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The Newsletter of Plains and Peaks Mensa, Southern Colorado
http://www.plainsandpeaks.us.mensa.org/
Hello, fellow Plains & Peaks Men-sans!! I hope by now we’re done with winter and snow and spring is truly on the way. We have tulips coming up and the lilacs and trees are budding out – so with any luck – no more freezing nights. But, one of the surest signs of spring for Rent-A-Mike and me is bee swarms. Mike’s already been on a couple of “swarm calls” this year, getting honey bee swarms that have landed in bushes or trees and giving them to local beekeep-ers. And, as the weather warms up, people start seeing bees that have holed up in their house ( wall or shed or attic) over the winter and call to have them removed. Bee removal from structures can be difficult and the man we know who removes hives from buildings already has a waiting list! On to Mensa business …CultureQuest (held in April) was difficult as usual – but still loads of fun. Huge thanks go out to Jim & Louise Hunter for hosting. Plains & Peaks Mensa sponsored two teams this year and hopefully at least one team will place in the money. The contest results will be revealed at the AG in July. The April Kimball’s movie event was interesting since the date co-incided with the Indie Spirit Film Festival. We decided to view the Australian suspense film Storage, which turned out to be quite good actually. I hadn’t been to Kimball’s
LocSec News by Sandy Halby in a long time and enjoyed the casual atmosphere – and the bar! It’s a bit of a treat to have beer and popcorn in a theater! We’ve scheduled another Kimball’s out-ing in May – so if you can, please join us on the 23rd. Our Main Monthly Meeting in May will be a visit to the Pioneer Mu-seum, which is currently featuring local photographer Larry Hulst and his collection of candid and per-sonal photos of famous rock stars from the last 30 years. (FYI - this exhibit closes the end of May.) The museum also has a special showing on paleontology of Red Rocks Canyon and several other displays of regional interest. The Pioneers Museum is one of those oft-overlooked gems here – and admission is free! Is anybody out there interested in forming a Mensa bowling team for the fall league at Harmony Bowl? How about taking the Royal Gorge train trip? Let me know! Check out our web-site at www.plainsandpeaksmensa.org – it’s an award-winner – thanks to Windy Haddad, our webmistress! Thanks, Windy, for such a great site! To our newsletter editor, Betsy: Thanks for your work, too!
Hope to see you at a Mensa event!
~Sandy
Vol. 27, Issue5 May 2010
PlainsPeaking
In This Issue
RV-7 Highlights………..…..…..…...…2
Plains and Peaks Officers…...….….2
Best Houseplants for Mom..........3
2010 Name That Event ..…...........4
Announcements..........................5
Cryptogram……….….……….…..…....5
May Events……............................6
Welcome and Farewell................6
Birthdays.....................................6
Calendar......................................7
PS – Help me out, folks. What can I do to get you to a Mensa event? If you came to an event, why didn’t you come back? What type of events do you want scheduled on a regular basis? Would you be willing to help with a Regional Gathering to boost interest? Do you know someone who would be a great guest speaker? While our Plains & Peaks Mensa participa-tion level is good, I’d like to see GREAT!! And, for that, I really need your help and involve-ment! So – any suggestions or ideas would be welcome!!
Thanks, everybody!!
Page 2 PlainsPeaking
DINOSAUR DIG? Interested in finding some T-Rex or Triceratops fossils? You’re in luck! The 7th Annual Potluck Picnic/Fireworks/Murder Mystery/Player Piano Regional Gathering in Valley City North Dakota has an optional post-RG tour to 2-day to 5-day dinosaur digs in western South Dakota. But … it’s only going to happen if you and other paleontologists sign up. The RG dates are June 11 to June 13; dino dig is right afterwards. RG registration is only $20 and includes pizza lunch. Lodging in the elegantly restored President’s House Guest Inn is $50 or $60 per night. Details are at northdakota.us.mensa.org/rg10.htm. MEET CANADIANS! MEET A MATE! MEET BUNCHES OF MENSANS, EH? Meet 2,000 Mensans from around the world. Register for all 6 days before June 15- only $100! Stay at the Doubletree (FREE warm chocolate chip cookies day or night) for $104 per night. (800) 222-TREE and mention ―MEN‖. Dear-born Michigan from June 30 to July 5. Amazing PRO-GRAMS (Furries to Wolves, Sexologists, Curling, Magic, Stem Cells, Azerbaijani and Irish Folk Music, Mr. Mensa) Register on line at www.ag2010.us.mensa.org
WELCOME NEW OFFICERS! A warm welcome and a big THANK YOU to our newest Region 7 Officers:
MID-AMERICA MENSA: Don Martin, Local Secretary; Dennis Smith, Assistant Local Secretary; Eleanor Baisden, Local Treasurer; Cathryn Fisher, Scribe; Carl Helwing and John Stewart, Members-at-Large.
What’s Up in Our Region by Peggy Pannke-Smith
[email protected] Regional Vice Chair
Heartland Region 7
MISSOURI OZARKS MENSA: O. Stanley, Newsletter Editor; Daphne Smith, Web Contact. And Congratula-tions to Eddie Campbell on his election to Ozark City Council too!
KANSAS SUNFLOWER MENSA: Dexter Schnebly, Local Circulation Manager.
DENVER MENSA: Ann Johnston, Programs Coordinator
Plains and Peaks Mensa Officers
Sandy Halby (LocSec/President)
6066 Del Rey Dr, COS 80918
719-528-5483
Jennifer Browning (2nd Vice Pres. for Membership)
2034 Devon St, COS 80909
719-591-0189
Connor Baker (Treasurer)
PO Box 514
Florissant, CO 80816
(719) 646-2660
Betsy Ogan (PlainsPeaking Editor)
1061 Hummingbird Ct, COS 80921
719-481-1199
Windy Haddad (Webmaster)
1465 Stella Dr. COS 80921
719-201-4743
Al Ackerson (Past President)
3627 Hayman Court, COS 80910
719-635-4910
I’d love to hear from you!
Page 3 Vol. 27, Issue5
Flowering houseplants make terrific Mother's Day gifts. Three — the anthurium, clivia and "Mophead" hydrangea — are especially beautiful and easy. Unlike cut flowers, they will keep charming your mother for many weeks and, with the right care, bloom year after year. But which one will be best for May 9? It depends on your mother's personality. Here's why: some houseplants thrive on attention, and need frequent water-ing; others require a hands-off approach, too much water and they drown. So, think back. Was your mother super-attentive, always picking up after you and remembering to cut the crust off your sandwiches? Or, was she an oh-whatever kind of mom, happy to close the door on your messy bedroom and send you to school with a "Lunchable"? Anthurium For those hovering mothers, I suggest an anthurium. These Hawaiian natives range from 10 inches to 2 feet high. Their leaves and flowers, held aloft on long stems, are both appropriately heart-shaped. The flowers, techni-cally called "spathes," are bright red or orange and are as shiny and sturdy as plastic plates. An anthurium hates to go dry, but it can survive an anx-ious caretaker all too ready with the watering can. Just remind Mom to empty any water in the pot's saucer. Give an anthurium bright light, but no direct sun, and Mom will be reminded of you past Father's Day. Some garden centers now sell a small variety rooted onto a piece of lava rock, which is placed in a shallow dish. Mom can satisfy her nurturing instinct any time by making sure there's a little water in the dish. Every month or so, she should add a few drops of liquid fertilizer to the water. Hydrangea What about the mother in the middle? My mother ad-justed her level of attention to each daughter's needs. It's a potted "Mophead" hydrangea for her. Each Mophead stem ends in a dense, spherical bouquet of delicate flowers, which come in a range of colors from blue to white to pink, and even red. The soil in the pot should always be kept moist. But if your mother forgets, her Mophead will remind her know by going into a gentle wilt. All she has to do is add water, and your gift will perk up promptly.
Hydrangea blossoms last up to six weeks. But if your mother has a garden, she or better yet, you (after all, this is a Mother's Day present) can transplant your gift outdoors where it will flower year after year. Mature plants grow up to 6 feet tall. Even better, if Mom didn't love your choice of flower color, she can change it. The Mophead's color depends on the pH of the soil. For blue flowers, she should add iron or aluminum sulfate to the soil; for pink flowers, she should add lime. The minerals are available at garden centers. Clivia If your mother encouraged you to be independent, she will love clivias. These beauties are related to that Christmas favorite, the amaryllis. Clivias have strap-like leaves that shoot from a central base. Every spring, they send up a stalk topped by as many as a dozen long-lasting, bell-shaped flowers in bright orange or yellow.
Native to the dry plateaus of South Africa, clivias need lit-tle water and only an occasional dose of fertilizer, and thrive in low light. In winter, put them in a dim, cool base-ment, and ignore them. Retrieve them in the spring, water and feed them, and by Mother's Day, they will be in bloom again. Clivias often reproduce by generating "pups" that spring from the underground base. Over time, your gift can be-come a spectacular pot of clivia and a family heirloom. For an accommodating Mom, an accommodating plant!
Best Houseplant For Mom Depends Upon Her by Ruth Kassinger
Page 4 PlainsPeaking
PRIZES!
$50 GIFT CERTIFICATES
for individual winners
+ $1,000 toward each Regional Group’s Event
TOTAL PRIZES: $11,000!
Actual quote from a member:
“If we advertise Leadership Development Workshop,
it’s guaranteed that nobody will show up.”
Given how dependent Mensa is on volunteer power, we want to motivate and educate our volunteers so they will stick with us and perhaps, take on more responsibility. Volunteers who do not get enough support, or who work without adequate knowledge, quickly burn out.
Your fresh ideas are needed. What should we call this kind of free educational training? According to the Leadership Guidebook: We provide free standardized courses to train a pool of Mensans from which local group officers can be recruited. The goal is to improve the skills and knowledge of local group officers, enabling them to better serve the group. Names that have been used in the past:
* LEADERSHIP RETREAT (spiritual?) * PEP RALLY (frivolous?) * LOCAL OFFICER TRAINING SESSIONS (structured?) * LOCAL GROUP LEADERSHIP ACADEMY (military?) * LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT WORKHOP (sounds like work?)
NAME THE EVENT and WIN THE PRIZE! If you are the winner, you will receive a
$50.00 gift certificate good for merchandise of your choice from the Fox Imaging Mensa gift store. PLUS your local group will receive up to $1,000.00 for holding an educational event that you get to name. (American Mensa has 10 regions. One winner per region.)
Rules: Open to current Mensa members only. Send the NAME OF THE EVENT, along with your name, address, e-mail, phone and the name of your Local Group to: [email protected] with ―NAME THE EVENT‖ in the Subject Line, or by snail-mail to: PEGGY PANNKE-SMITH, National LDW Chair, 1009 Alder Way, Longmont CO 80503. Deadline is June 15, 2010. Prizes will be awarded at the Awards Luncheon in Dearborn Michigan during the 2010 Annual Gathering.
2010 Name The Event Contest
Click the dollar sign to enter
"Xaham mensa qlym cexw vl qlym unws.
Nv taehas qlym jmlnx yxomlvabvaw."
~Maw Dyvvlxs
Cryptogram
Page 5 Vol. 27, Issue5
MIND GAMES®: More than 200 Mensans gathered in San Diego in April for Mind Games® 2010. During the three-day event, members played and rated 49 board and card games. The top five games earned Mensa Select® dis-tinction; Anomia™ (Anomia Press), Dizios™ (MindWare), Forbidden Island™ (Gamewright), Word on the Street™ (Out of the Box Publishing) and Yikerz!™ (Wiggles 3D Incorporated). You can learn more about these games and the event at American Mensa www.us.mensa.org NAME THE EVENT CONTEST: PRIZES! $50 gift cer-tificate for you plus $1,000.00 for your local group towards an educational and informative event that you get to name! See details in this newsletter! Enter early & often! PLAINS & PEAKS MENSA EVENTS: While all the events listed on our calendar are open to all our Mensa members and their guests, we do request that our mem-bers respect the event host’s wishes, such as no smoking, no alcohol, adults only, park only in the street, etc. PLAINSPEAKING NEWSLETTER: Get published! If you’d like to contribute a column or original article to our newsletter, please contact Betsy Ogan, our newsletter edi-tor. MENSA PRODUCTS: Fox Imaging is the official store of American Mensa products and the source for Mensa-branded apparel and other products including Mensa Se-lect® games, books, pins and more. Contact Dave or Lynne at Fox Imaging at 800/397-4156 or view their catalog online at www.foximaging.com THROUGH MAY – SAVE $5 ON THE ONLINE HOME TEST: Featuring the same questions, timing, instructions and scoring as the popular printed home test, the online ver-sion gives test results instantly after completion (raw score, percentile rank and an approximate IQ score on similar tests). The results page, depending on the score, offers varying levels of encouragement to take the Super-vised Test or look for Prior Evidence. This is NOT a quali-fying exam for admission to Mensa; it is a marketing tool and this is clearly stated in the materials – but if you know someone who is considering joining Mensa – this is a good preview of the proctored Mensa Admission Test.
Announcements
PlainsPeaking
Hendrix, and the Rolling Stones. Additional displays at the museum include a look into our city founder General Palmer’s personal life and the paleontology of Red Rocks Canyon, one of our newest recreation areas. The Pioneers Museum is at 215 South Tejon and admission is FREE! (After the visit, if interested, we can have lunch at a downtown café or restaurant.) Sunday, May 23rd, 4:30 pm: Kimball’s Peak Three Movie! Join some of your fellow Mensans at Kimball’s, which is a downtown (Pikes Peak and Tejon) first run movie theater showing ―the very best of current independ-ent and foreign films.‖ The plan is to meet at 4:30, have a drink in Kimball’s full service bar, select a movie to attend together, and then afterwards, have another drink and discuss the movie. We’ll be taking a chance on what Kim-ball’s is showing on this date - but you never know! Could be the best movie you’ve ever seen!! Thursday, May 27th, 8:00 pm: RSVP for Ultimate Sat-urday Supper due! Call Al at 635-4910 or e-mail [email protected] to RSVP for Ultimate Saturday Supper at Trinity Brewing! Saturday, May 29th, 6:30 pm: Ultimate Saturday Sup-per: For dinner, let's try the Trinity Brewing Company, 1466 Garden of the Gods Rd. Trinity’s offers handcrafted artisan brews, and seasonal selections, along with one of the more interesting menus in town. Give Al a call for this one, 635-4910, or e-mail at [email protected] . It’s a popular place!
Thursday, May 6th, 6:30 pm: ExComm Meeting and Dinner. Join us for a short (very short) business meeting and then dinner at Salsa Brava, 9420 Briar Village Point (Briargate Blvd, between Chapel Hills Drive and Lexing-ton). You can get a preview of the menu at www.restauranteur.com/salsabravaonlinecom As always, all Mensa members and their guests are invited to this event. Tuesday, May 11th, 6:00 pm: Trivia at TGI Fridays! We’re playing NTN Buzztime Trivia at T.G.I. Friday's, 7061 Commerce Center Drive (I-25 and Woodman). Good eats, good prices, and plenty of TVs to look at and control boxes to play with. Look for a Mensa ―M‖ flag at a table in the bar and join us for a fast paced Trivia round! Thursday, May 13th, 8:00 pm: RSVP for Poker Night. Call Dave and Jen at 442-6451 to RSVP, direction and other specifics about this event! Saturday, May 15th, 6:00 pm: Poker Night. Dave and Jen will host a just-for-fun nickel-dime-quarter poker game at their house. Beginners are welcome. Snacks and diet so-das will be provided. Bring your own drinks if you want something else. Adults only, please! Allergy alert – friendly cats. If we don't have at least 5 players by Thurs-day evening, we may cancel and go to Cripple Creek in-stead. Saturday, May 22th, 10:00 am: Main Monthly Meeting: Pioneers Museum! We’ll be visiting one of our best local attractions – the Pioneers Museum. Currently, the mu-seum is featuring the special exhibit ―It’s Only Rock-n-Roll (But I Like It).‖ This exhibit, which has been travel-ling nationally for the past ten years, is the work of local photographer Larry Hulst. His photos, up close and per-sonal, feature rock legends like Janis Joplin, Jimmie
May Events
Page 6
Sean F McCormick May 1 James C Adam May 6 Kevin Beck May 10 Art Cartwright May 10 Mike Dulaney May 12 Morris C Bealmer May 16 Patrick Hollenbeck May 20 Douglas Lamborn May 24 John M Kennedy May 30 NOTE: If you don’t see your birthday posted here, it’s probably because that information (and perhaps more) is marked ―non-releasable‖ on our rosters. If you’d like to check on your personal information release status, please contact American Mensa (1-800-66-MENSA) or go to www.us.mensa.org and under Member resources, select the PDQ section.
May Birthdays
WELCOME: William D Aronstam , Daniel Barnhart, Charles Hatsell, and David Nordstrom – all new Mensans. Welcome to Mensa! WELCOME BACK: Kareth Bellew and Julia Ann Hargrove, who are re-joining our group. Hello, again! FAREWELL: Susan Gibson, who moved to Texas and Joseph Vaughan, who changed local groups. Good luck to you both!
Welcome & Farewell
MAY 2010
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
1
2 3 4
5 6
6:30 PM
ExComm
Dinner @
Salsa Brava
7 8
9 10 11
6:00 PM
Trivia @
TGIF
12 13
8:00 PM
Reservations
Due for Poker
12 15
6:00 PM
Poke Night @
Dave & Jen’s
16 17 18 19 20
21 22
10:00 AM
MMM @
Pioneer’s
Museum
23/30
4:30 PM
Movie @
Kimball's
24/31 25 26 27
8:00 PM
Reservations
Due for USS
28 29
6:30 PM
USS @
Trinity
Brewing Co.
Page 7 Vol. 27, Issue5
Mensa® is an international organization made up of people who have
scored in the top 2% on standardized IQ tests. Mensa is non-profit and
has no political or religious affiliations. The purpose of Mensa is to
serve as a means of communication for its members and to foster in-
telligence. PlainsPeaking is the official publication of Plains & Peaks
Mensa (#808). Mensa itself has no opinions; any opinions expressed in
PlainsPeaking, if not otherwise designated, are those of the individual
contributor or of the editor. The appearance of any paid advertise-
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imply any endorsement of products, services, or anything else men-
tioned in said ad by either Plains & Peaks Mensa, PlainsPeaking, Ameri-
can Mensa, Ltd., or Mensa International. Mensa® is registered at the
U.S. Patent Office as the collective mark of an international member-
ship organization.
PlainsPeaking is published monthly by Plains and Peaks Mensa Editor,
1061 Hummingbird Ct, Colorado Springs, CO 80921-5696. All material
within is copyright©2009 by Plains & Peaks Mensa, except where oth-
erwise indicated. Subscriptions are $6.00 (12 monthly issues) for non-
Mensans and for Mensans who are not members of the P&P local
group. Single issues are available on a first-come, first-served basis at
no charge (but please include SASE).
Editorial Policy: We (deliriously) welcome your letters, articles, poems,
artwork, and puzzles. Items submitted to PlainsPeaking should be the
ORIGINAL work of the author, and should be emailed if possible. If
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the right to refuse to publish submitted material and to edit as neces-
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Note to Contributors: By contributing material to Plains and Peaks
Mensa, you are giving permission for your material to be published in
both the newsletter and the web-based newsletter archives. You MAY
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