Next meeting is Monday, October 6th at 6:30 PM, Laurel Manor Rec. Center. Guests welcome at $5pp.
Club History
The Villages Central New York Club is one of the best known and admired clubs in The Villages. It continues to grow every year. The club was started way back in August of 1998 with about 90 sleepy members and not a penny to its name! Today, our club has hundreds of lemmings and a cute little piggy bank. Dues are just $100 per person but residents pay only $15 per year with our "zuper zenior zitizen dizcount". That's just $1.25 per month, when you do the math !
Club Leaders
Ralph Miller was our first "George Washington" through 1999. Since then, Bob Kupman (2000-2001), Kathy Gillman (2001-2004), Dave Hohn (2005-2007), Dave Drumm (2008-2010), Lindsay Collier (2011-2014), Ray Mellone (2015-2018), back to Dave Drumm (2019), Rad Taylor (2020-2022), and now Pat Murphy (2023-Present) have all taken a shot at running this circus. Our executive officers are the President, Vice President, Treasurer and Secretary, all elected (or drafted) for a one year term starting in January. The "Bored of Directors", which meets sporadically over beers, is comprised of the 4 current officers plus the immediate past president. A simple set of member-approved by-laws and strict government red tape, governs the workings of the club (most of the time). Our bank account has a balance between $1,000 and $1,000,000 for entertainment and other important expenses, like gold jewelry for the secretary. The money is kept safe in the Cayman Islands somewhere.
Membership
Membership is available to any Villages resident, formerly from the frigid central 43 counties of New York State, that still has $15 to their name after taxes. Even if you've only been on the New York State Thruway once in your lifetime, we'll take you (and your money) as a member. Our current members are from Monroe, Livingston and Steuben counties in the west, way up to St. Lawrence, Franklin and Clinton counties in the north, down to Sullivan, Ulster and Dutchess counties in the south, and everywhere in between. That includes the Auburn Correctional Facility, "Five Points" in Romulus and "The Hill" in Elmira but not Sing Sing or Attica, if you've lived there in the past.
Club Meetings
The club meets monthly on the first Monday of the month at 6:30 p.m. (Doors open at 6:00 p.m.) in the Lincoln Room (formerly Ford's Theater) of the Laurel Manor Regional Recreation Center at Buena Vista Blvd. and CR 466. Sometimes however, for special events, the club meets at an alternate undisclosed location! Each month (except July and August when we're on a vacation from our vacation) the club presents either vocal, musical, theatrical, comedic or magical entertainment, pot luck or catered dinners, pickle parties, pizza flinging, ice cream socials, shoelace tying classes, picnics, bingo, horse racing, finger painting, useless knowledge (trivia) tournaments, poker runs, scavenger hunts, sweater knitting, pool parties, snowdrift photo sharing, sporting events like professional baseball games, or even golf outings, cruise travel and occasional hookah parties. Great monthly entertainment, sometimes from as far as 2 miles away, is the club's hallmark. In the past, we've presented such acts as... (click on to see a movie clip)...
Automatic Duo,
Lisa Beck,
Jack Bernardi,
The Big Bad duo,
Blue Stone Circle ,
The Byrne Brothers ,
Fred Campbell,
Suzie Casta ,
Cool Breeze,
Dance Express ,
John Daniels,
Danny & Johnny ,
Alan Darcy ,
The Del-Phi's,
Denny Diamond ,
Diana & Mitch ,
Ralph & Dawn DiNome ,
The Dorels,
Double Trouble,
Dueling Pianos ,
Robert & Mandy France ,
Sal G. "The Don of DooWop",
Ray Gantek,
Lorri Gill ,
Valerie Gillespie Ensemble ,
Brian Gillie ,
Greg & France Duo,
Hurricane Dorian!,
Jonnell and the G-Man ,
Danny Justice,
Teresha Lee,
The Leesburg Blues Brothers,
Josh Leggett ,
Sandra and Alex LeKid Duo,
Wally Libenson ,
Bill Lisby ,
Juanita Lolita ,
Miranda Madison,
Keith Manson ,
Chris Michaels ,
Ric Mitchell ,
Brendan Nolan ,
Homer Noodleman ,
Harry O'Donoghue ,
Mike Palma,
Paulsen-Baker & Garvey ,
Patchouli (aka Terra Guitarra) ,
Peace, Love & Ukulele ,
Petrina ,
Mark Raisch ,
Remember When,
Rocky and The Rollers ,
Jimmy Rook,
Joan Santeusanio ,
Mark Steven Schmidt ,
Steve Silverstein,
J.J. Smith ,
Sounds of Time ,
Doug Souza,
Sparky's Strummers ,
Billie Thatcher ,
3 For The Road Plus 1 ,
Tomaura ,
The 45's ,
The Variety Pak,
The Vegas Road Show ,
The Village Chicks ,
Mary Jo Vitale ,
Johnny Wild and the Delights ,
Bill D. Williams,
The Wyndbreakers
(yes, that's their real name) and of course, the zany,
Yehaa! Bob Jackson ,
to name a few.
LIVE ON STAGE AT LAUREL MANOR
We're still working on Mickey and Minnie, however. Usually there is no admission charge at meetings for members. On rare occasions, a small supplement might be collected to cover the entertainers travel expenses and huge bar bill. We also assess small ticket charges to get an accurate head count. 50/50 tickets are hawked at most regular meetings to help keep our dues low and our accountant's pockets overflowing. Florida Scratch-Off Lottery Tickets are added to the big cash prizes too, but so far no one has admitted to winning the million bucks. The club prides itself on having an enjoyable time without the humdrum of reading minutes, committee reports and the treasurer's ledger that doesn't quite add up. New members sometimes discover past friends, old neighbors, previous co-workers, former sweethearts, or even ex-spouses at our club meetings! Club name tags are issued to each paid member and serve as your passport to each meeting or event. Its important to wear your name tag each month and have your Villages ID ready, to eliminate the hassle of checking your membership status and strip searching you at the door.
Club Privacy Policy
We keep member's information very private and for club purposes only. Even other members can't view the membership roster but we're thinking of selling it to the Publisher's Clearing House Prize Patrol. Visiting friends and long lost relatives are welcome to meetings and charged a nominal $5 per person fee to attend an event as your accompanying guests. In season (February, March & April) we may limit guests, to prevent overcrowding and pickpocketing. You are welcome to bring snacks to share with everyone else at your table. Brownies from the 60s seem to be very popular so far. Members are allowed to bring their own beverages, especially expensive vintage wines to share with the staff.
Club Uniforms
For a nominal charge, personalized club shirts are available with your name, former hometown and club logo embroidered on the front. Just visit Custom Apparel & Gifts at 3451 Wedgewood Lane, facing CR 466 near Publix and say you want a Central New York Club shirt made. We get a 10 cent kickback on every shirt sold.
Communication
The club's primary communication is by email about one week prior to each meeting, plus this great website. Bookmark it and visit often.
The Current CNY Club Officers and Board of Fruitcakes are: El Presidente: Pat Murphy (Cicero)(352)-391-2281President@VillagesCNYClub.org Understudy: Rich Courmettes (Rochester)VicePresident@VillagesCNYClub.org Scribe: Kerry Martarano (Newburgh)Secretary@VillagesCNYClub.org Money Tender: Carol Tully (Rochester)Treasurer@VillagesCNYClub.org Past Honcho: Ray Mellone (Syracuse)PastPresident@VillagesCNYClub.org
Other Club Workaholics are: Membership Gurus: John & Chris Coene (Rochester)Membership@VillagesCNYClub.org Entertainment Bookie: Lou Martarano (Newburgh)Entertainment@VillagesCNYClub.org Social Coordinator: Ray Mellone (Syracuse)Social@VillagesCNYClub.org Web Mechanic: Rich Courmettes (Rochester)WebMaster@VillagesCNYClub.org Party Tickets: Mike Tully (Rochester)Party@VillagesCNYClub.org Sunshine: Ellen Harcourt (East Rochester)Sunshine@VillagesCNYClub.org Hospitality: Ann McWilliams (Syracuse) 50/50 Split The Pot: John Ellis (Syracuse)
Cyber Stuff: The club's webpage is: https://VillagesCNYClub.org
The club's newsletter will come from: VillagesCNYClub@gmail.com
The club's mailing address is: President@VillagesCNYClub.org
so add them both to your friendly/safe sender list or to your address book or contact list.
Community Support
The club knows that our members are more fortunate than other residents in the tri-county area outside The Villages. So we've adopted a local charity so we can give part of your wealth away in a respectful manner. Shepherd's Lighthouse, Inc., in Belleview, has been selected by the club because they house and support homeless women (and their children) while they get help to complete a course to independence and full employment. It's a bonafide 501(c)(3) non-profit charitable organization. We collect monetary, non-perishable food, clothing and toys at our regular November meetings. Our club officers test each toy for a few days to make sure they are fun for the kids to play with. All contributions stay right here in our local area and out of the casinos and fish game centers you like to visit frequently. Members contributions usually total over $1,000 each year. We thank you!
Join Us
We are fortunate to have many dedicated members who offer their talents and time for the benefit of the rest of the club. Suggestions and recommendations, as well as volunteering to help, are always welcomed. Contact the president if you have a great idea (or invention) and he/she'll work with you to get it organized, with some help from other members also out of work! He/She'll make sure you're in charge of it also. We love feedback too; our complaint department listens to gripes about the room thermostat setting on the 6th Monday of every month. Most of all, the Central New York Club has FUN at all of its events! So, if you're a Villager from New York State, and can still drive at night, come join us some evening! LINK: Mail-In Membership Form.
to see a movie clip)...
