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To help fill in your social calendar for the months ahead, I provide the following as a public service:

* March Madness Championship Game – Monday, April 3rd:  College basketball at its finest… the way the game should be played.  Enjoy it in the comforts of the CC Club, along with your CC Brothers.  We’ll have beer and some eats, so come early and stay to the final buzzer.  We’ll get a pool going.

* “Cajun Night” – Saturday, April 22nd:  An annual Commonwealth Club tradition that has proven to be the best Cajun food outside of New Orleans.  No kidding!  Tongues wag, cocktails flow, live music excites, and we enjoy the full Cajun culinary experience without the perspiration.  Bring friends and family.

* “Mixed Bowling” – Saturday, April 29th: Couples team bowling where fun trumps skill!  Do not need to be a member to participate-guests are always welcome!  $10 per couple; free use of shoes and bowling balls-it’s always a great time!

* “Local Craft Beer Night” – Thursday, May 4th:  Here’s another CC beer sipping event; this time with a focus on our wealth of local craft breweries.  Given our high local taxes, we deserve some special love and nothing says “I love you” better than a variety of excellent craft brews.  Your wife may take exception to that, but debate it when you get home… wink wink.

* “Comstock Returns” – Saturday, May 13th:  Comstock is another annual CC tradition that pays homage to Woodstock, but without the mud.  Great live music, a 1969 music festival vibe, and in a peace and free-love atmosphere… somewhat tempered from the 60’s era.  Introduce friends to the Club with this fun event.

* “Melville Tournament” – Tuesday, May 30th:  Annual Spring Tournament for league bowlers only.  $20 entry; 3 games with handicap.

* “CC Spring Golf Outing” – Thursday, June 1st:  Save the date for our annual golf outing; we will be playing at The Meadows Golf Club in Lincoln Park, which is under new management and considerably improved over years past.  Another event where guests are welcome and encouraged.  Details to follow.

* “CC Annual Member Meeting and Dinner”  – Thursday, June 1st: The year end gathering where club business is recapped and discussed; officers are elected and good food and drink are consumed in great quantities. Not to be missed by any member who cares about the club.

Italian Family Sunday Dinner – Sunday, January 15^th 1:30pm to 6:30pm

Mark Sunday, January 15th on your calendars for the Club’s annual paen to all things Italian-that’s this Sunday!.  A sumptuous Sunday Family Italian feast will be served, all prepared by our exceedingly talented chefs.  Doors open at 1:30 for appetizers, dinner is served beginning at 2:30. The cost is a mere $45 per adult, $15 for kids 10-20 and free for children 9 and under.  Venmo payments in advance are welcome, @commonwealth-club1904.

This event has always been a wonderful family affair, so gather up the relations and come on down!  Beer and soft drinks will be provided, bring your own wine.

Here is just a sample of the amazing menu you’ll be enjoying (the full menu is on the enclosed flyer):  incredible antipasto table featuring Mikey Muzz’s homemade mozzarella; chicken savoy; Mama Frattura’s homemade lasagna, pasta and meatballs and gravy, pasta marinara, eggplant parmesan, linguini with clam sauce, vegetable giambotta, roast pork roast with broccoli rabe, salad, Italian dessert pastries, ice cream, coffee, cordials and much more!

If you’d like to reserve a table for parties of 8 or more, contact James Cousins at jacousinsbci@aol.com

Oh, and the NFC playoff games (including the Giants) will be blazing on our collection of enormous TV screens throughout the club!

This is always a great event, so plan on attending and a word to the wise, get there early if you want to sample everything!

Jess Dodd Endurance Tournament– Saturday, February 4th at 10:00am to 6:00pm

The 77th Annual Jess Dodd Endurance Tournament makes its triumphant return on Saturday, February 4th.  Who is Jess Dodd, you ask? Don’t ask. This is a 2 man team bowling tournament, so if you are a single, you need to pair up and form a team.  If someone needs a partner, put it out there either here or on the Facebook page.  If you are signed up and can’t make it, let me know at jfxa@blackwatchproductions.com, so that we are not waiting to start on Saturday.

Let me see if I can put this as concisely as I can for our reading-challenged members:

What: Endurance Tournament-2-man teams of Club bowling members, bowling with their current league handicap

When: Saturday, February 5th, 10:00am; sign in around 10:30, probably be done by 6pm, if recent history is any indication

How: Each team member will bowl 6 games; total pins will determine the team winners and the individual high series wins the Conover Trophy and will be immortalized forever, as he gets his name added to the trophy along with the champions who have gone before.

How Much: Each player pays a $20 entry fee; Each player brings a Door Prize valued at $20 (this is mandatory!) usually consisting of re-gifted items from Christmas, bottles of booze, lotto tickets, and, of course, the lazy man’s fallback-Starbucks gift cards; every participant will get a prize, and there are big cash prizes!

So clear your Saturday, grab a partner and sign up on the sheet provided near the lanes, sign up here or email me at jfxa@blackwatchproductions.com. We’ll provide some lunch and some snackage and you can drink what you will (pay for or bring). It’s our oldest, most prestigious bowling event, and those who participate always have a blast, so give it a shot.

Super Bowl Party – Sunday, February 12th; 4:00pm to 11:00pm

If you haven’t yet been to a Commonwealth Club Super Bowl party, you have not properly lived! Sunday, February 12^th, we will once again throw the tailgate party of the year, and, irrespective of the game itself, a great time will be had by all.  The food, self-catered by our cadre of member chefs, will be fantastic and plentiful; beer will be in abundance and there is a 25 foot friggin’ HD screen that will headline the visual coverage.  So come on down and enjoy the scene!

$30/adults  $15/Kids 10-18  Kids under 10 are free, but discouraged

Hot Dogs, Burgers, Subs – Adult Beverages – Huge HD Screen plus many smaller ones.  Doors open at 4:30 Food starts at 5:30 – Raffles throughout.  Game starts 6:30

First of all, we’d like to welcome all of the new members who signed up both at the Open House and during the summer. For those who had guests/potential members who couldn’t make the open house, guys can join at any time during the year; just have them fill out the application on the website, pay the dues and you’re good to go! That goes for junior members as well.

Now that summer is behind us, events of all kinds are coming up fast and furious, and here is a list of those in the order of their occurrence:

Montclair Salvation Army Most Good 5K Run/Walk (Saturday, September 24th, 8am)
The Montclair Salvation Army is one of the core charities that the Club supports and here is a golden opportunity to support an organization that provides tremendous services to our community. This 5K Run/Walk takes place in Brookdale Park on the morning of Saturday, September 24th. To sign up, here are the event details: https://runsignup.com/Race/NJ/Bloomfield/TheMostGood5KBloomfield
Everyone who signs up will get a free Commonwealth Club Cares t-shirt to wear during the event.
Event Date: Saturday September 24, 2022; Start Time: 8:00am EDT; End Time: 11:55pm EDT
Price: $25.00 Race Fee + $3.00 SignUp Fee
Registration: Registration ends September 23, 2022 at 11:59pm EDT

80’s Dance Party (Saturday, September 24th)
The very first Commonwealth 80’s Dance Party will be held on Saturday, September 24th, from 7:00 to 11:00, brought to you by the Women of Bowling, who make up the women’s bowling league that competes on Monday nights (rumor has it that they are looking for a few new bowlers to join their ranks). Dust off your 80’s unisex outfits, tease up your hair, and pull out those dancing shoes that made you so impressive at Studio 54. The Commonwealth dance floor is newly polished and we’ll have a DJ spinning the best 80’s dance music. $30 per person, includes wine, beer, and specialty drinks. Ladies, there’s no such thing as too much mousse in your hair, and lots of gold chains on the guys. Friends and family are very welcome.

Commonwealth Club Work Day for the Brookdale Park Conservancy (Saturday, October 1st)
The Brookdale Park Conservancy is led by our own Yardbird, Don McLaughlin and he has created a project exclusively for CC Members and their family members. It’s an outdoor work day and those members who participate will get a free Commonwealth Cares T-shirt to wear during the event, so let me know if you will be helping out, at jfxa@blackwatchproductions.com so that I know how many shirts to bring. Here’s the deal: Our planned project day is Sat, October 1st. The Conservancy will provide tools, water, and snacks for the crew. We can provide work gloves too, but in this day and age people often prefer to bring their own. This is a great community action opportunity for our membership, so let’s have a great turnout.

Craft Beer Thirsty Thursday (October 6th)
Our first Thirsty Thursday of the season will be Craft Beer Night on Thursday, October 6th from 7:00 to 11:00. We will be serving the best of the best craft beers from breweries in VT, MA, NY, and NJ. If you love GREAT beer, this is the Thirsty Thursday for you. Beers from Alchemist and Frost Breweries (VT), Tree House Brewery (MA), and KCBC Brewery (Brooklyn), to name just a few. Entry is free and beers offered by the can will be available at cost. Light food. Invite your friends to join and show off the club.

Commonwealth Family BBQ (October 9th)
Those of you that have attended our annual Commonwealth BBQ know that our Club Pit Masters prepare a variety of fantastic foods. Whole roasted pig, brisket, ribs, pulled pork, chicken, dogs and burgers, chili, baked beans and excellent side dishes, to name a few. While it’s not particularly Vegan-friendly, the food is guaranteed to be incredibly good. Beer, wine and cocktails will be available, along with live music. It’s a real family event, so bring your entire family and your friends. The BBQ will be held on Sunday, October 9th. The entry cost has not been established yet, but it’s always a tremendous bargain. More details to follow.

CC Fall Golf Outing (Thursday, October 27th)
Thursday, October 27th, is our Fall club outing, this time at lovely Preakness Valley Golf Club in Wayne. Members are encouraged to bring guests, so if you want to play, let me know at jfxa@blackwatchproductions.com or 646-591-2008.
We are hoping that we get at least the 60 golfers we need for a shotgun start, and our group tee times start at 12pm. Cost is $100 per golfer, which includes golf, cart, lunch, prizes and two drink tickets. There will be a box lunch served before the round and prizes will be given out at the end, obviously.
This is a really nice course (I played there Monday) and it should be another epic outing, so let’s start collecting names!

We have a new Entertainment Chairman, James Cousins and an ambitious slate of events scheduled throughout the year. We are always looking for people to help us to put these events on as volunteers and, of course, participants. Also, we are always looking for fresh ideas for events that might be a good fit for our merry band and their families, so if you have an idea, let’s hear it!

I hope that all of you had a wonderful summer and are ready for a transformative year at  the Commonwealth Club.  We are ready to build on last year’s  strong bounce back from the pandemic shut down, and we are starting with the annual Open House one week from today, Thursday, September 8th.  

We already have three more bowling teams than we had in the league last year, two of which are comprised mostly of new members. Despite lower than usual attendance for Summer Bowling this year, many of those who did come brought guests and several of those have joined, or are planning to. 

So that’s the deal-we are doing a very concerted push for new members and that’s where you all come in. Every one of you is urged to bring a guest (or 2) to the Open House next Thursday.  Dues for new members are $600/year and junior members (21-30yrs) are $300.  Bowling fees are additional, but it’s a damn bargain none the less.  Downloadable fill-in applications are available on our website: https://commonwealthclub.net/membership-2/. We’d love to bring in a slew of younger members to continue the trend that was started last year by the influx of the Lil Cocks, who merely won the Club championship in their first year.

So come on down! Doors open at 6pm; there will be food, drink, music, videos and, of course, the kind of camaraderie you just can’t get anywhere else. Did I mention that is is all FREE (donations gratefully accepted at the door)? The floors have  been redone, the downstairs bathrooms have been revamped and the place is ready for your return.  See you there!

The Club’s annual dinner was held on June 2nd and was a success on many levels. We discovered that the Club’s finances and membership roster have significantly improved over the last year and that an upswing in rentals has greatly contributed to this rosy situation. Craig Mohr was introduced as a new board member; James Cousins takes over from Trip Dixon (thank you, Trip!) as chairman of the Entertainment Committee; Avi Shvetz assumes control of the House Committee (Thank you, Rich McMahon!).
Among the honors that were distributed were trophies for individual Club Champion to Steve Ducey with an astounding 196 average; and to league champions, The Lil Cocks, junior members all, who defeated the Gamecocks in a spirited finals.
Also, a shout out to Keith McKune for his 25+ years of service as our bowling chairman/statistician/POBC. He was presented a plaque of honor from a grateful membership and we wish him well in his well-deserved retirement.
Finally, one of our three annual bowling tournaments has been renamed in honor of our oldest, longest standing and most honored member, the legendary Jack Anderson. A spiffy new trophy has been created for the Jack Anderson Turkey Shoot to finally honor those who have won this heretofore inexplicably undervalued event. No more!

Happy Summer! There are several upcoming events that you should be aware of and most have call to action necessities over the next week or so, so here goes:

There is a public community action opportunity that is coming up this Saturday, the 25th in Brookdale Park, courtesy of the Brookdale Park Conservancy, which is led by our own Don McLaughlin. It’s an outdoor work day exclusively for Club members and those members who participate will get a Commonwealth Cares T-shirt to wear during the event, so let me know by end of day Friday if you will be helping out, so that you have time to pick up your shirt at the club. Here’s the deal: Our planned project day is Sat, Jun 25th. We’d meet at 9:30am in the upper parking lot, which is accessible from the Bellevue Ave entrance. The Conservancy will provide tools, water, and snacks for the crew. We can provide work gloves too, but in this day and age people often prefer to bring their own.
A whole mini woodland of scrub and junk saplings have sprung up in the area that partially surrounds where the old pond used to be. The whole area is lined with beautiful boulders, which have long been obscured by the mess. Being right smack in the middle of the park, the Conservancy would like to start clearing this out to improve the looks of that area as well as to open up some sight lines within the park. Future projects may include putting in some new native plants, but we need to see what it looks like cleared out first!

The Golf Outing still needs 20 golfers to make the shotgun start at 10am on the 30th, so if one sixth of the 120 or so members who have not responded to this so far, decide to participate, even less if you bring guests, we’ll be good to go. $100 per golfer if you are under 60; $90, if older; golf, cart, lunch, prizes, all at Rock Spring is West Orange. Please let me know asap if you can play: jfxa@blackwatchproductions.com.

Dues discount closes on June 30th: $575 if you pay by then, $600 thereafter; $287.50 for junior members.

There has been a somewhat disappointing turnout for summer bowling so far, especially given the enthusiasm for it that was demonstrated at the annual dinner; it’s every Wednesday night at 8pm; $20; 2 games, no teams, no handicap, guests welcome and encouraged, food, cash prizes. So come on down, already!

Stay tuned for info about the Club and the Montclair 4th of July Parade.