Getting ready to serve the meal at the Samaritan Ministries’ facility are (l. to r.) Bob Heisler, Kathleen Nosek, Dick Hill, Janice Spaniel, Marvin Young, Milt Spaniel and Greg Rogers.

The Sacred Heart of Jesus Men’s Club has been a financial supporter of Samaritan Ministries of Hot Springs.  Some Men’s Club members also volunteer at the ministries’ facility.  Samaritan Ministries serves homeless men in the Hot Springs community providing food, clothing, shelter, training and encouragement.  Recently the Men’s Club decided to take its’ support one more step and under the direction of Mike Kerwin will serve the dinner meal at the facility one day a month.  Club members and their spouses prepare the meal and bring it to the Samaritan Ministries facility in Hot Springs where it is served.  The March meal consisted of Cajun Chicken Jambalaya, a vegetable casserole, tossed salad, rolls, devil eggs and apple pie for dessert.  Participating for the Men’s Club in March were Bob and Colleen Heisler, Dick Hill, Bill and Kathleen Nosek, Greg and Rosemary Rogers, Milt and Janice Spaniel and Marvin and Lucy Young.

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Father Bill Elser, Pastor, greets guest at the Sacred Heart Men’s Club Fish Bake.

Over 400 people turned out on Friday, March 30, for the Sacred Heart Men’s Club Fish Bake.  Guests enjoyed an excellent dinner of baked fish, potatoes, vegetables, Cole slaw and bread.  Again this year, Father Bill Elser, Pastor of Sacred Heart Catholic Church, donated his now infamous homemade ice cream.  The young people from the parish took orders and served the ice cream to raise money for the CCD religious education program.  Men’s Club members spent much of the day preparing the dinners.  Guests arrived for two settings, at 5:00 and 6:30, seated by the maître d’ and waiters served their dinners.  The proceeds from the Fish Bake are donated by the Men’s Club to parish and community charities.

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Guests enjoying the fish dinner being served at the Fish Bake.

Dannet Botkin explains the new Resident Ambassador Program to the Sacred Heart Men’s Club at the club’s March meeting.

There were two special guests at the March meeting of the Sacred Heart Men’s Club; Dannet Botkin, Marketing Manager for the POA, and her father Dan Botkin.  Following dinner, Dannet gave a presentation to the club outlining the plans that have been put in place to market Hot Springs Village and the results achieved to date.  The marketing program that is being put in place is targeting those people 40 to 65 years of age who are planning for retirement and have money to spend.  The plan is utilizing all mediums to reach potential homebuyers including print media, direct mail and emails.  In addition 12 micro websites have been established each focusing on a different theme such as golf, fishing, entertainment, etc. to showcase the many diversified aspects of the Village.  Dannet is also using various other techniques to expose the Village including participating in trade shows and partnering with the Board of Realtors and the Chamber of Commerce to offer tours to visitors.

A survey of those who recently moved into the Village shows that over 50% chose Hot Springs Village after learning about it from a friend or family that lives here.  Recognizing this trend, a new program has been established called a Resident Ambassador.   This program is offered to encourage residents to expose their family and friends to the Village and to qualify for discounts and prizes.  There are other special and unique activities planned to gain exposure to the Village including such things as a Media Day, a Triathlon in June, States Weeks where visitors from a state can use amenities at resident rates and a Real Estate Open House Day featuring lunch at participating restaurants.
 

Although Dannet has been on the job for a very short time there are already some impressive results.  In addition, Hot Springs Village will be declared as one of the five best retirement centers in the US in an upcoming issue of Newsweek magazine.  Following the presentation Dannet took questions from those attending and her talk was very much appreciated.

There was a very large group for the picture of those married 50 years or more that were attending the Sacred Heart Men’s Club Valentine’s Party.

On Valentine’s Day the Sacred Heart Men’s Club held their monthly meeting as a special Valentine’s salute to sweethearts.  Approximately 120 members and their wives or girl friends along with widows of club members attended. 

Bernie and Marilyn Bauer were recognized for the longest marriage at the party, 65 years!

The ladies were presented with a decorated red rose.  Following dinner the program for the evening was “Men’s Club Men Got Talent”.  Buddy Dixon served as M.C. as four men from each of three tables selected at random came forward to sing a short oldie but goodies tune.  Those attending were asked to vote by their applause for the quartet that had the most talent.  Voted the most talented was the group that included Bernie Bauer, Ed Keearns, Bill Nosek and Milt Spaniel.  Following the program all those couples married 50 years or more were asked to come forward to be recognized and a group picture was taken.  The couple married the longest was Bernie and Marilyn Bauer, celebrating 65 years of marriage and also both were celebrating their birthdays in February.
 
The Sacred Heart Men’s Club meets monthly at Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church.  Membership in the club is open to all men that are members of Sacred Heart or whose spouse is a member.  Information about the club is available at their website, hsvmensclub.com.

Fr. Bill Elser demonstrating that he can use his smart phone to download the app for Liturgy of the Hours devotions.

Sacred Heart Men’s Club held their monthly meeting on January 10^th.  There were over 85 members in attendance to participate in the prayer service, dinner and meeting.  The featured speaker following dinner was Father Bill Elser, Pastor of Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church.  Father Bill began his talk by asking those present when is the best time to pray.  After hearing a variety of answers, Fr. Bill heard the answer he looking for – anytime!  Building on this he talked about the many reasons to pray which can be summarized into four main categories namely petition, praise, thanksgiving and penitential. 
 
Under Father Bill’s direction, Sacred Heart has initiated a few new prayer activities recently.  The first is the reciting of the Patriotic Rosary.  Once a month at mass the Patriotic Rosary is recited as a prayer for our country, our leaders and those who have sacrificed for our liberty.  It is usually done coinciding with an appropriate national day of recognition such as Veterans Day or Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.
 
The second prayer activity recently initiated is to pray the morning prayer of the Liturgy of the Hours prior to the start of mass on Monday through Friday.  The Liturgy of the Hours is a common prayer started in the days of the very early Christian church.  The prayer grew out of the Jewish tradition of praying at specific times of the day and from Jesus’s teaching, as recorded in the bible, for all to pray at all times.  Ordained priests and religious of the Catholic Church are obliged to daily pray the morning and evening prayers from the Liturgy of the Hours.  In this way the Church offers a common prayer to Christ and with Christ to sanctify the entire day.  The Liturgy of the Hours prayer is built around scripture and includes readings from the old and new testaments, the psalms, songs of praise and specific prayers.  The Liturgy can be done in a group with a leader, such as a priest or a deacon, or privately by an individual.  There are books available to help facilitate those wishing to do the Liturgy as well as an app that can be downloaded to your smart phone, which Fr. Bill then demonstrated.
 
Father Bill concluded his remarks by calling on the men of the Sacred Heart Men’s Club to become “prayer warriors”.

Danny Murphy, Sacred Heart Men’s Club Secretary and Meals on Wheels Committee Chairman, and his wife Kathy load up their van at the McCauley Center with meals, bread and milk for delivery.

During the month of February men from the Sacred Heart Men’s Club deliver the Meals on Wheels to Village residents.  Teams of two, club members or a member and his spouse or friend, arrive at the McCauley Center about 9 AM.  Here they receive a list of all the deliveries that are scheduled for that day along with a book containing maps to each address.  Hot meals are kept in warming containers that are loaded into the car or van that the member is using.  In addition, on certain days, milk and bread for the week are also loaded and delivered. 

Currently there are approximately 20 addresses within the Village that receive the daily meals and the delivery involves driving about 65 miles.  The Sacred Heart Men’s Club has been assisting with Meals on Wheels deliveries for a number of years and plans to continue this service in the future.

Men’s Club representatives Bill Patterson and Danny Murphy played Santa Claus this week delivering $6200 in donations to 6 different charities from its fund raising activities this past year.
A donation of $1000 was presented by Danny Murphy to Amanda Maness, Site Director at McCauley Center in Hot Springs Village, designated for their Meals On Wheels Program.	Another $1000 was delivered by Bill Patterson to Jane Mitchell, representative of the Paul Bewie Boys and Girls Club for their general fund.
Elizabeth Shackelford, Principal of St. Johns School in Hot Springs received $1000 from Bill Patterson and Danny Murphy on behalf of the Men’s Club.	Janie Smith, Executive Director of Jackson House in Hot Springs accepted $1000 from Bill & Danny, $150 of these funds will be used for the Sunday Love Lunch Mission which is handled out of Jackson House and the rest is for Jackson House expenditures.
Jan Loggan, Executive Director of Samaritan Ministries in Hot Springs accepted $1000 from Men’s Club representatives Danny Murphy, Bill Patterson, and Dick Hill.	Ed Keearns, Director of the Sacred Heart Church Christmas Basket program accepts a check from Bill Patterson, President of the Men’s Club, for $1200 for this program to provide Christmas gifts and food to needy area families during the week leading up to Christmas.