By Gordon Barnes

  This has been a big year for the World's Oldest Photomapper Program. First and foremost, our Traveling Trophy has finally traveled-signifying a new Oldest Photomapper. And, this happened without anyone having to die! Good, huh? In April 2004 George Braceland joined our group. He was born on 22 Sept 1913 and thus predates Bill Sapp by 15 months. George is a great guy and our first member to reach 90 years of age. If you haven't already, you can read about him in the last issue of "The Photomapper" or on the "Oldest" page of the Photomapper Website. George would have liked to be here, but he has macular degeneration and this makes it very difficult for him to travel alone. Hopefully we can get him and his brother, William, who is also a member of our Association, to one of our reunions, so we can all meet him and enjoy his company.

 I mentioned the Photomapper Website. Well, the person who runs that and is also the Editor of our newsletter is a guy named James A. Kinter, Sr. He calls himself that fancy name hoping you will think he is a grown-up. In reality he is just a baby and our new Diaper Dandy. "Jimbo", as he's called by those of us knowing his true age was born on 1 Nov. 1941. He is here. Stand up, Jimbo so we can recognize you before you have to be put down for your nap!(Sorry, but Jimbo couldn't make it this year due to family health problems-Editor)

 Our program has continued to grow. If I were a coach I would say we had a super recruiting class! In the past year eighteen additional people signed up. Unfortunately we were notified of the deaths of six of our members. These deaths weren't all this year, but that is when we became aware of them. The bottom line is that our numbers are up in the program and this is a good thing! As you can tell I'm happy with the latest recruiting class; however, my recruiting PRACTICES have come under fire from Barry King who has to maintain our databases. For some reason he questions signing up dead guys; and I must admit I have done that on two occasions. Stay with me, and I'll explain that a bit later. Anyway, a total of 135 souls have now enrolled in the Oldest Club. While good, we would like a lot more.

 Next, I would like to mention some administrative things. First, I would like to ask all you OLD guys (i.e., older than me) to sign up for this program if you haven't already. When the program was conceived, I pictured our oldest member getting the trophy, keeping it until he died, and then passing it down to a younger guy. Well on our first trophy exchange that isn't the way it happened. Bill Sapp, who was the YOUNGER guy, had the trophy; he DIDN'T die; and he passed it UP to an older guy! At first I was a bit irritated at George Braceland for not signing up for the program earlier, which would have prevented such a thing. Then, however, I learned that because of his macular degeneration he can no longer read nor do much traveling. So, he'd never heard of us. It wasn't until his assistant noticed an article right near the front of a "Photomapper" and brought it to his attention that he learned of our program. He then immediately signed up.

 So you see he had a good excuse. You other old guys don't! You know of us, so take the time to enroll. It only takes a minute and it's FREE!! And, by the way, it is only through the goodness of Bill Sapp's heart that George has the trophy. There is a rule in our charter that says if an older guy joins the Association, or an older guy in the Association subsequently decides to join the Program, his name will go on the eligibility list immediately AFTER the current holder. So you see Bill would have had every right to keep the trophy should he have chosen to do so. The next guy may not be so gracious, so please, please sign on before you are the oldest!

 Now back to me signing up dead guys. I did so for a good reason. Two of our surviving widows asked me to! Why? I have no idea, but I'm not about to argue with widows of fallen comrades.

 Heck, I can't win arguments with my own wife, so I'm not about to take on others. So, I said, "Yes, Ma'am", saluted smartly and enrolled their dead husbands!! Now why am I mentioning this? Just because I want you guys who think you don't want to join to know that you are not home free. If your wife wants you in the Program you're going to be in it whether you like it or not; so you may as well enroll yourself now and save her the trouble; and that way you won't give her the satisfaction of knowing she got her way one last time!

 Lastly in the administrative vein, I'd like to acknowledge two people who have helped me and the Oldest Program tremendously during the past year. First is Bear King. Although supporting this program is just one small part of the position he holds for the Association, he has spent literally countless hours on it. Really, I have sent him an e-mail at 1:30 AM hoping to get a reply in the next couple of days and instead have gotten an answer before I could sign off. I don't think the guy sleeps, and if he does, it must be sitting up at his computer rigged with an alarm that sounds when he has incoming mail. We have worked computer compatibility issues, data base requirements, and data base formats. And when it comes to nine-digit zip codes, he is the World's expert! I have a hunch his wife, THE MARZEE, should share in this praise. If so, Bear, please pass it on.

 The second guy I want to acknowledge is our new Diaper Dandy, Jimbo Kinter. He quickly and willingly got an "Oldest Photomapper" page on his Photomapper Website and has been faithful in keeping it updated. If you haven't done so, check it out. I think you'll be impressed.

 Finally, if you will recall last year I tried to prove to you that joining the "Oldest Program" would increase your longevity. I still believe that, as statistics don't lie. This year I have two more actions for your consideration that will also add years to your life. These recommendations come out of my amaranthine collection and analysis of data on our two oldest guys to date.

 The first one:

 Play Bridge! Recall that Bill Sapp is a Silver Life Master and used to teach Bridge aboard cruise ships after retirement. George Braceland is also an avid Bridge player and has played all over the world. During his military years he was frequently asked to play by Generals of the Chilean military and even by a former President of Peru.

 Second:

 Plant and grow a garden. Bill's first job after retiring from the military was County Horticulturist for Pinellas County in Florida. Their beautiful Park System is largely a result of his efforts. George's huge stone home is surrounded on two sides by an attached greenhouse. He grows everything in there and you've never seen such large and healthy plants. And he is nationally known for his dahlias. Coincidence? I don't think so! Anyway, don't take a chance. Get signed up for the Oldest Program before you leave the reunion, buy a deck of cards and learn to play bridge, and buy a seed and plant it!! Do these three things, and you'll be assured of being around for many more of these reunions!!