The Barn Blog

Steve Quigley invited Ron Pramschufer of Self-Publishing, Inc. to share his experiences in the publishing busines. Finding an agent or publisher that will take on your book can be difficult. So using a service like Ron’s to publish your own book may be a viable option.  Ron recommended that every man over 50 years-old write down his life story, publish it, and distribute the book to his family. Imagine having this from our grandfathers, great-grandfathers, etc. Ron distributed free copies of his own book, Publishing Basics: Navigating the Self-Publishing Minefield. There are extra copies in the barn if you missed the event and would like one.

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Comedy Night was back by popular demand. John Sirabella knew a comedian, named Bob Luparella whom he used to work, so he coordinated the event. Bob brought another comedian with him, named Vinny, so we had 2 acts. The humor was appropriately crude for a barn full of guys. Everyone agreed that they were very funny – definitely better than the first Comedy Night.

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Rescue Night was led by Ralph Stupple, Asst. Chief/Operations of the Eastchester Fire Department. Ralph gave us an overview of how the department works and contrasted it with that of other municipalities.  He shared many true stories from the rescue missions he’s been involved in. They ranged from hair-raising to hilarious, and from heroic to disgusting. Two other fireman were in attendance and added to Ralph’s stories with interesting details and anecdotes. We received a real appreciation for the challenges involved in this line of work, and gained respect for the brave men who serve our community in this way.

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We all took turns standing in front of the room introducing ourselves and explaining what we do for a living. Many of the guys knew each other socially, but knew little or nothing about each other’s professional lives. Sure enough connections were made. One man is a dentist in town and another man needed a dentist. One man sells new mover address lists while another is a contractor who wants to send out a promotional mailing. Networking works.

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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 Brother the Clap”, “The War”, and “Not Your Mother’s Diarrhea Story”.

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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 public apology by Joe for his politically motivated tirade at the last barn night.  Charles graciously accepted. A raccoon joined us for the wrap-up.

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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 the natural evolution of our species is clearly away from the use of fossil fuels. And we considered some possibilities for the future .Click here to download Christian’s presentation.

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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 PowerPoint presentation.

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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 us understand Charles Darwin’s thought process. Having observed an orchid with an extemely deep nectar spur, he reasoned that a moth must exist with a proboscus long enough to reach the nectar. The discussion flowed into a consideration of the human genome, and ultimately to a debate about the existence of God.  Click on this link to download the Evolution Night Presentation.

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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 a good college, and how expensive it is.  Mike provided a list of what attributes colleges look for in order of priority, which was very useful.  After the presentation, we acted like we we’re in college.

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