This document is the August 2017 newsletter for Northern New Jersey Mensa. It provides information on upcoming local and regional Mensa events, the Mensa executive committee members, membership numbers, and birthdays for local members born in August. It also includes several "Tidbits of History" sharing interesting facts and anniversaries from August in past years.

1. (Northern NJ Mensa ℅ AML)
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2. IMprint (ISSN 0279-0408) is published monthly by Northern
New Jersey Mensa, ℅ American Mensa LTD., 1229 Corporate
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NNJM Executive Committee (ExComm)
ELECTED POSITIONS:
 LOCAL SECRETARY: Robert Curtis, 287 Hamilton Pl,
Hackensack, NJ 07601, locsec@nnjmensa.org
 ASST. LOCAL SECRETARY: Angela Daidone, 71 Becker
Avenue, Rochelle Park, NJ 07662; adaidone@aol.com
 TREASURER: Bill Holzmann, 163 Morningside Rd, Paramus,
NJ 07652; wfholzmann@aol.com
APPOINTED POSITIONS:
 EDITOR: Juliette Holzmann, 163 Morningside Road,
Paramus, NJ 07652; editor@nnjmensa.org,
 PROGRAM DIRECTOR: Keith Armonaitis, 6 Lois Court,
Rockaway 07866; keith@sidesmile.com
 MEMBERSHIP: Lynn Anne Cutler, 214 Elmira Trail,
Hopatcong 07843; cutlers819@gmail.com
THEY also serve
 Local OMBUDSMAN: Charles Hanna, Cabarete, Dominican
Republic. 809-935-7804; Chas@c-c-c.ws
 TESTING COORDINATOR: Angela Daidone (info above)
 PUBLIC RELATIONS: Angela Daidone (info above)
 SCHOLARSHIP CHAIR: Nisha P. Zoeller,
nishazoeller@gmail.com
 S.I.G.H.T. COORDINATOR: Keith Armonaitis (info above)
 WEBMASTER: Robert Curtis, webmaster@nnjmensa.org
 REGION 1 RVC: Ian Randal Strock, RVC1@us.mensa.org
 GIFTED YOUTH COORDINATOR: Stephanie Janssens.
stillstephanieglenn@gmail.com
August 2017 Membership:
NNJM: 647

3. Happy Birthday wishes to all of our
members with birthdays in August.
Franck Mounier 01-Aug
Shearwood McClelland 01-Aug
John Findura 02-Aug
Jill Carbone 02-Aug
Christopher Mannix 04-Aug
Harvey Feldman 04-Aug
Nilesh Shah 04-Aug
Pat DeEsposito 05-Aug
Gregory Lafontant 06-Aug
Stephen Reade 06-Aug
Rob Sinke 07-Aug
Can Seker 07-Aug
Kemal Yariz 08-Aug
Anthony Marone 08-Aug
Jeffrey Dembowski 11-Aug
Thomas Clough 13-Aug
Lawrence Ritzer 13-Aug
Kathleen Mazzouccolo 14-Aug
Anthony Calantropio 14-Aug
Jonathan Kanterman 15-Aug
Tracy Lum 15-Aug
Michael Portera 17-Aug
Louis Picone 18-Aug
Robert Atencio 19-Aug
James Cox 20-Aug
Steven Seelman 20-Aug
Gregory Casagrande 20-Aug
John Lorenz 21-Aug
William Hurley 22-Aug
John Calligy 23-Aug
Harlan Rosenthal 25-Aug
Kenneth Schwartz 26-Aug
Lucille Uhlman 26-Aug
Kristin Mooney 27-Aug
Ronald Palladino 29-Aug
Hans Winberg 30-Aug
William Landaeta 31-Aug
Christina Connell 31-Aug
Two hundred twenty-five years ago, on August 10,
1792, a Paris mob stormed the Tuileries Palace, killing most
of the Swiss Guard and taking the royal family into custody.
After the outbreak of the French Revolution, peasants
marched on the Royal palace in Versailles in October, 1789.
King Louis XVI moved his court to the Tuileries Palace in
Paris where business continued as usual. Although the
Legislative Assembly set up a constitutional monarchy on
paper, in reality the king was a prisoner. He maintained
ownership of several properties, but was never allowed to
visit them. The new government failed to solve the
underlying problems of the revolution: poverty and a
shortage of food. As conditions worsened, the king began
to fear for his life. In 1791, he tried to escape with his family,
but was captured and returned to the Tuileries. Early in
1792, a Parisian mob tried to storm the palace but was
repulsed. In August, radical leaders of the revolution,
Georges Danton and Maximillian Robespierre, took over
the assembly and urged a mob of supporters to once again
attack the palace. This group succeeded, massacring most
of the king’s Swiss Guard, beheading many and sticking
their heads on pikes. They then arrested the king of the
fiction of a constitutional monarchy was over.
One hundred seventy-five years ago, on August 29,
1842, the Treaty of Nanking ended the First Opium War.
During the eighteenth and early nineteenth century, China
limited trade with western powers, allowing goods to be
imported only through Canton. With few imports and many
spice and tea exports, China soon amassed a large cache of
western silver. The British East India Company (The
Company), which had a trade monopoly in India, decided to
try to attain some of China’s excess silver. They
manufactured opium and traded it to middlemen who
imported it into China in exchange for silver. While the
opium trade achieved British aims, it created a class of
opium addicts in China. In 1839, the emperor prohibited
opium imports and tasked Lin Zexu with eliminating the
trade. Lin confiscated 20,000 chests of opium, blockaded all
trade, and confined foreign traders to quarters. The British
navy backed the Company, attacking Chinese ports and
beginning the First Opium War. The Treaty of Nanking
which ended the war was the first of the so-called
“Unequal Treaties.” The treaty allowed exclusive British
trade in five ports and ceded Hong Kong to Great Britain.
Soon, other countries pressured China to sign similar
treaties. Despite the unequal treaty, Britain was not
satisfied and began a Second Opium War in 1856, leading
to more concessions from China. These constant setbacks
would eventually lead to the overthrow of the last dynasty
in 1912.
If you would like to be listed, please make sure that your birthday
is on file with AML – and that you mark “can be released to local
officers”. You can give a birthday without sharing the year!

4. One hundred twenty-five years ago, on August 4,
1892, the bodies of Andrew and Abby Borden were found
hacked to death in their home in Fall River, Massachusetts.
Andrew’s daughter Lizzie found the father’s body and a
neighbor found Abby, Andrew’s second wife a little later.
The police suspected that someone in the household killed
the two, probably Lizzie since her sister and the
housekeeper were out at the time of the murders. No
murder weapon was found, nor was any blood found other
than at the murder scenes. A pharmacist reported that
Lizzie tried to buy some poison a few days earlier. Andrew
and Abby had complained of stomach pains just before the
murders. A neighbor reported her burning a dress after the
murder, but nothing was found. Contradictory stories
surfaced about the family relationship, some saying that
Lizzie did not get along with her stepmother, while others
said she had a good relationship with both victims. Lizzie
Borden was arrested and tried. With no solid evidence, the
jury acquitted her, but many people continued to believe
Lizzie had gotten away with murder. To this day, there is no
solid proof of who killed the Bordens.
Seventy-five years ago, on August 7, 1942, United
States Marines landed at Guadalcanal, principal island of the
Solomon Island chain, beginning the long counter-offensive
against Japan after Pearl Harbor. After the attack in
December, 1941 which temporarily crippled the American
navy, the Japanese army and navy attacked southward
through the Pacific islands to the point of threatening an
invasion of Australia. By the summer, the United States had
recovered from the destruction wrought on its navy and
was ready to fight back. The plan that was developed
became known as “island-hopping,” attacking lesser
defended islands while using a blockade to starve remaining
troops. The key starting point were the Solomon Islands
east of New Guinea and northeast of Australia. If this island
chain could be controlled, the Americans and British forces
could use it as a base to attack New Guinea and work their
way north. It took almost six months to gain complete
control of Guadalcanal.
Finally, seventy-five years ago, on August 23, 1942,
the Battle of Stalingrad began. In 1941, the German army
attacked the Soviet Union coming within twenty-five miles
of Moscow, but they were pushed back during the Russian
winter. In 1942, Hitler ordered a second offensive, this time
towards the south to capture Soviet oil fields. The attack
was initially successful because the Russians assumed the
attack would again be against Moscow. When Stalin saw
the new direction, he ordered his generals to make a stand
at Stalingrad because of its strategic location and also
because it was named for the Soviet leader. Both Hitler and
Stalin ordered their armies to stand their ground at all costs.
In November, Soviet troops attacked the German supply
lines and surrounded the German army. Hitler refused to
allow his general, Friedrich Paulus, to attempt a breakout.
Finally, in December, despite the Führer’s orders, Paulus
attempted to break out, but it was too late. The German
forces were too weak. Paulus requested that Hitler allow a
July was named by the Roman Senate in honor of
the August was originally named Sextilis in Latin, because it
was the sixth month in the original ten-month Roman
calendar under Romulus in 753 BC, when March was the first
month of the year. About 700 BC it became the eighth month
when January and February were added to the year before
March by King Numa Pompilius, who also gave it 29 days.
Julius Caesar added two days when he created the Julian
calendar in 45 BC giving it its modern length of 31 days. In 8
BC it was renamed in honor of Augustus (despite common
belief, he did not take a day from February; see the
debunked theory on month lengths). According to a Senatus
consultum quoted by Macrobius, he chose this month
because it was the time of several of his great triumphs,
including the conquest of Egypt. -- Wikipedia
Angela Daidone, our new testing coordinator,
advises me that she is scheduling the next Mensa admission
testing at the Rochelle Park library sometime in September.
Mid-Hudson Mensa continues to encourage us to
participate in some of their events. They have an events page
at http://tinyurl.com/MHMEVENTS
Central Jersey Mensa has invited us to join them in
beer tasting. Their August announcement reads as follows:
Looking to try a new local brewery? Don't
want to drive too far? Want to have a night of
stimulating conversation? You are in luck! Come join
Hunterdon Hops for a pint on the third Thursday of
the month! We'll be visiting different breweries each
meetup. For our sixth event, we'll be drinking
at Magnify Brewing, 1275 Bloomfield Ave, Bldg 7,
Unit 40C, in Fairfield, NJ on August 17th at 6pm.
surrender. Hitler refused and promoted Paulus to field
marshal because no German field marshal had ever been
captured. Despite Hitler’s hopes, Paulus and his army were
captured on January 31, 1943. Over a million Axis and Soviet
soldiers were killed in the battle, but the German army was
broken and would never again mount a major offensive
against the Russians.
“Tidbits of History: Interesting Facts from Our Past” was originally
published in the July issue of Forvm, the newsletter of Central New
Jersey Mensa, which is edited by Max Fine, is copyrighted by Central
New Jersey Mensa. To contact the editor of Forvm, email
editor@cnj.us.mensa.org.

5. August Carol Fabian 51
August Stephen Tamboer 46
August Kevin Gately 39
August Lori Kaden 38
August Robert Freeman 38
August Susan Pfeffer 36
August Robert Schwarz 36
August Victor Stewart 24
August Louise Feulner 22
August Ronald Autodore 17
August Anthony Calantropio 16
August Chris Siffel 14
August Rachael Sampson 13
August Bernadette McKinney 12
August John Gladwin 12
August Joshua Shanas 12
August Uttkarshni Tripathii 11
August William Griffin 10
August Grier Raclin 10
August Ranjan Chari 10
August Katherine Nelson 9
August Dwight Moran 9
August Robert Purcell 9
August Phillip Kirshenbaum 8
August Michael Turkot 8
August Douglas Otte 7
August Steven Seelman 6
August Austin Koenig 5
August Marc Crowley 5
August Anand Bannerji 5
August Mary Castillo 3
August Jonathan Lewis 3
August Robert Gore 3
August Landon Prieur 3
August Bryant Prieur 3
August Jeffrey Schumacher 2
August Michael Burczynski 2
August Paul Hasselberger 1
August Jeung Il Seu 1
August Cristiana Serfass 1
This is a listing of the years of continuous Mensa membership.
Members may have been in Mensa for (many) more years in total.
Magnify is known for a solid roster of beers and a
variety of seasonal brews . BYOF & no
dogs. Email buccine@gmail.com if you have any
questions.
Our own biggest and most successful event is our
annual picnic at Van Saun Park, scheduled for August 13, 2017,
noon until 4:00 pm at Pavilion "F". A map of the park is
available on our website at http://www. nnjmensa.org and
further details are listed elsewhere in this newsletter.
You can visit our NNJM Facebook page at https://
www.facebook.com/groups/nnjmensa/ and our webpage at
http://nnjmensa.org
Some members have expressed a renewed interest
in our scholarship program. If you can, please contribute to
help support our program. The Wendy Sailer Scholarship is an
award given annually by Northern New Jersey Mensa
(NNJM) based on an essay contest. It is funded by
contributions from members of NNJM and is given in
memory of Wendy Sailer who was very active in NNJM. In
1983, Wendy Sailer, a 34-year old computer programmer from
Lodi, and her friend, Israel Weiner, 55, a professional
proofreader and an amateur photographer from Garfield,
were flying in his Cessna 182. On September 9th, they flew
into a sudden storm over the Montana wilderness and their
plane crashed in the Crater Lake area near Kalispell. For
nineteen years search parties hunted for the plane but two
hikers found the wreckage by accident on August 9, 2002.
Both Wendy and Israel had been very active
members of NNJM. Wendy had served as Local Secretary and
was a major supporter of the scholarship program. Their loss
was devastating to many members who decided to establish
a scholarship in her name. Funds were actively solicited
through the 1990s, and the scholarship is still being paid out
of what was raised then. (Yes, the scholarship still needs
contributions. You can mail a cheque made out to Northern
New Jersey Mensa, to our Treasurer, William Holzmann, 163
Morningside Road, Paramus NJ 07652.)
In 1995, a great friend and supporter of NNJM, Irwin
Arnold Meit, a neo-natal nurse, passed away at the age of 54.
Contributions were made by members and his friends, and
the Irwin A. Meit Memorial Scholarship was begun in 1996 for
an adult who is studying for a career change. Unfortunately,
this scholarship ran out of funding (about 2010) and has not
been awarded since. We would be happy to re-institute this
scholarship if adequate funding could be provided. Please
consider making a contribution.
Activities for our gifted youth: Check with Stephanie
Janssens on Facebook or email her at
stillstephanieglenn@gmail.com for further information.
NNJM's young Mensan Facebook page is at https://
www.facebook.com/groups/NNJMensanYouth/

6. Last night, I joined a bunch of local Mensans at a
nearby bar to cheer on one of our own: Greater New
York’s Megan Williams was a contestant on Jeopardy!, and
though she didn’t win, she performed admirably. Way to
go, Megan!
Have you or any members of your local group
done something laudable? Let me know, so we can all
celebrate with you.
Tomorrow, July 1st, I officially take office as our
new Regional Vice Chairman (RVC). I’m looking forward to
taking on those responsibilities with a mix of excitement
and apprehension. In my corner, I know I have the counsel
of my predecessor, Lisa Maxwell, and the rest of the
American Mensa Committee (AMC). I also have the
assistance of appointees and potential volunteers like you.
The first two appointments I’ve already made are to
reappoint Greg Draves as Regional Scholarship Chairman,
and Matthew Grob as Regional Ombudsman. There are
other positions for which I’ll be seeking volunteers in the
coming days and weeks, but Mensa is an active, ever-
changing organization. So if you have an urge to get
involved on a regional level, or have a suggestion for
something we ought to be doing, please let me know.
You’re reading this column deep in the summer
doldrums (or the time of exciting outdoor activities,
depending on your view of the seasons—I’m more of a
cold-weather person), though I’m writing it a few days
before traveling to Florida for the Annual Gathering (AG).
I’ll be working hard for most of the time there, but I
expect to take some time out to have a little fun, meeting
new friends, hanging out with old friends, and being
overwhelmed by the feeling of two thousand Mensans in
one hotel. If you’ve missed the AG (or even if you were
there, and now need another intense dose of Mensa), I’m
planning to attend Metro Washington Mensa’s Pandemic
Regional Gathering (RG), August 19-21 (https://
pandemicrg.wordpress.com/). It’s not in our region, but I
had a very good time when I went last year. And a scant
fortnight later, there’s Mensa of Northeast New York’s
RechaRGe, September 1-3 (see https://
www.facebook.com/events/317046818648267/). I’d been
hearing good things about this RG for several years before
finally attending for the first time last year. I’ll certainly be
back this year, and hope to see you there!
Hey, local groups: there’s still room on the calendar, if
you’re itching to host your own RG. Our regulars include
New Hampshire in February, Boston in May, Maine in
June, Albany in September, and Boston again in
November. A lot of Region 1 folk also trek to Central New
Jersey in March. But that leaves a lot of the calendar open
for your plans.
And if you’re not ready to plan something huge
like an RG, tell us what your group is doing on a local level.
I know my local group has several versions of weekly and
monthly dinners, games days, business discussions,
bicycling events, trivia gatherings, speaker events, and
more. Have you come up with something fascinating for
your local group? Share it with me/us, so that others can
try it, too.
And regardless of how frequently (or
infrequently) your local group’s newsletter appears, how
often (or rarely) you can attend local events, there’s 24-
hour-a-day conversation going on in Mensa’s various
online fora (mostly centered on Facebook). If you’re
having trouble finding them, nudge me online for some
pointers.
—Ian Randal Strock
917-755-6935
ianstrock@hotmail.com
(after July 1: RVC1@us.mensa.org)
PROCTORS WANTED!
Do you want to be an emissary
for Mensa? Be the first Mensan
someone meets? Put a good spin
on our group? If you have a BA,
you are eligible to train to
become a proctor.
If you are interested, please
contact our Testing Coordinator,
Angela Daidone, at 201-843-3598.

7. August 13th, 2017
NNJM Picnic & ExComm Meeting
Van Saun County Park, Paramus, NJ
11:00 - 12:00 * ExComm Meeting
All members welcome
12:00 - 4:00 * Picnic
NNJM’s 8th Annual Picnic. The event is our largest
annual event, and we expect 2017 to be the biggest
and best yet.

8. A listing does not imply that an outside event is sanctioned by NNJMnor by AML. Only national and regional events
are organized by American Mensa, Ltd., its Local Groups or Special Interest Groups and meet specific criteria and approvals prior to list-
ing. Submit entries, with a Mensan contact, to editor@nnjmensa.org by the 15th
day of each month for the following month’s newsletter.
Codes used match those used in the online AML Event Listings: CC - Credit Card accepted; CP - Children’s Program; SA - Scholarship Auc-
tion; H - Access to Handicapped; BD - Blood Drive; DT - Day Trip rates available; CD - Children’s Discount; MP - Meal Package (# meals); P -
Parking; RP - Refund Policy S - Smoking Facilities; H/AS - Hotel/Airport Shuttle; SR/DR/TR/QR - Single/Double/Triple/ Quadruple Room. Par-
ticipation in any event is the responsibility of the individual attendee (or "attendees.") Parents are reminded of their responsibility for
members under the age of 18. American Mensa assumes no additional liability for members under the age of 18 who attend any event.
August 4th First Friday
6:30 pm * Miranda’s Café * Wayne, NJ
Great event for new (adult) members; all are welcome!
1520 Route 23 North
Wayne, NJ 07470
(973) 628-9801
To RSVP or for details, contact Vivian Bregman at
973-696-6265 or vbreg@optimum.net
September 8th First Friday
6:30 pm * Miranda’s Café * Wayne, NJ
Great event for new (adult) members; all are welcome!
1520 Route 23 North
Wayne, NJ 07470
(973) 628-9801
To RSVP or for details, contact Vivian Bregman at
973-696-6265 or vbreg@optimum.net
August 13th
ExComm Meeting/Picnic
11:00 am * Van Saun County Park,
Paramus, NJ
All members welcome. Regularly
scheduled quarterly
meeting of Northern NJ Mensa’s
ExComm (a.k.a.
“board”). RSVP preferred to
locsec@nnjmensa.org