The first meeting of the 2003 season was held by the Hanlan's Point Chapter on Sunday, February 9, 2003. A record crowd of 38 members and guests attended the event at the Duke of York Pub and Restaurant.

We welcomed 20 new people, along with the return of Bob Bogart from the Philadelphia chapter. The dates for the Jack Dominico Baseball Forum (May 10) and the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame Induction (June 28) were announced, and the group voted against scheduling future meetings for Blue Jays home dates.

In Anthony Kalamut's absence, Maxwell Kates presented the ballots for Southside Anthony's Hall of Fame, which is located in Newmarket, Ontario.

To help celebrate Black History Month, keynote speaker Michael Wayne presented his lecture, "The Integration of Major League Baseball," which was followed by a stimulating discussion. Michael Wayne is a professor in the Department of History at the University of Toronto, and was a columnist for the Toronto baseball Maple Leafs in 1967. His wife Sandra and son Seth were also on hand for the lecture.

Rudy Gafur also made a brief presentation of his book, "Cooperstown is My Mecca," and had several autographed copies available for sale.

After a brief intermission, Maxwell Kates led the fifth in a series of trivia contests. Allen Tait was the first place winner, followed by Bob Bogart and Neal Mullin. The chapter conducted a book auction, while raffling off a copy of Doug Lyons' "Curveballs and Screwballs." This time, Neil Munro was the winner.

On behalf of the chapter, I would like to thank all those who participated in the meeting - including Bob Woodhouse, who provided the Baseball Digests which we used as prized. Special thanks go to Michael Wayne for his presentation. Our next event will be an informal gathering towards the end of April.

MAXWELL KATES