Welcome to the last year in the first quarter of the 21st century. Astounding, isn’t it? I am quite sure that I am not alone among this group who once felt that 1984, or for that matter 2001, was a far-off science-fiction date that lived only in the imagination and was unimaginably far off into the distant future. But here we are. It’s something to be excited about, and we should all be excited about the year ahead for us and our Club.

Elsewhere in this issue, you should be able to review our program of presentations for calendar year 2025. We are very proud of the work of our programming committee: Kathy Johnson, Kimberlee Fuller, Chip Gliedman, Steve Reinhard and Wade Saadi, chaired by Behruz Nassre, and the result of their work. Perhaps hid- den, but maybe not, there is a change in the design of the annual program. Non- atypically, the set of programs we assemble strives for great presenters covering interesting topics, but the topics do not necessarily bear any relation to each other and might appear to be a random assemblage. This is not a criticism but a reflection that we are a generalized society, we are not, as a group, a specialized society. Our members – you – collect just about everything in the book, or in the back thereof. Consequently, we have always striven to provide a broad set of programs that will appeal to the broad interests of our members. But this year we are trying something different.

Among the “random” assemblage, you will note an over-arching theme. We are very much aware that the year is 2025. We are, therefore, at the beginning of the semi-quincentennial or the quarter-millennium of the United States (that’s 250 years). The committee felt that it would be appropriate to have a number of programs during the course of the year that recognize the anniversary approaching, especially as we anticipate the upcoming international show in Boston in May 2026. I would remind all of us that Boston is less than a year and a half away. We hope that we do our part to help get people in the mood. And we especially want you to enjoy the programs we’ve put together for 2025.

There is one other major change in our programs for 2025 that I would like to point out. Most, but not all, of our programs will be hybrid programs. They will be delivered live from the Club and simultaneously “broadcast” out to you via Zoom. We are delighted that so many of our presenters have agreed to come to the Club and take advantage of our fabulous capabilities. As promised, we remain thoroughly committed to the Zoom platform, but we are also thoroughly committed to personal interactions among our members in real time, in real space, at the same time. There is a substitute for the personal via virtual media, but the person- al is truly special—hint, hint. Visit us.

The library has largely gone back onto the shelves – not an easy task. It is now possible to casually walk from section to section, well lit and easy to access. Not a day goes by without a visitor marveling at the library and its depth and breadth.

–Lawrence Haber