*President s Corner*

Dear Fellow Members and Friends,

I trust that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends and that the preparations for the Christmas Holidays are not getting you down.

For those who did not attend the last meeting, our club’s elections took place on the Nov. 9^th and went relatively smooth but for a few bumps.

We, evidently, had an error in the vote count for the Sergeant-at-Arms and the open Board of Dir. position, the only two contested offices.

When the vote tally was handed to me, I announced that Cindy Lofgreen was re-elected by one vote over Bruno Klus but after a quick recount of the ballots and than subsequent complete and detailed recount by three officers, it turned out that Bruno Klus has won the seat on the Board of Directors. Congratulations Bruno and welcome back as an officer.

Norm Fritchie was the winner of the three way contest for Sergeant-at-Arms. Congratulations Norm.

The other positions were as follows:

President – Casimir Kosinski,

1^st VP – Chez Falkowski,

2^nd VP – Halina Kosinski,

Treasurer - Mary Kiselus,

Financial Secretary – Dennis Pachura,

Recording Secretary – Frances Spychalska,

Trustee – Henrietta Nemecek.

Congratulations and thank you all for your willingness to serve our club to make it a better and friendlier place to visit.

A great big THANK YOU goes out to retiring Financial Secretary, Diana O’Loughlin, who served our club for so many years. We will miss you! Also, to Cindy Lofgreen, thank you for serving our club as a recording secretary and as a member of the Board of Directors. Your service is greatly appreciated.

The installation of officers for 2009-2010 will be during our Christmas Dinner on December 14, 2008.

We received a final financial report on our bathroom remodeling expenses and the total came to $15,500.00. That was over double of what was originally budgeted but it had to be done and now, due to the efforts and sacrifices of Frank Tomaszkowicz and many other contributors of labor and materials, we can enjoy the beautiful improvements. It is worthy of mentioning that many of the donors of labor and materials are members of the Polish Highlanders Association. Thank You!

However, the bills still have to be paid and your contributions are still needed and necessary. We do appreciate those of you who already sent in your checks. Thank You!

On behalf of all the officers of the Pulaski Club,

I wish You all a Very Merry Christmas and a Very Happy New Year 2009.

Your President, Casimir Kosinski

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*OFFICERS 2008*

PRESIDENT: Casimir Kosinski 623-487-9821

1st Vice President: Chez Falkowski 480-892-0737

2nd Vice President: Halina Kosinski 623-487-9821

Sergeant At Arms: VACATED 480-612-3070

Recording Secretary: VACATED

Financial Secretary: Diana O'Loughlin 480-834-5484

Treasurer: Mary Kiselus 602-526-7321

*BOARD OF DIRECTORS*

CHAIRMAN: David Bonczkiewicz 480-380-8887, ends 12/31/10

Bob Keith 602-510-7435, ends 12/31/10

Frank Tomaszkowicz 480-539-1995, ends 12/31/09

Frank Kanios 480-423-9480, ends 12/31/09

Cindy Lofgren 480-710-4192, ends 12/31/08

*TRUSTEES*

Shane Prosser 480-814-9240, ends 12/31/10

Paul Chojnacki 480-961-4180, ends 12/31/09

Henrietta Nemecek 602-955-5509, ends 12/31/08

*COMMITTEES*

Publicity: Paul Chojnacki 480-961-4180

Sunshine: Shirley Sztuk 480-964-8275

Entertainment: Halina Kosinski 623-487-9821

*NEWSLETTER*

Editor/Publisher: Chez Falkowski 480-892-0737,

E-Mail: chezf@yahoo.com

*WEB SITE*

Original Web-Designer:Sylvia Kosinski beatnikcrab@google.com

Webmaster: Casimir Kosinski 623-487-9821

www.PulaskiClubAZ.org

E-Mail Pulaski Club: pulaskiclubaz@yahoo.com

Pulaski Club Phone: 602-275-9329

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1st VICE PRESIDENT - Chez Falkowski:

I would like to welcome new Club's members – John A. Smoltz, Paul Sikorski and Jack Konopski and I hope you will enjoy our Club for many years to come.

Also we would like to thank those who made monetary donations to the Club’s renovation fund. We certainly appreciate the generosity of the following; Kotwasinski, Sherry, Pietka, Magnusen, Fritchie, Kral, Serafin, Trinka, Juszynski. Unfortunately I do not have the complete list of donors while editing this issue but I will continue the list in the next one.

You may share my view that politicians and media in this country widely describe the symptoms of the current economic crisis but not the real reasons for it. The truth from politicians may create panic and total financial melt down. The academics say the truth and it may be summarized as follows. A free capitalistic economy is cyclic by its nature - usually 3-7 years. Prices of raw materials have their cycles as well - usually 30-40 years. It looks like we found ourselves in the cycle of slowing economy and in the cycle of high prices of raw materials. On top of that the next two factors aggravated the situation - huge deficit and low interest rates. Mr. Greenspan of the Federal Reserve wanted to change the laws of cyclic economics by keeping low interest and unemployment rates while having the skyrocketing deficit. Feds and the federal administration enjoyed the public support because we all were happy with the small unemployment and low interest rate.

The economics teach us that a deficit will increase inflation (interest rate) and unemployment. A few years ago the symptoms of slowing economy and drastic rise of crude oil prices were ignored. The gurus of Wall Street were pumping funds into mortgages and were making tons of money in mortgage related financial instruments. Fanny-Mae and Freddy-Mac were the envy. Their lobbyists pushed thru the Congress deregulations allowing them to participate in these sweet deals. Real estate prices became unrealistically high and were going up and up for some time due to the artificially low interest rate and relaxed oversight. In 1929 people were borrowing money from banks to buy overpriced stocks and did not foresee that stock values would plummet. Nowadays many borrowers did not foresee the increases in an adjustable interest rate and a sharp drop in the value of their house. Unfortunately the real-estate bubble burst pretty much like the stocks bubble in 1929. Believe it or not - we see the economic laws at work just as expected and described in the old, dust covered books. Foreclosures for homes started to grow exponentially. Financial institutions are stuck with vacant houses and related to them acid "paper money". The acid "paper money" became a contagious virus. Nobody knows which bank carries it. The trust and borrowing between banks went into the drain. Even the sound businesses have troubles getting short term loans. Our government pumps taxpayer’s money into private banks just to avoid financial doomsday but it does not address the root course of problem. How would doomsday look like? – public runs on banks to withdraw money causing banks to collapse like in 1929, huge mount of money in the market will cause a hyper-inflation, panicked public would buy anything just to get rid of money, last stage would be bartering.

2^nd VP – Halina Kosinski:

December is upon us and it’s time to decorate our club for our traditional Christmas Feast on December 14^th, and for any other events during this month.

We are planning a big buffet style feast with four meat entrees plus pierogi, salads and vegetable side dishes. Our dessert buffet with traditional Polish pastries will tempt even the strongest dieters among us. So, please come hungry and bring your friends and family for this festive occasion.

Please call with your reservations, especially for larger parties.. 602-909-4965

Members pay: $14.00, non members pay $16.00, Children under 7 years – eat free, Children from 7-12 pay ½ price.

TREASURER - Mary Kiselus:

As we all know the club was not in operation for almost three months. We did not have much income coming in. However, we still had normal operating expenses. Combined income for month of July, August and September totaled $5698.52. Our expenses for the three months totaled $10007.61

showing a loss of $4309.29 (July - September). The remodeling of the restrooms is behind us however, majority of the remodeling expenses were paid in month of October. October income totaled $6116.00 and our expenses figured at $11154.35 for a loss of $$5038.35. With our club events and rentals during the month of November, I will be happy to report a profitable month. Please join us for all the club events in the month of December.

FINANCIAL SECRETARY - Diana O‘Loughlin:

Thank you for all the donations and renewals. Dues are $24.00 a year. Check your membership card, and send a check to the Pulaski Club. If you know of anyone with address changes, please have them fill out the form in this newsletter or contact me by phone with the changes. 480-834-5488

SUNSHINE COMMITTEE - Shirley Sztuk:

This month Shirley, herself, needs our well wishes. She had a nasty fall and got injured but she’s much better now and will join us for Christmas Dinner. Glad that you’re feeling better Shirley.

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Nickelcity Dave's

News and Notes

There are really only two reasons why people don't have fun on Holidays. One might be that they never learned how to have fun, possibly due to growing up in a home where family togetherness was lacking, so celebrating special events just wasn’t important. The other reason could be that they just don't want to enjoy themselves, and get a sick kind of satisfaction from complaining and criticizing things that bring joy to others. Don't be part of that latter group, life is just too short.

For those suffering from ignorance in the matters of Holiday enjoyment, here are a few tips for turning your holiday blah to holiday awe: Plan. Let’s face it, spontaneous fun is very rare. Most of the time if you want to have fun, you need to plan it. Spend some time just thinking about what you want out of a holiday celebration. Write down some lists of things you enjoy about the holiday and things that you don't. Don't try to cram too much "fun" in or everything will feel forced and fake.

Start simple. Put it on the calendar if you hope to see it happen. Get the whole family involved in this brainstorming process. You might be amazed at the little things some people hold dear and how some other events being carried on in the name of tradition are no longer enjoyable or important. Get inspired. Your local library has many books on making the holidays special. The Internet alone should be able to spark some major ideas, so does a little research.

One method that works around my house is to keep a few of the most important traditions going for a holiday, but also to add something completely new or bold or crazy to make that particular year’s holiday stand out. Sick of turkey and all the sides on Thanksgiving? Make turkey enchiladas and have a Thanksgiving Fiesta. Call it “Muchas Gracias Day,” and celebrate the same sentiment of gratitude, but with a new spin on it. Creativity is essential for having fun. Your attitude is contagious. If you aren't committed to having fun, no one else will be. Don't lose heart if your friends or family members make fun of you for wanting to enjoy a holiday. If you want to have fun, have it. People will either admire that about you and join in, or leave and go somewhere they can complain in peace. If you have struggled to enjoy holidays in the past, stay determined to do whatever it takes to enjoy them this year.

Scrooges come in all ages, so just remember how that story ended: when confronted with death, a party-pooper decided it was better to enjoy life, and what better time than days of celebration to cultivate that joy of living. Avoid burnout. If the whole family looks to you to provide a fun holiday agenda, you will not be having fun for long. Involve as many people as possible.

Share in the creative endeavor, the preparation, the expense – and then share in the joy. Also, there is no reason why you can't take a break from a holiday every once in a while and do something different or nothing at all. I've known people who went out to eat on Thanksgiving and didn't cook at all. I've known a family that decided to celebrate Christmas the day after by going on a shopping spree when the sales are great instead of doing the usual gift spiel. Your fun holiday does not have to be a carbon copy of some societal expectation.

You have permission to be unique and celebrate with your family in any way that brings you joy. So what if you're the only ones who put up outside lights on Presidents’ Day. Or send greeting cards on New Year’s Day instead of Christmas. Or decorate a tree for Valentine’s Day. Mix it up a little, keep life interesting.

DID YOU KNOW?: Holiday Hangover recipe - A delicious recipe for Holiday Hangover, with Bacardi® white rum and 7-Up®. Also lists similar drink recipes. Ingredients 4 oz Bacardi® white rum 5 oz 7-Up®. Instructions: Stir ingredients together in a highball glass. Garnish with a candy cane, and serve. Serve in a Highball Glass.

Christmas in the Tropics recipe: A delicious recipe for Christmas In The Tropics, with Captain Morgan® Parrot Bay coconut rum and eggnog. Also lists similar drink recipes. Ingredients 2 oz Captain Morgan® Parrot Bay coconut rum 6 oz eggnog. Instructions: Pour the Captain Morgan Parrot Bay coconut rum into a cup, then pour in the eggnog after. Stir it around a bit to mix it together, and serve. Serve in a Cup.

Pulaski Club Food Drive: As we are a non-profit organization there are times when we should give back to the community, with the holiday season just around the corner this is just the right time to start. So for the remaining dances in the 2008 calendar year we will be having a food drive, just bring in a can food or non-perishable item and receive a free beverage at the bar. For more information on this fund drive contact Princess at 602.312.0935

BARTENDERS WANTED: A schedule is posted inside the bar area. If interested ask the bartenders to sign you up we still have some openings. Or call me, and I’ll e-mail you a schedule.

David @ (602) 741-8214 (nickelcity_dave@yahoo.com).

RENT THE HALL: The Pulaski Club is available for all your social events. Basic rental price is $1,200.00; this includes a 6 hr. rental, cleaning, and $200(refundable) damage deposit. In addition, we offer full bar service, a house “DJ” service (Nickelcity Dave), security, kitchen, and a list of available caterers. Call to reserve the HALL for your special event. (602) 275-9329.

Pulaski Club is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization.

All donations are tax deductible.

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WHAT'S LEFT IN 2008

Date, time, & bands are subject to change

December 14:

Sunday, Christmas Dinner & Dance,

Dinner 1-3pm, Dance to Varitones, 3-7pm

Full Buffet 4 course dinner with dessert buffet

all for only $14 for members

$16 for non members

Children under 7 free

Children from 7-12 pay 1/2 price

Newly elected Officers for 2009-2010 will be installed

just prior to the dance portion of the afternoon.

Santa will visit too!

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December 31:

New Year’s Eve -

Organized by Polish Highlanders – all invited

"SECRET" Band will entertain you from 8PM to 2 AM

For reservations call John @ 602-526-0294

or Joe @ 602-432-1511

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January 1, 2009

New Year s Day

Pulaski Club's

From 1 to 6 PM

Fundraiser * Potluck * Polka Jam * Dance Party!!!!

Invite your friends and join us for a fun day ..

Date, time, & bands are subject to change