Contents

LocSec Notes by Brian Reeves

I usually keep my columns local but occasionally use this space to talk about other things.

This month is a bit of both.

I'm excited about something.

Cindy Groover, our Palm Beach Area Mensa Membership Officer and a proctor, has decided to toss her hat into the ring to run for Regional Vice Chair. Some of you know that American Mensa is made up of ten regions. Our region is Region 10 which consists of the state of Florida and a few small counties in southern Georgia. Each region is entitled to have its own American Mensa board member. Currently, Mel Dahl is the Region 10 RVC. He has announced that he will not be running again once his term expires.

Cindy, one of our most competent and generous local members, has decided to run to take his place.

Her putting herself out for the position does not mean she automatically has the position. Others can offer themselves for the job as well. As of this moment, I am not aware that anyone else plans to do so. But that can change.

Cindy's candidacy is a two-step process.

First, she has to get one hundred Region 10 Mensa members to sign an online petition nominating her. The petitions are not yet available. When they are, I'll let you know.

Second, there will be a Region 10 election to determine who will serve in the position. If no one else runs, she will obviously be our new RVC. If there are others running, whoever gets the most votes will be our new RVC.

Consider supporting whomever you believe is the best candidate for the job. But get involved in helping to make leadership decisions.

Notes from the Disk of the Editor... by Dan Tobias

As of this writing, our local group website is temporarily offline due to issues with the national Mensa hosting of websites, which will hopefully be cleared up soon. In the meantime, I hope all the electronic subscribers found the issue in the national site, which continues to work normally. Normally I'd link to our ExComm minutes from the previous meeting approved at the latest one, but since the site is down I printed the minutes in full within this issue, which fortunately had enough spare space to do it.

Our member list finally includes the portion of the dissolved Space Coast group that has been reassigned to us, so you should all be getting this newsletter. For the last few months I've been sending the electronic version to some of you if I could find your email addresses, but now the whole list gets it... welcome! This addition makes our already-large group area even larger, with a long span between the northernmost and southernmost members (and I'm possibly the southernmost member, being in the far southeast corner of the county). This means that many of the events will be a long drive for you, no matter where in the area you are. We hope to have future events all across the area so that there will be some close to you, but they're worth the drive even if they're far. I recently went to Cindy's party, over an hour from me, and it was great as usual. But if you never happen to find anything in your neck of the woods, why not volunteer to host one?

Speaking of events, unfortunately Elissa is no longer hosting our annual holiday party, but Ken Campbell in the Broward group is hosting a party for all the south Florida groups. I know it's a bit far for you north-county people (especially the newcomers from Space Coast), but it'll be another event that's worth it. See details on p. 7.

In national Mensa matters, the petitioning time for bylaw amendments has run out, and two proposals regarding hearings have received sufficient signatures and will be on the ballot, pending review for compatibility with the international constitution. A third petition regarding allowing nonhuman intelligences to qualify for Mensa got only 15 signatures out of the 250 needed, so won't be going up for vote. The AMC passed a number of bylaw proposals as well, so there will be a large ballot this time. Soon the official announcement will be made of the bylaw proposals which passed the screening for legality and constitutionality, and members will be able to supply pro and con statements to be distributed at election time. It will also soon be time for candidates for office to start petitioning; this happens on December 1. One of our own group members, Cindy Groover, has decided to run for RVC, as seen in the LocSec column. I hope to see lots of candidates for all of the positions so the members have good choices.

On the various Mensa discussion forums, besides the never-ending arguments over the hearings of the removed AMC members a few years ago (arguments about earlier hearings sometimes continued for decades, so no end is in sight for this one), people have mentioned the recent International Board of Directors meeting, where they did a bunch of things including new constitutional amendments we'll be voting on next year, but also, in a closed session, voted to de-recognize MY-SIG. Now, I didn't actually know what MY-SIG was until this; it's a SIG for young (under 30) Mensans (not my age group), and it's apparently mostly active in Europe, not the U.S. But there were lots of accusations being flung around, including that the IBD didn't consult with any of the SIG's officials before taking a move against them with secrecy about any of the details of why they did it. So the AMC and the American Mensa Hearings Committee aren't the only Mensa bodies that do controversial things secretly. Next year you'll get to vote on international Mensa officials as well as the American ones.

Last month I talked about my struggles in changing my email address in all my online accounts; it's still a continuing activity. I'm up to 215 accounts fully switched, 19 more switched but not quite as I'd like it, and 18 more that I've been unable to switch (a few of which I need to call their customer support lines, and some others will probably need to cancel the account and start a new one). But even of the supposedly switched ones, 13 are still sending some of their mailings to the old address!

RVC Column by Mel Dahl, Regional Vice Chairman for R10 -- RC10@us.mensa.org

At the September AMC meeting, the AMC voted to take the first of several steps to do away with local group testing. For years, most of our new members sat for the Mensa Admission Test under the proctorship of a local group, who then sent the tests to our national office for scoring. If the candidate passed, the national office would then invite him or her to join American Mensa. It was a great system because it ensured that a candidate's first contact with Mensa would be a human face that could tell them about Mensa and answer any questions they may have. I myself was tested by the late great Maggie Truelove, who did a phenomenal job of making me feel wanted.

Unfortunately, all of that is about to go the way of rotary dial phones and manual typewriters. I for one mourn its passing but it needs to be done, for several reasons.

First, there are large geographic areas where we simply don't have proctors. It's one thing if a candidate lives in Manhattan; it's another thing entirely if the candidate lives in Montana. And the number of proctors has been steadily declining. When I was RVC ten years ago, every local group in Florida had at least one proctor. Now, four do. Some of our local groups scramble to find a proctor when they have a candidate. We've probably had prospective members who didn't join because of the difficulty in testing. We need a system that allows everyone, regardless of where they live, access to testing. And that system will be a national testing center that will be able to serve a much larger share of the population.

Second, there are legal concerns about the large number of proctors who have confidential testing materials. These tests are very expensive to develop, and Mensa could potentially be on the hook for a lot of money if a proctor negligently or intentionally allowed the test to be widely disseminated. This takes that potential liability off the table.

Third, it will save us money. A national testing center with whom we contract can do the test more cheaply and efficiently than our proctor corps can.

We owe a huge debt of gratitude to faithful proctors who have administered tests and helped with our recruitment efforts for decades. I'm sorry to see them go, and I thank every one of you for your service.

ExComm Meeting Minutes: Monday, August 4, 2026 at 6:30 pm via Zoom

I.           Call to order at 6:45 p.m.

II.         Officers and attendees

ExComm:

LocSec / President*
Brian Reeves

Deputy LocSec / VP*
Elissa Rudolph

Treasurer*
Laura Bulawski

Publications Officer / Editor*
Dan Tobias

Membership Officer / Scholarship Chair*
Cindy Groover

Member-At-Large* / Gifted Youth Coordinator
Julie Warriner

Member-at-Large*
Bob ClenDening

Member-at-Large*
Leanza Sojor

*ExComm Board

Guest: Parisa Hamzetash

Absent or Excused: Assistant Treasurer, Roderyck Reiter; Ombudsperson, Rich Haney (Ombudsperson attendance is optional)

III.        Approval of prior board meeting minutes

A motion was made and seconded for the approval of the minutes of the June 22, 2026 ExComm meeting. There were no corrections or additions. All voted in favor

IV.        LocSec's Report -- Brian Reeves

Brian reported that two board members -- Julie Warriner and Dan Tobias -- will serve on the Awards Committee (created at the last board meeting). They will formulate a policy and description of how the Committee will seek out and recognize any of the group's members for outstanding contributions.

V.         Financial and Treasurer's Report -- Laura Bulawski

No one had questions about the Treasurer's report (submitted via email).

  
TREASURY REPORT 08/04/2026
  
CHECKING ACCOUNT
Balance 06/22/2026                    1258.49
Newsletter expenses June            -  302.18
                    July            -  300.35
Gifted Youth expense                -  100.00
Money market acct transfer          + 2000.00
  
Balance 08/04/26                     +2555.96
  
MONEY MARKET ACCOUNT
Balance 06/22/2026                    9119.04
Service charge expenses             -     .44
Transfer to checking                - 2000.00
ACH credit July                     +  434.08
Interest June and July              +     .16
  
Balance 08/04/2026                  + 7552.84
  
TOTAL ASSETS 08/04/26                10108.80

VI.        Gifted Youth Report -- Julie Warriner

             Julie began a discussion of her 27-28 budget totaling $714.72 for GY members, based on 25-26 expenses. Brian suggested rounding the number to $750, to which all agreed. Brian also expressed his desire that board members have a designated amount of cash to spend on their particular activities, included in an annual budget. A motion was made, seconded and approved unanimously for $750 in GY expenses for the 27-28 year.

VII.      Scholarship -- Cindy Groover

             Cindy reminded the group that the $1000 for a scholarship winner was to be in the National Office by September 1. Laura said she would take care of that. Also the second winning scholarship essay should be published in the next newsletter. Dan stated that it will be done.

VIII.        Testing / Proctor Report -- Elissa Rudolph

Cindy and Elissa have scheduled test session dates for September and October. Cindy tested an eager individual who lives in her area recently. Thank you, Cindy, for being available on short notice to conduct a test session!

IX          Publications Report -- Dan Tobias

Dan said that his deadline for September's newsletter is a normal deadline. Christine Fenerty has promised to send a mock-up of a website that is more up to date than the existing one.

X.          Membership Officer Report -- Cindy Groover

Cindy shared these membership details as of 7/27/26 along with the snapshot of the group from the Mensa website:

             Facebook............... 180
             Meetup................. 172
             MensaConnect........... 329
             Total members.......... 453
             New members............  24
             Life members........... 141
             Lapsed members.........  77

Cindy mentioned that of the 24 new members, 12 were GY....................

XI.        Old Business -- Brian Reeves

             At the last meeting, a discussion about subsidizing members' dues resulted in the task of

             formulating a policy given to Cindy, Julie, and Elissa. A plan for a Membership

             Assistance Fund (MAF) was emailed to board members before this meeting

for their comments, questions. Location of the final policy should be within the confidential area of the website. A motion was made, seconded and approved unanimously for the MAF policy with minor corrections.

XII.      New Business -- Brian Reeves

None

The meeting adjourned 7:45 p.m.

Next ExComm meeting: Tuesday, October 6, 2026, at 6:30 pm

Respectfully submitted, Elissa Rudolph, Deputy Local Secretary

Second Sunday Dinner Review, by Elissa Rudolph

Last month's dinner location wasn't as trendy as the one we visited the month before, but it was one that I would return to -- generally quiet, accommodating, and many of us were in an intimate, small alcove; others were at a separate table nearby. We were a convivial group: Brian Reeves, Steven Wallach, Barbara Heine, Sara (Glo) Glogowski, Gary Bergman, Beth Banes and her son Morgan, Ed and Alice Wujciak, Dan Tobias, and Elissa Rudolph. Join us for the next Second Sunday dinner!

Treasury Report 10/06/2026, by Laura Bulawski

CHECKING ACCOUNT
Balance 08/04/2026                2555.96
Newsletter expenses             - 1218.27
Scholarship                     - 1000.00
Money Market acct transfer      + 2000.00
Balance 10/04/2026              + 2337.69
  
MONEY MARKET ACCOUNT
Balance 08/04/2026                7552.84
Interest                        +     .13
ACH Credits                     +  940.36
Service charges                 -     .44
Transfer to checking            - 2000.00
Balance 10/06/2026              + 6492.89
  
TOTAL ASSETS 10/06/2026           8830.58

Go Green

GO GREEN STATS: 177 paper, 309 electronic.

ExComm Meeting December 1, 6:30 pm

Get involved in your local group!

(By Zoom; see listing on p. 7)

Meeting ID: 929 988 4617.
Passcode: happy. (Zoom link)

M-Wisely's Cafe

(5:30 pm Eastern Time)

5 - 45 Years Ago in Palm Mensan

5 years ago: November 2021

"Please consider serving Palm Beach Area Mensa as a volunteer officer. I am finding myself busier and busier with my other volunteer positions and will be unable to run to remain President/Local Secretary after the current term expires. I do hope to continue as a member at large." --Scott A. Schwartzberg, President/LocSec

15 years ago: November 2011

"Palm Beach Mensa covers a huge area over Palm Beach, Martin and St. Lucie counties, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Everglades. Obviously, whoever mapped out our boundaries was geographically challenged." --Molly Leban, Editor

25 years ago: November 2001

"On National Testing Day our group tested 19 potential members at Delray Beach and Port Saint Lucie locations. On Sunday, Oct. 21, the Sun Sentinel published an article after interviewing test takers in Delray Beach. Thanks to Hank Colman and Janice Johnson for supervising the test sessions. On November 3 another test session will be held in West Palm Beach. Tell your friends!"

"Dan Tobias updated our Bylaws and the draft is now being reviewed by our board of directors. One change that was made was to change the name of our group to "Palm Beach Area Mensa" to better represent the other counties where our members now live or the counties where potential members live: Saint Lucie, Martin, Okeechobee, and even Glades. You will get a chance to vote on the new bylaws via a ballot in a future newsletter. No recounts."

45 years ago: November 1981

"John Miner's name has been changed to JoAnn. We wish her well in this change... You will all note the increase in dues, elsewhere in this newsletter. Anyone who has been a member for ten years, and can muster $200, would do well to buy a life membership as a Christmas present for yourself. Before Christmas, when the rates go up to some obscene and impossible sum." --Anne Hillis, Editor

Birthdays

Mensaversaries

Departures

Deceased: Amelia Fabro (West Palm Beach)
Deceased: Clement McGillicuddy (Hobe Sound)
MoveOut: Elias Prado (Tamarac)

New Arrivals

MoveIn: Meagan Baker (Vero Beach)
MoveIn: Bruce Barton (Sebastian)
Joined: George D. (Wellington)
MoveIn: Harriet Dyer (Vero Beach)
MoveIn: Charles Feeley (Vero Beach)
MoveIn: Adam G. (Vero Beach)
MoveIn: Michael Greene (Sebastian)
Joined: Leonardo H. (Boca Raton)
MoveIn: Penelope H. (Boca Raton)
MoveIn: J Hayes (Vero Beach)
MoveIn: Zachary Hessler (Vero Beach)
MoveIn: Christian Hessler (Vero Beach)
MoveIn: Zoey H. (Vero Beach)
Rejoin: Angelina I. (Boca Raton)
Joined: Asher L. (Boca Raton)
MoveIn: Alexander Lauberts (Vero Beach)
Joined: Joseph L. (Jupiter)
MoveIn: Robert Lipton (Vero Beach)
Joined: Zachary L. (Palm Beach Gardens)
MoveIn: Desmond Macauley (Vero Beach)
MoveIn: Rose Marie Martinez (Vero Beach)
MoveIn: Kelly McDonnell (Vero Beach)
MoveIn: Sal Migliore (N Hutchinson Island)
Joined: Andreas M. (Boca Raton)
MoveIn: Clifford Miller (Vero Beach)
MoveIn: Benjamin Miller (Vero Beach)
MoveIn: Diane Roselli (Vero Beach)
MoveIn: Robert Roth (Vero Beach)
MoveIn: Frederick Rummery (Vero Beach)
MoveIn: Mason Russell (Vero Beach)
MoveIn: Thomas Sciro (Vero Beach)
MoveIn: Mary Slopsema (Sebastian)
Joined: James S. (Palm City)
MoveIn: Pepper Stevens (Vero Beach)
MoveIn: Joel Stewart (Boynton Beach)
MoveIn: Christine Willett (Barefoot Bay)
MoveIn: Richard Wotring (Sebastian)
MoveIn: Joseph Zerega (Vero Beach)

NOTE: Above items (birthdays, Mensaversaries, arrivals, and departures) are taken from reports out of the American Mensa national office. If something pertaining to you is missing or incorrect, contact the office at 817-607-0060, or MembershipDirector@americanmensa.org. The editor will sometimes add, remove, or correct something to suit individual preferences if you ask nicely, but it's always better to get it correct at National. (Same goes for your address to receive the newsletter, paper/electronic choice, and privacy preferences; see the national website.)

Member-submitted items are welcome; deadline is the 20th of the month for the following month's issue. The editor reserves the right to edit for content, space, etc. E-mail: editor@palmbeach.us.mensa.org. Snail mail: Dan Tobias, 27 Royal Palm Way #301, Boca Raton FL 33432-8740.

2026 - 2028 PALM BEACH AREA MENSA LOCAL GROUP OFFICERS & VOLUNTEERS

* ExComm Board

¹Non-voting due to law on minors on boards

Web: palmbeach.us.mensa.org   Facebook: PalmBeachAreaMensa
Meetup: mensa-100   Mensa Connect: Palm Beach Area Mensa
Gifted Youth Program: giftedyouth@palmbeach.us.mensa.org

Activities and Events (Mensans Eat, Meet, Greet and...)

Check for updates on Meetup and Facebook, and be sure to RSVP there or by phone/email, as details are subject to change.

Sunday, November 8, 5:30pm	Second Sunday Dinner at Fiorella Italian Restaurant, 7008 Charleston Shores Blvd., Lake Worth, 561-963-4999, (https://www.fiorellarestaurant.com/ ). Authentic Italian dining as it should be, they advertise. Some examples from the menu: Stuffed Artichoke, Clams Posilipo, Eggplant Rollatini, Pasta with lots of choices, Viscontea, Scarpariello, Seafood dishes, and Specialty Pizzas. RSVP to Elissa (elissa12@bellsouth.net) or on Meetup by Saturday, November 7 at noon.
Thursday, November 19, 6pm	The (M)any Books Book Club meets for another far-reaching, multidimensional conversation about...books! Past suggestion of "Theo of Golden" by Allen Levi did not wow some of our readers. "It wasn't a bad read and there were some appealing characters, but overall it was a bit too heartwarming for my tastes. You couldn't actually see the ending coming, but you could sorta "feel" it." Perhaps the most interesting thing about the book may be why there is a feather on the cover and what does it mean in the book. Let us know. Current suggestions: A reader recommended Simon Winchester's website (https://www.simonwinchester.com/about-1 )where he comments on what to read and why. Another recommendation: "Station Eleven" by Emily St. John Mandel. Apparently this book prefigured much of our pandemic drama but was published in 2014. A non-fiction suggestion is "The Knowledge Illusion -- Why We Never Think Alone" by Steven Sloman and Philip Fernbach, two cognitive scientists. The premise is that humans are cognitively very limited, but by working in groups, we can figure out how to fly to the moon. And live there? Another novel, "The Amateur" by Chris Bohjailan, details what happens to an 18-year-old woman golfer, so talented that she's on a path to win tournaments, who accidentally hits a practice ball that kills a young caddy. Freak accident that reveals hidden desires, lies, and torments as it is discussed during a trial. Please join us for another fun meeting, whether you read the recommendations or not. Read/discuss/recommend your faves, any genre, books, even p*rn. We'll listen. Here's a challenge - Where do you draw the line - what won't you read? We'd like to know! Meeting ID: 929 988 4617. Passcode: happy (Zoom link). Please RSVP to Elissa Rudolph at elissa12@bellsouth.net or on Meetup.
Tuesday, December 1, 6:30pm	ExComm Meeting. The board members of Palm Beach Area Mensa will meet on this Zoom site to discuss ongoing business to keep this Mensa group running at peak efficiency. The meeting is chaired by our Local Secretary/President Brian Reeves, assisted by the Deputy Local Secretary/Vice President Elissa Rudolph All members are encouraged to attend and participate. Meeting ID: 929 988 4617. Passcode: happy. (Zoom link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/9299884617?pwd=aXszFZuhQu93o0orYs6OeAGUW13jSK.1&omn=82024866042) [Meetup]
Dates to be determined	Magnificent Mensa Scribes meets (currently alternate Thursdays at 7 pm) online via Zoom (invitation sent the day before). Are you a writer or aspire to be one? Join Alice Silver and our Mensan Scribes to hone your skills and to learn about getting published. For info, go ask Alice at alicessss@aol.com.
Coming up	Dec. 12: Holiday Party (see below) Dec. 13: Second Sunday Dinner, Jax Bistro & Bar, 10817 Jog Road, Boynton Beach [Meetup] Jan. 10: Second Sunday Dinner, JB's On the Beach, 300 NE 21st Ave., Deerfield Beach [Meetup]
The PB Mensa Meetup	https://www.meetup.com/mensa-100/
National Event Calendar	https://www.us.mensa.org/attend/calendar/

Holiday Party

Everyone,

After some discussion with those who know a thing or two about throwing a party for a bunch of Mensans. I am going to take their advice in how to frame the invitation. We will begin the festivities at 4:00 PM on December 12, 2026. It will be an afternoon garden party that will end sometime in the early evening. Those who are interested in attending should text their RSVP to 954-801-7153 before midnight on December 6. Why is that important? We need to know how much food to order! Once you contact us with your RSVP, at that time, we will give you the location of the party. Remember a "white elephant" gift exchange requires you bring a gift to trade for something you really want...however, no guarantees!

Ken Campbell <drkacampbell@bellsouth.net>

Editor's Note: While he wants you to RSVP before he tells you the location of the party, I can at least inform you that it's in Pompano Beach, in Broward County, if that helps you.

Color Pixel Page

Have any photos or artwork you want to see here? Send it in! editor@palmbeach.us.mensa.org

Cindy Groover sends pictures from her recent Camino walk through Portugal and Spain, where she didn't forget her Mensa bulletin. (NBC's Sunday Today show has a segment called "Mug Shots" where they show pictures people send in from exotic spots posing with their branded coffee mugs; maybe we can do that with Mensa Bulletins. But why not hold up one of our local newsletters too?) And Elissa Rudolph has a feline in an "ultimate yoga position" and a moonset to go with the sunrise on the front page.