not a Kingdom Filled with Royalty

Reality check time ! 


A recent vestibule in Anthem Center was completed that cost us $75,000 !

...and it was rather disturbing in the manner in which the cost was justified amongst those in our community that are of the belief that money is spent  "like a drunken sailor".

....that spending less on an alternative option costing $8,000 for an air curtain, is "beneath" our standards...because we are a community that shouldn't bother with such trivial things when our "reputation" is at stake.

... that it would have forced certain status conscious members of our community to remove their raised noses from the clouds and breathe the same air that the rest of the peasant population is forced to endure ! 

...and that line of thought...

... is typical of something that most RESPONSIBLE people despise...

BIG GOVERNMENT

...government that spends money for one reason....

...because they have it to spend...

...rather than having a need for something to spend it on !

It's time to look in the mirror and realize a very important fact about seniors....

WE'RE PEOPLE LIKE EVERYONE ELSE...

...that we are NOT ENTITLED to anything other than what we put into this earth while making an attempt to make it a better place.

...that living in a community where most homes ranging in the $200,000 to $250,000 price category exist in a non-gated community...

... is not SHAGRILA...

...that it's middle class America !

...that an OVERWHELMING PERCENTAGE of Sun City Anthem residents are just "middle of the roaders" who were looking for a well maintained area in which to live out the rest of our lives....in peace...without poverty !

...not some "look at me" community where people who live outside it, look at us.. NOT WITH ENVY...

....but as "those seniors who have champagne tastes on beer budgets".

And believe me...I get out of here OFTEN enough to hear those words, not like some whose lives revolve around spending every waking moment walking around a large building, dinng at the same overpriced eatery, and believing they represent "the people".

There was a frightening set of statistics made public recently.....that in excess of 38% of seniors have less than $1,000 in a savings account...

...yet amazingly....

Still believe they are going to retire !

How is that possible?

In their minds...

ONE WAY

... by believing they are "entitled" to it !

...that the federal government is supposed to provide those "wants"...despite neither having the funds to do so.

I spoke with an anonymous individual recently, who, at the age of 71, refinanced a home OVER 30 YEARS....that the attitude was...

...not a big deal, when I die, who cares what I owe?

WHO CARES WHAT I OWE WHEN I DIE?

How disgusting, I thought...and yet this attitude is becoming more and more prevalent in our society as the years pass.

What if OUR ANCESTORS would have thought that way...especially ones like mine who arrived in Ellis Island in the 1920s ?

So who is going to pay that debt?

OUR KIDS, THEIR KIDS, and THEIR KIDS.

And whose fault is this attitude?

OURS...THE ENTITLED GENERATION...

...THE ONES WHO TOOK THE PRINCIPLES INSTILLED IN US BY HARD WORKING PARENTS AND ANCESTORS....

....and those who have adopted this belief of "entitlement"....who have DESTROYED THEM in their "you owe me" attitudes !

That $75,000 for a vestibule is a perfect example of the waste that is now part of the ENTITLED GENERATION'S WAY OF THINKING.

A substantial number of people DO NOT USE the Anthem Center, and a simple SWEATER could have solved a problem...

...but...

... those who "keep their noses high enough in the air"....decided to spend $75,000 of an entire community's funds in order for a FEW to avoid having to buy that sweater.

...spending money based on  CARELESS WANT...not NEED.

Ever look at "self-made" people and the way they spend money?  They do so a lot differently than those who have been part of a system that has cared for them their entire working lives....

...they VALUE IT, and unlike so many others who criticize them for their wealth....REALIZE that there are NO GUARANTEES as to TOMORROW....

Whereas $1,100 in annual dues is looked upon by many as modest...perhaps knowing that sum PAID IN A SINGLE YEAR....exceeds the TOTAL SAVINGS of 38% of Americans wishing to retire...

...places all of this in its proper perspective.

...and that the values of our parents and ancestors  MUST BE PRESERVED, or,  in the words of Abraham Lincoln..
.
..this nation will "perish from this earth".