The Barn Blog

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Bob Manley was the MC for the evening and led us in a great story telling session. We heard quite a range of stories from hilarious, to sad, to spiritual, to sentimental, to unbelievable. Among the titles were, “Close Call on the Golf Course”, “The Son I Almost Never Had”, “High Dive”, “How I Gave My [...]

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On this barn night we took a break from intellectual pursuits and had a good old-fashioned barbecue. We cooked hot dogs and hamburgers and some of the guys brought special BBQ sauces and other items including  home made pickles. It was a beautiful evening and the mood was one of friendship and camaraderie. The highlight was a [...]

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Christian Grieco is a green building consultant who designs renewable energy systems for homes.  He discussed how we can live in a more environmentally friendly way and actually make a difference.  He showed examples from his own home, which uses solar power, solar hot water, soapstone wood stove, and other green technologies. We discussed how [...]

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Bob Callanan, of Waste Management, gave an excellent presentation on where our garbage goes. It was fascinating to learn of the various garbage sorting and processing facilities. Bob showed us a couple of videos demonstrating how these plants work. Most amazing was the Wheelabrator, which converts garbage to electricity. Click here to download Bob’s informative [...]

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Duane Stilwell gave a talk on the Theory of Evolution. Duane is a high school science teacher who has had a life-long interest in evolution and genetics.  He started by defining terms to avoid misunderstanding. For example he clarified that the purpose of Science is not to find the truth, but to reduce uncertainty. Duane helped [...]

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Mike Kenny, the Director of College Guidance at New Rochelle High School gave a presentation on the college admissions process.  This topic was of interest to many of us whose kids are applying to college or will so do in the future.  It was somewhat discouraging to learn how difficult it is to get into [...]

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Raphael Montfort  gave an in-depth presentation on the energy problem. First he showed us how oil is a limited resource that will run out sooner than we might think. Then Raphael explained how scientists came to the conclusion that climate change is taking place and is influenced by human activity. We discussed and debated the [...]

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Local stand up comic, Shaun Eli, performed his routine at the barn. He did a good job of poking fun of most who attended. His routine was very funny, although he seemed to be testing out some new material on us, some of which worked and some of which didn’t. We were a tough audience. [...]

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Vinny Tiso, a pharmaceutical industry verteran, discussed Flu vaccines, with a particular emphasis on the Swine Flu. Vinny gave us a historical perspective on epidemics, including the Black Plague in the Middle Ages, the Spanish Flu of 1918, and the Swine Flu outbreak in the 1970′s.  He explained why the Swine Flu is of major concern today [...]

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