Not so long ago, joining the Second Milers was a matter of course for anyone in Bethlehem making the transition from working man to retiree.
“I retired in 1997, and the first thing I did was come to the Second Milers,” Bob Morton said.
And why not? Unlike most clubs, the Second Milers don’t charge dues. There are no nasty battles for office. Members don’t have commit to a slew of service projects.
No, the Second Milers are a simple group. They meet once a month. They have lunch. They listen to a speaker. They catch up.
Several members who met recently to talk about the group’s past, present and future summed up the Second Milers’ appeal in one word: “Fellowship.”
Retirement, they said, has a way of being isolating and maybe a little lonely. It leaves many men with only their wives for company, and some lose that, too.
“We’re very welcome to widowers,” Bill Schraa said. “Age has taken away a lot of spouses.”
The thing is, age has taken away a lot of Second Milers, too. Earl S. Jones Sr., a retired lawyer, founded the club in 1964, and at its peak, some 200 men showed up for lunch. These days, 40 to 50 come.
The men of the Second Milers hope to change that in 2012. They invite others to check out their organization. They say they’re a welcoming bunch.
“I didn’t know any of these peeople before I joined,” Glenn Cropsey said. “Now I consider them all friends.”
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Jones was spending the winter in Florida when he came up with the idea of creating a group for retired men when he came back to Bethlehem. He talked it over with the Rev. Robert B. Thomas, his pastor at the First United Methodist Church in Delmar, and put a notice in the church newsletter. It noted that “we are not interested in a formal organization …. but rather an informal gathering to promote good fellowship and become better acquainted.”
The name “The Second Milers” was chosen at an early meeting to signify that members were “on the second lap of their lives.”
From the outset, lunch played a principal role in the monthly meetings. Members paid 50 or 75 cents for a meal, which was served at the church. Membership, however, swelled beyond church ranks; the April 1965 list of members included 20 who were not affiliated with the church.
The group has always been only males. Current members say it’s just tradition. Cropsey and Al Pangburn joked that their wives are glad to get them out of the house for a while.And it gives the women a chance to go out and do their own thing, like shopping.
Mark Baumbach, the Second Milers president, said he’s proof that the group is a welcoming one.
“I don’t live in Bethlehem and I’m not retired,” he said.
Like many others, Baumbach was invited to the group by another member. Cropsey remembers that “a couple of the fellas attacked me one Suday.” They asked what he was doing the next Wednesday. He didn’t have plans, so he joined them for lunch.
These days, when members meet, Cropsey rolls out a welcome mat of sorts for those coming to lunch for the first time..
“Glenn’s good at hanging around the door and intercepting new people,” John Alden said.
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Lunch is no longer served at the church. Instead, members meet at Normanside Country Club. Meals cost $14, with a small portion going into a fund to send cards and get-well wishes to members, and another small portion covering the cost of the speaker’s meal.
Bob Mulligan is in charge of scheduling the speakers, and it’s a task he takes seriously. He looks a local entertainment calendars and draws on people he knows from his working days at the state museum. The town supervisor comes every year in January to give a state of the town address. The Friendship Singers are also a regular presence, with their annual concert making the one time a year women are invited to the lunch.
Cropsey said a woman who worked for the state Thruway Authority gave a talk once about the road’s history. The Union College hockey team’s coach has spoken.
“Topics that don’t interest me at all, they were all very interesting,” Mulligan said. He pointed to a recent program on recycling that touched on things like what happens to recyclables after the truck takes them away.
“I don’t know what we’re going to do with all this newfound knowledge on trash, but it was enjoyable,” he said with a laugh.
Members are encouraged to share their own ideas for speakers, and Mulligan tries to cover a wide range of topics throughout the year.
When a lunch is approaching, the Second Milers use a phone tree to find out who’s coming and to tell people who the speaker will be. Some people opt in and out based on the speaker, but many show up regardless.
“Mostly it’s just talking and that sort of thing,” Cropsey said. “It’s a chance to reacquaint yourself with people you haven’t seen.”
To learn more about the Second Milers, call Mulligan at 439-3802 or Alden at 475-1864.