MCA — back for its 11th season

By Michael Sobol, MCA President

The 11th season of MCA is underway. Our program committee has worked throughout the summer to put together programs covering a wide range of topics such as: tours and trips, discussion groups, dining options, speaker programs, films, sports and leisure, fun and games, and volunteer activities.

On Oct. 25, MCA men toured the Bonita Springs wastewater treatment plant. The facility processes over six million gallons of sewage water each day and 1.3 billion gallons each year. Raw sewage is processed through the reclamation treatment plant. The cost to treat this water amounts to one-half a penny per flush. The men were ushered through the plant and witnessed the process of cleaning the incoming wastewater.

A very popular MCA program is the Dine Around. On Sunday night, Oct. 29, we enjoyed two sittings at AZN Azian Cuizine at the Mercato Center. MCA members and their partners were treated to delicious food and wonderful conversation.

Then came a first for MCA after all these years … couples bocce. On Nov. 2, 19 couples enjoyed a rigorous game of bocce followed by dinner at Joey D’s. Fun for all!

Remember the ’60s? Well MCA members and their guests were treated to a lively evening of fun and music, as we turned the Nina Iser Center into a sock hop dance hall. As you may remember, a sock hop is a dance party from the ’50s and ’60s, where teens would take off their shoes and dance in their socks on the wooden floor in the school gymnasium. The evening included dancing to music that was popular in the ’50s and ’60s. Everyone who attended had a blast from the past!

On Nov. 7, over 200 members of MCA and WCA attended a screening of “Baltic Truth,” the first film of the season in the Brazina Documentary Film Series in the Nina Iser Center. Hosted by award-winning Israeli performer Dudu Fisher (“Les Misérables”), “Baltic Truth” exposes the tragic events of the first months of World War II in the Baltic states and how almost the entire Jewish community of the occupied Baltic nations was eliminated by faceto-face executions, one bullet at a time, with the assistance of the local population, before the final solution, before Auschwitz and before gas chambers. The film reflects the need for accuracy of Holocaust history and does not allow the shifting of blame simply onto Nazis, and the exculpation of Latvian and Lithuanian perpetrators.

The Brazina Documentary Film Series continues on Dec. 5 with a unique holiday treat — our first ever double feature. The first film will be “The Nazi, the Rabbi, and the Camera.” This is the story of a young rabbi who traveled to Germany, the country that, on the one hand, is responsible for the death of his relatives in Poland but, on the other, also gave birth to the rabbi’s greatest passion — the Leica 35mm camera. The second film will be “Dreaming of a Jewish Christmas.” This film was shown several years ago and has since become one of the most often requested films.

Two days later, MCA held the season kickoff of one of its most popular and longstanding programs — The MCA Monthly Luncheon. We were honored to have Paul Hiltz, CEO of Naples Community Hospital Healthcare, as our guest speaker. Paul spoke about the history of the hospital and plans for growth in the future. Almost 100 men joined the luncheon speaker and Q&A at the Audubon Country Club.

The next luncheon, also at Audubon Country Club, is scheduled for Dec. 14. The speaker, Laurence S. Kalkstein, will focus on the impact of heat, the leading weather-related killer in the United States, and present-day innovative technologies that can significantly lessen the negative health consequences of excessive heat events,

Lots of other programs are taking place as the season unfolds. Please check out our website, MCANaples.org, for a full description of all our programs or click the QR code included here.