As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.  Proverbs 27:17

August’s BNO, our 19^th year of monthly meetings, was held on Bruce Hoover’s backyard gravel patio under perfect weather conditions.  We enjoyed the company of sixteen (16) men: Lee Scott, Jeremy Harrigan, Tim Whalen, Dan Emig, Ro’i Steiner, Mike Parks, Stuart Lundh, Carl Crews, Dean Cernek, Rick Mann, William Linton, Kevin Golz, Mike Smith, Charlie Clark, Hudson Smith, and Bruce Hoover,

Given the choice between a woman and a cigar, I will always choose the cigar.  — Groucho Marx

A Very Special Thanks to:

• All who provided food and drink to compliment the main course and add to the buffet dinner.
• Charlie Clark, who continues, year after year, to provide top-quality $5 cigars – a true labor of love.
• Carl Crews for assuming the fire-maintainer role, thus relieving the host of the responsibility.  Carl kept the ambiance alive!
• Sherry Hoover, for her homemade Pulled Chicken & Sloppy Joe entrees in support of our traditional BNO meeting meal.
• Dan Emig for both photos
• Each attendee, and his willingness to trust The Circle, share from the heart, and provide support to those in need.

The Call for Men to Wear the Pants: Dockers’ Manifesto – Once upon a time, men wore the pants, and wore them well.  Women rarely had to open doors and little old ladies never crossed the street alone.  Men took charge because that’s what they did.  But somewhere along the way, the world decided it no longer needed men.  Disco by disco, latte by foamy non-fat latte, men were stripped of their khaki’s and left stranded on the road between boyhood and androgyny.  But today, there are questions our genderless society has no answers for.  The world sits idly by and cities crumble, children misbehave and those little old ladies remain on one side of the street.  For the first time since bad guys, we need heroes.  We need grown-ups.  We need men to put down the plastic fork, step away from the salad bar and untie the world from the tracks of complacency.  It’s time to get your hands dirty.  It’s time to answer the call of manhood.  It’s time to wear the pants.

Note to newbies and first-time attendees: no two BNOs are alike.  Each seems to take on its own persona, direction, agenda, etc.  We’d love to see you again!  If you couldn’t make it this month, join us another time.  You’re always welcome!

Two are better than one…  If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!… Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves.  A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.  Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

You should hurry up and acquire the cigar habit.  It’s one of the major happinesses.  And so much more lasting than love, so much less costly in emotional wear and tear. – Aldous Huxley

Next BNO?  September 20,  in Rick Mann’s “Mann Cave” in Widefield. 

Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.  Let all that you do be done in love.  1 Cor 16:13-14