We present to you a brief chronology of our entire history as the Los Angeles chapter of Mensa. Please contact the Webmaster if you have any recollections or photographs which you would like us to consider adding to this page.
1962
Elliot Freeman was designated as the first ‘Local Secretary’ (or ‘LocSec’) of the chapter in September, according to the 1990 publication “A History Of Mensa”. We no longer possess any original documents from that period. ‘LocSec’ is the expression long used by American Mensa to refer to the senior executive position within each local group; we internally referred to GLAAM’s senior position as ‘Chairman’ for a long time, and more recently have called it the ‘Chair’ for gender neutrality.
1963
Alan Truelove succeeded Elliot Freeman as the LocSec in February.
Beginning in May, officer terms were set to run from May to April each year. Alan Truelove began serving a full term as LocSec.
1964
Alan Truelove was selected in May for another term as LocSec.
First issue of Lament came out in December, as described in the summary history. Elliot Freeman was the Editor for the first issue.
Harry Spitzer was named on December 18 as the first Board member to represent a particular Area of GLAAM, in this case the San Fernando Valley. He would continue to represent the Valley for many years thereafter.
1965
Alan Truelove discontinued as LocSec in February, and was succeeded by Flora Wyshak.
Ray Robinson became our first Puzzles Editor in May.
The functions of Secretary (as distinct from the ‘Local Secretary’) were split on May 16 between Howard Morrow as ‘Recording Secretary’ and Eleanor Wood as ‘Corresponding Secretary’.
Paul Cass was elected as LocSec/Chairman on May 16, but discontinued in August, being succeeded by Edward Fauvre.
George Fairchild was designated the chapter’s first Treasurer on May 16, but on August 6 was asked by the Board to resign. He was succeeded by Howard Morrow.
We began in August to see Special Interest Groups (or ‘SIGs’) appear in the newsletter. Our first SIGs were for Art, Bridge, Chess, ‘Farkling’, Folk Dancing, Games, Genetics, Gettysburg, Go, Gourmet Dining, Inventions, Music, Outings, Parapsychology, Philosophy, Psychology, Skiing, Statistics, Teens, and Theatre. Our first SIG Coordinator was Joan Anne Finan.
Bill Todt was Editor of the October newsletter, and edited 11 more consecutive issues after that. No other Editor in the first six years of our newsletter’s history managed 12 consecutive issues.
We began on October 1 to have five Vice-Chairmen to back up the LocSec in a defined sequence. Before this time, there was only one Vice-Chair. The inaugural First Vice-Chair was Joel Crockett. Second Vice-Chair was Bill Kolberg. Third Vice-Chair was Henry Miller. Fourth Vice-Chair was Lee Mason. Fifth Vice-Chair was Myrna Bernick.
At this same time, Edward Fauvre discontinued as Chair, and was replaced by Joan Anne Finan.
1966
Joan Anne Finan served the entire year as Chair.
Liz Vaitl became our first Calendar Editor in February, but nobody continued in the role for a full year until 1975.
Ray Robinson discontinued as Puzzles Editor in September, and the role was not filled again until 1974.
Martin Elkort was named our first PR/Publicity coordinator in October.
1967
Henry Miller was the first Area Secretary for Central Los Angeles/Hollywood, which later evolved into Mid-City. Mavis Porter was the first Area Secretary for West Los Angeles, which later merged into Mid-City. Bob Provost was the first Area Secretary for South Bay, which later evolved into Coastal. Bucklin Keen was the first Area Secretary for East San Gabriel/Pomona Valley, which later evolved into ELAC. Jean Barton was the first Area Secretary for Pasadena/Foothill, which later merged into ELAC. Hamp Stevens was the first Area Secretary for La Mirada, later removed from our Area structure. Nancy Vogel was the first Area Secretary for Long Beach, later removed from our Area structure. Ray Garra was the first Area Secretary for Orange County, which later separated to be its own Mensa chapter. Ruth Talley was the first Area Secretary for Inland Empire.
Mel Springer became the Chair on May 4. Jean Barton was named the first full Secretary, combining the previous roles of Recording Secretary and Corresponding Secretary.
The five sequential Vice-Chair positions were discontinued effective May 4. They switched at that time to having one Vice-Chair (precursor to our current Executive Vice-Chair) and one ‘Coordinator’ (precursor to our current Administrative Vice-Chair). The first Vice-Chair under the new structure was George Burtt, and the first Coordinator was Bucklin Keen.
Jean Barton discontinued as Secretary on May 18, after only two weeks in the inaugural role, and was succeeded by Mary Jane Watson.
Henry Miller became our first Finance/Budget Committee Chair on May 18. He served in the role for two years, and no one afterward served for more than two years until 2004.
Peter Sanders became the first Chair of the House/Premises Committee on May 18. He and his successors tried off-and-on for the next 12 years to locate a permanent headquarters for conducting general meetings and Board meetings, without success.
Sara Meric began on November 18 to arrange a Controversial Discussion SIG in West Los Angeles. It was active under various names and coordinators for the next 24 years.
1968
Mary Jane Watson became the Chair on May 3.
Joan Anne Finan became our first Special Events coordinator on June 7.
Flora Wyshak in approximately November was appointed as our first Testing coordinator.
Bill Frambach in approximately November was placed in charge of what is now known as the “Gifted Youth Committee”. Prior to this time, the mission was treated as a SIG.
GLAAM hosted a play production on November 23 called “Side Track”, which was a parody of the “Star Trek” series with some performers appearing in body paint.
1969
Pat Smith married Lou Panuse in February, and took his last name.
Mary Jane Watson was re-elected Chair in May.
Cliff Gildart in June was the first volunteer to be recognized as managing the Circulation process for our newsletter.
Rudelle Connally was appointed on August 1 as the first official Board representative for Hi-Desert, which for the preceding two years was unofficially managed by Elna Prael.
Jon Augustine began a Folk Singing SIG on November 13, and it continued under different coordinators for over 43 years.
1970
Bill Beser became the Chair on May 1.
Guy Haas became our first Elections Chair in June, and served for two years.
Beverly Miller became the Editor in August, and remained for an entire year.
Gay SIG was ideated at a Board meeting on September 4, and remained a part of GLAAM culture for the next 40 years.
1971
Bill Beser served the entire year as Chair.
Guy Haas was appointed on January 9 as the first Area Secretary for ‘East Los Angeles County’, or ‘ELAC’.
1972
Hi-Desert and La Mirada were removed as Areas of GLAAM effective February 4.
Henry Miller became the Chair on May 5.
Inland Empire separated from GLAAM in November, but they would be back.
Jay KleinBard began an activity on December 10 called “Sunday Brunch-Out”. Its sessions (over 200 of them!) were actually numbered in the Calendar for the next 16 years.
1973
We conducted our first convention for the Southern California area in mid-February. Chuck Lee was the co-coordinator for GLAAM, and he worked with Bil Sweeney of the Santa Barbara chapter.
Guy Haas became the Chair on May 4.
1974
We conducted another multi-chapter convention in February. Janet Greer and Chuck Lee worked on the committee with three non-GLAAM people.
Mary Jane Watson became the Editor in March, and remained in the position for over a year.
Jay KleinBard became the Chair on May 3.
Clotilde Clark became Calendar Editor in June.
Peggy Cobb became Puzzles Editor in September, filling a role which had been left vacant since 1966. She served for over four consecutive years thereafter, and there were 1-2 pages of puzzles in just about every issue. The position has been filled continually since that time.
Inland Empire unofficially rejoined GLAAM in November, with Lee MacMorris as Area Secretary.
Sema Rosen became our first New Members coordinator in December.
Mary Jane Watson married Hamp Stevens in December, and changed her last name to his.
1975
Jay KleinBard served the entire year as Chair.
We conducted another multi-chapter convention in February. Chuck Lee represented GLAAM on the committee. Members of the Santa Barbara chapter got in for free.
Inland Empire officially rejoined GLAAM by approval of the American Mensa Committee on July 19.
Clotilde Clark discontinued as Calendar Editor in October. She was the first Calendar Editor to serve for over 12 consecutive months.
1976
Santa Barbara conducted the last of its “Asilomar South” gatherings in February, this time without anyone from GLAAM on the committee. After this, the event was known as the Channel Islands RG (Regional Gathering), and was run by them.
Paul Victor became the Chair on May 7.
Bill Beser became our first Recruitment Coordinator on July 1.
During this time, the Folk Singing SIG under Clark Branson was very active, frequently with multiple events per month.
As that year’s SIG Coordinator, Jay KleinBard organized a “SIGathering” in October.
Clotilde Clark was Editor for the November and December issues.
1977
Paul Victor served the entire year as Chair. Clotilde Clark served the entire year as Editor.
GLAAM became an official corporation of the State of California, and adopted a new set of Bylaws which defined new Executive Officer positions which became effective on May 1. The first Executive Vice-Chair (sometimes referred to as ‘XVC’) was John Fischer. The first Administrative Vice-Chair (or ‘AVC’) was Tanya Crouch. Bill Beser was our first Ombudsman.
New Members function began to be split between Reception and Welcome with separate coordinators. It continued this way for nine years.
1978
John Fischer took over as Chair on January 1. Clotilde Clark served the entire year as Editor.
Dave Felt became the Chair on May 12.
Bob Abrahams became our first official “Circulation Manager” in September, and remained in the role until March 1981. No previous Circulation coordinator served as much as two years consecutively.
After several partial terms being served by different people, Bill Beser began his third tenure as Elections Chair in October, and remained for six consecutive years.
1979
Dave Felt served the entire year as Chair.
Nina Brazelton and Margot Wood were appointed in January to head the new function which eventually became known as ‘SIGHT’, or ‘Service of Information, Guidance, and Hospitality to Travelers’, helping Mensans to connect with other Mensans while on the road.
Janice Richards became Calendar Editor in February, and served for over two consecutive years.
Andrea DeLoffre (babe!) was appointed Editor in May.
1980
Dave Felt served the entire year as Chair.
GLAAM conducted its first solo Regional Gathering (‘RG’) from January 18-20, at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood. It was chaired by Paul Victor. Joyce Francisco was our first Hospitality chair.
Orange County split off effective on March 31 to become its own official chapter of American Mensa.
Mary Jane Stevens became Editor again in April, and Tom Currie became Puzzles Editor. Joyce Francisco took over the Testing function, and continued for four years.
Hi-Desert split off from SFV to become an official Area of GLAAM again. Paul Courry became Area Secretary effective May 1.
1981
Fr. Al Naucke became our first Scholarship coordinator in January.
Gowen (who actually had a first name, but in later years preferred for some reason never to have it spoken or printed) became the Chair on May 2.
Bob Abrahams was appointed Editor.
Tom Currie moved to Abilene in May, after only one year as Puzzles Editor, but there were some great puzzles in that time!
Mary Jane and Hamp Stevens moved to British Columbia in July.
GLAAM conducted its second Regional Gathering from October 16-18, at the Pacifica Hotel in Culver City. This was the first of two conventions which were branded as ‘LARGO’, for ‘Los Angeles Regional Gathering in October’. It was chaired by Bob Abrahams and Dave Felt. Elinor Collingsworth was our first RG Treasurer.
1982
Gowen served the entire year as Chair.
Recruitment was discontinued as a function in May, until it was resurrected as part of the Membership Committee reorganization of 1999.
Ted Kelly began monthly meetings of the Elysium SIG on June 19, at a local clothing-optional resort. Activity continued until the facility closed 18 years later.
September newsletter issue had a cool map of our Area boundaries on the cover.
Allen Lasko was placed on October 2 in charge of the function of coordinating Practice Tests for prospective Mensa members. He continued in that role for the next 25 years, until it was discontinued by the national office.
GLAAM conducted its third Regional Gathering from October 22-24, also at the Pacifica Hotel in Culver City. It was chaired by Elinor Collingsworth and Alice Fairhurst.
Richard Harrison succeeded Bob Abrahams as Editor in November.
Joyce Francisco took over the SIGHT function in December, and continued for over 17 years.
1983
Gowen served the entire year as Chair.
Inland Empire separated from GLAAM again in February.
Gene Schneider began on March 1 an activity in the Hi-Desert called “First of the Mensth”. It continued with different coordinators for the next 38 years.
Regional Gathering took place from November 11-13, at the Highland Springs resort in Beaumont. It was chaired by Bill Salm. We would have nine more annual conventions at this facility.
Carolyn Simon succeeded Richard Harrison as Editor in December.
1984
Irwin ‘Mirk’ Mirkin became the Chair on May 5.
1985
Regional Gathering was held from March 8-10 at the Highland Springs resort. It was chaired by John Fischer (aka “Snow White”). There was no event held in 1984, so that we could transition more easily to the new time of year.
Irving Halpern succeeded Bill Beser as Ombudsman in April.
Art Kasakove became the Chair on May 4.
Carolyn Simon resigned as Editor in July, and was succeeded by Carol Gwenn. Ken Rosenhek became our first Young M’s Coordinator.
1986
Art Kasakove served the entire year as Chair.
Regional Gathering was held from February 28 to March 2 at the Highland Springs resort. It was chaired by Myron Faverman (aka “Nero Wolfe”). From this point forward, all GLAAM RG’s began in February.
Elliot Goldberg ran a “Bubbly Big Bash” on March 29.
Constantin Marcou was placed in charge of all New Members activity in July.
Mirk Mirkin was appointed as our first Retention Coordinator in December.
1987
Regional Gathering was held from February 27 to March 1 at the Highland Springs resort. It was chaired by Judy Mandel.
Stratton Lindenmeyer began a monthly activity on March 14 called “Urban Hike”, to walk both sides of a long street or street segment, often with a brunch/lunch afterward. Activity continued for 17 years, and in every instance the average slope of the walk was zero.
Barbara Harvey became the Chair on May 2.
Retention function was discontinued in June, until it was resurrected as part of the Membership Committee reorganization of 1999.
In a controversial decision, Carol Gwenn was unilaterally non-renewed as Editor in June, without a ready replacement. In protest of the decision, Constantin Marcou resigned in July as New Members Coordinator.
Jack Shaughnessy took over the Open Forum function (also known at different previous times as ‘Program’ or ‘Programs’) on December 5, and for the next 15 years arranged for various outside speakers to make monthly presentations to members of our chapter.
1988
Norm Hines took over the “First of the Mensth” meetings in Hi-Desert on January 1. He continued for 18 years.
Ellen Clark became Calendar Editor in January, and remained in the role for 10 consecutive years.
Stratton Lindenmeyer began monthly happy hours on January 29 at the iconic Castaway restaurant in Burbank. Not only did we all get a chance to chat with each other, but at a certain point each evening Stratton would go around the table and invite each attendee to announce anything new and interesting to the full group, which spurred further conversation.
Regional Gathering was held from February 26-28 at the Highland Springs resort. It was chaired by Elliot Goldberg.
Debbie Rogers was New Members Coordinator until March, at which time the position discontinued until the Membership Committee reorganization of 1999.
Merilyn Walker was designated as ELAC Area Secretary effective May 1, and served for eight consecutive years.
Elliot Goldberg became the Chair on May 7, and served for four consecutive years.
Bob Abrahams was appointed to a second tenure as Elections Chair on June 4, and continued for over five consecutive years.
Carolyn Simon returned as Editor in June. August issue contained multiple positive comments on new layout.
Diana Woods was appointed as Gifted Youth Coordinator on August 6, and served for over two consecutive years.
John Bainbridge was awarded a Certificate of Appreciation on September 10, “for nearly 12 years of coordinating the Folk Song SIG”. He was succeeded by Alan Stillson, who managed it for over 34 further years.
Carolyn Simon resigned again as Editor on September 29 for “differences with the Board”.
Christopher Nyerges took over as Editor on November 5.
1989
Libby Rosenauer served the entire year as Scholarship Chair. There were 258 applicants this year, generating 4 national and 6 local awards.
Regional Gathering was held from February 17-20 at the Highland Springs resort. It was chaired by Carolyn Simon.
Editorial Guidelines were adopted April 1.
Public Relations Committee was abolished on June 3, with Mirk Mirkin having served as committee chair for the preceding two years.
SIG Policy Rules were adopted October 7.
November newsletter issue spoke to a multilateral altercation at a meeting of the Fund Raising Committee.
After several years of the job being shared by different duos for various short periods, Gowen became the sole Circulation Manager in December, and held the job for over seven consecutive years.
1990
Regional Gathering was held from February 16-19 at the Highland Springs resort. It was chaired by Steve Loeb.
Merilyn Walker was elected as Secretary on May 5, and served for five consecutive years.
Elinor Collingsworth was awarded a Certificate of Appreciation by the Board on May 5, “for the work she [had] done for GLAAM”.
Libby Rosenauer resigned as Scholarship Chair in approximately June. There were over 300 applicants this year, with 6 local awards.
Christopher Nyerges won a national award in the Forum category for his work as Editor. During this time, there were multiple positive comments on professional look, diverse material, political balance, etc.
1991
Judy Mandel served the entire year as Scholarship coordinator. There were 250 applications this year.
Regional Gathering was held from February 15-18 at the Highland Springs resort. It was chaired by Jon Evans.
Diana Woods was awarded a Certificate of Appreciation on March 2 “for her services as the Gifted Youth Coordinator”.
Guidelines for all volunteer positions were adopted on March 2.
Dave Felt began serving in July as Chair of the American Mensa Committee, and completed a full two-year term. He is the only GLAAM member to have held that role.
Rich Kapnick was appointed Editor on June 1, and began work with the October issue.
Final meeting of the West L.A. Controversial Discussion SIG took place on October 16, following 24 years of activity.
The last of the numbered Sunday Brunch-Out series took place on December 29.
1992
Regional Gathering was held from February 14-17 at the Highland Springs resort. It was again chaired by Jon Evans.
Rich Kapnick resigned as Editor effective March 25, from a dispute with Board over being required to print as submitted an Area Report which contained personal attacks. He was reappointed on April 4, upon adjustment in editorial policy by the Board.
Jon Evans became the Chair on May 16.
Notwithstanding the personal tensions within the Fund Raising Committee, they yet managed to conduct four Goods And Services auctions from 1990-92, raising a total of $4221.
Rich Kapnick left the Editor role after completing the September issue, this time for career-related reasons. There were divided comments as to his quality of performance, but he did receive awards this year for Reporting, Forum, and Overall Service. He was succeeded by Andy Cohen.
Alan Stillson became Puzzles Editor in September, and served for over 30 consecutive years thereafter.
1993
Jennifer Venola began on January 1 to host special New Year’s Day editions of the “First of the Mensth” activity at her home. She did so for most of the next 24 years.
Irving Halpern resigned as Ombudsman in approximately January.
Jon Turetsky took over the Gifted Youth function on February 6, and continued for over 12 years.
Regional Gathering was held from February 12-15 at the Highland Springs resort in Beaumont. It was chaired by Marv Kaitz. This was our last time at this facility.
Craig Moseley became the first Area Secretary for ‘Mid-City’ effective May 1. Steve Bein became the first Area Delegate for ‘Coastal’, which grew from the previous ‘Southwest’ Area. Diana Altman became the first Area Secretary for Harbor.
Mel Anderson became the Chair on May 1. John and VeraLouise Pfeiffer shared the role of Ombudsman.
Andrea Malone was appointed on June 5 as the first Area Secretary for Coastal.
Judy Mandel discontinued as Scholarship coordinator in June. There were 600 entries this year.
Castaway restaurant burned down in June, so the monthly happy hour was moved to the Odyssey restaurant in Mission Hills.
Craig Lancaster was appointed Elections Chair on August 28, and remained in the role for nearly 14 consecutive years.
Nikki Frey became the Editor in September.
Paul Sharp headed a special committee in October to consider a title change for the newsletter. There were several such attempts over the years, but none was successful until 1998.
1994
Regional Gathering was held from February 18-21, at the Colony Harbortown Marina resort in Ventura. It was chaired by Carol Young, in a joint venture with the Channel Islands chapter.
Mel Anderson resigned as Chair effective March 1, on account of moving to Phoenix.
Harbor Area (also known as ‘Southeast’) separated from GLAAM on April 1. As a result, the Pfeiffers discontinued in the Ombudsman role.
Gowen became Chair again on May 7, following a 10-year absence from the position.
Herb Selwyn was appointed to a six-year term as Ombudsman on June 4.
Kathleen Shupe and Brian Carter began a monthly activity on June 18 called “Brunch In The East” (or “BITE”) at the Burger Continental in Pasadena. This was a hugely popular event for many years, often with various table games to supplement the meals along with the free champagne. Many dates came from it.
We must own this: November issue contained a pair of articles which generated significant controversy. They were reported to the Los Angeles Times, and captured attention of the public press as far away as Australia. As a result of what became known as “the Los Angeles incident”, Mensa membership suffered a severe drop worldwide, and needed some years to recover. Board passed a vote of confidence in the Editor on December 3.
1995
Gowen served the entire year as Chair.
In a controversial decision, the Editor was asked to resign by a 5-1 vote of the Executive Committee in a special meeting held on January 12.
Andy Cohen returned as Editor in February.
Regional Gathering was held from February 17-20, at the Holiday Inn in Pasadena. It was chaired by Jana Bickel.
Beverly Miller was elected Secretary on May 6.
Standing Rules on timing for Board meetings were adopted on May 6. These included the 3-minute rule, the 2-hour rule, and the extension protocol.
Mirk Mirkin again became Public Relations coordinator on August 5.
Rich Kapnick began on December 14 a monthly restaurant activity called “Epiphanies, Epistemology, and Ample Eats” or “EEAE”. It originally was “Ample Eats” because Rich treated everyone as an inducement for high attendance. When the trick worked too well, the protocol was quickly restructured such that it’s “Ample Eats” as long as you buy your own. Even with that change, the event lasted for over 26 years, eventually evolving into a Contemporary Issues SIG.
1996
Regional Gathering was held from February 16-19, at the Casa Sirena Marina resort in Oxnard. It was chaired by Bruce Smith, and made $150.
Henry Miller became Chair again on May 4, after a 23-year absence from the position.
Andy Cohen was awarded for Best Reporting.
Lisa Turnbow was appointed as Editor in May.
In a controversial decision, Lisa Turnbow was unilaterally terminated as Editor on September 23, with no showing of cause. She was succeeded by Mary Kimball, who served in the role for five consecutive years.
Beverly Miller resigned as Secretary on October 5 for cataract surgery.
At a Board meeting conducted in a parking lot for our having gotten locked out of the Coast Savings bank building in Toluca Lake, new GLAAM member Jonathan Elliott was appointed to the Board on November 2 and elected as Secretary. He served for over five consecutive years in the latter role, in addition to three subsequent tenures.
Jonathan Elliott began hosting an ELAC Gaming activity on November 30 to take place on the last Saturday of each month. Event continued under different coordinators for 24 years.
1997
New SIG called “Answers To Everything” (or “A2E”) began on January 6 to have weekly meetings on Mondays, to undertake a project conceived by Jonathan Elliott to build an integrated platform proposing nonpartisan solutions to all of America’s political, economic, and social problems.
Chris Brodsky became Scholarship coordinator in January, and served for over four years.
Jerry Hollombe was appointed as our first Webmaster on February 1, and continued for six years.
Regional Gathering was held from February 14-17, at the Hollywood Metropolitan Hotel in Hollywood. It was again chaired by Bruce Smith, and made an astonishing $5732.
Sam Moses was elected Chair on May 3.
Web guidelines were adopted on June 7.
1998
Sam Moses served the entire year as Chair.
Jay KleinBard deceased on January 30. He ran many SIG’s for many years, and famously conducted over 200 consecutive monthly sessions of his Sunday Brunch-Out. He was enshrined as a Platinum member of our Hall of Fame in 2012.
Jonathan Elliott succeeded Ellen Clark as Calendar Editor in February, and remained for five consecutive years.
Regional Gathering was held from February 13-16, at the Hollywood Metropolitan Hotel for the second consecutive year. It was chaired by Bruce Smith.
At the Annual Business Meeting on May 2, Merilyn Walker received an award for her work as Membership Coordinator, and Ellen Clark received an award for her long tenure as Calendar Editor.
Awards Committee was established on May 2, with Jana Bickel appointed as committee chair.
Mary Kimball received national editorial awards in the categories of Forum and Reporting.
Mary Jane Watson/Stevens, who was an active GLAAM volunteer from 1966-1981, deceased on July 17. She was one of only two members to serve in all five Executive Officer positions, and in 2012 was enshrined in the Gold level of our Hall of Fame.
New set of Bylaws became effective on November 1, under which the Editor was prohibited from holding elective GLAAM office, so Mary Kimball was required to relinquish her position as a Board Member-at-Large.
Board passed a motion by roll-call vote on November 7 to change the title of the GLAAM newsletter from Lament to L.A. Mentary, beginning with the January 1999 issue.
1999
Sam Moses served the entire year as Chair.
Regional Gathering was held from February 12-15, at the Pavilion Lodge in Avalon. It was chaired by Bruce Smith and Marjorie Mandelblatt. It was a controversial decision to conduct our RG on Catalina Island, where attendees could not easily drive back and forth. The venue was never repeated.
March newsletter reported that Awards Committee member Jonathan Elliott was to “review past newsletters and/or other documents” for long-term awards.
Position of Membership Coordinator was reorganized as the ‘Membership Committee’ on April 3. Committee now had the clearly-defined mission to maximize our membership, and included the coordinators for Recruitment, Practice Testing, Proctored Testing, New Members, and Retention. Bill Taylor managed Recruitment for the next 10 years.
Rich Kapnick lost elections for Chair and Executive Vice-Chair on May 8, and in his bitterness attempted over the next year (including through a “Bob” SIG and a “Millennium Countdown” SIG) to separate the Coastal and San Fernando Valley areas to be a new “Fertile Crescent” chapter. They prepared a set of bylaws as required by national, and needed only to persuade the Regional Vice-Chair to approve the secession, but others in the chapter convinced the RVC that such a move would be net-destructive.
Mary Kimball received another national award as Editor.
Marjorie Mandelblatt deceased on September 10. In addition to serving as our Public Relations coordinator at the time of her death, she was the last Mensa member to edit the national Mensa Bulletin for a stipend. With her sudden departure, the national office turned the editing job over to a non-Mensan staff member, and the publication has never been the same since.
There were several SIG’s prior to this time devoted to Film, but it was on October 23 that Monica Roach began to host regular screenings at her home in Arcadia, under the brand “Twentieth Century Movies”. She always provided ice cream and popcorn and other goodies, and provided complete meals several times per year, all at her own expense. Activity was hugely popular for a long time.
After many years of quick turnover, the Testing function was taken over in November by Dave Felt, who remained in charge for over 17 years. At the same time, he was named the International Ombudsman, and remained in that role for nine years.
2000
Bill Taylor was awarded a resolution of thanks by the Board on February 5 while serving as Administrative Vice-Chair.
Regional Gathering was held from February 12-15, at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood, our first time back there since 1980. It was chaired by Nikki Frey, who also managed Registration and many other functions for the event with limited official credit. She was later applauded by the Board for her effort.
Alan Truelove, who had served as LocSec from February 1963 to February 1965, was expelled from American Mensa in March 2000, for reasons which were never made completely clear to all.
Jonathan Elliott, who was promoted to Awards Committee Chair on March 4, completed his historical review of all past newsletters by May.
Bill Taylor was elected Treasurer on May 6, and served for four consecutive years, along with a subsequent tenure. Herb Selwyn was appointed to a second six-year term as Ombudsman.
Mary Kimball received three more national awards as Editor.
Alan Stillson took over as Retention Coordinator on August 5, and served for nearly six years.
Final meeting of the Elysium SIG took place on September 16. There has been no clothing-optional activity in the Calendar since that time.
Sam Moses resigned as Chair effective November 4. XVC Jonathan Elliott succeeded him pending a new election.
Henry Miller became Chair for a third time on December 2.
2001
Henry Miller served the entire year as Chair. He wrote in his February newsletter column that Jonathan Elliott was the “best Secretary we’ve ever had”.
Chris Brodsky discontinued as Scholarship coordinator on May 5. She received a national Certificate of Appreciation for her work.
Mini-Minutes in September issue showed that Alan Stillson was “very active” during this time as Retention Coordinator.
Seth Dallob succeeded Mary Kimball as Editor in October. He was applauded by the Board on November 3 for the quality of his opening issue.
Secretary Jonathan Elliott rolled out a new set of Board Members Handbooks on November 3, with a motion of thanks and appreciation by the Board.
Mary Kimball became our first MensaPhone Coordinator on November 3, and continued for over five years.
2002
Brian Bloch became the Chair on May 4. Russell Ham became Circulation Manager, and remained in the job for 11 consecutive years.
Seth Dallob resigned as Editor effective June 1, for “destructive criticisms”. However, he received three national awards in July. He was succeeded by Robert Williscroft.
Jonathan Elliott completed a partial census of GLAAM members, by looking up the latitudes and longitudes of a 10% sampling, and projecting by averaging the sample values that our population center as of 2002 was in Burbank.
Peggy Noland was awarded a Certificate of Appreciation on September 14 “for her many years of volunteering as a GLAAM Proctor”.
Andrea Burman took over the SIGHT function on October 5, and continued for over six years.
Awards Committee adopted on November 2 a 10-point scale of annual credit for volunteer positions, replacing the 5-point scale previously drafted.
2003
Brian Bloch served the entire year as Chair.
George Blombach succeeded Jerry Hollombe as Webmaster in February, even though he was not a member of GLAAM.
We previously had three at-large positions on our ‘Executive Committee’, in addition to the five Executive Officers, but in a Bylaws revision those three additional positions were eliminated effective February 28.
Arvin Tseng was appointed Editor on March 1.
Awards Committee adopted on March 1 a schema of specific point values to be credited annually for each volunteer position.
Jonathan Elliott moved out of the East Los Angeles County (ELAC) Area effective March 25, so he needed to vacate his Board position as an ELAC Area Representative, and thus also needed to vacate the position of Secretary which he had held since 1996.
Jennifer Venola was elected Secretary on May 3, and served for three consecutive years. Arvin Tseng was appointed Young M’s Coordinator, and continued for five consecutive years.
2004
Arvin Tseng served the entire year as Editor.
Regional Gathering was held from February 13-16, at the Four Points Sheraton in Culver City. It was chaired by Jana Bickel and Bruce Smith. We had missed the preceding three years for not having enough volunteers to coordinate the activity.
Brunch In The East gave rise in March to a same-day spinoff called “Lunch At The End” (or “LATE”), for additional eating and gaming at the Burger Continental.
Michael Wong took over hosting duties for the ELAC Gaming activity on March 27, and continued for 10 years.
Urban Hike discontinued activity in April.
Awards Committee was disbanded effective May 1, with no action having been taken on Jonathan Elliott’s compilation of volunteer records from past newsletters.
Gene Schneider was elected as Chair on May 1, and served for five consecutive years. Mirk Mirkin was appointed Scholarship coordinator, and served for over five years.
Bill Taylor took over the Finance Committee in July, and remained for nearly six consecutive years.
2005
Arvin Tseng served the entire year as Editor.
Regional Gathering was held from February 18-21, at the Four Points Sheraton in Culver City for the second consecutive year. It was chaired by Desiree Sagray. We began this year to have a “Kids Track” at some of our RG’s, managed over most of the next several occasions by Madeline Walker.
Jay Friedlander and Danielle Hanne began an activity on April 29 called the “International Diners Club” (or “IDC”). It continued with limited interruption for over 17 years thereafter.
Long-time volunteer Gowen deceased at Age 84. She was the second of two GLAAM members to serve in all five Executive Officer positions. She was enshrined as a Platinum member of our Hall of Fame in 2012.
Beginning in October, the Gifted Youth function was shared between Jon Turetsky and Madeline Walker, and would remain so for over four years.
2006
Carla Young was appointed Editor in January.
Regional Gathering was held from February 17-20, at the LAX Hilton. It was chaired by Desiree Sagray, and made $2550. Brian Madsen was our first RG Webmaster, and served in the role for eight more years.
Gene Schneider resumed control on May 1 of the “First of the Mensth” operation.
Jonathan Elliott became Secretary again on May 6. Keith Miller succeeded Herb Selwyn as Ombudsman.
Brian Madsen succeeded Jonathan Elliott as Calendar Editor on July 8, and remained for 15 consecutive years. He introduced a new computer program which greatly simplified and enhanced the job.
Jared Levine retired as Bylaws Committee Chair on August 5, after more than two years of service, for relocating out of state. Board passed a resolution of thanks for all that he had done.
Carla Young discontinued as Editor on October 7.
2007
Regional Gathering was held from February 16-19, at the Four Points Sheraton in Monrovia. It was again chaired by Desiree Sagray.
Craig Lancaster retired as Elections Chair on May 5, and received a Board resolution of “extreme thanks” for his many years of impeccable service. He was succeeded by Jay Friedlander, who served for five consecutive years.
Brian Madsen became SIG Coordinator on May 5, and continued for 14 years.
Jonathan Elliott vacated as Secretary effective at 12noon on June 16, on account of relocating to New Orleans.
We undertook a massive Bylaws reconstruction in August, helped hugely by Desiree Sagray’s voter guide on the 72 proposed amendments.
Russell Ham was appointed Editor on August 4, and served for nearly six consecutive years.
The last practice test was mailed out in November, and Allen Lasko retired as Practice Tests Coordinator after 25 years of service.
2008
Following a previous shared tenure, Brian Madsen became the sole Webmaster on February 2, and served for over seven years.
Regional Gathering was held from February 15-18, at the Hacienda Hotel in El Segundo. It was chaired by Desiree Sagray, who received Board thanks “for throwing a heck of an RG”.
Arvin Tseng began in May to run a monthly gaming activity at the Canter’s Deli in West Los Angeles. It continued for 12 years.
Membership Committee was reorganized as the ‘Membership Outreach Committee’ on September 6. Danielle Hanne and Ishnella Azad were the first co-chairs of the new committee.
Jonathan Elliott returned to Los Angeles from New Orleans on November 1.
2009
Regional Gathering was held from February 13-14, at the Warner Center Marriott in Woodland Hills. It was chaired by Madeline Walker, who ended up chairing or co-chairing at least 13 more RG’s. We would remain at this location for five more years.
Brian Madsen volunteered on March 29 to become our inaugural Data Officer, using systems which he designed from scratch. He remained in that role for over 12 consecutive years.
Jennifer Venola began in April to manage all the “First of the Mensth” gatherings in Hi-Desert, and did so for the next seven years.
Odyssey Happy Hour was moved in May to the 94th Aero Squadron in Van Nuys.
Desiree Sagray was elected Chair on May 30. Madeline Walker became the solo Gifted Youth Chair, and with various assistants managed the job for over 13 further years. Jonathan Elliott was named Chair of the reconstituted Awards Committee.
We began around this time to organize outings to the Hollywood Bowl. SIG Coordinator Brian Madsen helped hugely with this effort.
Desiree Sagray took over the Scholarship function in August, and continued for three more years.
Process of labeling and mailing the newsletters was mercifully automated and outsourced in October. Prior to this time, we needed to have monthly ‘mailing parties’ to apply the labels and sort the stacks by zip code for delivery to the post office. We were very happy to get out of that business.
2010
Desiree Sagray served the entire year as Chair.
Regional Gathering was held from February 12-15, at the Warner Center Marriott in Woodland Hills, chaired by Desiree Sagray and Madeline Walker.
Pax Starksen took over the Epiphanies/Epistemology group on April 8.
Brian Madsen revamped the website.
Waugh (Wally) Smith deceased on August 27 at Age 93. He was coordinator of the Gay SIG from 1983-87, from 1990-93, and from 1996 until his death, at which time the SIG discontinued.
2011
Regional Gathering was held from February 18-21, at the Warner Center Marriott in Woodland Hills, chaired by Desiree Sagray and Madeline Walker.
Long-time member Henry Miller deceased on March 7. He was an active volunteer going back to the mid-1960’s, including as both GLAAM Chair and Regional Vice-Chair, and in his retirement continued to appear at many GLAAM functions to share stories of our early days. He was enshrined the next year in the Silver level of our Hall of Fame.
Jennifer Carter was appointed Young M’s Coordinator on May 7, and served for six consecutive years.
In a rare roll-call vote, the Board adopted the new Awards program on July 9. Jonathan Elliott then began updating the Awards Committee records on past volunteer activities, in preparation for rollout of the new Hall of Fame for our 50th anniversary in 2012.
Madeline Walker took over as Special Events Chair on July 9, and served for over 11 years.
Arlette Chew took over the SIGHT function on September 9, and continued for over 11 years.
Anthony Lojac began on September 10 to host monthly ‘Beer on a Boat’ activities, which continued for three years.
Desiree Sagray resigned as Chair effective on September 14. XVC Jonathan Elliott succeeded as Chair pending a new election.
Bruce Smith was elected Chair on October 1, and served for over six consecutive years.
2012
GLAAM’s ongoing scholarship program was named on January 7 in honor of Dave Felt, in special recognition of his “exceptional and sustained service to Mensa generally and GLAAM specifically”.
Regional Gathering was held from February 17-20, at the Warner Center Marriott in Woodland Hills, chaired by Desiree Sagray and Madeline Walker. It was at this event that we held our gala ‘family reunion’ of current and retired volunteers, celebrating our 50th anniversary by announcing the inaugural inductees of our new Hall of Fame. There was much applause, and a lot of love.
David Fenig succeeded Jay Friedlander as Elections Chair on May 5, and served for over 10 consecutive years. Jay Friedlander was appointed to a six-year term as Ombudsman.
Jill Golmant was removed as Treasurer by the Board on September 8. This was the only time in GLAAM’s history that a Treasurer was dismissed by the Board in the middle of a term, with the possible exception of George Fairchild being asked to resign in 1965.
2013
Regional Gathering was held from February 15-18, at the Warner Center Marriott in Woodland Hills, chaired by Desiree Sagray and Madeline Walker. Jonathan Elliott was the RG Treasurer for this event, and served in the role for six more consecutive years.
Vicki Lovett succeeded Russell Ham as Editor in May, and served for two consecutive years. Brian Madsen succeeded Russell Ham as Circulation Manager, and served for eight consecutive years. Jennifer Carter took over the Scholarship function, and continued for four years. Danielle Hanne succeeded Mary Kimball as MensaPhone Coordinator, and continued for six years.
In recognition of his long and exemplary performance as our Testing Coordinator, a national award for Proctor of the Year was named in honor of Dave Felt.
Anna Kallenborn-Bolden became our first Social Media Coordinator on August 3.
Jonathan Elliott completed on September 5 a second decennial census of GLAAM members, this time by looking up the entire set of addresses, and discovered that as of 2012 our population center had shifted from Burbank to Glendale.
Inland Empire dissolved as a separate Mensa chapter, and a portion was assigned to GLAAM as a sixth Area, with Terri Dicius becoming Area Delegate effective December 7.
2014
Regional Gathering was held from February 14-17, at the Warner Center Marriott in Woodland Hills, chaired by Desiree Sagray and Madeline Walker.
Harbor Area Mensa dissolved as a separate Mensa chapter effective March 31, and its territory was annexed to the Coastal Area of GLAAM.
Jonathan Elliott was elected Treasurer on May 3, and served for four consecutive years.
Irwin ‘Mirk’ Mirkin deceased on June 20. He was a LocSec of our chapter, held several other volunteer positions, and ran a Poker SIG out of his home for a long time. He is in the Silver level of our Hall of Fame.
GLAAM member Ed You won the national “Mr. Mensa” competition in July.
Highlight of the social season was the wedding of Jonathan Elliott and Desiree Sagray on November 15. Ceremony was at St. Philip’s in Pasadena, and reception was at the Embassy Suites in Arcadia. Several dozen members of GLAAM and neighboring Mensa chapters were invited as guests.
2015
Regional Gathering was held from February 13-16, at the Concourse Hotel, formerly the LAX Radisson, chaired by Desiree Elliott and Madeline Walker.
Jonathan Elliott became Secretary yet again on March 7.
Vickey Kalambakal became the Editor in May, and served for over five consecutive years. It was generally agreed that she did a terrific job.
Andrew Merenbach succeeded Brian Madsen as Webmaster in May, and over the next two years created our new glaam-dot-org domain.
Brunch In The East discontinued in May, following 21 years at the Burger Continental, due to the facility closing for health-code violations.
Monica Roach deceased in August, bringing a bittersweet end to what had become branded as her “20th Century Plus” Movies SIG.
Jennifer Carter was recognized nationally for her model work with our Scholarship program.
2016
Regional Gathering was held from February 12-14, at the Ayres Suites in Ontario Mills, chaired by Madeline Walker.
Gene Schneider resumed control of the “First of the Mensth” operation on May 1, and maintained it for the rest of her life.
Gene Schneider took sole charge of the MensaPhone on May 7, and kept it for the rest of her life.
Jonathan Elliott was absent from the Board’s annual election meeting on May 7, because he was in the hospital getting a gangrenous appendix removed. Lee Stillman was kind enough to allow himself to be named Secretary as Jonathan’s successor.
Desiree Elliott succeeded Dave Felt as Testing Coordinator, and continued for four years.
2017
Jennifer Venola hosted her last New Year’s Day edition of “First of the Mensth” on January 1.
Regional Gathering was held from February 17-20, at the Los Angeles Marriott in Burbank, chaired by Madeline Walker. It was at this event that we had our ‘storm of the century’, with so much hard driving rain that we needed to cancel our Pub Crawl, even with a van and driver already lined up.
New set of Election Procedures was adopted on May 6, combining previous documents which regulated annual elections and the May Board Meeting.
2018
Regional Gathering was held from February 16-19, at the DoubleTree Hilton in San Pedro, chaired by Madeline Walker. We would stay here two more years.
Desiree Elliott was elected to a second tenure as Chair on May 5. Jay Friedlander was appointed to a second six-year term as Ombudsman.
Volunteer Guidelines for GLAAM Officers were repealed in their entirety on May 5, and replaced with a fresh version created by the Bylaws Committee as part of its three-year project to repair all our rule documents as necessary.
Diane Takenaka took over the Scholarship function on July 14, and remained for three years.
2019
Desiree Elliott served the entire year as Chair.
Billie Lee became Webmaster on January 5, and redesigned the website over the next two years using the WordPress platform.
Regional Gathering was held from February 15-18, at the DoubleTree Hilton in San Pedro, chaired by Madeline Walker.
Answers To Everything SIG held its 289th and final Monday meeting on April 8, completing after 22 years of effort the First Pass of its mission to create an integrated model analyzing all political, economic, and social institutions for possible improvement. SIG continued on a correspondence basis after this.
Lee Stillman resigned as Secretary effective October 5, on account of marrying and moving to New Jersey.
2020
Regional Gathering was held from February 14-17, at the DoubleTree Hilton in San Pedro, chaired by Madeline Walker.
Corona Virus reached pandemic stage in March, and as a result the entire county went into lockdown, necessitating the suspension of many of our calendar activities. We quickly arranged to begin conducting our monthly Board meetings using the new Zoom platform.
Alma Munro became the Chair in May.
2021
Mildred Phillips took over as Editor effective January 2.
Regional Gathering was a one-day virtual meeting on February 13 using the Zoom platform, because the entire county was still in pandemic lockdown for the Corona Virus. We conducted no RG at all in 2022, apart from one meeting at a Glendale restaurant with one speaker.
Bylaws revision was made official on February 19, following unanimous approval of all 40 proposed changes by the voting GLAAM membership, and concluding a three-year project to correct all remaining flaws and conform with the latest national minimum standards. From this point forward, any Board member could be dismissed by the Board for cause under certain conditions, three consecutive absences from Board meetings constituted automatic resignation of any Board member regardless of whether any absence was ‘excused’, and all Chair and Vice-Chair position names were gender-neutralized.
Jana Bickel took over in May the Epiphanies/Epistemology group, by now branded as the Contemporary Issues SIG.
Mildred Phillips resigned as Editor in September after nine months in the position, noting her need to focus more on her teaching career.
In a controversial decision, Alma Munro was removed as Chair on September 29 by the Regional Vice-Chair. Courtney Seiter completed the term.
Final meeting of the “First of the Mensth” group took place on October 1.
Nikki Frey returned as Editor on October 2.
2022
Long-time volunteer Gene Schneider deceased on February 21. She was a Board Member-at-Large for over 30 years, and in her unofficial capacity as ‘Emperor’ of the Hi-Desert Area arranged many events there, including the Death Valley Explorations and the Petroglyph tours. She is a Platinum member of our Hall of Fame.
Answers To Everything SIG completed the Third Pass of its nonpartisan omnibus reform model on February 23.
Position of MensaPhone Coordinator was retired on March 5.
Jonathan Elliott completed a third decennial census of GLAAM members on May 5, this time using a prefilled list of latitudes and longitudes provided by Data Officer Brian Madsen, so the job took only a few minutes instead of several weeks. With the restoration of an Inland Empire area, our population center as of 2022 had shifted from Glendale to Rancho Cucamonga.
Gregory Williamson was elected Chair on May 7. Brian Madsen became Secretary, and Jonathan Elliott became Webmaster, interestingly switching jobs which they had held for several years. Diversity Committee was formed, with Gregory Williamson as inaugural committee chair.
In another controversial decision, Nikki Frey was removed as Editor in May by the Regional Vice-Chair, in response to certain politically-oriented material appearing in an “April Fool’s issue” of the newsletter.
Above chronology was completed by Jonathan Elliott on November 26, in his combined capacities of Awards Chair, Historian, and Webmaster.
Gregory Williamson resigned as Chair on November 29, due to increased demands in his outside career. XVC Jonathan Elliott succeeded as Chair pending a new election.
2023
Jonathan Elliott was elected on January 6 to complete the term as Chair. Nikki Frey was reappointed as Editor on the same date, having helped on an ‘acting’ basis for the preceding few months when no other volunteers were both available and acceptable.
Board voted on January 6 to reduce the size of the printed newsletter from 32 to 16 pages, effective with the March issue, as a result of our old printing vendor going out of business, and being replaced with one which charged a much higher rate.
We conducted our first in-person Regional Gathering in three years from February 17-19, at the Golden Sails Hotel in Long Beach. Attendance far exceeded our budgetary projection, and we made over $3600 on the event.
Chad Tew and his team of judges completed the scholarship evaluations in late February, from nearly 800 applicants!
In a non-unanimous decision, the Board voted on March 4 to allow electronic distributees of the newsletter to receive more content than is sent out in print.
Webmaster Jonathan Elliott completed on May 3 a year-long project to perform a large variety of textual corrections and structural improvements for the website, including a new homepage which describes our society, displays photos of several ‘smart’ destinations in the L.A. area, and presents all menu options in a single column.
Sam Moses began a second tenure as Chair on May 6.