By John Reese
The Greenwich Retired Men’s Association (RMA) celebrated its 70th anniversary on Wednesday, November 13, 2024, at Innis Arden Golf Club in Old Greenwich, CT. The milestone event was filled with warmth, camaraderie, and a reflection on the organization’s legacy of service and fellowship.
The day began with members and guests gathering in the club’s sunroom, where the morning sun illuminated the scene as they mingled and enjoyed a selection of hors d’oeuvres. They then moved to the large dining room, where the program was expertly guided by RMA First Vice President David Michonski, who welcomed everyone and introduced the day’s presentations. These included remarks by RMA President Will Morrison, the presentation of awards for service to numerous members, and a performance by the RMA chorus The Melody Men.
The highlight of the afternoon was the keynote address by Dave Richards, a retired real estate lawyer, historian, and RMA member since 2017. Richards, who has authored a soon-to-be-published first-ever history of the RMA, captivated the audience with his storytelling.
He recounted that while the “seed” for what would become the Greenwich RMA was planted in March of 1954 by a group of friends who belonged to the YMCA, the formal organization did not happen until October of that year. It happened through the efforts of a woman, a Mrs. La Rievier. Her father had moved to Greenwich from Quincy, MA, was lonesome and wanted to meet other retirees like himself. So, Mrs. La Rievier applied to the YMCA’s General Secretary for help. He, in turn, asked Alfred Lorenz, a staff member at the Y to try to round up some men. Lorenz succeeded and the first meeting of 13 men occurred on March 10, 1954 with the RMA formally organized on October 13, 1954. Some ladies in today’s audience may have been thinking, “Oh, so she, too, wanted to get someone out of her house every Wednesday!”
Richards then reviewed what Greenwich was like in 1954. Its population was 43,000; only half of Americans owned a TV and they were all black and white only; men dressed in suits and ties and when outside wore hats; Social Security was signed into law by President Eisenhower; the Supreme Court outlawed segregation with its famous Brown v. Board ruling; Swanson introduced TV dinners; a new car cost $1700; gas cost 21 cents per gallon; a movie ticket was 70 cents; and the first mass vaccination of children to prevent polio, occurred. Things have changed.
The sponsoring organization of the RMA was the YMCA which for decades would provide facilities for meetings and would offer aid and advice to assist in the growth of the organization.
On the founding day in October 1954, secretary Ramsey Burton cut a hole in the top of a cigar box and passed it around to the 13 members for voluntary contributions to support the new organization. There was also another kind of Cigar Box, today known as the Cigar Box Bulletin, which came about because the RMA needed a newspaper to keep members abreast of club events. The early CBB dispensed short pithy sayings, retirement advice, jokes, stories of flora and fauna, excerpts from patriotic speeches and even poems, with Rudyard Kipling and William Cullen Bryant two of the early favorites. It was billed as “The Cigar Box Weakly News”—that’s “W-E-A-K-L-Y”—it was not until 1961 that the CBB assumed its current format and was re-named the Cigar Box Bulletin.
By 1966, 12 years after the founding, the RMA had grown to 99 members, then to 140 by 1969-70 and then over the next six years it grew by another 60%. It got so large that by 1975 a moratorium had to be imposed on new inductees because the meeting room at the YMCA was just too crowded. Applicants had to wait months until a slot became available.
From the start in 1954 ladies have been welcome at RMA events. A Ladies Day in October and a Thanksgiving luncheon in November have been merged into today’s annual banquet, with spouses and widows of members present. They are also welcome at other events. Women also provided the RMA with one of its most controversial programs. In 1972 two members of the National Organization for Women came to speak and explain the thinking and reasoning that makes women want to join the Women’s Liberation Movement. The Greenwich Time reported on the presentation with the headline, “Women’s Rights Goals Explained to Retired Men.”
Trips were among the first activities in 1954. The first trip was to Port Chester to the Lifesavers plant, followed by a trip to Greenfield Hill to see the dogwoods in blossom. There was also an outing to Island Beach, a precursor of today’s annual picnic. Everyone dressed in suits and ties. This flurry of excursions and trips was soon followed by the RMA’s first speaker, Sydney Phelps, who spoke about Japan. What followed was the vibrant speakers’ program that exists today; now over 25 members on the Program Committee suggest speakers, interview them, schedule and publicize them.
Speakers have included pastors of churches, police chiefs, prominent politicians such as U.S. Senator Prescott Bush, and Lt. General Leslie Groves who oversaw the construction of the atomic bomb. Others included New York Mets pitcher and Cy Young Award Winner Tom Seaver. In 1988, the speaker of the year was only then at the start of his political career, namely Greenwich Town Selectman Ned Lamont, who is today Governor of Connecticut. The Greenwich Time noted the talk was given by “an articulate, well-informed-dynamic young man [who] made a very able presentation…”
Fellowship was the original core value, but four years later, in 1958, volunteerism began. Ten years later in 1968 volunteerism hit 3,699 hours assisting the ill, the handicapped, or those in need of assistance by reason of age, health or catastrophe. In 1976, the now-vanished newspaper of Old Greenwich, The Village Gazette, published a long article titled “Survey of Retired Men’s Numerous Volunteer Activities.” It noted that dozens of members were contributing more than 200 hours a week to community service. The members were hailed for different efforts: one for repairing radios to be given to nursing home patients; another pushed wheelchairs for patients at Nathaniel Witherell Hospital; a third visited shut-ins, working from a list supplied by the Red Cross. Some even cut nature trails and built bridges in the parks. Today the RMA has ties to 75 different organizations that benefit from 17,000 hours of volunteer activity by RMA members.
The RMA always encouraged its members to stay fit as they aged and in 1966 the very first “Sports Committee” was formed that oversaw member activities such as indoor bowling, lawn bowling at Bruce Park, bridge, golf, and fishing. The RMA announced the number of fish caught, their type, and where they were biting. In 1979 swimming and diving were added. Today the group enjoys playing Hearts, Bridge, Pickleball, Indoor Tennis, Tai Chi, Golf, Platform or Paddle tennis, and the Famous “Walkers and Talkers” who walk to nifty spots around the area and talk a lot!
Jumping into the Modern Era, here is a small list of some of the innovations that have been inaugurated over the years.
• In 2003 the RMA website was launched which is constantly being updated and improved.
• In 2009 the Speakers Program was opened to all as a service to everyone in the town.
• In 2010 the Speakers Programs were first video recorded and were carried on the town cable television network, GCTV. Today there are more than 570 videos that have been uploaded to the RMA website, available on demand. Over 40,000 people have viewed them.
• In 2011, the RMA moved from the YMCA to the First Presbyterian Church because the RMA required more space. It also incorporated as a not-for-profit entity.
• At the 60th anniversary the “RMA Marching Song” was introduced. It was written by none other than RMA pianist Bob Morgan, a retired music industry executive. Also introduced was the lovely poem “Ode to the RMA” written by Martin Grayson.
• In 2016 the CBB really entered the modern age and was delivered to members digitally by email rather than by the postman.
No recitation of the works of the RMA could be complete without the Melody Men which was founded in 1975. President Anderson asked member Wally Pennels, who had an extensive musical background, to see if the choral talent displayed weekly at the RMA meetings could be more formally organized. Those attending a first rehearsal were enthusiastic, but only two of the original seven volunteers could read music, and only four returned for rehearsal the following week. The theater on the ground floor of the YMCA was not well fitted for rehearsals, and the piano was missing keys. Nevertheless, under Pennels’ leadership, attendance at rehearsals improved, and the group’s enduring name “Melody Men” was chosen. By the next week, eleven budding choristers had joined. It was a bit of a faltering start, but after only six months the group’s first public performance came at a luncheon in November 1975. At that event, the music makers were not the only entertainment. Competition came from other members who performed a skit titled “The Delinquent Senior Citizen” and did so in full drag, sporting frocks and make-up.
Today, the Melody Men perform about 35 one-hour performances each year, with a repertoire that includes Broadway show tunes, folk, country, and popular music, to appreciative audiences of seniors throughout Westchester and Fairfield Counties. In addition, the Melody Men have continued to perform annually at the Greenwich 9/11 Memorial, the Town Party, and the Greenwich Old Timers Dinner, and by invitation have sung the National Anthem at Citi Field before two New York Mets’ baseball games.
Richards concluded this brief overview of RMA history with the announcement that a full written history would soon be published and available at no charge.
The RMA’s next public presentation, “Path to Power, Road to Ruin: The Danger of Political and Religious Ideologies,” by author John Kavanagh, is scheduled for 11 AM on Wednesday, December 4, 2024.
Note: The views expressed in RMA presentations are those of the speakers. They are not intended to represent the views of the RMA or its members.
RMA speaker presentations are presented as a community service at no cost to in-person or Zoom attendees, regardless of gender. Any member of the public who would like to receive a weekly email announcement of future speakers should send a request to members@greenwichrma.org. The RMA urges all eligible individuals to consider becoming a member of our great organization, and thereby enjoy all the available fellowship, volunteer, and community service opportunities which the RMA offers to its members. For further information, go to https://greenwichrma.org/, or contact info@greenwichrma.org.
