The Secretary’s Report

All photos courtesy of Mike Palko.

We kicked off our meeting with our featured performer Dan Jones. Dan performed a great Milk and Cookies for Santa routine. Milk poured into a hank miraculously transformed into Oreos and the milk re-appeared in a glass inside the Oreo box. Then Dan performed an old favorite… the first trick he ever learned… Dan Harlan's "Hold it, Buster"… a four jumbo card Monty style routine with a story relating to his Dad "Buster" and chores that Dan failed to do.

Then it was on to some bits of club business. Our former President Dan Jones called the board members up and they were sworn it. After a bit of tomfoolery around "state your name", the task was finally completed with the appropriate pomp and circumstance. Our 2025/2026 board consists of Sean Howell (President), Mike Bogdas (VP), Karl Rabe (Sec), Rob Krozal (Treas) and Tara McAllister (Sgt at Arms).

 

 

Then two board members, Karl Rabe and Mike Bodgas presented the 2024 Top Contributor awards which is to recognize club members that frequently and consistently contribute their time and talent to further the mission of the club. Over the course of the calendar year, members accumulate points for engaging in activities such as performing in a club show, volunteering for an event and even performing at a club meeting. At the end of the year, members who have at least 25 points, are awarded a Top Contributor Ace of Spades lapel pin. This year we recognized 11 members: Mike Bogdas, Robert Goodwin, Sean Howell, Kaylin Janiczek, Dan Jones, Phil Mann, Tara McAllister, Charlie Palko, Bill Rabe, Karl Rabe and Mike Thornton. Honorable Mentions went to Alex Heath, Rob Krozal, April Barrett and Ming Louie who accumulated between 20 and 25 points.

Watch the presentations for Sean and Kay. Sean was not able to be present.

Then it was on to Member Performances.

• Mike Bogdas performed a quick routine making a silk appear in a crystal box.
• Kinetic Kay met the challenge presented by Phil Mann to juggle three light-up pom-pom type balls.
• Phil Mann lured Dan Jones onstage and made his head disappear via a Fab Magic Light Head box and LED illuminated swords.
• Tara McAllister shared the linking ring routine she is working on.
• Johnny New York performed a great Tour Of Italy Wine Tasting routine. After producing a bottle of wine, he allowed a number of members to choose a bottle of wine off of different menus. The total cost of the members selection added to a number found on a piece of paper inside the bottle.
• Our youngest member Lincoln Stone after proclaiming he was eleven years old and had been performing magic for 15 years went on to shared several effects including an floating apple (Ala zombie) routine, a card trick and a card warp routine with a borrowed dollar bill and a playing card.
• Karl Rabe performed a bit of silliness claiming he couldn't find the trick he planned on performing but discovered while searching his pockets a small Waldo Statue and then a small Nemo fish.

 

Then members spent the rest of the evening socializing, jamming and generally having a great time.