La Senoritas Team members proudly show off their first place trophies after winning the June PebbleCreek Singles Club Summer Pub Quiz Competition, which was held at Arriba’s Restaurant. Left to right: Diane Fekete, Bonnie Hulson, Jodie Heinz, Quizmaster Dan Miczek and MJ Smyrl.
Pat Milich
One of my favorite books is Live and Learn and Pass It On: People Ages 5 to 95 Share What They’ve Discovered About Life, Love and Good Stuff. It was written by H. Jackson Brown, Jr., a New York Times best seller author whose words of wisdom often influence me when it’s time to make an important decision – like whether to say yes when asked to volunteer!
I had lived in PebbleCreek only a year when I was asked to handle publicity for the PebbleCreek Singles Club. I was really enjoying the social, cultural and athletic activities and events that the club’s volunteers organized and hosted. I especially appreciated the opportunity to meet and experience the camaraderie of other single people in the community. But this former journalist had just retired from a long career of meeting deadlines and managing the who, what, when and wheres of endless press releases.
“Just say no!” I told myself.
And then, there he was – H. Jackson Brown, Jr. invading my conscience and talking about how “the happiest people are not those getting more, but those giving more.” I walked to the phone and called Jane Holdcroft, chairman of the nomination committee charged with finding new officers to lead the PC Singles Club in 2014.
“I’ll do it,” I told her. Now, almost two years later, I am so glad I let H. Jackson Brown, Jr. inspire me. It has been one of the most rewarding volunteer jobs I have undertaken. I cannot say enough about the positive impact the PC Singles Club has had on my new life in Arizona and the wonderful, kind and caring members I have met along the way.
Yes, Author Brown, volunteering to promote this great club has made me a happier person. I am now writing my 19th consecutive monthly article for the Post and approaching the end of my second term. Like the rest of the dedicated and hard-working officers, Judy Shaffer, president, Mollie McErlean, vice president, Peggy Kuffner, activities director, Anita Asp, treasurer and Bobbie Ence, secretary, time will come to pass the baton to new leaders at the end of this year.
In the months ahead, Arlene Ascencio, a long time PC Singles Club member and former president, will be seeking volunteers to fill the various vacancies on the board. I’m certainly not in the same league as H. Jackson Brown, Jr., but if my words can serve to inspire prospective volunteers I would like to say from the heart—“I always feel I get so much more out of our very special club than I ever could give.”
The words in the headline over this article are those of another one of my favorite authors, Erma Bombeck (The Grass Is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank.) I think of it often when I am with a group of PC Singles Club members because we are always smiling!
For more information about the PC Singles Club, call Judy at 951-215-1529.