A total of 34 members showed at The Epicurean Hungarian Restaurant, Hillside for a great meal in spite of the wind and snow storm. It was wonderful to see all of the members again. Unfortunately, only twenty had RSVP'ed for the night and the kitchen staff was caught short, so the meal was delayed. The restaurant was opened only for the IPA dinner, and did not have the ability to shift personnel.

Stefan Becker, German IPA Member and his friend arrived after beating the snow from Des Moines, IA. They were greeted and several members had brought local police patches for them, which were exchanged. Just about this time the meal finally arrived and was worth the wait. The chef came from the kitchen and had prepared some wonderful homemade deserts. Two birthday cakes were lighted and we all sang "Happy Birthday" to Joe Salvo. The room quickly warmed due to the candles for Joe, but he didn't say how many.

A grand IPA 4 salute to board member Robert Mitzner for his choice of restaurants. He is working very hard on other fine choices for the remainder of the year. There will also be some interesting Sunday brunch instead of dinner meetings. So keep watching the Wed site for updates. And please RSVP for the meetings. Remember January 2005 the Board imposed a 15% surcharge on members who do not make a reservation.