Men’s Club: November 2023 Update

Our Men’s Club had quite a month in October. Our big Saturday night Oktoberfest event was probably the highlight but we were also fortunate to have two intellectually stimulating first and third Tuesday meetings, as always.
The first Tuesday started off with Club VP John Yocca introducing our guest speaker for the day, the Chief Executive of Age Well Senior Services, Steve Moyer. Also present from Age Well was Marcia Marinovich. Our members learned about an Orange County organization engaged in supporting OC seniors since 1975. Age Well started back then with an operation in San Clemente, and expanded to become a county-wide provider of services out of their current offices in Lake Forest. What does Age Well do, you ask? How about their vital nutrition program Meals on Wheels? In fact, over 500,000 Meals on Wheels are served annually. About 55% of the home delivered meals go to homes where seniors are living alone. Then there is the Grab & Go Lunches, 69,000 and counting, Another critical service is providing transportation to medical service providers, about 23.000 rides annually, and over 2,200 in-home Welfare Checks. And get this: Age Well served over a million meals in Orange County during the COVID crisis. Where would we be without Age Well on the front lines supporting the fastest growing sector of our OC population— the seniors?
Age Well Senior Services is partly government funded, but mostly funded by contributions. In addition to donations from the community, Age Well greatly relies on its over 700 citizen volunteers, almost half of whom are seniors themselves. These volunteers have been known to trim trees, mow lawns, and take care of pets in addition to delivering meals. If you are looking for something to do with your spare $$ or your spare time, you could not find a worthier cause or organization than Age Well Senior Services in Lake Forest. Contact them at agewellseniorservices.org/ or (949) 855-8033.
Our second October meeting featured Eric and Margi Eckes, scuba divers extraordinaire, who regaled us with slides and videos of their many dives in all corners of the planet. Between them, Eric, the still photographer, and Margi, the videographer, have almost 2500 dives. That’s right, 2,500! Both started their diving careers close by, in Laguna Beach’s Shaws Cove, and expanded from there to such exotic diving destinations as Tonga, the Polynesian Kingdom, the Red Sea in Egypt, Indonesia, Costa Rica, Papua, New Guinea, and most recently, Cuba. Eric and Margi’s close up photos of exotic sea creatures are amazing to behold. Did I mention British Columbia? How about Lake Michigan? Jacques Cousteau is a soulmate of the Eckes. Very entertaining, Eric and Margi. Thank you.
This month we look forward to presentations from Margarita Wilkinson, Republican candidate for Congress, and from Debbie Bannister, VP at Exchange Resources, talking about tax strategies. If you want to join us for one of these presentations, please do. You do not have to be a Shores resident to join our Men’s Club. And, your first breakfast is on us!
—Tim Moore