| Greater Philadelphia Chapter October 12, 2024 | |
| Not So Long Ago A past president shares some memories from the Chapter archives. Dave Watson, CLU, ChFC 1972 . . . Steve Leimberg,on the faculty of The American College, also served on the Board of Directors of the Chapter . . . Diplomas were presented to new CLUs at a black tie optional dinner dance attended by 230 at the City Line Marriott on October 10. That date was declared Chartered Life Underwriters Day by Governor Milton Shapp and Philadelphia Mayor Frank Rizzo . . . Among those receiving their CLUs were Tony Archangelo, Gordon Conwell, Alex Duplicki, Rob Holmes, Paul Missett, Don Schreiber, and David Schrum . . . A 22-year-old ban on travel to China was lifted . . . President Nixon announced that a Watergate break-in investigation conducted for the White House by John Dean revealed that administration officials were not involved in the burglary . . . Life magazine suspended publication after 36 years . . . The Dow Jones average hit 1000 for the first time . . . The last lunar landing took place . . . Gary Player won the PGA Championship . . . The Olympic Games in Munich, Germany were sullied by an Arab terrorist attack on members of the Israeli Olympic Team . . . J. Edgar Hoover, Roberto Clemente and Jackie Robinson died. 1982 . . . Edward Jordan succeeded Davis Gregg as President of The American College . . . The first class ever to receive the new ChFC designation included Neal Alexander, Tom Brinker, Sid Friedman, Rick Hellberg, Bill Howell, Bob Lorgus, Bob Miller, John Raymer, Charlie Rose, Howard Silverman, and Rick Smith . . . A panel of seven [!] presented a Computer Seminar to address the question Can powerful new desktop (micro) computers and software break the productivity barrier for the professional services industries? . . . Ted Benna, developer of the 401(k) Plan, spoke on the subject at a Chapter meeting held at Philadelphia Life . . . The Societys first Video Teleconference was held on November 17, broadcasting from WHYYs studios on Independence Mall. Bob Gatewood, Don Mehlig, David Tolan and Mac Neese discussed Agent Issues: Fees, Products, Marketing. The last Video Teleconference will be broadcast 20 years later, almost to the day, as the Society moves on to webcasts and DVD format . . . 264,000 bottles of Tylenol were recalled after cyanide placed in some of the drugs capsules killed seven people. The killer was never found. Safety caps on bottles and containers are in use to this day . . . Unemployment was at 10.8% . . . Braniff became the first major U.S. airline to go bankrupt . . . Raymond Floyd won the PGA Championship . . . The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Brewers in the World Series in seven games . . . Satchel Paige died. 1992 . . .Joe Saskiewicz, Bill Howell, Mark Swartz and Dave Watson hired Christine Boylan as the Chapters new Executive Director . . . Joe Keleher moderated a meeting at the Adams Mark Hotel entitled Estate/Business Continuity Planning From a Trust Officers Prospective, with three local trust officers as panelists . . . Maxine Niemeyer, past president of The American Society of CLUs and ChFCs, spoke to the new designees at the diploma presentation at the Rittenhouse Hotel. Among those in attendance as new designees was future Chapter President Howard Soloway . . . Bob Gatewood spoke about The Anatomy of Some Unforgettable Estate and Business Sales . . . The November Teleconference , moderated by Dick Weber, featured Joe Ramenda, Marty Satinsky, and Roger Schultz on Federal Income Tax Avoidance . . . Bill Clinton was elected President of the United States . . . U. S. unemployment soared to 7.8%, the highest since 1983 . . . Europe hosted both Olympics, with the Winter Games in Albertville, France, and the Summer Games in Barcelona, Spain . . . TWA and Macys filed for bankruptcy. _______________________________________________________________________________ A Soul for a Compass Russ Bishop, CLU, ChFC, CFP and GP-SFSP Board Member I am always attracted to centered people -- people who seem to have their act together... people who live with purpose, focus and direction ... people who lead meaningful lives, engaging constructively with the world and relating positively to others. I am fortunate to be married to such a person (which helps me stay on or close to the track as much as I do), and I know that even centered people have wobbly days, but we are wise to have them around us as much as possible. One way to be near a centered person is to keep one close by in the form of a book, a CD, or some other medium, through which he or she shares him or herself with you. Two such mentors I call on from time to time are Stephen Covey in his book, First Things First (which goes far beyond his 7 Habits...), and Mary Chapin Carpenter in her CD, Stones in the Road. The first track on Stones... is song which recognizes the harshness, sadness and inequity that are part of life but maintains that the response to what we are given is not only ours to choose but that the direction of the choice and the strength to sustain can be found within us. The song is called Why Walk When You Can Fly, and her are some lines from it: In this world theres a whole lot of trouble, baby, In this world theres a whole lot of pain. In this world theres a whole lot of sorrow, But a whole lot of ground to gain. Why take when you could be giving? Why pout as the world goes by? Theres only so much time to be living Why walk when you can fly? .... Youve a soul for a compass And a heart for a pair of wings!' Stephen Covey also uses the compass as a metaphor for a balanced, yet focused, approach to life which incorporates our values, principles and conscience to give us a vision and a sense of mission and direction. He juxtaposes the image of the compass with that of the clock, which represents our commitments, appointments, schedules, goals and activities. When the clock and the compass are not synchronous, we may feel uncomfortable, disoriented, confused, even empty or out of control. Some of us live our lives that way; others may be out of sync until they get a wake up call -- the death of someone close, a child with a drug problem, a marriage on the rocks, or a serious illness. Happy Rockefeller said of the experience of having the cancer that ultimately killed her: Once you have been confronted with a life-and-death situation, trivia no longer matter. Your perspective grows and you live at a deeper level. Theres no time for pettiness. Do we have to be hit upside the head before we really change? First Things First is a proactive attempt to help us uncover our deepest needs and our fundamental principles and to bring them to a place of prominence in our consciousness so that we can begin and/or continue the process of transformation through which we not only become more effective and more centered but also facilitate that process in those we live and work with. Its tempting, albeit impossible, to try to summarize this powerful book because its so helpful and empowering. For example, in an early chapter Covey invites us to use the four human endowments (Self-awareness, Conscience, Independent Will, and Creative Imagination) to meet our most basic human needs: to live, to love, to learn, and to leave a legacy. However, excerpting those phrases is like offering you a meatless bone at a barbecue. You need to experience all the smells, tastes, textures and ambiance directly. If someone didnt give it to you for Christmas, make it a New Years gift to yourself. Voltaire wrote Le mieux est lennemie du bien The best is the enemy of the good. When I was a counselor, I frequently pointed out that: You dont have to be sick to get better. Even the Army invites potential recruits to be all that you can be. Which ever version melts your butter, the essential message of the song, the book and this op ed piece is that our lives can be richer and more fulfilling than theyve ever been -- even if theyve been good -- and that time is the most finite and precious resource we have. As Martin Luther King said: We must use time creatively ... and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right. _______________________________________________________________________________ Back to KeyFacts Main Page |
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