Commodore's Column

By Bruce Powell

A tip of the hat goes to my wife, Pascale, for having done a superlative job with the New Year's Eve party, "Midnight in Casablanca." For the first time in years, it was a sold-out event with 217 reservations. Everything went off without a hitch, and there were a lot of things going on!

As guests arrived, the foyer was transformed into a Moroccan street market, complete with a real live 1600 lb. camel to greet the guests! Boy, were a lot of members surprised! Kazzy is a specially trained camel from the Lyon Ranch in Sonoma, and when she's not wowing people at the Corinthian, she visits people in institutions to cheer them up - something she's very good at. Kazzy was definitely a hit with the members!

The Member's Bar and Dining were transformed into Rick's Casino with roulette, blackjack, and craps gaming, great hors d'ouevres, Beluga caviar and Russian vodka. A jazz pianist played as Pascale sang As time Goes By. When it came time to "close" the casino at 9 p.m. and move everyone upstairs for dinner, a skit was performed by Bill Kramer (as Major Strasser), Robbie Cook (as Chief of Police Renault), Mark Leonard (as Rick), and Peter Mason (as the Croupier), recreating the scene in the film where the crowd sings "La Marseillaise" and Major Strasser orders Renault to close Rick's casino, whereupon Renault says, "I'm shocked, shocked, to see that there's gambling going on in here!". Peter was hilarious when, as the Croupier, he then handed Renault a pile of bills, saying meekly, "Your winnings, sir".

As members made their way to the Grand Ballroom, decked out in red flood lamps and 10 ft. tall palm trees, Moroccan music played and we were treated to the performance of an award-winning belly dancer, "Sabiba", followed by dinner and dancing until the wee hours to the big band sounds of the Silver Moon Big Band Orchestra.

Chef Ian and his crew deserve praise for the superb dinner that was served; I have heard nothing but good reviews on the quality of service and the excellence of the food. The event could not have been pulled off without the help of the volunteers, whom Pascale names in her Entertainment column.

I would like to cordially invite you to join us for the Commodore's Cruise. This year we'll be departing on the luxury cruise ship Mercury, leaving the port of San Francisco the evening of Sunday, April 10 for a 7-day non-stop party as the ship heads down the coast, with ports of call at Monterey, Los Angeles, Catalina Island, Ensenada, and San Diego, then returning to San Francisco. A great thing about this cruise will be how easy it will be to go: no airports, plane tickets, etc., just hop on a shuttle bus right out of the Corinthian's parking lot! More info about this cruise is available at www.cychistory.org.

Something new coming up this year is a St. Patrick's Day party, on Thursday March 17. Our popular Thursday Night Bistro will open with a St. Patty's day theme and special green drinks and a special menu. So come wearing green and help make this a new club tradition!

I'm looking forward to an exciting year; as your Commodore I hope to make this Club as fun as it can be with new programs and new variations on old ones. I rely on the Club members to tell me their ideas and suggestions, so please call me to give me your perspective on ways to improve the Club. If you get them in

early enough, your tips may translate into reality.