Surfer

APRIL 2024

ACTIVITIES PRESIDENT’S
COMPUTER MESSAGE
CLASSES By Henry Penas
By Eric Runyan

Even a small gain in understanding of Things are looking up. We are back on
how our computers, phones, smart Daylight Savings Time and the days are
televisions and automobiles operate can getting longer.
make living life in our digital age better. To Our monthly membership meeting was
that end, I offer Prime Gentlemen a free well attended, and the inaugural table
series of classes at three Broward County centerpieces created by Marck Santee
community centers, including the Pride were splendid. A lucky winner at each
Center at Equality Park. The series, titled table got to take the centerpiece home.
"Technology for Beginners,” covers a wide The 50/50 jackpot was $180 and was won
range of topics, including Windows and by John Hasandras.
Mac Operating Systems, Chrome-books,
The rst Tuesday mixer in March had a
Android cell phones and iPhones, Social
record breaking number of attendees –
Media, email and general computer
100! That’s the highest number since the
literacy. No prior experience is necessary.
pandemic.
Turn to ACTIVITIES, Page 3 Turn to PRESIDENT, Page 3

BOARD MEMBERS & CONTRIBUTORS 2

MOVIES 4

APRIL HERO 5

BOOK DISCUSSION 7

FOOD AND DRINK 8

BIRTHDAYS 12

Calendar 13
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 BOARD MEMBERS
PRESIDENT
Henry Penas
PRIME (954) 971-6514
[email protected]
GENTLEMEN VICE PRESIDENT
Ken South
A social club of mature men and (301) 461-4516
[email protected]
those who enjoy their company TREASURER
Paul McNamara
To join, go to: FtLPrimeGentlemen.org (561) 254-9622
and click on: Membership [email protected]
SECRETARY
Surfer Tom Daniel
(404) 414-7551
April 2024 Volume 21, Issue 04
[email protected]
Published by
Fort Lauderdale Prime Gentlemen, Inc. Jim Flora
PO Box 100666 (646) 208-8092
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33310 [email protected]
[email protected]
web FtLPrimeGentlemen.org Ron Grassullo
(516) 670-7799
[email protected]
STAFF
Editor Stew Pepper
John Dool Surfer Editor (954) 532-5451
[email protected]
Contributors
Doug Kent: Lunches Jim Richardson
Jim Richardson: Birthdays & Anniversaries (303) 638-5690
Ken South: Formal Dinner & [email protected]
Gentleman of the Month
Henry Penas: Obituaries Dick Huitema
Ed Slough: Events (773) 782-1608
[email protected]
Mike Trask: Photographs
Please submit all materials to the Editor by the Special Advisor and
10th of the month before publication. Board Member Emeritus
Richard Lefebvre
Distributors
Auggie Azzarello: Paper
Henry Penas: Digital Treasurer Emeritus
Mike Trask
© 2024 by Fort Lauderdale Prime Gentlemen, Inc.

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ACTIVITIES PRESIDENT
from page 1 from page 1

The Pride Center classes take place during Our membership continues to grow. Most
the months of September through May. of the newest members joined because
Classes meet on the second Thursday of they came to our monthly meeting or our
each month from 2:00 to 4:00 PM; and, mixers. They move from being looky-loos
there is no registration fee. to being members because of the good
feeling they got at these events.
If the Pride Center location is not
convenient for you, I also offer the classes at We have been successful in resolving
the Skolnick Center in Pompano Beach, some thorny issues of late. Mostly the
September through May. need for volunteers to come forward to ll
vacancies. A team of volunteers who work
To see the class schedule and register for tirelessly at our monthly meeting have put
one, visit HelpMeEric.com. While you are their heads together and found a solution
there, check out all the computer repair, to the problem of transporting our supplies
installation, trouble-shooting and training to and from the Pride Center each month.
services. Fees for them are discounted $5/ We will buy a bigger cabinet and rent
hour for Prime Gentlemen members. space in the SAGE of ce for the old
cabinet. Then there will no longer be a
need to transport materials from an
WELCOME NEW outside venue. Everything will be right
MEMBERS handy at the Center.

We also had a very successful Volunteer

Ed Clucas
event. It was either a late lunch or an early
Daniel Curran
dinner, depending on when you eat dinner.
Louis Horvath
It began at 3:30pm. We had 39 invitees. It
Frank Sweet
was our way of showing our volunteers
how much we appreciate their
TOTAL MEMBERSHIP
steadfastness and loyalty. We have a new
471
Surfer editor, John Dool, a new table
Meet me on decorator, Marck Santee and a new
Saturday, April 27th, member, Gustavo Marchini, who will be
10:30 AM
Flamingo Gardens updating our web site and Facebook
3750 S. Flamingo Rd., page.
Davie
p. 10
I am proud to be a Prime Gentleman, and
I hope you are too.

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 MOVIES But in doing so, he runs headlong into a
web of others’ hopes and expectations,
forcing him to shoulder the scrutiny of
By Ed Slough schoolmates and family alike. Struggling
to discover himself while — like so many
high schoolers — trying to thrive in the
public eye, Jake nds himself caught
This month’s Prime Gentlemen/SAGE between the familiar and the new.
Free Movies will be “Golden Delicious” Offering a timely, warmhearted look at
and “Poof”. They will be shown on Friday, the pressures and crosscurrents shaping
April 19th at 1:30 PM @ the Pride Center. young queer lives, Golden Delicious gets
FREE POPCORN AND SODA at perspectives, too, well beyond Jake’s,
bringing to life the whole community of
"Golden Delicious” is cheerful and which he’s a part.
romantic. Jason Karman’s coming-of-age
feature debut offers an exceptional portrait
of rst (queer) love through the eyes of a “Poof" is a touching gay short film from
Chinese Canadian teenager discovering Northern England.
his sexuality. Cardi Wong stars as Jake, a
high schooler already juggling a number of
expectations from his family, girlfriend, and
peers.

Aaron, an apprehensive 18-year-old, is

stuck. Stuck in a small town, helping his
father in a job he hates. His life is soon
turned upside-down when he meets Mike
at a party. At first, Aaron denies his
feelings but an unexpected kiss changes
everything. As he enters into a hidden
relationship with Mike, Aaron finds that
some secrets are harder to keep than
The arrival of a handsome new neighbor others. The more he explores his
Aleks (Chris Carson), however, catches sexuality, the more he begins to consider
Jake off guard. Struck by a newfound the impact this may have on the rest of
connection he struggles to explain, Jake his life.
follows Aleks onto the school basketball
team, delighting his former athlete father.
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 April Hero
By Ken South

Elizabeth II became the Queen of England in

1952 after the death of her father and
President Harry Truman announced that he
would not seek a second term.
While on February 21st of that year, at the
Brooklyn Jewish Hospital, Mr. April joined his
older brother Richard and his parents living in
the East New York neighborhood of Brooklyn in
public housing. Mr. A is very proud of his heritage
as all 4 of his Ashkenazi Jewish grandparents
had immigrated from Russia to the US. For his
rst 12 years he lived in East New York,
attending grade school at PS 273, but then
moved to the neighborhood of Flatbush, where
he graduated from Midwood HS in 1969. 50 people attended
$105
Because of scholastic achievements, Mr. A was collected
March Free Movie
invited into a special 7-year program that would
take him on a direct path from HS to Medical
and Potluck
School. He attended Brooklyn College,
graduating in 3 years, and then to Downstate
Medical School where he graduated with a MD
degree in 1976. A one-year medical internship
followed at the Medical College of Virginia in
Richmond.
Flock
to Flamingo
Gardens!
p. 11

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Continued from Previous Page A third partner was Patrick, hailing from
A more exciting chapter for Dr. A unfolded Western NY and 10 years his senior.
with his specialty training in radiology at Patrick had been a retired school
Mass General Hospital, of the Harvard principal but soon moved to Boston,
Medical School in Boston. During his where he was an administrator at the
residency he was engaged in a new local Paulist Center until the age of 65.
specialty branch of medicine, “Interventional They were together 10 years until
Radiology”. Dr. A spent the next 30 years as Patrick’s untimely, sudden death in
an academic in Radiology; teaching, 2009. They enjoyed their second
publishing, treating, and researching in this homes in York, Maine and Pompano
new eld. He was faculty at the Yale Beach and, they had a “lovely life”
University, Boston’s Brigham and Women’s together.
Hospital, as well at the Mass General Patrick’s death had a profound impact
Hospital. Dr. A thoroughly enjoyed all the on Dr. A, sending him into a whirlwind
aspects of his medical career, but decided in of emotions. On July 4 th of 2010, Dr. A
2007, at 55 yrs old, that it was time to retire. attended an Independence day picnic
Dr. A has, since an early age, been attracted and met
to both older and chubby men. His past the man who would become his current
professional life was so all encompassing, partner, David!
that he never had much time for a gay social David, originally from Maine, was a
life. He met his rst partner Donald, in 1977, retired electrical engineer by
who was 30 years his senior. They were profession, and de nitely Mr. A’s “type”.
together for three years in Boston. In 1988, They have enjoyed the last 14 years
he met Tom at a gay bar. Tom was 12 yrs his together.
senior and while an active diocesan priest, While Dr. A describes himself as a
he was also a gifted entrepreneur. They “non-joiner” of organizations, he has
enjoyed their relationship for ten years until been found all over this country and
1999. even abroad at events, like Girth &
Mirth Conventions, and the Prime
EARLY BIRD AT LAS VEGAS Timers National Conventions. He and
David are seasonal, and have
numerous friends around the country
as they have homes in Boston,
Pompano Beach, “P” Town and Maine.
Do you now recognize this popular
Prime Gentleman?

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Book Discussion Group
By Paul McNamara

In Young Mungo, by Douglas Stuart, two 15-year-old

Glasgow boys, one Protestant and one Catholic, share a love
against all odds.
As the book opens, Mungo's hard-drinking mother, Mo-Maw,
is making a rare appearance at the at where Mungo lives
with his 16-year-old sister, Jodie. Jodie has full responsibility
for the household, as their older brother, Hamish, a Proddy
warlord, lives with the 15-year-old mother of his child and her
parents. Mo-Maw comes by only to pack her gentle son off on
a manly shing trip with two disreputable strangers. Though
everything about these men is alarming to Mungo, " fteen
years he had lived and breathed in Scotland, and he had
never seen a glen, a loch, a forest, or a ruined castle." So at least there's that to look
forward to. This ultra-creepy weekend plays out over the course of the book,
interleaved with the events of the months before. Mungo has met a neighbor boy
named James, who keeps racing pigeons in a "doocot"; the boys are kindred spirits
and offer each other a tenderness utterly absent from any other part of their lives. But
a same-sex relationship across the sectarian divide is so unthinkable that their every
interaction is laced with fear. Even before Hamish gets wind of these goings-on, he
too has decided to make Mungo a man, forcing him to participate in a West Side
Story–type gang battle. Pointedly, the yearning for a mother's love is omnipresent,
even on the battle eld. "They kept their chests puffed out until they could be safe in
their mammies’ arms again; where they could coorie into her side as she watched
television and she would ask, 'What is all this, eh, what’s with all these cuddles?' and
they would say nothing, desperate to just be boys again, wrapped up safe in her
softness.”

Young Mungo will be discussed at the next

meeting of the Book Discussion Group, to be
held on Saturday, April 13 from 11:00 AM to
UPCOMING:
noon at the Stonewall Library, 1300 E Sunrise The May 11 meeting
Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, and simultaneously on selection is
Zoom via this link : Book Discussion Group The New Life: A Novel,
(Meeting ID: 275139 4844 and Pass code: by Tom Crewe
076609)

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 FOOD & DRINK
Sunday, April 7, 2:00 pm
MEMBERSHIP Pride Center at Equality Park, Main Hall
MEETING 2040 N. Dixie Highway, Wilton Manors
Bring a dish to share for our potluck meal

Wednesday, April 10, 5:30 pm

EARLY BIRD Ambry Restaurant
DINNER 3016 E Commercial Blvd, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33308
If you’re going, contact Ed Slough at [email protected] so he can
tell the restaurant how many to expect.

Thursday, April 11, 1:00 pm

DINER Lester’s Diner
LUNCH 4701 Coconut Creek Pkwy., Margate, FL 33063
NOTE THE ADDRESS as there are 4 locations. Call or text Doug Kent at
305-495-2978 or email at [email protected] to reserve your seat
Wednesday, April 17, 5:30 pm
DINNER Fifth Element
PARTY 1325 S Powerline Rd Pompano Beach, FL 33069
Details are on the next page.
Wednesday, April 24, Happy Hour Drinks: 5:00 pm, Dinner: 5:30 pm
NIGHT OUT Tropics Grille Restaurant & Bar
DINNER 2000 Wilton Drive, Wilton Manors , FL 33305
Contact Ed Slough at [email protected] to take advantage of this
half-price Prime Gentlemen/SAGE deal! Bring a guest!

Thursday, April 25, 1:00 pm

REGULAR Rendez-Vous Bakery and Bistro
LUNCH 1576 E. Oakland Park Blvd., Oakland Park, FL
Call or text Doug Kent at 305-495-2978 or email him at
[email protected] to reserve your seat

Every Tuesday, 5:00

MIXER
Tropics Grille Restaurant & Bar
2000 Wilton Drive, Wilton Manors
No reservations; just pay for your drink(s) and enjoy the buffet!

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 Wed
P R IL Y nesd
A R T AP R a y,
R PA IL 1
N E 5:30 7
DIN 5th Element Indian Grill pm
1325 S Powerline Rd Pompano
Beach, FL 33069

1. Notify Ed Slough Bring

2. Order from menu Your
3. Receive $10 Friends!
stipend
4. Pay check (Cash is
fastest)

5th Element is located a little north of Powerline and McNab. They have an
extensive menu of vegetarian, Indo-Chinese, Tandoor, South Indian, chicken,
seafood, lamb and goat entrees, with many priced between $12.99 and $15.99.
Dishes can be ordered without spice [not at all hot] or as spicy as you would like it to
be. For dessert, there is a mango soft-serve that's really good. And they have a great
banquet room for larger groups like ours.
You can view their full menu here: 5th Element Indian Grill

The quality of the food is good, the portions are ample, and the prices are great --
which makes this a good choice for the Prime Gentlemen monthly dinner. In order to
give an accurate count to 5th Element, please notify me Ed Slough if you would like
to attend this dinner and receive a $10 stipend.

I hope you can join us on Wednesday April 17th.

This dinner group meets on the 3rd Wednesday of each month. We go to different
restaurants each month. The idea is to enjoy a night-out socializing with a group of
friends. This event is targeting members of Prime Gentlemen and their friends --- who
will each receive a $10 stipend. Everyone is welcome.

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PRIME GENTLEMEN
EXCURSIONS A NEW
FEATURE
By Ed Slough

"Our Back Yard Museum"

Saturday, March 30th

ARRIVAL TIME: 10:15 AM TO 10:30 AM

11701 NW 12th Street, Plantation, FL 33323

GUIDED TOUR INCLUDES:

RECONSTRUCTED 1840'S FORT
RECONSTRUCTED LOG CABIN
OLD WEST SALOON
1890'S SERVICE STATION
EARLY STEAM ENGINE RESTORED TO WORKING
The rst Prime Gentlemen excursion will be CONDITION
to "Our Back Yard Museum”. SAGE WAR ROOM W/WEAPONS DATING BACK TO 14TH &
15TH CENTURIES
members are welcome. COLLECTION OF ANTIQUE CARS, MOTORCYCLES &
"Our Back Yard Museum" is an awesome BICYCLES
HUGE CARVED WOOD
place on private property. It is viewed by & HAND-PAINTED DANCE HALL ORGAN RESTORED
invitation only. It is located in a very TO WORKING CONDITION
RECONSTRUCTED OLD TOWN FROM
upscale area of Plantation with over-sized
LATE 1800'S W/BANK, PRINT SHOP, SCHOOL, POST
lots. The exhibits are literally in the back OFFICE & GENERAL STORE
yard of Dr. Joel and Pam Janco. This 1890'S ICE CREAM PARLOR;
MUSIC ROOM W/AUTOMATIC MUSICAL
'museum' is not handicap-accessible as INSTRUMENTS
there is some walking across grassy areas. 1850'S FIRE STATION AND WAGONS

Participants should try to arrive by 10:15

AM. If they arrive after 10:30 AM, they might
not be admitted. There will be a valet
directing the parking. For more details, as
well as your interest in car-pooling,
please contact me Ed Slough.
This will be a guided tour led by Dr. Janco
and lasting about 2 hours.

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 Flamingo Gardens
Saturday, April 27th at 10:30 AM
3750 S. Flamingo Rd., Davie, FL 33330-1614
Saturday Hours: 9:30 AM–5 PM
Of ce Phone: (954) 473-2955

Join us for the April Prime Gentlemen

Excursion to Flamingo Gardens

For more details, please contact Ed Slough

Narrated TRAM TOUR of the 60 acre
gardens are held at:
10:30, 11:00, 11:30, Noon, 12:30, 1:00,
1:30, 2:00, 2:30,
3:00, 3:30, and 4:00.
WILDLIFE ENCOUNTER SHOWS
11:30, 1:30, and 3:30
Established in 1927, Flamingo Gardens is
one of the oldest botanical gardens and
attractions in South Florida. Founded by
Floyd L. and Jane Wray as an orange
grove, the nonpro t botanical gardens is
home to 15 “Champion” trees, specialized
botanical gardens and over 3,000 species
of rare & exotic, tropical, subtropical, and
native plants and trees. Flamingo
Gardens’ Everglades Wildlife Sanctuary is
a home to permanently injured or non-
releasable Florida native wildlife.

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 BIRTHDAYS
Ronald Seidle 4/2 MD Hussain 4/17
Lamond Smith 4/2 Paul Lavin 4/18
Edward Black 4/2 Giacomo Castagna 4/19
Rick Hurd 4/2 Norman Okroy 4/21
Je rey Stern 4/3 William Farrington 4/21
Danny Olinger 4/4 Michael Keller 4/21
Michael Nelson 4/4 Christopher Burt 4/22
Stanley Lou 4/5 James Restrick 4/23
Gary Miller 4/7 Marck Santee 4/23
Roger Alee 4/8 Tom Pence 4/23
Daniel Curran 4/9 Richard Mariano 4/24
Christopher Brown 4/11
Ibrahim Rashed 4/25
Mark Gordon 4/11
Michael Cochran 4/27
Harold Schmitt 4/13
George Sauvigne 4/28
Robert Bragg 4/16
Gary Peters 4/29
Jose Solernou 4/17

ANNIVERSARIES Mr. April

Stuart Geller

Frank Struck & Frank Corbett 4/17/1977 47 years

Peter Gavigan & Thomas Mack 4/29/1979 45 years
Bill Sandrik & Henry Smith 4/30/1983 41 years
John Dool & Ric Buchanan 4/1/1995 29 years
Mike Martin & Rick Martin 4/25/2002 22 years
Jim Gunter & David Heikkila 4/18/2016 8 years
Don Klein & Jocko Castagna 4/15/2018 6 years
Charles Lockyer & Smittie Smith 4/2/2019 5 years

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April 2024 PRIME GENTLEMEN CALENDAR
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
31 1 2 3 4 5 6
8:00 AM Tennis BP 6:00 PM Online Mixer ZM# 7:30 AM Tennis BP 11:00 AM Bowling ML 7:30 AM Tennis BP
2:00 PM Trivial Pursuit ZM# 1:00 PM Bowling AL 2:00 PM Collectors PC
5:00 PM Mixer TR, p8 1:00 PM Men's DropIn ZM# 3:00 PM Co-ed DropIn ZM#
7:00 PM Walking SC

7 8 9 10 11 12 13
8:00 AM Tennis BP 6:00 PM Online Mixer ZM# 7:30 AM Tennis BP 11:00 AM Bowling ML 7:30 AM Tennis BP 2:00 PM History Group 11:00 AM Book Discussion
2:00 PM General Meeting PC 2:00 PM Trivial Pursuit ZM# 1:00 PM Bowling AL 1:00 PM Diner Lunch, p8 Group
5:00 PM Mixer TR, p8 1:00 PM Men's DropIn ZM# 2:00 PM Computer PC
5:30 PM Early Bird Dinner, 3:00 PM Co-ed DropIn ZM#
p8 7:00 PM Walking SC

14 15 16 17 18 19 20
8:00 AM Tennis BP 6:00 PM Online Mixer ZM# 7:30 AM Tennis BP 11:00 AM Bowling ML 7:30 AM Tennis BP 1:30 PM Free Movies PC, P4
2:00 PM Trivial Pursuit ZM# 1:00 PM Bowling AL 12:30 PM Board ZM
5:00 PM Mixer TR, p8 1:00 PM Men's DropIn ZM# 2:00 PM Collectors Group
5:30 PM Monthly Dinner, p9 3:00 PM Co-ed DropIn ZM#
7:00 PM Walking SC

21 22 23 24 25 26 27
8:00 AM Tennis BP 6:00 PM Online Mixer ZM# 7:30 AM Tennis BP 11:00 AM Bowling ML 7:30 AM Tennis BP 2:00 PM History Group 10:30 AM Excursion to
2:00 PM Trivial Pursuit ZM# 1:00 PM Bowling AL 12:00 PM Haulover HA Flamingo Gardens
5:00 PM Mixer TR, p8 1:00 PM Men's DropIn ZM# 1:00 PM Regular Lunch, p8
5:00 PM Tropics Grille Night 3:00 PM Co-ed DropIn ZM#
Out, p8 7:00 PM Walking SC

28 29 30 1 2 3 4
8:00 AM Tennis BP 6:00 PM Online Mixer ZM# 7:30 AM Tennis BP 11:00 AM Bowling ML 7:30 AM Tennis BP
2:00 PM Trivial Pursuit ZM# 1:00 PM Bowling AL 2:00 PM Collectors PC
5:00 PM Mixer TR, p8 1:00 PM Men's DropIn ZM# 3:00 PM Co-ed DropIn ZM#
7:00 PM Walking SC

Page 1/1

LOCATION CODES
AL = AMF Margate, 2020 N. State Rd 7 33063
BP = Brummer Park, 3500 W Palm Aire Dr 33069
HA = Haulover Beach, 10800 Collins Ave 33154
ML = Manor Lanes, 1517 NE 26th Street, 33305
PC = Pride Ctr, 2040 N. Dixie Hwy 33305
SC = Skolnick Ctr, 800 SW 36th Ave 33069
SL = Stonewall Lib, 1300 Sunrise Blvd 33311
TR = Tropics Bar & Grill, 2000 Wilton Dr 33305
ZM = See weekly email Bulletin for link.

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 NIGHT OUT AT TROPICS

MARCH
MEMBERSHIP

APRIL BIRTHDAY BOYS 50/50 WINNER

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