Trick or Treat
Getting into the spirit of Halloween, our October club meeting's theme is "Trick or Treat". Everyone is encouraged to perform a spooky magic effect. So that you can fully appreciate the event, the term "spook" is defined by Webster as: "1: HAUNT. 2: to make frightened or frantic : SCARE; esp. : to startle into violent activity (as stampeding)." While we are not advocating that you clear the room, put your best effort toward creating an eerie effect appropriate for the evening. As voted at the last meeting, if you do not perform a Trick, then you must bring a Treat to the meeting. Leave the bat wings and eyes of newts at home. We want candy! Failure to comply will result in being ridiculed and ostracized by your magic Brethren. BTW, bringing fries from your fast food dinner does not count!

Next Meeting
The next meeting of Assembly 136 will be on Monday, October 7, 1996, at Hotel Park Tucson, 5151 E. Grant Road, at 7:30 PM. There will be a board meeting from 6:30 PM to 7:30 PM, and all members are welcome to attend any and all board functions. After the meeting, everyone is welcome to walk over to the IHOP for late-night discussions.

Stars of Magic `96 -- A Successful Flight
Much better than Value Jet's "no frills" services, our show this year proved to provide excellent entertainment for all passengers onboard. Both shows took off on time, the lavatories were vacant during most of the flight (with the exception of a few toddlers and their mothers), very little turbulence was experienced (i.e., everything went smoothly), and best of all, not one of our passengers had to use a barf bag!
Approximately 342 people attended the matinee show, and about 449 seats were occupied for the evening show. Although the evening performance was not "sold out", we can still call Stars of Magic a financial success for the club. With all of our expenses, we should have made over $3000 in profit! We should be able to provide a more accurate number on Monday night. Hopefully, all members that participated in putting on the show had a blast! But most important was the joy that we provided to our audience members!!
Thanks to all the members that contributed their valuable time in making Stars of Magic `96 a success. This event will ensure the stability of our organization for another year (for example, nice hotel meeting room, tons of lectures, pool parties at the DeShalits', etc.).
A thank you - One of the children's' assistance organizations that we contributed matinee tickets to sent us a very warm and personal thank you note:

"Dear Society of American Magicians:

I wanted to personally thank you all for your continued support of the Arizona Children's Home and especially our clients! Counselors told me the kids had a great time on Saturday and thoroughly enjoyed the show. I hope we can continue our wonderful relationship!"

T-Shirts - If you did not get a chance to purchase a Stars of Magic `96 T-shirt, they will be on sale at the next club meeting. Each commemorative shirt sells for $6.50 to club members.

At Our Last Meeting
Our last meeting was held on September 2nd. Phoenix Retaliation - Traditionally, our SAM counterparts to the North of us visit us in February and put on a spontaneous magic show for our meeting. Regrettably, SAM #248 was unable to oblige this year. However, that should not stop us to getting a crew to go up to Phoenix in November and retaliate!! Second Vice President Norm Marini is organizing this special trip. If you are interested in performing a quick five minute routine up in Phoenix and show our friends the kind of talent that Tucson produces, let Norm be aware of your interest.

Elections - "The world is run by those who show up" James Carville. As we enter into our 21st year, it is time for another changing of the guard to lead us into the next twenty years of prestidigitation in Tucson. We are the custodians of the club - responsible in making sure that it continues to exist. And with that responsibility comes a need for each individual to evaluate their time and skills to determine if they can contribute to the club by running for an office.
Nominations for the club's 1997 officers will be accepted starting at the October meeting and will close at the November meeting, after which time the General Assembly will vote. Any Assembly Member in good standing (for example, is current in paying both local and national dues) is eligible to run for an office. Here is a brief summary of each of the positions (sorry for the legalese, it mostly came from the Constitution):
President - It shall be the duty of the President to preside at all meetings of the Assembly and to have general supervision of the business and affairs of the Assembly. He/she shall appoint members to all Committees. In order to run for the office of President, the candidate has to be a member of the Assembly for at least two years prior to installation into the office. The President must have also previously held an office in the Assembly for a full term.
First Vice President - He/she shall serve as publicity chairman for Assembly activities and shows. The most important duty being the promotional activities for our Stars of Magic show.
Second Vice President - He/she shall serve as entertainment chairman for club performances in the meetings and in public shows of the Assembly. He/she shall serve as lecture chairman for the administration of a lecture program.
Secretary of the Assembly - The Assembly Secretary shall have charge of and keep a true record of the proceedings of all meetings of the Assembly and keep such records as the International Council or this Assembly may require, render reports of membership status annually or when called upon at a meeting and handle all correspondence of the Assembly, including the Assembly's newsletter, Constitution and By-Laws. He/she shall also furnish to the Editor of M.U.M. Magazine a resume of the entertainment and educational features at the Assembly's meetings. It is almost a requirement that the Secretary have access to a computer in order to maintain and generate documents. Although, special arrangements can be made depending upon the resources of the other officers.
Treasurer - The Treasurer shall collect all dues, fees, assessments, levies and fines, and keep a true and accurate account of same. Nominees must have been a member of SAM #136 for an entire year at the time that they would take office. Members running for the office of Treasurer must be a member of the Assembly for at least one year prior to installation into the office.
Historian - The Historian will maintain the history of the Assembly, scrapbooks of items of interest about the Assembly and its members, and will administer contests held by the Assembly. The historian is to maintain a library and inventory of negatives, books, videos, memorabilia and other such club property accessible by club members.
Sergeant at Arms - The Sergeant at Arms will maintain a roll of the members attending all meetings, a roll of guests at open meetings, will greet guests and will introduce guests at the President's call. He/she shall maintain order and decorum at all meetings.
If you are interested in running for a specific office, feel free to contact the current officer to get a better understanding of the duties. To be nominated, ask a friend to place your name as a nominee for the specific office at the meeting. Holding an office has an advantage of being involved in the club's activities, which can be FUN!

Magic Week - The last week in October is national "Magic Week", partly in honor of Houdini's passing which occurred on October 31st, 1926 (seventy years ago!). The intent of Magic Week is for magicians to perform, voluntarily, for people who would normally not have an opportunity to see magic. There are a few possible ways in which we can contribute as a club to Magic Week. We can arrange to visit children's' wings of hospitals. This has the advantage of bringing joy to youngsters that have a genuine need to be lifted up. Also, we can arrange to perform close-up magic at a local mall, assuming that they have other Halloween activities planned. If you have any ideas on this subject, bring them to October's board meeting where this issue will be discussed.

Auction
Everyone seemed to have emptied out their magic drawers and closets to make our annual auction a success! No doubt, all of the magical apparatus and effects have already found new homes in drawers and closets across town from their old home.
One hundred and thirty-five items traded hands during the auction. This resulted in total sales of $829.00. Normally this would have resulted in a profit for the club of $82.90, but this year we will get more than that. This is due to the gracious nature of Darrel Wilson who donated his profit of $33.25 (from his sales) and an additional $24.30 was earned through sales of items that the club "owned" according to Rod Robison. This yields a total profit from the Auction at $140.45 - pretty darn good no matter how you look at it.
Special thanks to auctioneer John Shryock for making the event run smoothly and professionally. Hats off to Bruce Spell for maintaining an accurate account of each transaction with his notebook computer and spreadsheet! And, of course, a warm thanks to Treasurer Joe DuPerry for accepting and dispersing all of the money.

Future Lectures
We are arranging to bring Jay Sankey to the Old Pueblo to lecture for our club in January. Jay is a well-known Canadian close up performer who should have lots of solid material to challenge all of our membership. We will let you know of the date as this event gets closer.

Prestidigipaper Online
The September 1996 issue of M A G I C mentioned our humble club! The "All Magic Guide" column, written by Richard Robison, discussed magic clubs using Internet web pages on page 80.

"Many S.A.M. Assemblies and I.B.M. Rings have their own web pages. These range from genuinely creative use of the medium, such as Mark Newhouse's monthly "The Prestidigipaper Online..." (http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/~newhouse/SAM/) for the John E. Alexander S.A.M. Assembly #136 in Tucson, to lesser efforts that are no doubt a combination of finding 'free' web space and someone willing to throw something together for less than a thank you."

Calendar of Events:

• Monday, October 7, at 6:30 PM - Board Meeting; 7:30 PM - General Assembly
• Last week in October - Magic Week (perform spontaneous magic acts of kindness)
• Saturday, January 18 - Annual Banquet

• November - Turkey Magic
• December - White Elephant

Last updated October 7, 1996 by Mark Newhouse