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Book Club: Unfinished Love Story, Doris Kearns Goodwin, May 14, 2025

“Dick and Doris Goodwin were married for forty-two years and married to American history even longer. Dick was one of the young men of John F. Kennedy’s New Frontier, and he both named and helped design Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society. Doris was a White House Fellow and worked directly for Lyndon Johnson, later assisting on his memoir. The Goodwins’ last great adventure involved opening the more than three hundred boxes of letters, diaries, documents and memorabilia Dick had saved for more than fifty years. The voyage of remembrance revived the hope that the youth of today will carry forward this love story with America”–

Hike: Saugatuck Falls Natural Area in West Redding, Feb 17, 2025

Hail to the Hale and Hearty Hikers!
The inclement weather predicted for this Thursday makes it prudent to postpone our hike until the following Monday, President’s Day. While a bit of an inconvenience, this postponement fortuitously makes it possible to change our venue to the Saugatuck Falls Natural Area in West Redding and make use of the John Read Middle School vacant parking lot, located directly across from the entrance. These woods are gorgeous, the path is wide, and the elevation nearly flat. So even if there is some residual snow cover, our footing should be secure. Spouses, friends and dogs on leash are welcome. While we can always eat at our reliable stand-by, Oren’s Diner, if you have a more local suggestion, do not hesitate to be in touch with Lee or myself.
Per usual, for those wishing to carpool, we will meet at the back of the DCA parking lot at 9:30 AM and sort rides.  NOTE – if you plan to park your car at the DCA, please make sure you park in the DCA’s back lot, close to the Nature Preserve.

Hike Devil’s Den Nature Preserve, Feb 13, 2025

For our February hike on Thursday, the 13th, the hale and hearty
hikers will be traversing a clockwise loop of about three miles in
the Devil’s Den Nature Preserve in Weston. The elevations are
modest, but the trail gets rocky in parts, so sturdy footgear is
recommended. Given the likely calorie burn, a hearty breakfast is
also advised. Following the hike, we will retire to share a meal at
Orem’s Diner in South Wilton.

For those who wish to carpool, we will meet at the DCA parking
lot at 9:30am. It is never too late to get on our distribution list; just
signal your interest to Lee Morrison, whose contact information is
below.
Weather Advisory: While snowfall Is not predicted over the next
ten days, should we get an accumulation, we will choose an
alternate locale and get back to this one later in the year.Alec Wiggin
Lee Morrison

Dinner & Hockey Jan 18, 2025

Our next Social Event, following the Holiday Party, will be Saturday, January 18th.  We’ll follow our usual format:  a family style dinner starting at 4:30 pm at Ralph & Rich’s, 815 Main Street, Bridgeport where we will share a salad, three different entrees (chicken francaise, veal parm and broiled salmon), smashed potatoes, sauteed vegetables and Italian cookies and pastries for dessert—with coffee or tea.

Seating will be in a separate curtained off area and we will have our own dedicated waiter/waitress.

Throughout dinner there will be two choices of wine (one white; one red).  For those who do not drink wine, soft drinks will be available.  Mixed drinks or beer, if desired, must be paid for on your own at the bar.  Likewise, if you wish to order anything else from the menu you will be asked to pay for it separately on your own.

As in past years, we will carpool to the restaurant—which provides us with 6 hours of free parking.  However, to obtain free parking you must provide the desk with your license plate number upon entering.

The Total Mortgage Arena is a very short walk from the restaurant.  The game starts at 7:00 pm and usually ends about 9:30.  This year the Bridgeport Islanders, the top affiliate of the NHL New York Islanders, will be facing off against the Springfield Thunderbirds, the top affiliate of the NHL St. Louis Blues.  Food (if you have any room), beverages, etc. are available for purchase on your own at the Arena.

Please note: it is best for the ladies to bring a clutch to the game (if necessary) as pocketbooks will be searched for security reasons.

Cost per person is $80.  Make checks payable to “DMA”.

There will be a sign up sheet at our December 11 and 18 DMA meetings.  Or, you may reserve by contacting Gehr Brown or Tom Lom.  Attendance is limited to a maximum of 24.

Book Club: A Walk in the Park: The True Story of a Spectacular Misadventure in the Grand Canyon by Kevin Fedarko, April 9, 2025

A deeply moving account ever of walking the Grand Canyon, a highly dangerous, life-changing 750-mile trek.  The Grand Canyon is an American treasure, visited by more than 6 million people a year, many of whom are rendered speechless by its vast beauty, mystery, and complexity. Now, in A Walk in the Park , author Kevin Fedarko chronicles his year-long effort to find a 750-mile path along the length of the Grand Canyon, through a vertical wilderness suspended between the caprock along the rims of the abyss and the Colorado River, which flows along its bottom. Consisting of countless cliffs and steep drops, plus immense stretches with almost no access to water, and the fact that not a single trail links its eastern doorway to its western terminus, this jewel of national parks is so challenging that when Fedarko departed fewer people had completed the journey in one single hike than had
walked on the moon. The intensity of the effort required him to break his trip into several legs, each of which held staggering dangers and unexpected discoveries. Accompanying Fedarko through this sublime yet perilous terrain is the award-
winning photographer Peter McBride, who captures the stunning landscape in breathtaking photos. Together, they encounter long-lost Native American ruins, the remains of Old West prospectors’ camps, present day tribal activists, and signs that
commercial tourism is impinging on the park’s remote wildness. An epic adventure, action-packed survival tale, and a deep spiritual journey,

A Walk in the Park gives us an unprecedented glimpse of the crown jewel of America’s National an iconic landscape framed by ancient rock whose contours are recognized by all, but whose secrets and treasures are known to almost no one, and whose
topography encompasses some of the harshest, least explored, most awe-inspiring terrain in the world.
Goodreads

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