In place of a speaker last week interested members held a preliminary auction meeting.  Gail Molari and Joan DiMartino will chair the auction this year, which will be held at the Crowne Plaza on Saturday, January 30.  The theme has not yet been selected, so if you have suggestion get it to one of them sooner than later.  Likewise, if there is something about our auction that you think we can improve upon, don't be shy about it.  Speaking of sooner than later, the overriding focus of this year's auction will be getting items in sooner than later so that the club can be more organized and assured of procuring items otherwise overlooked.  This is especially critical this year because we will not be meeting on December 24 and December 31, which effectively puts us behind by two weeks.  Auction planning and activities will officially kick-off at our Club meeting on September 10.