Last meeting's information:
Red Mountain Ranch Social
Club Meeting -
Red Mountain Ranch Social Club Minutes
February 10, 2011
The meeting was called to order at 9:35 a.m. by Ewin Trapp, our president. The meeting was held in the Overlook Room today. Ewin said “This morning we have a double-header for you.” We have three entertainers from the Dutton Family Theater before our speaker from the Arizona Attorney General’s office presents the main program on Consumer Scams.
Ewin next asked about any visitors, and there was one. Then he asked about February birthdays and there were four people who had a birthday this month, Susan Austin, Pat Marrs, Mary Smith and Roz Capon. The Birthday Club lunch was at Tia Rosa on February 8, and 22 people attended. There were no Anniversaries in February mentioned by anyone at the meeting. The next Birthday Club will be the third Tuesday, which is March 15th. There are four more birthdays in March.
Next Ewin asked Janet Glessner to come up and give a report on her husband’s condition. Jack had triple by-pass heart surgery at the Banner Heart Hospital. When she went to the hospital this morning he was up in a chair and shaved. Since he got the trachea tube out of his throat he is feeling much better. They have a monitor on him and he will have to rest and be in intensive care for some time before he can start heart rehab activities. Janet brought the Get Well Card from the Social Club Sunshine Committee, and it was passed around for people to read.
Next Ewin asked Jay Williamson to give the Treasurer’s Report.
Treasurer’s Report
Financial Report – January 1 through February 10th
Balance Forward - Dec. 31, 2010 . . . . . . . $3,646
Receipts Expenses
Check to J. Glessner – Hale Theater (500)
Deposit – Members Hale Theater Cks. 500
Website – G. Opdahl (RMRSC.COM) (293)
Donation – Sunshine Acres (100)
Down Paym. Duttons (Shirley Larson) (100)
Treasury Expense – Stamps (13)
Dues Received. (42 Paid) 420
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Sub-Total 920 (1,006)
Net Expense (86)
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Ending Balance on Feb 10th $3,560
After his report Jay said the dues are coming in slow this year, only 42 have paid so far, and dues need to be paid by the end of February.
He said that our members last year received approximately $62 in rebates or free meals for their $10 dues if they attending all of our events.
For example, your Social Club paid 1/2 of the Cocktail Party expense, they paid $6.00 to bring down the Christmas dinner party expense and they paid the veterans lunch in November on Veteran’s Day.
The yearly dues have never been raised since the club first started and your dues are a real bargain at $10.00. If you participate in the activities during the year you get back much more than you paid in dues.
The only way this is possible is if you pay your dues. It is also possible due to our annual neighborhood garage sale in November. Jay said if you can pay today at the meeting or you can mail your checks to Jay Williamson at 6508 East Star Valley, Mesa, AZ 85215.
February 24
Next Ewin asked Corinne Vitale to tell us about the luncheon at Pasta Brioni at 4416 N. Miller Road in Scottsdale. You drive north on Freeway 101 and exit at Indian School Road. Then drive west to N. Miller Road and turn right and go north about one mile until you get to the corner of Camelback Road and N. Miller Road. Lunch is at 11:30 a.m. and everyone will order from the menu and get separate checks. Then after lunch there will be a special docent tour of the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Arts, arranged by Mary Smith. The museum is close to the restaurant. Corinne passed around a sign-up sheet for anyone interested. Before the meeting today, Corinne said we already had 30 people signed up for this event.
Be sure and mark your calendars for two April events not described at the meeting.
Sunday, April 17
We plan to have our Spring Cocktail Party at the country club from 5-7 p.m. in the evening. The Cocktail Party will be hosted by Betty and Bob Day. This is Palm Sunday evening.
Thursday, April 28
We plan to set up a Saguaro Lake boat ride on the Desert Belle Tour Boat with lunch at the Lakeshore Restaurant. Mary Becker will give more details when this is arranged.
May 17
Ewin asked John Vitale to give information about the May 17th Diamondbacks game with the San Diego Padres. Seats are $30.00 each and everyone should make their own arrangements to get to the game. The game starts at 6:45 p.m. John said 24 people have already signed up and now we need to have the ticket money paid to John by February 25th. A sign-up sheet was passed around again today. Mail your checks to him at his address: 3832 No. St. Elias Circle, Mesa, AZ 85215.
Next Shirley Larson came up to talk about the March activities.
March 17 – Game Night
We encourage people who are coming to Game Night to also come to dinner first to support the club. Since it is St. Patrick’s Day, there will be corned beef and cabbage on the menu, as well as other things. A sheet was passed around for people to sign up for this event.
March 31
We are scheduled to see the Dutton Family Theater in the East Valley High School Auditorium at 7420 East Main Street, Mesa, on March 31. The show starts at 7:00 p.m. A sign-up sheet for this event was passed around. This show is close to the end of the Dutton shows in Mesa.
Next Shirley announced three Dutton Family musicians who came to give us a preview of their show we will see on March 31. The people entertaining us today are: Amy, Best Violinist; Timothy, Most Versatile Instrumentalist; and Benjamin, Best Dancer.
First the trio sang “Bye Bye Love”. Next Amy started playing “Orange Blossom Special” on her violin, Tim joined her on his violin, and they played together. On a Bluegrass song Amy and Tim used their bows on each other’s violins. Then they turned around and played their violins upside down in back of their heads. Ben was playing a guitar for this song.
After the song they talked about the Dutton family and the fact that their parents had 22 grandchildren. They brought the youngest along to the meeting. Ben described their programs and the fact that they are all a little bit different.
Ben told a couple of cute jokes as follows. Ben said he would like to die like his grandfather, who died peacefully in his sleep, not like the other people in the car with him who were kicking and screaming!
Then he said his four sons like to climb in bed with them and wake them up in the morning. He asked that they not do that and disturb their mother when he was out of town. He told the boys if they did not get in bed he would bring them a surprise when he returned home. They met him at the airport baggage claim and the youngest son ran up to him and said in a very loud voice, “Nobody slept with Mommy while you were gone.”
This ended the Dutton “sneak preview” of their show.
Next Ewin asked Marilyn Husted to come up and announce some future programs and our speaker for today.
March 10
This is another off-site meeting at Mesa Community College at Red Mountain, 7110 East McKellips Road, Phone: 480-654-7200. The campus is near the corner of McKellips and Power Roads. We will meet in the new Saguaro Building at 9:30 a.m. and also see some of the desert animals. Marilyn mentioned that Jo Wilson, who is Provost at the college, was recently named Woman of the Year.
April 14
This meeting will start in the Overlook Room of the country club at 10:30 a.m. instead of the usual time of 9:30 a.m. This will accommodate our speaker, Mesa Mayor Scott Smith, who will speak to our group starting at 11:00 a.m. Ewin said the club has been notified that we need to use the Overlook Room for this meeting.
Marilyn next announced our speaker for today, Debra Boehlke, from the Arizona Attorney General’s Office. She works for the Attorney General as a Fraud Protection and Education Specialist. Before that she worked for a major credit card company as a worldwide fraud analyst. She also worked for the Governor’s office in constituent services. She had a Power Point presentation on the Top Ten Consumer Scams and how to protect yourself and avoid losing your money.
Debra said the Dutton entertainers were a hard act to follow, but she would try her best.
Debra thanked everyone for asking her to come and speak to us. She said the best thing we can all do is be aware of what is going on in our area. We get “junk mail” in the regular mail, or “spam” generated on the Internet. It is difficult to catch the people who work on the Internet as they change their addresses often, and sometimes these scams are from foreign countries. Any regular mail with your name or any personal information should be shredded.
Auto Purchase and Repair
She said there are many scams regarding the purchase of an automobile, (new or used), or car repairs. When purchasing, take your time deciding and don’t be rushed into anything. It is also best to pay car repair bills with a credit card and not cash. If the work is shoddy, or there is a problem, you can call the credit card company and ask for their help..
Granny Scam
There is a new scam called the “Granny Scam”. People phone an old person late at night and say they are their Grandchild and are stuck somewhere and need money wired to them so they can go home. Bank tellers try to talk people into not wiring money to anybody, but some people ignore the warning and will do it anyway. After the money has been sent it is gone and there is no way to catch the criminal.
Identity Theft
The Phoenix, Arizona area is the number one area in the country for this crime. All the “border states” along the Mexican border are high areas for this crime. California and Texas are also prime areas for this crime. The criminals do “dumpster diving” at malls to get personal information on anyone they can.
Red Flags to tell you someone has stolen your identity:
(1) Failure to receive a bill or other mail could mean an identity thief has taken over this account and changed the billing address so they can use this credit card.
(2) When you receive a credit card that you did not apply for, or you are denied credit or asked to pay a higher interest rate for no apparent reason.
(3) A charge on your credit card you did not purchase.
To protect yourself you should shred all “junk mail”, especially offers for a new credit card that has your name and personal information on the letter.
To opt out of credit card offers, call 1-888-5-OPT-OUT.
If you are sure your identity has been compromised, you need to report this to the Attorney General’s Office, Phone: 602-542-5025.
We still have a few people in Arizona that have their Social Security numbers on their Arizona Driver’s License. Since your Driver’s License does not expire for at least five years, even for old people, you should pay the $5.00 fee and get a new license without your Social Security number. Do not ever carry your Social Security Card in your wallet. Make a copy of your Medicare Card, black out the Social Security number on the copy, and carry the copy in your wallet. Leave the original Medicare Card with your Social Security number in a safe place at home.
Also, Organized Crime works this scam. They hire meth addicts to break into your home and grab any personal information they can get and slip back out.
Never give out any personal financial information over the phone. If they called you, you don’t know who you are talking to.