2019 Report of the DOG & Chair
The 2019 D&C Golf Outing, Annual Meeting & Team Dinner was held off-campus this year on Monday, May 20th at the combined venues of 1) Sunnybrook Golf Club & 2) nearby Wings Field Restaurant & Bar. Present for golf were most D&C with the notable & completely understandable exceptions of SGC members D&C17 Dan O’Donnell and D&C18 Greg Guyer who, although they appreciated the spirit of the event, felt it best that they not actually participate in the highjinx given that our neighbor to the west’s course, clubhouse & grounds were, as the Chair himself so delicately put it, “technically closed” for the day.
No matter. A rollicking time was had by all D&C, not a few of whom were visiting the mysterious club & playing its semi-illustrious links for the first time as it was heretofore considered to be simply “too far to travel” by many. And although we didn’t actually get to complete all 18 holes before being more or less politely escorted from the premises by a silver-haired gentleman in perfectly creased Sansabelt slacks, white Gucci loafers & a plaid pork pie hat (or as D&C 13 Bob Olsman succinctly put it, “when Judge Smails says it’s time to go, it’s time to go”) we did manage to bring back many wonderful memories of our day across Joshua Road along with several “souvenirs”, some of which we were actually able to keep. Sadly however, most of the pins, flags, benches, both bag racks & especially the ball-washers all needed to be returned in due course & with sincerest apologies all around.
Upon reconvening at Wings Field the assembled masses were momentarily startled by what could only have been a sonic boom and, looking skyward, saw a trio of F-16’s scream over head in tight formation trailed by a majestic white & powder blue Boeing VC25-A, which itself proceeded to circle the airfield for several minutes before ejecting a single parachutist trailing smoke clouds in the familiar red, black & yellow colors of the Cricket Club. Sure enough, the daredevil turned out to be none other than Our Man in Washington and D&C13 Jay Clayton who, upon disentangling himself, explained that he wasn’t showing off but rather that his boss had insisted on “giving him a lift to Philly” for the event. Alas, upon their arrival it turned out that no one had thought to account for the fact that the runway at our humble Montco airstrip was several thousand yards short of being able to accommodate Air Force One, leaving Jay to improvise whilst the Commander in Chief could only return to the Capitol, unable to deliver the several hundred Quarter-Pounders, Big Macs & Chick-Fil-A’s that he had packed as a gift to the “beautiful golfers of PCC”.
Before dinner an impromptu & spirited long-drive contest broke out on the ample Wings Field pastures with most every D&C throwing in a twenty-spot for the chance to wail away at 3 brand-new PFM ProV1’s provided by that ever-generous swag machine and D&C13 John White. Although light-hearted in spirit the contest was not without controversy as noted gamesman, swing theorist and D&C13 The Great Al Pierce waited until all other contestants had exhausted their ammunition (not to mention themselves) before unleashing a single perfectly executed “trap draw squeeze cut” down an adjacent runway and then back into the field of play, the ball coming to rest a truly ridiculous 1,153 yards from the teeing ground. Any hard feelings were quickly dispelled as noted dealmaker, schmooze artist and spender of other peoples’ money, D&C16 Charlie “Kandy Kakes” Pizzi immediately announced that Al’s winnings would be applied in toto to the group’s bar tab. Thank you, Charlie.
After a wonderful dinner featuring what all agreed was “the best airport food in the Tri-State area” the group got down to the semi-serious business of the D&C. After dispensing with Old Business (none), New Business (none), D&C Financials (none of your business) and considering any changes to the Bylaws (none, save D&C16 Dick Price’s annual plea for the inclusion of “more ladies” in our congenial ranks) the floor was opened for nominations to the DOG & Chair Class or 2019.
After a wide-ranging, free-wheeling & mostly collegial discussion interrupted only briefly by world-traveler, legendary bon vivant & D&C16 Wally Smerconish, who dialed in via Skype from “Points Unknown” to register the (we think) tongue in cheek motion that what the D&C actually needed was “net emigration”, the assembled masses threw up their collective hands, shrugged their collective shoulders & more or less unanimously approved to following worthies for induction.
THE DOG & CHAIR CLASS OF 2019
Cliff Swain
Wally Evans
Mike Vergare
VJ Pappas
John Clough
Joel Pisano
Doug Friel
Ed Robinson
