THE FUNNIES

Last Month

Our October meeting had Nancy Jean Gray as our demonstrator. She was fantastic! She discussed and demonstrated puppet manipulation and character voices. We all joined in. She had us practice the things that she was showing to us and that is how we learned. And thank you Paulette Rosen who brought her puppets for those who forgot there's and "loaned them out". So people had puppets, which they followed along with Nancy's demonstration. And John Whiteriver won the "Mama Clown Center Ring Collection" porcelain doll. And we had a guest from the HMO clowns in Riverside. It was Virginia "Shoo" Russell & her granddaughter Bree. My father & I have seen Shoo in action at a gig & she is very good! Thank you for attending! And Lillian "Diamond Lil'" Loring is the Secretary/Treasurer of the Joy Klowns In Seal Beach Leisure World. She became a member of our club at this meeting. Welcome aboard Diamond Lil'! Her clown character has a "unique" personality.

At our October meeting it was brought up that the November meeting would be after the WRCA convention in Laughlin Nevada and thus, there will be no conflict, so why not have a November meeting. The members voted on this and it passed. So this will be the first meeting in November that we have had in years. Since I had made zero plans for November, it was decided that the members that go to the convention will do the demonstration. We will bring back things that we learned the week before and pass them onto you at the meeting. So, while at the convention, those going should be thinking about what they will bring back to the November club meeting! And remember to keep the hurricane survivors, California fire victims & survivors of the Pakistani earthquake in your thoughts. And words from P.T. Barnum on the importance of clowns when he said the following: "clowns are the pegs used to hang circuses on." And - "what has eyes that can not see, a tongue that can not taste, and a soul that can not die? Answer" a shoe! With this I will depart! Pam

Hi fellow COAI members,
I want to let you all know I will be going to the Board meeting just before WRCA. If anyone has some concerns or ideas for COAI and would like the board to know about it, now is the time to get your ideas and concerns to me. E-mail me at Btrsctch4h@cox.net or call me at 949/489-9971 and let me know, I am the Southwest Regional Vice President for all of you and I can't let the board know what you all would like them to know if you don't tell me. Let me work for you!

Here is the excerpt from the President, Cheri Venturi, I touched on at the last meeting:

Cheri addresses the membership concerns:

I am receiving many questions about N.O. The New Orleans Convention is still alive and well. Most important is that COAI would never put anyone in jeopardy if they thought this was an unsafe area.
Here are a few thoughts from me to you:
The trouble area is actually 22 miles away and no one from our convention would have gone into the 9th ward anyway. The city by March will be cleaner than it was before Katrina. The people of Louisiana need to have trade brought back in order to grow again. They are survivors and love their city.
The water by the hotel was only questionable for two days. I have been living here for weeks and drinking the water and I am not glowing yet.
First: I have been in the hotel, plantation and area where the convention is to be held. There is absolutely no problem with the water or the air.
2.There are absolutely no coffins floating down the streets or canoes
catching fish.
3. There is no risk of air borne diseases unless you are down in the
completely devastated areas of St. Bernards and Plaquamines parishes. In fact no one can go into them unless you are a home or business owner. Even there, they are back cleaning up. This area is over 30 miles from where the convention is going to be held. And as of yet no one has come down with anything. You are more likely to catch Bird Flu than anything from down here.
4. You do not need shots to come into our area no matter where you are unless you are cleaning out the buildings that were completely submerged. The media has blown this up to an unbelievable level.
5. The airport is up and working, although not with full service yet but the food courts will be functioning fully in a week. I have flown in and out several times without a problem. Drinking water there is not yet OKd by the health department but should be ready in a week. The airport is only 7 minutes from the hotel and has a free shuttle service. It is no longer a hospital facility and there are no dead bodies just sitting around waiting to be picked up.
6. The restaurants around the hotel are all functioning. Their menu right now may not be as full as usual but by March you will not even know anything happened.
7. The convention is going to set a side Saturday for a community project. I am working on a location and some sponsorship. All those who attend will be encouraged to provide their services for three hours. I know the community will be looking forward to it.
8. The Quarter itself did not sustain much damage. Many people think that the flooding occurred in the main area of the Quarter. It did not. It also should be cleaned up by December and is already functioning. The historical spots were saved and will be accessible.
9. The Swamp Tours and all the plantations along the River Road are still fine and fun to visit.
10. They have been spraying for mosquitoes so much that we don't even have flies which means no maggots. Yuck. Just had to add that one. West Nile is a bigger danger in Illinois than here.
11. The media is only glorifying the extreme cases. There are about 23,000 people in New Orleans still in shelters. Much of this is due to the fact that they were not insured at all. It is really sad to see that so many people have never carried insurance and live in a flood zone. There are about 68,000 still out in shelters other than New Orleans. Many in the San Antonio area love it and will probably never come back. People are being given new trailers while they are either waiting for their homes to be rebuilt or jobs to come through. The best thing that anyone can do for these people is to attend the convention, bring your costume and help perform on Saturday, go to the restaurants, and malls and help the economy get back on track. I love my city and the surrounding areas but the truth of the matter is: Government has been corrupt for ages around here. It would be hard pressed to point one finger. The Nat'l government is finally starting to kick in on their promises but it has been a big battle between who backed who in the last election. My prayer is that all the monies that have been sent get to the right places and that the politicians stop pointing fingers and start working together.
By the way, there is a beautiful KOA park not far from the hotel. AMTRAK should be running fine by then and we can arrange to have people picked up. Let's get going to a positive future instead of dwelling on the dismal past. Positive energy goes a great deal farther than negative energy and takes a lot less effort.
Help New Orleans by attending the convention and promoting jobs through tourism.
Cheri

Let's hope for a great convention by attending as true and caring COAI members!

Candy Will
COAI SW Regional VP

MARK YOUR CALENDARS FOR DECEMBER 12TH!

Our own Jackie "Sweetheart" McDoniel will be hosting the club's annual holiday party at her home for our December meeting. Thank you Jackie! She is centrally located in Garden Grove and freeway close (see directions in the newsletter). The club provides the turkey & ham and the rest is a members "potluck". We will have a sign up sheet at our November meeting. Instead of a gift exchange, Sherry Newberg made a motion to sponsor a family for the holidays. The motion passed and I am getting the family and will have a list of what they need at the November meeting & in the December newsletter. Plan to "join in the fun".

With more & more disasters happening around the world, Red Nose Relief is needed more than ever. Our mission is to organize all members of the clown community desiring to respond to disasters, natural or man made, by administering to and providing relief for all affected parties while bringing forth the best of traditional clown arts. We are getting organized in California & anyone wanting to be a part of this effort let me know at the meeting or contact me. I am the State Coordinator. -President Pam-