February 2003

Twins Fest Traffic Heavy

The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported that 28,000 people attended Twins-Fest on January 31-February 2, 2003. The figure was 5,000 more than last year and the Twins reached their goal of raising $ 200,000 for the Twins Community Fund. The Halsey Hall Chapter again had a table at Twins Fest where past SABR publications were available for perusal by fans. Numerous SABR membership brochures were handed out by Halsey Hall members and fans could view the national and local display boards which document national and local chapter activities. A somewhat tough trivia quiz was also available for take-home use by those fans who expressed an interest. A copy of this quiz is available at the Halsey Hall web-site at http://halseyhall.org.

        The following chapter members helped out at the booth this year; Fred Buckland, Chuck Blomquist, Howard Luloff, Mendal Mearkle, Joe O’Connell, Cary Smith, Stew Thornley, Tom Swift and Rich Arpi. Chapter members who dropped by the table for an hello were Barry Bengtsson, Brent Peterson, Mark Johnson, George Rekela, Roger Godin, Lee Temanson, Glenn Poser, Bob Evans, and Jack Stanton. Former members Rosemary Palmer and Charles Clark also stopped by for a chat. .

March 1: Breakfast and Game Headline

      The semi-monthly Halsey Hall Chapter breakfast will take place at its usual spot, the Baker’s Square at 66th and Xerxes in Richfield. Instead of the usual time of 9:30 it will begin an hour later on March 1st. The reason is that afterwords many of the participants will head to the Metrodome to watch the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers take on the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame in one of the baseball games of the Gophers annual Metrodome Baseball Classic. Chapter members who would like to go to the game but pass on the breakfast should meet on the back rows of section 129 in the lower deck of the Metrodome if they would like to sit with other Halsey Hall Chapter members. Game time is 2:00 p.m.  Other teams in the tournament this year are Nebraska and Wake Forest.

Chapter Book Club

      The chapter book club will met at the Northwestern Book Store coffee shop on Saturday, February 8th around 10:15. The Bookstore is located in the Har Mar Shopping Center on Snelling Avenue in Roseville just north of the State Fairgrounds. The book being discussed this month is The Power and the Darkness, a biography of Josh Gibson by Mark Ribowsky. All chapter members are welcome to join. Meetings are on the even months (next meeting in April with next book and place to be decided on Saturday). Six to eight members have attended the first two meetings, so their is plenty of room for more folks.

Bowie Kuhn Talk

      Former Baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn will speak before the Church of the Sacred Heart Men’s Club in Robbinsdale on Wednesday, February 26th.  Dinner is at 6 p.m. and is $ 20.00 (roast beef is the rumored entree). The Church is at 4087 West Broadway in Robbinsdale. Call 763-537-4561 for more information or contact Stew Thornley if you would like to attend. Several other chapter members are planning on going as of this writing. Kuhn’s talk will probably center on his life in the Church and he may only mention his time with baseball if there is a question and answer session. The possible election of Marvin Miller by the Veteran’s Committee could make for some interesting comments by the former Commissioner.

Spring Regional

      The chapter’s annual spring regional meeting will be held on Saturday, May 10th at the Minnesota Historical Society at 345 Kellogg Boulevard in St. Paul (up the hill from the X-Cel Center). Members will have a chance to view the recently opened baseball exhibit at the historical society and get a behind the scenes tour of the musuem storage areas and view some baseball items not on exhibit. Contact Howard Luloff if you want to present a paper.

Hot Stove Saturday Night

        Sixteen Halsey Hall Chapter members met at Kevin Hennessy’s home on January 25th for the annual hot stove meeting. Sandwiches, chips, soft drinks and brownies and ice cream were provided by the host. Members attending were Fred Buckland, Steve Chicoine, Bob Evans, Kevin Hennessy, Mark Johnson, Dan Levitt, Jed Levitt, Howard Luloff, Ron Replogle, Paul Rittenhouse, Jim Sexton, Cary Smith, Tom Swift, Bob Tholkes, Stew Thornley, and Rich Arpi. Baseball (of course) and several other topics were discussed by the participants. Members were on their best behavior and the cops did not have to be called.

Authors, Authors, Authors:

            Chapter members Dan Levitt, Roger Godin and Stew Thornley will have books published in 2003. Dan’s book will actually be on baseball, while Roger’s book will have a football topic and Stew’s book will highlight the graves of some famous (and some not so famous) Minnesotans. More details will be forthcoming in this newsletter as each book nears its publication date.

National Convention

Scheduled for Denver on July 10-13. Make your plans now to attend this annual highlight of the SABR season.

Chapter Board Meeting

at Bob Tholkes’ home on February 9th at 5 p.m.

      Halsey Hall Chapter Board of Directors 2002-2003

President - Fred Buckland

Vice-President -  Bob Tholkes

Secretary Treasurer - Rich Arpi

Other Board Members:  Dan Cagley, Cary Smith, Dean

     Thilgen and Jim Wyman

Web-master - Dean Thilgen

Halsey Hall Chapter Web-Site:  http://halseyhall.org

Membership information:  contact Rich Arpi - address below

The Holy Cow

Halsey Hall Chapter - SABR

Rich Arpi, Editor

2445 Londin Lane East, # 410

Maplewood, Minnesota 55119-5593

Baseball Quote:  “You see, you spend a good piece of

your life gripping a baseball and in the end it turns

out it was the other way around all the time.”   ......

last line of Ball Four by Jim Bouton, 1970.