We start a new year with a lot of activity following the holiday season!   We will have meetings on …. January 6 and 13, and are hosting a Blood Bank on January 20^th, which is also Martin Luther King Day, and Presidential Inauguration Day.  In addition, we will sandwich a board meeting into the month as well.  

 

FIRST UP is Neela Pushparaj on January 6.  Presenting Vocations and Avocations …. A motivational conversation.  

 

Neela is number 7 among 9 siblings. All my brothers and sisters were really high achievers.  I graduated med school and arrived in Baltimore for my internship. I met Gus in 1964.

 

As he was working in Detroit, I moved there for my training in pathology. After two years we moved to New Jersey. My next 2 years were spent in Muhlenberg Hospital. Following that I worked in Medical schools and hospitals were I en ountered varying degrees of prejudice and finally ended up in St. Francis hospital I. Poughkeepsie. When I was working in lower Manhattan, I had a resident who was almost suicidal and I decided to intervene. We were walking along the East Village when we saw a palmist. We decided to let him read our palms.

 

  When he looked at my palms, he immediately said that I had tremendous aesthetic ability which I had not tapped into.

 

  I was joking about it with Gus and he remembered that. Come my next birthday he gave me a gift certificate for watercolor classes. The rest is now history.

 

Join us on Monday at 12:15 at Christ Church and hear the rest of the story. 

ON JANUARY 13, we will meet some of our new members, up close and per

sonal.  More details next week. 

 

WE NEED YOUR  BLOOD  It’s a busy day, with the Martin Luther King Day Holiday and the Presidential Inaugural, but we hope that you and some family members can make time to donate blood.   The Bank will be staffed by the Red Cross and will take place at Christ Church from 1 pm to 6 pm.  Appointments are needed. Schedule online or call 1-800-RED CROSS.