Mr. Gottlieb will discuss the Battle of the Philippine Sea, a decisive naval battle of World War II which eliminated the Imperial Japanese Navy’s ability to conduct large-scale carrier actions.

Mr. Gottlieb is a local historian on subjects of political and military history.  He was formerly a professional curator of naval history and the Technical Director of Exhibits at the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum in NYC.  In these roles, Mr. Gottlieb worked regularly with veterans of all services towards the creation of exhibits accurately illustrating the history of 20th century warfare.

From 1989 through 1997, Mr. Gottlieb coordinated with all branches of the armed services and National Guard towards the preservation of historic ships, aircraft and armor from around the world, and has facilitated the recovery of scores of artifacts from warships slated for demolition from reserve fleets.

For the past ten years Mr. Gottlieb has refocused his professional efforts towards reaching out and addressing the growing needs of aging veterans and their families.  In addition to maintaining a private practice as a Counselor and Certified Senior Advisor in Norwalk, CT, he is a field instructor for Sacred Heart University.  Mr. Gottlieb offers Pro-Bono counseling services to soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Mr. Gottlieb served as an Auxiliary Officer of the United States Coast Guard for 17 years and for 4 years was Commander of Flotilla 7-2, 1st District (Southern Region), Sector Long Island Sound North.

Mr. Barbieri will discuss the job of the scenic designer in theatre. A brief discussion of the challenging job of the theatrical designer, his position in the collaborative team, and how he turns the written word into real and practical settings for the stage.

Peter Barbieri Jr. is the Associate Artistic Director and Resident Scenic Designer for Curtain Call Inc. in Stamford Ct. He is also the founding director of Shakespeare on the Green, Stamford’s free outdoor Shakespeare company.

An established force in theatre since 1979, his work has been seen gracing the stages of many of New York City’s premier theatre companies such as The York Theatre, The Classic Stage Company and The Roundabout Theatre Company.

Regionally, he has designed sets for The Westchester Broadway Theatre, Theatre By The Sea, The Riverside Theatre and The Walnut Street Theatre.

Abroad, he has worked in Shanghai China, San Paulo Brazil, and Copenhagen Denmark. Current projects include scenic designs for The Hostage, Little Shop of Horrors and Sister Act.

Robert B. Fiske, Jr., local attorney, will reflect on major and timely issues based on his long career in private and public practice. He will cover the antitrust suit against the NFL brought by the US Football League, with the lead plaintiff being Donald Trump. In the current public debate, the U.S. has by far the highest rate of prison incarcerations in the world, and he will comment on causes and possible steps for remediation of the problem. Questions can be raised on a number of subjects he has covered, e.g. the Whitewater investigation, the Three Mile Island nuclear plant accident, and recovery of investor losses from the Madoff Ponzi scheme.

Bob was born in Darien and graduated from Yale University and Michigan Law School. He spent his entire private practice with the New York law firm of Davis Polk & Wardwell. In public service, he was Assistant United States Attorney (1955-57) for the Southern District of New York and then was the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District in 1976-1980 where he was successful in many high level prosecutions. In 1994 he was asked by then Atty. Gen. Janet Reno to be the Independent Counsel for the Whitewater investigation. A member of The American College of Trial Lawyers, he served as its president in 1991. Last year he published his memoirs, Prosecutor Defender Counselor.

Yesterday, Today and Looking Towards Tomorrow

Eugene Madara

Connecticut Air & Space Center, founded in 1998, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation located in Stratford, Connecticut on a site which is truly unique in global aviation history. The location was Igor Sikorsky’s first factory in Connecticut. The first practical helicopter flight (piloted by Mr. Sikorsky himself) took place less than one hundred yards from our location. During World War II, on our site, the Chance Vought aircraft company designed and produced, among other aircraft including the first post-War jets, the Corsair fighter plane which played a major role in winning the War in the Pacific. The first practical aircraft turbine engine was perfected and produced in Connecticut Air & Space Center’s building.

Edward McGuinness

Connecticut Air &Space Center’s dedicated volunteer men and women, representing multiple generations, fulfill our Mission Statement; “Honor, Preserve and Educate” by honoring the State’s global aviation pioneers, preserving Connecticut’s aviation history through artifacts preservation and aircraft restoration, and educating especially current and future generations about Connecticut’s unique aviation history achievements through display of our collection and by community outreach sharing this historic heritage knowledge through presentations and traveling exhibits.

Today we have on display 3 jets, 8 helicopters (including the S-60 Flying Crane which was the first flying crane and Igor Sikorsky’s last personal design), an FG1-D Corsair (the official State of Connecticut Plane), the only full-size Gustave Whitehead No 21 Flyer Replica in the Western Hemisphere that has actually flown and many unique aviation science and industry artifacts often brought to us by family members wishing to share their family’s aviation history.

Looking Towards Tomorrow: In addition to our on-going Sniffens Lane operations, the Connecticut Air & Space Center has recently leased from the City of Bridgeport, the historic 1929 Curtiss Hangar and is in the process of raising tax-deductible donations (money, materials/equipment, expert construction services, etc.) to restore the building to its historic appearance. During its long history, the Curtiss Hangar hosted, among other historic aviation personages, Amelia Earhart, Charles Lindbergh, Howard Hughes and “Wrong Way” Corrigan, and was the Airport base for the Corsair testing and training flights during the War. This space will be the home of the Corsair as its centerpiece, surrounded by other historic aircraft, engines, artifacts and STEM education-focused displays.

Eugene E. Madara has specialized in finding innovative and cost-effective solutions to complex business problems utilizing corporate, commercial and international law since 1972. Formerly Senior Vice President, General Counsel, Secretary and Regional Counsel for North America for ABB Inc., Mr. Madara has dealt extensively in both commercial and governmental sectors throughout the United States, Europe, Latin America, Asia and the Middle East. Utilizing a background in the power, oil & gas, petrochemical, and automation industries, Mr. Madara served as chief counsel to the company in the structuring and negotiation of the first U.S. – Soviet joint venture company in the Soviet Union. He was also the principal architect of and served as Global Legal Counsel for ABB’s Frame Agreement Project, structuring and negotiating globally-applicable equipment, technology and services supply agreements with multinational customers.

Mr. Madara has written a number of non-lawyer training tools including “Basic Commercial Law – A Layman’s Guide to Contracts”, “Terms Toolbox”, “Project Risk & Structuring”, and “Multiple-Party Project Guidelines” emphasizing practical understanding and application of commercial transaction legal principles to shorten the interval between Request for Proposal and booking the order. He has also conducted extensive Sales & Marketing training (to audiences of 25-800) regarding taking products and technologies to market directly and through third parties such as Sales Representative/Distributor networks and licensing, as well as designing and implementing Business Ethics Compliance programs.

He has been a lecturer at Pace University Law School regarding international project risk structuring and financing, a guest speaker at the Practicing Law Institute, the American Corporate Counsel Association, the National Foreign Trade Council, and has testified before the United States Senate regarding international trade. Mr. Madara is also co-inventor of a U.S. Patent entitled “Process for Internet Ordering of Industrial Products.”

Mr. Madara obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree magna cum laude from St. Anselm College and his Juris Doctor degree with honors from The University of Connecticut School of Law and completed the Senior Leadership Development Program at the International Institute for Management Development, Lausanne.
Contact Information:
emadaralaw@yahoo.com
Tel: 203 268 2224
55 Laurel Drive
Easton, Connecticut 06612-1754

Edward McGuinness lives in Milford Ct and is married with 2 sons. Ed is currently employed as Sr. Engineering Manager, Engineering Support at the Hubbell World Headquarters in Shelton Connecticut. He obtained his Bachelor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of New Haven, a Master of Science Degree in the Management of Technology from Fairfield University and has extensive training in Project Management. Currently, Mr. McGuinness is the Project Manager, Chief Mechanic and Project Engineer for the Igor Sikorsky Memorial Corsair Restoration Team, serves on the Connecticut Air & Space Center Board of Directors and as Treasurer. Ed’s drive to make the restoration project a great success is inspired by his Uncle Ed (USMC) who was lost in action in the Korean conflict and his Uncle Bill, who as his first job in the Marine Corp, worked on and maintained Corsairs.
Contact Information:
emcgns@optonline.net
Treasurer@ctairandspace.org

Tel: 203 314 2739
40 Snowapple Lane
Milford, Connecticut 06460

Connecticut Air & Space Center
201 Sniffens Lane
Stratford, CT 06615

John B. Donovan is retired as a communications adviser to senior corporate executives, domestic and foreign, and the founder of a discussion forum for diplomats and business leaders in New York.

John will be speaking about his experiences a half-century ago pertaining to the Cold War — in Cuba, Vietnam, Berlin, and Washington. He is the son of the late New York lawyer James Donovan, whose story has just been dramatized by Steven Spielberg in the film “Bridge of Spies,” recently nominated for six Oscars. In the climax of the movie, James Donovan, played by Tom Hanks, negotiates the exchange of Soviet master spy Rudolph Abel for the American pilot at the center of what was called the U-2 affair. John himself was detained briefly in East Berlin the following year in an incident that also related to the KGB in a curious way.

Later that year his father negotiated with Fidel Castro for the release of the men captured at the Bay of Pigs, and John accompanied him on one of his negotiation trips as they traveled across Cuba with Fidel Castro – a situation that almost included a bizarre assassination attempt against Castro.

A resident of Norwalk, John is an alumnus of American University’s graduate program in world affairs from the standpoint of communication and is co-author with Pablo Perez-Cisneros of After the Bay of Pigs. He is a former vice chairman of the NY Metro Committee for UNICEF and the author of a book of Bible stories for children.

Charlie Dowd, who is currently Senior VP of Operations for Harbor Yards Sports & Entertainment in Bridgeport, will talk about the funny and not so funny things that have occurred in his over 22 years of senior management experience in minor league baseball and other sports.

He has served as General Manager of the New Haven Ravens and Connecticut Defenders (Norwich, CT) in the AA Eastern League, and CEO and General Manager of the Atlantic League (independent) Bridgeport Bluefish and Newark Bears.

Charlie, who resides in Madison, has a BA degree from CCNY and a Juris Doctorate from the Western New England College School of Law.

Born into a film-business family and raised in Hollywood, Susan appeared as a child actress in movies with Abbott & Costello, Red Skelton, Lucille Ball, and Lassie.

For more than 25 years she has been an on-air television and radio critic, bringing an experienced and unique perspective to the movie business. Her commentaries are distributed around the world by SSG Syndicate.

In addition, her work has been published in The New York Times, Redbook, Ladies Home Journal, Working Woman, Family Circle, Cosmopolitan, and numerous other publications. Susan is also the feature film critic for Video Librarian magazine, distributed to libraries throughout the country.
For more, see
http://susangranger.com/?page_id=2

Frank Huck has been a member of Darien’s Board of Finance since 2013 and is currently its vice chair. He was elected in 2013 as a Democrat.

A 1969 graduate of Harvard College and a 1972 graduate of Stanford Law School, Frank was a corporate lawyer with Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, first as an associate and then as a partner, for 40 years, retiring in 2012.

He was the senior warden at Saint Luke’s in Darien for two years, until earlier this month. He recently completed serving on the Commission on Connecticut’s Leadership in Corporation and Business Law, which was created pursuant to a state statute.

Jayme Stevenson has served as Darien’s First Selectman since 2011, and has been a member of the Darien Board of Selectmen since 2009.

Jayme has lived in Darien for 24 years with her husband and 5 children. She has served on a wide variety of Darien non-profit boards including The Depot, the Darien Nature Center, and First Congregational Church Nursery School. She has also served as PTO Chair for Royle Elementary School and Darien High School.

First Selectman Stevenson is pleased to provide Darien Men’s Association with a “State of the Town” update that will include a review of town operations, the outlook for changes in the near future, and her work with the new regional Council of Governments.

She is looking forward to answering our questions.

Mark Albertson is the historical research editor at Army Aviation magazine. He has authored several books, including On History: A Treatise; and, is finishing volume 1, Sky Soldiers: The Saga of Army Aviation. An avid speaker, he travels Connecticut presenting a variety of historical topics and current events. He teaches as an adjunct at Norwalk Community College for the Extend Studies Program and for the Lifetime Learners Institute.
Mark’s talk on Syria will focus on the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq. How ISIS is filling a void left by the United States pull out; and the Russian intervention and what that has to do with the current situation in Ukraine; the competition between Russia and Saudi Arabia selling oil and gas.

Mr. Joyce will address the evolution of equity trading from the “stone age” several decades ago, when the NYSE was predominate with its fixed commission rates, to the present day with all the changes in electronic trading, considerably higher volumes, internationalization, changes in the overall structure of the exchanges, compressed spreads between bids and offers, and the advent of the phenomenon of high speed computer program trading.

The book Flash Boys by Michael Lewis was certainly an eye opener for many, notwithstanding the errors throughout the book, in terms of the sheer, almost incomprehensible speed of the trading. The good news is that the data says equity trading in the US has never been better for the retail investor. Tom will discuss this and more when he visits.

Tom Joyce is a recognized leader in the financial services industry. He has over thirty years of experience, both domestic and internationally. He is currently Executive Chairman of Arxis Capital.

Prior to Arxis, Tom was Chairman and CEO of Knight Capital Group. He joined Knight in 2002 and retired in July 2013. From January through May of 2002, Mr. Joyce was Global Head of Trading for S.C. Bernstein & Co.
Before that, he held a variety of leadership roles in the Global Institutional Equity business at Merrill Lynch & Co, during his almost fifteen years there.
He is a member of the Boards of Special Olympics Connecticut; the Alfred E. Smith Foundation; and Salisbury School. Mr. Joyce received an AB in Economics from Harvard College.

He has resided in Darien with his wife, Lisa, for almost thirty years. They have three children.

The past year as been a time of dramatic upheaval in the domestic energy markets. The oil industry has gone from boom to bust while the USA produces record amounts of hydrocarbons. Clean air regulatory mandates have destroyed the coal industry. Wind and solar are growing in leaps and bounds, but from a very small base. Volatility in the fossil fuels commodity markets is expected to continue, perhaps with more intense peaks and valleys. New Canaan resident Skip Hobbs will present his take on the energy markets as a prominent consulting geologist and energy analyst.

G. Warfield “Skip” Hobbs is a geologist and Founder and Managing Partner of Ammonite Resources, a firm of international petroleum and mining geotechnical and business consultants which has been headquartered in New Canaan, Connecticut since 1982.

Hobbs holds a B.Sc. Degree in Geology from Yale College and a M.Sc. Degree in Petroleum Geology from the Royal School of Mines, Imperial College, London.

He has served as an elected officer of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, and from 2004-2012 served on the Executive Committee of the American Geological Institute, a federation of 50 geoscience professional societies representing over 250,000 members in every earth science discipline. He was AGI President in 2010-2011. Hobbs was a member of the Council of Scientific Society Presidents in Washington, D.C., from 2009-2012, where he served as Co-Chair of the Committee on Energy and the Environment. From 2000-2014 Skip was a Trustee of the New Canaan Nature Center and was president of the Nature Center from 2012-2014.

He is currently on the board of the Waveny Park Conservancy. Hobbs writes and lectures frequently on energy economics and energy policy, and on environmental issues.

In his spare time Skip manages a family farm in Massachusetts that produces organically grown vegetables, honey, maple syrup, grass-fed beef, and timber .

skiphobbs@ammoniteresources.com