Y's Men News -- Sunday, October 12, 2025 | | |
Table of Contents
(Scroll Down to Find the Article Behind the Headline. Articles are
in the same order as the Table of Contents)
- Travel Discussion Group Focuses on AI Tools Tomorrow
- Noted Consultant Eric Baron Speaks This Week
- Y's Men Co-Sponsor LWV Local Candidate Debates
- T&E Lists Upcoming Outings
- Library's Bill Harmer Speaks About Future Growth
- StoryFest 2025 at Library Features Debut Book Launch
-
Two Vacancies Available for Long Sold Out Essex Trip
- Mindfulness Group Meets Tomorrow by Zoom
- Y's Men Veterans: Bedford Students Want to Hear You
- Life Talk Group: Changing Beliefs About Yourself
- Non-Fiction Book Club Meets October 15
- Entry Period in 2025 Photo Contest Begins Next Week
- Y's Men Current Events Discussion Group Meets Weekly
| | |
Travel Discussion Group Focuses on AI Tools for Travel Planning
The Y’s Men Travel Discussion Group will meet tomorrow from 9:00 to 10:30 am in rooms 203-204 at the Saugatuck Congregational Church
Meetings start by members talking about their recent travel experiences.
The topic of the meeting: Using AI Tools for Travel Planning
We’re going to go online and demonstrate what an AI tool like ChatGPT can do
Spouses/partners/significant others are always welcome.
For information about the Y’s Men Travel Discussion Group, or to be added to the Group’s email distribution list, please contact Art Mann at mannart03@gmail.com
| | This Week: Noted Sales and Negotiating Consultant Eric Baron | | |
Eric Baron
Noted sales and negotiating consultant Eric Baron will be the featured speaker at this week's Thursday morning meeting. He has been training sales professionals and their managers for more than 35 years in a variety of programs that fall under the umbrella of sales and sales management.
Eric co-founded The Baron Group in 1981 and his company has trained tens of thousands of people at Fortune 500 companies in the fields of finance, insurance, advertising, aviation, healthcare, CPG, automotive and consumer electronics.
Eric is also an accomplished author of three sales training books as well as a teacher at Columbia Business School as an Adjunct Professor. His course,
Entrepreneurial Selling Skills, is offered to second year MBAs. In 2009, Eric received the prestigious Dean’s Teaching Excellence Award.
He will be discussing how to work together to settle difference between people in a productive way.
Y's Men Thursday morning meetings are in Hoskins Hall downstairs in the Saugatuck Congregational Church, 245 Post Road East in Westport. Coffee, donut and bagel social hour begins at 9:00 am, business meeting at 10:00 am, speaker at 10:30 am. Come early and meet your fellow members. Guests are always welcome.
| | |
Tuesday, October 14
NYC Walk Around (Not Through) Central Park – Part 2
Spouses, Significant Others, and Guests Welcome!
https://conta.cc/4nqPX5H
~~~~~
Friday, October 24
Governors Island Tour
Spouses and significant others are most welcome.
https://conta.cc/4pVvpDZ
| | Library's Bill Harmer Speaks About Future Growth and Vision | | |
Bill Harmer
Westport Library Executive Director Bill Harmer shared an overall plan about the growth and vision for one of America’s most honored and recognized libraries -- The Westport Library. He spoke at last Thursday's Y's Men meeting.
In 10 years as Executive Director, Harmer has elevated the library to 5-star national status by expanding and adding many features and services that offer exceptional value to the community.
Watch the video of his presentation by clicking here and expand your horizons through involvement with one of Westport’s major resources, The Westport Library.
| |
StoryFest 2025 At Library Features Debut Book Launch
StoryFest, The Westport Library’s annual literary festival, is kicking off its eighth year by celebrating Indigenous Peoples’ Day with an exclusive book launch for "We Survived the Night," the highly anticipated debut memoir by author and Oscar-nominated filmmaker Julian Brave NoiseCat — one day in advance of the book’s official nationwide release.
The event will take place tomorrow (Monday, October 13, Indigenous People's Day) from 7:00 to 8:30 pm.
NoiseCat will be joined by Ramin Ganeshram, executive director of the Westport Museum for History and Culture, for a keynote conversation in the Library’s Trefz Forum. He will be introduced by writer and professor Valerie Seiling Jacobs, who taught NoiseCat at Columbia University.
Tickets are $30.00 and include a copy of "We Survived the Night." It is the same price for one seat and a copy of the book or two seats and a book. Books will also be available for purchase at the event and a signing will follow the talk.
Click here for additional information and to purchase tickets.
| | |
Two Vacancies Available for Essex Fall Foliage Excursion
The Y's Men Essex Fall Foliage Excursion and Luncheon scheduled for this Friday (October 17) has been sold out for some time. However, two vacancies have just become available. If interested, contact Y's Man Jim Wong at ytivitaler14@gmail.com
For details about the outing, click here.
| |
Mindfulness Group Meets Tomorrow by Zoom
The next Y's Men Mindfulness Group's Zoom Call meeting is tomorrow (Monday October 13) from 7.00 pm to 8.00 pm provided a quorum of five attends. Please respond at your earliest convenience to Paul Epstein at epsteinmb@aol.com or Jeff Rubin at jeffrubinwpt11@gmail.com as to your availability to attend.
Future Zoom Calls are generally held on the third Monday of each month from 7.30 pm to 8.30 pm, absent scheduling conflicts in which case the date may be adjusted. Meetings will take place only if there is a quorum of five attending. The schedule for November and December, assuming a quorum of five members, is from 7:30 to 8:30 pm on Monday, November 17 and from 7:30 to 8:30 pm on Monday, December 15.
Paul also hosts meetings entitled "Just for Men" at the Westport Center for Senior Activities. These monthly in person meetings are from 3:00 to 4:00 pm on Thursday, November 6 and 3:00 to 4:00 pm on Thursday, December 4.
Content of both the Zoom Calls and the "Just for Men" meetings involves meditation practice, mindfulness, compassion, gratitude and discussion and sharing, exploring. Teachings include: "see with new eyes"; resilience, working with difficult emotions, responding vs. reacting, being here now, present moment awareness, finding peace in the storm, being comfortable with uncertainty, and integration of practice and teaching with all of life, daily and beyond.
For additional information contact Jeff Rubin at jeffrubinwpt11@gmail.com
| | |
Y's Men Veterans: Bedford Students Want to Learn From You
NOW HEAR THIS: In years past, a number of Y's Men military veterans have participated in a highly successful Veterans Day education program at Bedford Middle School. The program invites veterans to share their military experiences with members of the school's eighth grade classes.
The coordinator at Bedford is eager to have as many vets as possible participate in this year's program but has not heard from some of her past volunteers.
If you are a vet and have participated in the past, but have not responded to this year's invitation, or if you would like to join this year's program on Wednesday morning, November12 as a first-timer, please contact John Brandt at jkbrandt@aol.com. He will put you in touch with Courtney Ruggiero, the program coordinator who will reserve you a place in the program.
According to past Y's Men participants, it's one of those intergenerational experiences that will be well worth your time.
| | |
Changing Beliefs: Life Talk Group Addresses the Question
The Y's Men Life Talk Group will meet this Tuesday (October 14) in Room 109-110 at the Church from 2:00 to 3/3:30 pm.
Attendees will address this question: What beliefs about yourself have you had to let go of over time? What’s replaced them?
Larry Ackerman, the Group's Leader, states, "Certainly, I have had to let go of the belief that I am no longer immortal. (I was when I was 18!) I’ve had to step away from the notion that I have the ability to be whatever I want to be. (I don’t.) What has replaced these beliefs? A more sober sense of who I am and what I am capable of being and doing…How about you?"
Here are three quotes to consider as you reflect on the question at hand:
“Don’t believe everything you think.” — Joseph Nguyen, Author
“Maybe the ideal way for any of us to live is - excitedly finding we were wrong and excitedly waiting for tomorrow to come so we can start over.”
― Norman Maclean, Author
“Doubt is a killer. You just have to know who you are and what you stand for.” — Jennifer Lopez, Actor
For information about the Y’s Men Life Talk Group, or to be added to the Group’s email distribution list, please contact Larry Ackerman at: larry@larryackerman.com.
| |
|
Non-Fiction Book Club to Discuss Michael Lewis Book
The Y's Men Non-Fiction Book Club will be discussing "Who is Government" by Michael Lewis when it meets this Wednesday, October 15 at 2:00 pm in room 109 at the Saugatuck Congregational Church.
Save the dates for two Club meetings in December. The first will be on Wednesday, December 10, and the second a week later on Wednesday, December 17.
The December 10 meeting will be a discussion of "Apollo 13" by James Lovell and Jeffrey Kruger. Y's Man George Kalan, a member of the NASA team that facilitated the Apollo rescue, will be a special guest at the meeting.
On December 17, the Club will discuss "American Rascal," a biography of Jay Gould by Greg Steinmetz. The meeting will be held at Lyndhurst, Jay Gould's estate in Tarrytown, NY. Optional add-ons to the meeting will be a tour of Lyndhurst and lunch at the nearby Bridgeview Tavern. Author Steinmetz will attend the meeting as well as lunch.
Because there is a fee for the meeting room at Lyndhurst, the cost for attendees will be determined by how many people attend. At this time the Club asks for a show of interest by email to Y's Man Jeff Schwartz at jandjschwartz@gmail.com no later than Thursday, October 30.
For additional information, contact Jeff by email or by calling 201-787-0654.
| | |
Entry Period in 2025 Photo Contest Begins Next Week
Entries in Expo 22, the photo contest co-sponsored by the Y's Men Photography Club and the Westport Center for Senior Activities, may be submitted beginning Thursday, October 23, through Thursday, November 6.
Judging of entries, in eight classifications, will be on Wednesday, November 12. Three entries per person will be allowed in these categories: Landscape, Waterscape, Architectural, Portrait, Nature, Critter, General, and Highly Manipulated.
Click here to read the rules of the exhibition and obtain an entry form.
| | |
Y's Men Current Events Discussion Group Meets Weekly
A small group of Y's men meet weekly to discuss topics of mutual interest inspired by current events. That's the Y's Men Current Events Discussion Group.
There are two separate groups that meet on Wednesdays and Fridays at the Saugatuck Congregational Church at 10:00 am for an hour-long discussion.
The topic for discussion is selected by consensus at the previous meeting. Each of the two separate groups is limited to seven members so everyone attending can actively participate in the discussion. An additional Monday group may be added should there be sufficient demand.
Anyone interested in learning more about the Current Events Group or in joining it should contact Y's Man Tony Pranzo at tpranzo@yahoo.com.
| | | | |
