Past Events (2012)

Our current calendar of events is on our home page and in our newsletter.

When What
Tuesday, December 25th Annual Brunch at Pacific Buffet & Grill, 20 Ives Road, Wallingford. Link to map of Pacific Buffet-Grill restaurant location.
Saturday, December 22nd
Book discussion. We discussed the novel “Breakfast with Buddha” by Roland Merullo.

"When his sister tricks him into taking her guru on a trip to their childhood home, Otto Ringling, a confirmed skeptic, is not amused. Six days on the road with an enigmatic holy man who answers every question with a riddle is not what he'd planned. But in an effort to westernize his passenger--and amuse himself--he decides to show the monk some "American fun" along the way. From a chocolate factory in Hershey to a bowling alley in South Bend, from a Cubs game at Wrigley field to his family farm near Bismarck, Otto is given the remarkable opportunity to see his world--and more important, his life--through someone else's eyes. Gradually, skepticism yields to amazement as he realizes that his companion might just be the real thing.   In Roland Merullo's masterful hands, Otto tells his story with all the wonder, bemusement, and wry humor of a man who unwittingly finds what he's missing in the most unexpected place."

The book is available at many public libraries as well as at bookstores and online.

Monday, December 17th

Annual Meeting, Elections, and Solstice Party

We started with a pot-luck dinner at 7:30 PM.

The Annual Meeting began late for 8:00 PM. We elected officers for 2013, approved slightly altered by-laws for the association, and re-approved membership in the Secular Coalition of Connecticut under its new name, the Connecticut Coalition of Secular Organizations

Following the annual meeting we had a solstice party, with live music by Mickey Koth and friends, Charlotte Moulyn, Steve Boshi, and David Schafer.

Monday, December 3rd New Haven area social dinner at Turkish Kebab House, 1157 Campbell Ave., West Haven Link to map of Turkish Kebab House restaurant location.
Saturday, December 1st

Humanist Conversations: Recommend a Book or Movie

Our last Humanist Conversations of the year was a "Recommend a book or movie" session.

Monday, November 19th

Monthly Meeting: Doug Peary on H. L. Mencken

Kim Hynes of Connecticut Common Cause was not be able to talk to us, so HAC vice-president Doug Peary will presented the latest in his series on Humanist Heroes, this time covering H. L. Mencken.

Henry Louis (H.L.) Mencken, the Sage of Baltimore, was a Scholar, Writer, Editor, critic, humorist and Iconoclast who cared about people but savagely attacked Fundamentalist Religion, Politics and Racism.  He was born, the first of of his family, of German descent, in 1880 and died in 1956.  He was raised in Racism, and to love Germany.  He was racist himself for many years and was told by his first Editor that, “A dull notice is not worth printing.  Put slaughter in it and knock someone in the head every day.”  Finally he learned what was important, apologized for his racism, and counter attacked.  He is most famously known for his writing in support of Evolution and against Fundamentalism, at the Scopes Trial in Tennessee in the 1920's.
Sunday, November 18th November board and standing committee meetings. This was the last board meeting of the year.
Saturday, November 17th
Book discussion. We discussed the memoir “She's Not There” by Jennifer Finney Boylan

The provocative bestseller She’s Not There is the winning, utterly surprising story of a person changing genders. By turns hilarious and deeply moving, Jennifer Finney Boylan explores the territory that lies between men and women, examines changing friendships, and rejoices in the redeeming power of family. Told in Boylan’s fresh voice, She’s Not There is about a person bearing and finally revealing a complex secret. Through her clear eyes, She’s Not There provides a new window on the confounding process of accepting our true selves.

The book is available at many public libraries as well as at bookstores and online.

Monday, November 5th New Haven area social dinner at Turkish Kebab House, 1157 Campbell Ave., West Haven Link to map of Turkish Kebab House restaurant location.
Saturday, November 3rd

This event was CANCELLED

United Coalition of Reason Workshop

There was no Humanist Conversations meeting in November. We were to have hosted a workshop on publicity by Fred Edwords, the Executive Director of the United Coaltion for Reason. However, following storm Sandy, the event was cancelled due to uncertainty about the state of USNH and difficulty in getting our instructor from Washington to New Haven.

Tuesday, October 23rd

This event is CANCELLED

Our guest speaker for the Hartford-area dinner at Hanafin's was to have been State Representative Prasad Srinivasan. Rep. Srinivasan was involved in the founding of Connecticut's first Hindu Temple in Middletown, CT. He would have shared his experience as a state representative who does follow an Abrahamic religion.

Unfortunately, the restaurant gave the room to another group so we will have to reschedule this event.

Sunday, October 21st October board and standing committee meetings.
Sunday, October 21st

WoodbridgeWalk/Hike

The walk/hike along an easy, shaded trail and was followed by an optional lunch at a nearby restaurant.

Saturday, October 20th
Book discussion. We discussed the novel “Galápagos” by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

Galápagos takes the reader back one million years, to A.D. 1986. A simple vacation cruise suddenly becomes an evolutionary journey. Thanks to an apocalypse, a small group of survivors stranded on the Galápagos Islands are about to become the progenitors of a brave, new, and totally different human race. In this inimitable novel, America’s master satirist looks at our world and shows us all that is sadly, madly awry–and all that is worth saving.

Monday, October 15th

Monthly Meeting: Supreme Court Review: What Is In Store?

Dan Blinn, an HAC member and an attorney admitted to practice before the Supreme Court, discussed the current composition of the Supreme Court address recent and upcoming Supreme Court cases. As a special bonus, Dan (who practices primarily in the area of consumer protection) discussed the importance of credit reports and gave some tips on how to avoid credit reporting problems.

Saturday, October 6th

Humanist Conversations: “The Uprising of ‘34”

Barely publicized, rarely acknowledged in history books, the General Textile Strike of 1934 remains a stirring yet amazingly forgotten chapter in Southern history. Famed documentarian George Stoney and independent filmmakers Judith Helfand and Susanne Rostock spent nearly six years tracking down and interviewing surviving strikers and their relatives in Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, and North and South Carolina. The result is the film, The Uprising of ‘34, which we viewed at this month's Conversations meeting.

Monday, October 1st New Haven area social dinner at Turkish Kebab House, 1157 Campbell Ave., West Haven Link to map of Turkish Kebab House restaurant location.
Saturday, September 29th Global Warming: The Facts And The Issues A Discussion With Henry Auer

Henry Auer is a seasoned scientist with many years in research and development, both in the biotechnology industry, and earlier, as a medical school faculty member. Most recently, until he retired in 2010, he was a patent agent focusing on biotechnology. Since 2010, Henry has become active in global warming and related environmental issues, including publishing his Global Warming Blog at http://warmgloblog.blogspot.com. Henry has an A.B. in chemistry from Princeton, and he earned his Ph.D. in biochemistry from Harvard.

Sunday, September 23rd September board and standing committee meetings.
Tuesday, September 25th

Hartford-area social dinner at Hanafins Pub, 21 Rankin Rd., Glastonbury. Link to map of Hanfins Pub location. (860) 659-8599

The guest speaker for September at Hanafin’s in Glastonbury was Jason Deeble, talking on the first Camp Quest held in Connecticut.

Saturday, September 22nd
Book discussion. We discussed “1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created” by Charles Mann.
Monday, September 17th

Monthly Meeting: Three Major Civil Liberties Cases, Three ACLU Clients

Our featured speaker for September was Andrew Schneider, executive director of the ACLU of Connecticut.

Andrew spoke on “The Clients: A Look at the Sacrifices of Individuals Who Make the ACLU’s Work Possible,” telling the gripping stories of ACLU clients in three major cases involving voter suppression; separation of church and state; and the challenge of Arizona’s “show me your papers” anti-immigration laws.

Monday, September 10th New Haven area social dinner at Turkish Kebab House, 1157 Campbell Ave., West Haven Link to map of Turkish Kebab House restaurant location.
Saturday, September 8th

Humanist Conversations: “Steven Pinker on the Myth of Violence

We watched and discussed a TED talk of Steven Pinker talking about how violence has decreased over time, the subject of his latest book.

Ashley Paramore, Development Director of the Secular Student Alliance, gave a 15 minute talk at the start the meeting.

Refreshments will be served.

Saturday, September 1st HAC members were invited to a Labor Day pot-luck cookout in the pavilion at Crystal Lake Park in Middletown.
Tuesday, August 28th

Hartford-area social dinner at Hanafins Pub, 21 Rankin Rd., Glastonbury. Link to map of Hanfins Pub location. (860) 659-8599

The guest speaker for August was Nancy Boone of the Legal Access Resource Center’s Connecticut Alliance of Basic Human Needs. Nancy told us about the extent to which basic human needs are being met in Connecticut and what efforts are underway to fill the gap.

Sunday, August 26th August board and standing committee meetings.
Sunday, August 19th

Monthly Meeting: David Niose — Nonbeliever Nation

Our featured speaker for August was David Niose, President of the American Humanist Association. David talked about his new book, Nonbeliever Nation: The Rise of Secular Americans. and the idea of "identity politics" for secular americans.

This talk was in memory of Nat Wolf.

David said this talk was “An overview of my book, Nonbeliever Nation, discussing several of the major themes, particularly the notion that an identity-oriented movement of Secular Americans stands the best chance of reversing the damage that has been done by three decades of Religious Right dominance.”

David Niose has served as president of the American Humanist Association since January 2009, following four years as treasurer of that organization. He also currently serves as vice president of the Secular Coalition for America. He blogs at Psychology Today, and has written extensively for many other publications. On a more local level, David is a founding member of Greater Worcester Humanists.

Sunday, August 12th
Book discussion. We discussed “Nonbeliever Nation: The Rise of Secular Americans” by David Niose.

The book is available at many public libraries as well as at bookstores and online.

Saturday, August 11th

Potluck and talk: “Does it Bite?”

Have you ever wondered what is real vs imagined of the stories of flesh eating spiders or wolves and bears with a preference for human flesh? Dr. Marsha Zellner gave an in-depth look at the venomous snakes and insects in the continental US, as well as discussing a variety of animal bites and the diseases associated with them. She will discuss identification, geographic location, those at risk, prevention, and urgent medical care for those unfortunate enough to be bitten.

Dr. Zellner is a full time Emergency Medicine physician at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Bridgeport, CT and board certified in internal medicine. She is also a certified Wilderness First Aid Provider. She has extensive experience as a hike leader and educator for Mosaic Outdoor Clubs of America.

Saturday, August 11th
10:30 AM

WoodbridgeWalk/Hike

We had scheduled a walk/hike from 10:30 AM until about 12:30 PM, along an easy, shaded trail adjacent to the Thomas Darling House, 1907 Litchfield Turnpike, Woodbridge. The hike was to be led by Marsha Zellner.

The walk was cancelled as heavy rain was forecast, but apparently we didn't get the word out and several people, including one of the co-leaders, turned up and had a great walk, finishing just as the rain started.

Monday, August 6th New Haven area social dinner at Turkish Kebab House, 1157 Campbell Ave., West Haven Link to map of Turkish Kebab House restaurant location.
Saturday, August 4th

Humanist Conversations: “Is Christianity Good for America Politics?

On April 16, 2012, New York Times best-selling author Susan Jacoby, currently program director of The Center for Inquiry, and Dinesh D’Souza, recent author of “What’s so Great About Christianity?” and president of the King’s College, debated “Is Christianity Good for American Politics?” We watched and discussed a portion of this debate.

Wednesday, August 1st

Dan Xenatro of Connecticut Valley Atheists and Dan Blinn of the Humanist Association of Connecticut were the in-studio guests on the August 1, 2012, broadcast of WNPR's "Where We Live," with Susan Campbell guest hosting for John Dankosky.

Tuesday, July 24th

Hartford-area social dinner at Hanafins Pub, 21 Rankin Rd., Glastonbury. Link to map of Hanfins Pub location. (860) 659-8599

Our guest speaker was Dennis Paul Himes, the Connecticut State Director for American Atheists. Dennis gave an updated version of his article from the American Athiests magazine on “The Creator God: a Solution in Search of a Problem.”

Sunday, July 22nd July board and standing committee meetings.
Monday, July 16th

Monthly Meeting: Gregory Shenk — Sociobiology at 66

Our July monthly meeting featured a return visit from member Gregory Shenk, who earned his Ph.D. in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Connecticut. He teaches at the Greater Hartford Academy of Mathematics and Science. Greg said this about his talk:

In his (in)famous attempt to forge (some would say “force”) a connection between biology and the social sciences, E. O. Wilson used Sociobiology, a term coined 30 years earlier by John Paul Scott as the title of his book about the adaptive origins of human behavior. Scott coined the term to propose an “interdisciplinary science which lies between the fields of biology (particularly ecology and physiology) and psychology and sociology.”
Some scholars have hinted that the timing of Wilson’s book can explain the hostile reception that it received. Time has healed some of the wounds that Wilson was accused of inflicting on scholarship in the social sciences and humanities but much of the potential that the field of sociobiology proposed 66 years ago by Scott and again by Wilson 36 years ago has yet to be realized. This talk will highlight its successes along with the promises that remain to be filled.
Saturday, July 14th
Book discussion. We discussed “The Cider House Rules” by John Irving.

The book is available at many public libraries as well as at bookstores and online.

Friday, July 13th
In preparation for our book discussion we will be showing the the 1999 film adaptation of “The Cider House Rules,” starring Tobey Maguire and Michael Caine. John Irving and Michael Caine both won Academy Awards for the film, which was also nominated for Best Picture.

Saturday, July 7th

Humanist Conversations: “Our Divided Political Heart

E.J. Dionne’s new book, Our Divided Political Heart: The Battle for the American Idea in an Age of Discontent (Bloomsbury USA, 2012), argues that from the very beginning, our country has been characterized by a deep but healthy tension between our love of individual liberty and our devotion to community. On May 29, The Brookings Institute hosted a discussion with E. J. Dionne about the lost balance between individualism and community and the corrosive implications for the political environment and policymaking. We'll watch the webcast of this talk.

Monday, July 2nd New Haven area social dinner at Turkish Kebab House, 1157 Campbell Ave., West Haven Link to map of Turkish Kebab House restaurant location.
Saturday, June 30th

Annual Picnic at the Raffords' home in Middlebury

Tuesday, June 26th

Hartford-area social dinner at Hanafins Pub, 21 Rankin Rd., Glastonbury. Link to map of Hanfins Pub location. (860) 659-8599

Our guest speaker was former Hartford Courant Columnist Susan Campbell.  Susan frequently writes and blogs on issues concerning religion and politics and her book “Dating Jesus: A Story of Fundamentalism, Feminism, and the American Girl” won the CT Book Award for Memoir in 2010.  Her blog Still Small Voice regularly addresses religion and politics.  She will be speaking to us about Religion’s Problems: the Public Face of Christianity.

Sunday, June 17th June board and standing committee meetings. (Note that this was a week earlier than usual to allow members to attend the UUA General Assembly.)
Saturday, June 9th

Stephany Cousins kindly hosted a book discussion at her home in Bethany. We discussed “god is not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything” by Christopher Hitchens.

The book is available at many public libraries as well as at bookstores and online.

Monday, June 4th New Haven area social dinner at Turkish Kebab House, 1157 Campbell Ave., West Haven Link to map of Turkish Kebab House restaurant location.
Saturday, June 2nd

Humanist Conversations: “Kazan, Miller, and the Blacklist”

None without Sin; Kazan, Miller, and the Blacklist” is a thoroughly stunning retrospective of the era of the communist witch hunts of HUAC and the McCarthy hearings.

We showed this enlightening film from the 2003 PBS American Masters series.

It’s by no means required, but if you watch Elia Kazan's “On the Waterfront” before this documentary, you'll have a little more context than if you don’t.

Sunday, May 27th HAC members were invited to a Memorial Day pot-luck cookout thrown by Brian and Tara at Crystal Lake Park in Middletown.
Tuesday, May 22nd

Hartford-area social dinner at Hanafins Pub, 21 Rankin Rd., Glastonbury. Link to map of Hanfins Pub location. (860) 659-8599

Our guest speaker was author Larry Rifkin, who spoke for HAC in Hamden in November, 2010. Larry is a frequent contributor to Free Inquiry. His topic was “What does humanism say about our place in the universe, and does it make any difference?”

Monday, May 21st

Monthly Meeting: Doug Peary David & June Schafer, Humanist Heroes

HAC vice-president Doug Peary presented a very special addition to his “Humanist Heroes” series, summarizing the lives and achievements of our very own Dr. David and June Schafer.

Sunday, May 20th May board and standing committee meetings. (Note that the meeting was moved one week earlier in the month to allow members to attend the cook-out.)
Saturday, May 12th

Book discussion. We discussed “The Road” by Cormac McCarthy.

Monday, May 7th New Haven area social dinner at Turkish Kebab House, 1157 Campbell Ave., West Haven Link to map of Turkish Kebab House restaurant location.
Sunday, May 6th Our team participated in the Connecticut Food Bank's New Haven-area Walk Against Hunger at East Rock Park in New Haven, raising $710 in donations.
Saturday, May 5th

Humanist Conversations: “The Reason Rally”

This month's topic was a retrospective on the March 24th Reason Rally in Washington, DC, including archival footage of coverage of the event featuring Richard Dawkins, Tim Minchin, and Eddie Izzard.

Friday, May 4th David and June Schafer showed Charles Fergusson's award-winning documentary on the 2008 financial crisis: “Inside Job.” (This was a USNH event.)
Thursday, May 3rd Atheist Blood Drive: Bill Russell of the Atheist Humanist Society of Connecticut and Rhode Island arranged a blood drive at the Groton Public Library.
Sunday, April 29th April board and standing committee meetings.
Tuesday, April 24

Hartford-area social dinner at Hanafins Pub, 21 Rankin Rd., Glastonbury. Link to map of Hanfins Pub location. (860) 659-8599. The meeting was moved to the bar area at the last minute as the restaurant had given away the back room to a larger group.

Our guest speaker was Daisy Cheng-Milano of the Atheist Humanist Society of Connecticut and Rhode Island. Daisy provided us with an update on her efforts to set up a coalition of the various humanist, atheist, and secular groups in Connecticut.

Monday, April 9th

Anniversary Meeting: Lost Civilizations & Lost Innocence

One of our very favorite speakers, archaeologist Kenneth L. Feder, Ph.D., is a professor at Central Connecticut State University. This was his twelfth talk for us since 1999 — a great time to feature him as our anniversary speaker!

Ken told us about this talk: “Having been a talking head for a number of television documentaries over the course of the last few years, in 2009 I naively accepted the request for an on-air interview by an independent production company for a video focused on what they called “North America’s Ancient Lost Civilizations.” I thought the video’s intent was to illuminate the archaeological record of America’s indigenous societies. Instead, the documentary presented what was effectively a fundamentalist Mormon view of history in which the mound building societies of the American midwest were not Native Americans but, instead, ancient wandering Hebrews. If you have ever trusted television documentaries, this story will convince you to be far more skeptical of both the process and the result.”

Saturday, April 7th

Humanist Conversations: “What’s the problem?”

What important issues/problems do we think may be determined by who wins the Election of 2012? Much media focus has been on the campaigning politicians’ ideas about ramifications of the Affordable Care Act — future costs, freedom to refuse to participate, hypothetical decisions. The arguments invoke details that vary from intellectual analysis to deeply personal perceptions but are often involved with women. Are there other issues the development of which affect women and men differently?

Monday, April 2nd New Haven area social dinner at Turkish Kebab House, 1157 Campbell Ave., West Haven Link to map of Turkish Kebab House restaurant location.
Sunday, April 1st

Book discussion. We discussed “God’s Harvard” by Hanna Rosin.

Since 2000, America’s most ambitious young evangelicals have been making their way to Patrick Henry College, a small Christian school just outside the nation’s capital. Most of them are homeschoolers whose idealism and discipline put the average American teenager to shame. This school grooms these students to be the elite of tomorrow, dispatching them to the front lines of politics, entertainment, and science, to wage the battle to take back a godless nation. Hanna Rosin spent a year and a half embedded at the college, following the students from the campus to the White House, Congress, conservative think tanks, Hollywood, and other centers of influence. Her account captures this nerve center of the evangelical movement at a moment of maximum influence and also of crisis, as it struggles to avoid the temptations of modern life and still remake the world in its own image.

Sunday, March 26th March board and standing committee meetings.
Thursday, March 22nd

Hartford-area social dinner at Hanfins Pub, 21 Rankin Rd., Glastonbury. Link to map of Hanfins Pub location. (860) 659-8599

Monday, March 12th

(NOTE: This is the SECOND Monday of March.)

Monthly Meeting: Freethought’s Forgotten History: Tom Flynn Presents Robert Green Ingersoll and the Freethought Trail

Freethought lecturer Robert Green Ingersoll was America’s most famed and controversial orator, yet few today recognize his name. He may be the most remarkable American most people never heard of. Ingersoll is not alone in being forgotten by history. West-Central New York (centered on the Erie Canal between Utica and Rochester) was a cauldron of social ferment, including freethought, abolition, women’s rights and more.

You may recognize Tom Flynn as the Executive Director of the Council for Secular Humanism, editor of Free Inquiry magazine, a journalist, novelist, entertainer, and folklorist. Tom Flynn is also the director of the Ingersoll Birthplace Museum in Dresden, New York, in the heart of the Finger Lakes. Tom gave us an illustrated lecture on the life and accomplishments of Ingersoll, and discuss highlights of the surrounding Freethought Trail.

Monday, March 5th New Haven area social dinner at Turkish Kebab House, 1157 Campbell Ave., West Haven Link to map of Turkish Kebab House restaurant location.
Saturday, March 3rd

Humanist Conversations: “The Freedom Riders”

One of the most influential social processes in the American twentieth century was the Civil Rights Movement. The years of the most visible struggle lie between the 1954 Supreme Court decision in Brown vs. the Board of Education that reasoned that racial separation was inherently unequal and the 1964 Civil Rights Act which provided some means for Federal enforcement of its provisions.

There were several vital campaigns which riveted and mobilized the American public; the Freedom Rides of 1961 was one. Principles of non-violence were put into play against locally organized violence and institutional collusion and indifference to a government’s obligation to protect unpopular rights. And much of it was brought before the public by national media.

At this Conversations meeting we watched the 2011 Program “Freedom Riders” that retells the story of the Summer of 1964 with historic film clips and contemporary interviews with participants.

Sunday, February 26th February board and standing committee meetings.
Saturday, February 25th

Book discussion. We discussed “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” by Harriet Beecher Stowe.

Saturday, February 25th

Private group tour of the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center prior to the book discussion.

The Stowe Center is located at 77 Forest Street in Hartford, CT, right next door to the Mark Twain house on Asylum Avenue.

Thursday, February 23rd

Our Hartford-area social dinner at “location TBA” did not come to pass.

Monday, February 20th

Monthly Meeting: Charles Darwin And The Meaning Of Life

To celebrate Darwin Day, Dr. David Schafer outlined the development of several sciences to position Darwin in the scientific milieu of the mid-19th century, and demonstrate just how far, up to this moment, his Theory of Evolution has helped humanity in our quest to understand our own position in the universe and, in the process, to recognize what and who we are.

Monday, February 6th New Haven area social dinner at Turkish Kebab House, 1157 Campbell Ave., West Haven Link to map of Turkish Kebab House restaurant location.
Saturday, February 4th

Humanist Conversations: “Hot Coffee”

Everyone knows the McDonald’s coffee case. It has been routinely cited as an example of how citizens take advantage of our legal system. The 2011 film, “Hot Coffee,” reveals what really happened when Stella Liebeck spilled coffee on herself and sued McDonald’s, while exploring how and why the case garnered so much media attention, who funded the effort, and why.

Saturday, January 28th
(POSTPONED from January 21st)

Book discussion. We discussed “Half the Sky” by NY Times columnist Nicholas Kristof and his wife Sheryl WuDunn. This discussion was led by Dan Blinn.

Thursday, January 26th

Waterbury area social dinner at Lisboa, 19 Lafayette Street, Waterbury. Link to map of Lisboa restaurant location

Sunday, January 22nd January board and standing committee meetings.
Monday, January 16th

Monthly Meeting: Our Pilgrimage To La Belle France

Steve and Susan Boshi told us about their recent five-week adventure traveling through France.

Monday, January 9th New Haven area social dinner at Turkish Kebab House, 1157 Campbell Ave., West Haven Link to map of Turkish Kebab House restaurant location.
Saturday, January 7th

Humanist Conversations: “Would the world be better off without religion?”

We watched and discussed most of the last of the three short videos on topics of interest to humanists that we started at the December Conversations meeting. This one was a debate sponsored by Intelligence Squared on whether the world would be better off without religion.

Click here to see some other events we've enjoyed over the years.