December Meeting

This meeting was held on December 9, one of the coldest days of the end of the year. However, a pleasantly
surprising number of guests and members appeared for the meeting and were treated to a wonderful slide
show of old Christmas cards, from the collection of our president, Charles Shallcross.

The cards were all from a period of about 1900, and were in color, with some trimmed with gold. Many had
religious themes while others featured snow and winter for their scenes, including the dragging in of
the Yule Log.

The Yule Log tradition dates back to medieval times when the servants did not have to work as long as
the log was burning. Naturally, the largest log was selected and carefully watched while it burned.

Most of the cards had been printed in Europe, with Germany having produced the best, because of better
printing ability. However that source dried up with the start of the World War, and England and the
United States assumed the post card market.

After the conclusion of the slide show, refreshments were served, through the efforts of Barbara Sokol
and Bette Hulighan, and we thank the ladies for their work.

October Meeting

The October meeting was held as scheduled in the Hanson House. A few reports and information about other
societies were given, and after a brief discussion the annual election of officers was held.

There was no opposition from the floor so the slate presented in September was elected, with Charles
Shallcross as president, Joanne Rajoppi as vice-president, Linda Daubner as secretary and William Frolich
as treasurer. John Prescott was added to the Board of Trustees and the other members moved up a year in
classification.

With business disposed of, a slide program was given by a group from the Friends of the Rahway River
Parkway, a part of the Union County Park System. Most of this system was laid out in the early 1920’s by
the Frederick Law Olmsted Company, that had laid out Central Park in Manhattan.

This company also laid out Warinanco Park in Roselle, considered a jewel of the park system.