Our next meet and greet will be on February 17th at the Hillview Restaurant which is located at 6135 Transit Road, Depew, NY.  They have a private meeting room.  We will start at 5:45PM. From 5:45 to 6:00pm is a meet and greet protion with dinner starting at 6:00PM.

Remember, anybody can come to our dinner meetings.  Please come, ask questions, and see what the club is all about.  All are welcome. 

The winter Olympics started this week. The Greek Olympics, thought to have begun in 776 BC, inspired the modern Olympic Games (begun in 1896) The Games were held in honor of Zeus, king of the gods, and were staged every four years at Olympia, a valley near a city called Elis.

Did you know that the original athletes competed in the nude?  You would have to be tough to do that at the winter Olympics

10 Fascinating Facts About the Ancient Olympic Games

Alex Santoso • Saturday, August 2, 2008 at 1:48 AM • 23

Most people know that the Olympics started out in Ancient Greece, but did you know that back then the athletes competed in the nude? (Though technically, they could wear penis restraints - yes, you read that right). Or that one of the games was an ancient form of mixed martial arts? Or that a chef won the very first Olympic games?

To help celebrate the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, we'll posts some neat facts about the Olympics, starting with this one: 10 Fascinating Facts About the Ancient Olympic Games:

1. Ancient Olympic Athletes Competed in the Nude

Milo of Kroton, one of the greatest Ancient Olympic champion. He won
the wrestling event 6 times, over the span of 34 years! (Source)

Yes, that's right - ancient Olympic sportsmen (all men, by the way) ran, wrestled, and fought buck naked. The ancient Greeks had a tradition of doing things nude (they walked around in the buff in the bedroom and at parties called sympsia*, and they exercised without any clothes on) - indeed, the word gymnasium came from the Greek word gymos, which means "naked."

Why naked? Well, to appreciate and celebrate the male physique, of course, and as a tribute to the gods. Participants regularly anointed themselves with olive oil to enhance their looks ... and to keep the skin smooth!

In the sixth century, there was an actually attempt to make athletes wear loincloths, but this proved to be unpopular and soon afterwards nudity regained its status as fashion in athletics.

*Great trivia for the next time you're in a boring symposium: the original symposium is a nude drinking party (sympotein is Greek for "to drink together"), complete with courtesans (basically sophisticated prostitutes).

A few more facts will be in the next newsletter.

The video below is an old one and is basically an advertisement for Cypress Cove.  However, it shows the great joy and relaxation that can be found in nude recreation. Many of our members are familiar with and have been to Cypress Cove.