On November 15th, Alameda County held a county-wide emergency exercise to test response to a weapon of mass destruction (WMD) attack. In the Tri-Valley, the local Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) volunteers to the cities of Livermore and Pleasanton were activated and responded to the city's Emergency Operations Centers. Also responding were responders to the EOC in Dublin, LLNL and SNLL. Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) volunteers also responded to the Livermore school district offices and the Veterans Hospital. Twenty-plus LLNL amateur radio operators participated, including retirees: Richard Whipkey, Gus Olson, Alan Mode, and Richard Hatfield. Twenty-eight Laboratory employees and retirees volunteer their time and equipment as part of ARES and RACES to serve the local community in case of disaster and for emergency response.

Norma Scarlett (ME, 20??), Linda Schlinger (DP, 1997), and Marian Holten (EE, 1990) enjoyed as many tourist attractions in a 6-day period as energy would permit. Leaving their Times Square hotel at 6:00 am most mornings, they enjoyed Good Morning America, The Today Show, Regis and Kelly, The Statute of Liberty, Ellis Island, Empire State Building, Trump Tower, Radio City Music Hall's Rockettes, Rockefeller Center's Christmas Tree Lighting, New York City Ballet's Nutcracker, Lion King (Spike Lee also attended), Woman in White, A Dancer's Life with Chita Rivera, Bloomingdale's, George Jensen Jewelry, Tavern-on-the-Green, Central Park's Carriage Ride, Lunch with a Carnegie Hall Concert Pianist, and sadly Ground Zero. The trio agreed that a repeat visit is necessary next year.

The Retirees' Chemistry Group, also known as the ACS (Aging Chemists' Society) will have a no-host Chinese buffet luncheon on Monday, February 13, 2006 at 11:30 am at the Willow Tree Restaurant, 6513 Regional Street, Dublin, CA. Cost for the Buffet is $12, payable at the door. Spouses and friends are welcomed. Please RSVP by February 6 with the number in your party to Bob or Anna Lim, BALim@LLNLretirees.org. Bring your scrapbooks, pictures, and memories!

The first Travel Group meeting of the year is Tuesday, January 24th at 2:00 p.m. in the Community Room of the Livermore Police building, 1110 South Livermore Avenue. The topic is "Odds and Ends: Baltic Countries, Albania, Andorra, San Marino and Libyan Ruins" by Arlene and Stephen Chin.

January's Retiree luncheon will be at noon on Wednesday, January 18th at the Elks Lodge in Livermore, 940 Larkspur Drive. Our speaker will be Rev. William B. Nebo, senior pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Livermore. His topic is: "Challenges of Worldwide Fundamentalism."

Please send any news or input (please include the date and department from which you retired) to Jane or Gus Olson. E-Mail: Jane@LLNLRetirees.org or Gus@LLNLRetirees.org.

The edited version of this Retirees’ Corner appears in the second edition of Newsline for January, 2006.