LocSec Lowdown

June 2017

Hello, fellow Peaksters! It appears spring may be upon us! As I type this up, we haven’t had snow for at least three days! Trying to sched-ule golf and beekeeping around the weather gets a bit tough, but for those who know me well, you know I’ve found a way to get it all done! Especially the golf! We had a very active Mensa group in May, kicking the month off with lots of Mensans and Friendsans showing up for ExComm at Johnny’s Navajo Hogan. Several of us had burgers and would recommend this spot for a future BurgerQuest … George? You listening? GITBP was at Iron Bird (which has great pizzas, by the way) and Caffeine Conundrum was supplemented by Free Comic Book Day! Hur-rah! Bonus! A few of us gathered at Mark’s house for Travel Night and we covered three of Mark’s recent trips: Big Bend National Park, Machu Picchu and the Galapagos, and Antarctica. As usual, Mark’s photos were breathtaking – we actually ooooo’d and aaahhhh’d at some of the Antarctic photos of icebergs – and Mark’s narratives were just perfect! Other events in May included Mini-Golf (always fun), BurgerQuest, Hangin’ with the Lairds, Trivial Pursuits, Games Night (which I had to miss – rats!), Kimball’s and Red Rocks Canyon Hike. Only Windy and I braved the early hour (9am) and the cooler temps to hike for about an hour in the Red Rocks Canyon Open Space. I hadn’t been through the quarry before (just saw it from a distance), so we

took a route that took us right through the quarry area. We got some great pictures! Red Rocks is spectacular, to say the least, with lots of trails and the views … can’t say enough about the views! Check out the photos on our Plains & Peaks Mensa Facebook page! As I type this up, we still have USS at Long-horn coming up – and I’m looking forward to a juicy steak! This is a new place over off Pow-ers and Barnes – and from their menu, should be worth the trip! Coming up in June, all our usuals, including ExComm at a fav spot – Pizzeria Rustica! Check out our Calendar and pick a couple of Mensa events to attend! And, looking even a little further down the road – the date for Mountain Munchies has been announced! It’s going to be on Satur-day, July 29th, so plan on taking a short trip that day up into the mountains to RC and Connie’s house for our annual summer barbe-que, pot luck, etc., etc.! Can’t beat the views or the company! Also, this year is the 15th anniversary of the Hayman Fire – maybe we can talk RC into taking some of us into the burn area to see the recovery! Well, that’s about all I can think of for now … As always, if you have an idea for an event, please let me know and we’ll see about setting it up! Or, if you hear of a lecture or activity that you think would appeal to our Mensa group, again, let me know and I’ll send out an e-mail blast!

http://www.plainsandpeaks.us.mensa.org/

The Newsletter of Plains and Peaks Mensa, Southern Colorado

In This Issue

What’s Up in Our Region…………….2

Welcome & Farewell…………………..2

Cryptogram………………….…………….2

Plains and Peaks Officers…….........2

Plains & Peaks Patter....................3

Birthdays……….….……….............…..3

Trivia………………………………...….…...3

BurgerQuest 2017……………………...4

Trivia/Cryptogram Answers…….....4

Mensa-versaries............................4

A Total Eclipse of the Sun..............5

June Events……...…....……...........6/7

June Calendar………..…........….......7

Hope to see you soon at a Mensa event!

~Sandy

Page 2

Plains and Peaks Mensa Officers

Sandy Halby (LocSec/President) 6066 Del Rey Dr. Colorado Springs, CO 80918 719-528-5483 mandshalby@comcast.net Chris Cooper (2nd Vice Pres. for Membership) 1105 Bowstring Rd. Monument, CO 80132-8595 (719-646-4456) Shedonist@Cooperplace.net George Cooper (treasurer) 1105 Bowstring Rd. Monument, CO 80132-8595

719-646-4456 Srikant Mantravadi (Gifted Youth Coordinator) 6433 Jules Drive Colorado Springs, CO 80923 (719) 352-5074 srikant_mantravadi@yahoo.com Betsy Ogan (PlainsPeaking Editor) 1061 Hummingbird Ct. Colorado Springs, CO 80921 719-481-1199 Bogan54@aol.com Windy Adoretti (Webmaster) 1465 Stella Dr. Colorado Springs, CO 80921 719-201-4743

windy@adoretti.com Al Ackerson (Past President) 5102 Galley Road, #430AW Colorado Springs, CO 80915 719-465-3747 Alackerson@msn.com

What’s Up In Our Region

Greg Kontz

Regional Vice Chair

Heartland Region 7 RVC7 – LocSec 07/585

North Dakota

grjk@fisherind.com

701-290-0743

Cryptogram

"LB M BVLQPR LN LP GVJXESQ,

RJP’G MPPJO DLF EO MNTLPW

LB GDQVQ LN MPOGDLPW OJX

IMP RJ. GDLPT XY NJFQGDLPW

MYYVJYVLMGQ MPR RJ LG."

~QRWMV AMGNJP DJAQ

FAREWELL: Mickey Burdick, who moved to Estes Park. Mickey, it was great to get to know you a bit. Please keep in touch! David Fincher, who moved to North Carolina. Good luck to you!

WELCOME BACK: Ann Amicucci and Martin Burlingame, both rejoining Mensa. Hello!

Welcome

&

Farewell

If you have an announcement or news item, please forward it to

PlainsPeaking Editor Betsy Ogan (bogan54@aol.com) for inclusion in Plain-sPeaking! And, don’t forget, you can advertise your business in PlainsPeaking. The current rates are: business card size $6, quarter page $10, half page $25, and full page $50.

MAY MINI-GOLF RESULTS: It was the boys versus the girls at May’s Mini-golf outing! We all did Course #2, with Mark and Jim forming one team and Louise, Linda and Sandy following as the Ladies Team! Mark was the outstanding golfer of the night with a score of 50, with Sandy close behind at 51! Linda and Sandy brought their own clubs and balls – but were not sure that made that much difference! High-lights of the evening included Linda’s ball getting hit by the swinging beam twice on Hole #17 and Mark supplying cookies to all the duffers! See you in June! MAY TRIVIAL PURSUITS! Only three of us made it to Trivial Pursuits in May, but we still kicked butt! Mark won four of the rounds (Warmup, Countdown, Pyramid, and Final) and the overall game (of course). Mike and Sandy each won one round (Lightening and Cate-gory respectively). Mark ranked #94 in the country, with the Buffalo Wild Wings location coming in at #177, which is not bad since there were only three of us! Next month, let’s all show up and get in the

top 50!! Thanks, Trivial Pursuitists!! HELP WANTED! Do you have a Media or Publicity background? Maybe that’s something you’d like to try? If so, consider helping Plains & Peaks Mensa with Admissions Testing publicity! We’re looking to increase

our testing numbers and really need a hand with the publicity – ideas, contacts, someone to take this particular bull by the horns and wres-tle around with it! And, bonus – this would look good on your resume or annual job appraisal! If you’d be interested in volunteering to be our Publicity person, contact Sandy at mandshalby@comcast.net! JOIN PLAINS & PEAKS MENSA ON FACEBOOK! See photos of recent activities and meetings and get to know some of your fellow Mensans via this popular social site! It’s a “closed” group so you have to ask to join. Search FB for “Plains & Peaks Mensa.” BLOGS AND WEBSITES: If you have a blog or website that you think might interest other Mensans, send the link to Betsy at bo-gan54@aol.com so she can put it here. E-MAIL AND ELECTRONIC NEWSLETTER: If you’re receiving this via “snail mail,” consider changing your preferences to electronic news-letter and correspondence. It’s easy! Either go to the American Men-sa web-site or contact American Mensa to change your preferences! GET PUBLISHED! If you’d like to contribute to the PlainsPeaking newsletter, submit your article, poem, photo, puzzle, whatever to Betsy at bogan54@aol.com .

June 2017 Page 3

Plains & Peaks Patter

Stephen D Copp June 1 Christopher M Root June 4 Wayne White June 5 James G Hunter June 16 Mickey Burdick June 19 Kathryn Luzardo June 24 Mark Maynard June 27 Dr. Sallie A Watkins June 27 Janelle Adams June 29 NOTE: If your birthday isn’t here, it’s probably because that infor-mation is marked “non-releasable” on our rosters. To check your personal information release status, please contact American Mensa (1-800-66-MENSA) or www.us.mensa.org and under Member Re-sources, select the PDQ section.

Trivia by RC Timm Whether you like weather or not

1. Mt. Washington, NH, holds the record for the

fastest wind (not in a hurricane or tornado), what is it?

2. What was the deadliest hurricane in U.S. history?

3. What is the snowiest city in the U.S.?

4. What state has never recorded a below zero (Fahrenheit)

temperature?

5. What is the Sunshine State?

6. Where was the lowest temperature on Earth recorded?

7. Where was the largest temperature drop (in 24 hours) in the U.S.?

8. Where is the world record for the most snowfall in a season (1 July

– 30 June)?

9. When was "the year without a summer"?

10. Who were the Roman, Greek, and Norse gods of storms?

Bonus: I'm great at multi-tasking--I can waste time, be unproductive,

and procrastinate all at once.

Page 4

DENNY’S – BETTER THAN EXPECTED

Denny’s told us they don’t normally take reservations, but were kind

enough to have a table for twelve ready for us anyway when we ar-

rived at 1pm on the traditional Second Sunday of the month. Denny’s

is the kind of place that a lot of us only think about in terms of break-

fast, but they had a very nice selection of burgers and that’s what

enticed us to visit. Doug, George, Henry, Jennie-Jo, K.C., Linda, Norma,

and Wayne were there and filled out Burger rating slips. Srikant was

there as well, but didn’t rate the burgers (his three children were

there too and also didn’t participate in the ratings), so we had an

even dozen attendees.

The results of our evaluations (to the nearest half point):

Hamburger and Toppings 4.0 Service 4.5 Cleanliness 3.5 Side dishes 3.5 Value for price 3.5 Atmosphere 3.0

Comments: “Fries were good, but the upgrade to seasoned fries was-

n’t worth the cost.”

“Default on the burgers seems to be well done, if you don’t specify

otherwise.”

A few months ago, the ExComm meeting was held at Johnny’s Navajo

Hogan, and some of us tried out the burgers which turned out to be

excellent. At their website, http://www.johnnyshogan.com/, you can

see the full menu, including the note that tells us that Sunday is All

Day Happy Hour (Note to folks with “Special Diets”: the Chicken Avo-

cado Burrito sounds like it might fit the bill). While you’re at the web-

site, take a look at the history of the place on their home page – it

was built in 1935 and has a lot of connections to coal mining in this

area. We’ll meet on Sunday, June 11, at 1:00 PM, at Johnnie’s Navajo

Hogan 2817 N. Nevada, CoS. Their phone is 719-344, 9593. RSVP to

George NLT 6:00 pm Saturday June 10th, if you can, but if you forget

to RSVP please attend anyway. Be sure to bring your ankle-biters,

BurgerQuest is a kid-friendly event.

BurgerQuest 2017

Trivia 1. 231 mph, sustained 1 minute average, April 12, 1934

2. The Galveston Hurricane of 1900, estimates of 6,000 to 12,000

dead.

3. Syracuse, New York, with an average yearly snow of 116.9 inches

(9.74 feet)

4. Hawaii; lowest temperature is 12 degrees F, May 17, 1979, on the

summit of Mauna Kea

5. Florida

6. The Soviet Vostok Station in Antarctica, on July 21, 1983, −128.6

degrees Fahrenheit (−89.2 Celsius).

7. Browning, Montana, January 23-24, 1916, 44 degrees F to -56 (100

degrees).

8. Mount Baker, Washington, 1,140 inches (95 feet) July 1, 1998 to

June 30, 1999.

9. 1816, due to the eruption of Mt. Tambora in 1815.

10. Jupiter, Zeus, and Thor

1Cryptogram

“If a friend is in trouble, don’t annoy him by asking if there is anything

you can do. Think up something appropriate and do it.”

~Edgar Watson Howe

Answers to Trivia/Cryptogram

Mensa-versaries Christine B Baugh Debra Bell Gregory H Bloss Stephan H Chastain Gregory Culbreth Henry Graham M. Shane Hall Susan Louise Heisey Brian Herbert

Linda Laird Larry Wayne Lewis William R Machacek Sean F McCormick Esther L N Mueller David Robinder Dr Sallie A Watkins Kimball Williams

June 2017 Page 5

In case you haven’t heard, there will be a rare total eclipse of the Sun that will be visible throughout Colorado on Monday morning, August 21, 2017. The eclipse will start in Oregon, travel eastward across the United States, and end 90 minutes later off the coast of South Carolina. This will be the first total solar eclipse to cross the United States in 99 years. And, the last total solar eclipse visi-ble anywhere within the continental US was 38 years ago. This is an event that you will not want to miss! If you stay in the Colorado Springs area (which I do NOT recom-mend), you will only see a paltry partial eclipse. This partial eclipse will begin at 10:23 am, reach a maximum 89% coverage at 11:47 am, and end at 1:15 pm. Now, THIS IS VERY IM-PORTANT. DO NOT LOOK DIRECTLY AT THE SUN. You will need to use special solar eclipse glasses. You can buy them online. I do not know of any place they are for sale in the Colorado Springs area. However, I am giving away 80 pairs of glasses (see the information below). If you are careful, you and people around you can share a pair of glasses to view the partial eclipse. One caveat is that you will need mostly clear skies to view the eclipse, so keep your fingers crossed. However, here is what you, your family and friends really should do. Get in your car and drive about 4 to 4½ hours north to southeastern Wyoming or southwestern Nebraska to watch the eclipse near the centerline of the 70-mile-wide path of totality! There, you will be able to see spectacular sights during the 2½ minutes of totality. These sights will include the specu-lar SOLAR CORONA. There may be bright red SOLAR FLARES

A Total Eclipse of the Sun by Henry Gertzman along the rim of the hidden sun. The sky will go DARK. Birds will stop singing. Animals will prepare for nighttime. Extremely rare solar phenomena such as BAILY’S BEADS, the DIAMOND RING, and SHADOW BANDS may appear briefly overhead. A total solar eclipse is a sight that you and your family will re-member and treasure for the rest of your lives. You should have eclipse glasses for each member of your party. However, you will NOT need to use the glasses during the 2½ minutes of totality. Of course, the same caveat remains. Hope for mostly clear skies to view the eclipse. To learn more about eclipses and, in particular, this eclipse, Mensa member, Dr. Henry Gertzman, will be giving a special two-hour presentation as part of the Pillar Institute for Lifelong Learning. He will offer three identical classes: Saturday, July 22nd, from 9–11 am, and repeated the same day from noon-2 pm, and repeated on Tuesday, July 25th from 1-3 pm. All clas-ses will be held at the Colorado Technical University. There is a small charge and you must preregister and pay ahead of time. Here is a BONUS: The first 80 people to register for one of the three classes will receive a FREE PAIR OF ECLIPSE GLASSES to allow safe viewing of the eclipse. There will be a special class discount for students 7-18 years of age, so bring your children and grandchildren with you. Happy viewing!

Johnnys Navajo Hogan, 2817 N. Nevada, Colorado Springs, a block and a half south of Fillmore. RSVP to George at 719-418-6073 (and leave a message) or send him an e-mail at gcooper@cooperplace.net. Even if you don’t RSVP, come anyway, we’ll make room. Be sure to bring the cookie-crumblers, BurgerQuest is a kid-friendly event. Wednesday, June 14th, 6pm: Mensa Mini-golf! Let’s meet up at Adventure Mini Golf, 6550 Corporate Drive in Colorado Springs, just

off Woodman and I-25. This is a family-friendly event, with a monthly trophy that’s even MORE glamorous than last year’s. Cost for 18 chal-lenging holes is $5 for adults, $4 for kids and seniors! Winner will be declared the Plains & Peaks Mini-golf Champion … and can keep that

title until the next time we go mini-golfing! Saturday, June 17th, 9:00 am, Ute Park Hike! Join us for an easy, one to one and a half-hour hike this morning in Ute Valley Park, which is a city park in the northwest part of Colorado Springs. The dominant feature of Ute Valley Park is the huge hogback on the west side of the park; there are trails throughout the park and east of the hogback. We’ll meet at the trailhead parking area off Vindicator Drive (just northwest of Eagleview Middle School) at Sandy’s car – she has a red Ford Explorer (with the gold Mensa logo on the back). We’re hitting the trail promptly at 9:30am, so you might want to arrive a few minutes early to locate Sandy and get your hat/water/etc. ready! Be sure to wear your hiking shoes and bring sun block and water, too! After the hike, if we want, there are several places nearby to go for late breakfast/early lunch! Sunday, June 18th, 4:30pm: Kimball’s Peak Three Movie! Join some of your fellow Mensans at Kimball’s, which is a downtown (115 East Pikes Peak, at Pikes Peak and Tejon) first run movie theater showing “the very best of current independent 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 after-wards, have another drink and/or dinner and discuss the movie. We’ll be taking a chance on what Kimball’s is showing on this date - but you never know! Could be the best movie you’ve ever seen!!

Tuesday, June 20th, 6:00pm: Trivial Pursuits. We’re playing Show-down, a 6-stage trivia contest featuring a wide variety of topics, at Buffalo Wild Wings, 2905 Geyser Drive (at I-25 and Lake, next to Out-back Steaks and Tinseltown) – they claim to have 45 players and Wi-Fi so everybody should be able to play! We’re drinking some adult beverages (if you want to) and noshing on wings and other Buffalo Wild Wings specialty foods like burgers and sandwiches! The actual game starts at 6:30pm, but if you want a game player you probably should get there earlier! Call or e-mail Al (719-465-3747, alackerson@msn.com) to let him know you’ll be there! Saturday, June 24th, 6pm: Ultimate Saturday Supper. June's outing looks like a prime opportunity for dining at Prime 25, 1605 S.Tejon St. Prime 25 is a modern interpretation of the classic steakhouse with valet parking and two levels of dining and sipping experience. It

Friday, June 2nd, 5pm: Give In To Beer Pressure. Sean’s highly com-plex and proprietary algorithm has selected the Rock Bottom for the June GITBP event! From their website: “Every tank we tap represents hours of planning, experimentation, ingenuity, and precision by your local Rock Bottom Brewmaster. While we pride ourselves on the re-

markably consistent quality of our beers, we're just as dedicated to letting the personality, experience and particular expertise of each Brewmaster shine through.” Rock Bottom is at 3316 Cinema Point Dr. (in the First & Main Town Center, off Powers). Re-member, if you know of a good brew-pub or happy

hour bar in the local area that we have missed, please let Sean know:

by email: sean.mccormick.us@member.mensa.org, or by cell phone:

(719) 651-6706. Saturday, June 3rd, 10am: Caffeine Conundrum! In June, while the weather is nice, we’re trekking out to Black Forest to R&R Coffee (located at 11425 Black Forest Road, right at the intersection of Black Forest and Burgess Roads). Here’s what their web-site has to say: “Deep in the pine trees known as Black Forest north of Colorado Springs lies a quaint little craft coffee roasterie & home cookin' res-taurant called R&R. With breads & baked goods made from scratch daily; a menu filled with local, sustainable products; an obsessiveness with coffee; & a comfort you have to feel to believe, R&R has quickly grown to be a gathering place for the Black Forest community and a destination for folks up and down the Front Range of Colorado.” Check it out at www.rnrcoffeecafe.com – it’s worth the short drive! And, if you hear of a new coffee shop, be sure to let John know! Sunday, June 4th, 2:30-ish until whenever: Hangin’ with the Lairds! It’s the start of Summer, or the middle of Spring, or at least the end of Winter! Come on over after Burger Quest and hang with the Lairds. Enjoy snacks, cold drinks of all kinds, and relax on the deck or in the shade of the old apple tree. Kids are welcome. The Lairds live at 2990 Rhapsody Dr., CoS, 80920 Near Union and Briargate Blvd. (not Briar-gate Parkway) and the phone is: (719) 928-7997. Monday, June 5th, 8pm: RSVP for ExComm Meeting and Dinner. Give Sandy a call at 719-528-5483 or e-mail mandshal-by@comcast.net to reserve a seat at Wednesday’s ExComm Meeting and Dinner. For new Mensans, the ExComm Meeting is our business meeting and takes about two minutes to conduct. All members and guests are welcome at this event! Wednesday, June 7th, 6:30pm: ExComm Meeting and Dinner. Let’s visit a fav – Pizzeria Rustica, in Old Colorado City at 2527 W Colorado Ave! They hand-stretch their pizza dough, use fresh (made daily by hand) mozzarella cheese and vine-ripened tomatoes in their sauce! We’ll need reservations for this one, so let Sandy know by Monday,

June 5th, that you’ll be there (mandshalby@comcast.net or call 719-528-5483). For new Mensans, the ExComm Meeting is our business meeting and takes about two minutes to conduct. All members and guests are welcome at this event!

Sunday, June 11th, 1pm: BurgerQuest 2017-06: We’re meeting at

June Events

JUNE

June 2017 Page 7

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2

5:00 PM

Give In To

Beer Pressure @

Rock Bottom

3 10:00 AM

Caffeine

Conundrum

@ R&R Coffee

4

2:30 PM

Hangin’ with

The Lairds

5

RSVP

For ExComm

Meeting/Dinner

6

7

6:30 PM

ExComm

Meeting/Dinner

@

Pizzeria Rustica

8

9

10

RSVP For

BurgerQuest

11

1:00 PM

BurgerQuest

@

Johnny’s

Navajo Hogan

12 13

14

6:00 PM

Mini Golf @

Adventure

Mini Golf

15

16

17

9:00 AM

Ute Park Hike

18

4:30 pm

Kimball’s

Peak 3 Movie

19

20

6:00 PM

Trivial Pursuits

@

Buffalo Wild Wings

21

22

RSVP

For

Ultimate Saturday

Supper

23 24

6:00 PM

Ultimate Saturday

Supper @

Prime 25

25

26 27 28 29 3o

Events continued serves prime aged beef with bone in selections and seafood flown in daily. It's pricey--the lobster mac and cheese is $28--but the portions are large and the menu features some interesting selections, like steak tartare for those who like their meat extremely rare (I'm talking about you, Sandy), roast bone marrow, oysters Rockefeller, and honey gem wedge (whatever the heck that is). Call or e-mail Al (465-3747, alackerson@msn.com) by 22 June to get a place at the table. Advance Notice: Wednesday, July 5th, 6:30pm: ExComm Meeting & Dinner. Let’s check out T Byrd’s Tacos, recently named Best New Restaurant in Colorado Springs. T-Byrd’s Tacos is “an award win-ning, local-family owned Urban, Street Style Taco Bar in Downtown Colorado Springs.” They specialize in tapas style street tacos and the best margaritas this side of the Rockies! T Byrd Tacos is at 26 East Kiowa. RSVP to Sandy by Monday July 3rd, 719-528-5483 or e-mail mandshalby@comcast.net Advance Notice: Friday, July 7th, Give In To Beer Pressure. Every year, American Mensa holds their Annual Gathering at about the same time we are trying to enjoy our monthly GITBP. Our answer? Co-locate! AG attendees have a choice. Your GITBP host will not be attending the AG this year, so you AG goers should discuss the pros and cons of each amongst yourselves. Let us know which you choose and how it goes! The resort that is hosting the AG has a “beer and wine garden” on-site, known as Portico. A perusal of their tap list

causes come concern about selection for the more adventurous GIT-BPers. A little further away is a location with an excellent selection of dozens of craft beers. The Yard House is at 601 Silds Run, Hallendale Beach. The Yard House is 2.1 miles from the AG resort, part of the Gulfstream Park Horse Racing complex. For those staying in town, it has become tradition for the co-located GITBP to be held at 5pm at Brewers’ Republic. While they do not brew their own beer, they have dozens of taps at the ready with some of the finest craft beer from all around the state. Brewers’ Republic is located at 112 N Nevada Ave-nue, pretty much downtown. Advance Notice: Saturday, July 8th, 10am: Caffeine Conundrum! In July, we’re visiting Pikes Perk Coffee and Tea House, one of Colorado Springs oldest coffee houses! Located at 5965 N. Academy Blvd Suite #203, just north of the Academy and Vickers intersection (on the east side of Academy). Pikes Perk has been under new ownership for about a year now, so they should the kinks worked out! You can peruse their menu at www.pikesperkcoffeehouse.com. As always, if you hear of a new coffee place, let John know! Advance Notice: Saturday, July 29th, 3pm-ish: Mountain Munchies at RC’s! Once again, we’ll trek up past Florissant to RC and Connie’s house for an afternoon barbeque, pot-luck, trivia contest and whatev-er else RC cooks up! Mark your calendars now and watch for details in the July newsletter!

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