Date: February 22, 2005
Chair: Jim Whitely
Location: Shaan Restaurant, NYC
On behalf of our eminent gavel, David Anderson, who was in Tokyo and unable to exercise his gavel arm, I want to give Hands a brief report on last night's dinner in NYC.
In spite of a fairly significant snow storm, 50 stalwart Hands showed up. Coincidentally, the memorial for Walter Wriston was in the morning, so there were lots of Citi folks. Rick Wheeler gave a wonderfully fitting eulogy, giving tribute as well to Wriston's contemporaries at the other banks.
Lots of messages from those who couldn't make it. One in particular from Bill Kirk you should know about. Bill is in the hospital in Houston for a stem cell transplant for relapsed lymphoma. Please join us in holding him in your thoughts and prayers. He can be reached directly at [encode_email email=""]
On a happier note, as of Feb 15, OAHS had collected $16,475 in donations to the Red Cross for tsunami relief. Pat yourselves on the back!
Bob Sharp tells us we're close to our goal of raising sufficient funds for an OAHS scholarship at University of Washington's Pacific Rim Bankers Program. A couple donations were made at the dinner. If you can help, or would like info on the program, go to www.pacificrimbankers.com. And if you donate, please make sure your specify OAHS/PRBP Scholarship. Thanks.
As always Shaan did a fine job---and the room is great. But we're always on the lookout for different venues. I lost count of the many Asian restaurants I checked out in January. The most common problem is they don't have private space. If you have suggestions of places we might try, or, for that matter about anything with respect to our gatherings, please let me know. [encode_email email=""]
If you were there, it was great to see you. If not, we hope you can make it next time. It's always fun to see those you know well, or to see old faces you haven't seen for years, or discover the common bond with those you've never met but who, like you, have the same abiding interest in Asia.
According to our previously agreed schedule, the date of our fall luncheon will be:
Thursday, September 29th. But we'll confirm that date in early summer.
Best wishes to all,
Jim Whitely