Club Charter
Prepared by Pete Creasey
July, 2003
Organization
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The Seventh of April Club was formed in the Fall of 1963 and then named and further defined in the Spring of 1964. The number of members was stipulated not to exceed a small number of men so chosen that their occupations are varied, their tastes similar. The current maximum is 20 members.
The Club has no officers (it does have, informally, a bookkeeper disguised with the title of chairman), no constitution, no bylaws, no membership cards, no dues — indeed, it has nothing of the folderol of clubmanship, though it has up to 20 members who dine together once a month, most of them in pleasure. Its rules are few, no salt or pepper is permitted at table, a member is expected to attend each dinner if he is hale and in the City when the dinner is served, and each member should participate in the scheduling, planning, and execution of at least one function during the year, the obligation to be accepted when the year’s schedule is prepared. Wearing of Club lapel pin is encouraged at all events.
Purpose
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The Seventh of April Club was formed for the purpose of providing "for the discreet and refined enjoyment of uncommon wine and victuals and the companionship accruing thereto".
Excepting some peculiarities of our chairmen, our Club has been surprisingly successful and a fairly constant group, and it may be that we are frivolous as well. We do not enrich or endow or do good for anything or anyone but ourselves. We have no aspiration, as a Club, worthier than our own epicurean pleasure.
So The Seventh of April Club must be something of a modest and occasional oasis in so vexed a world as it has come to be a part of. So be it.
Activities
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It was decided that there will be six (6) dinners each year and one (1) planning luncheon. The dinners shall be held on the first Tuesday of September, October, November, February, March, and April. The planning luncheon shall be held on the first Tuesday of June. Exceptions shall be made to this scheduling whenever the first Tuesday is deemed to be adversely affected by a holiday in which case the event shall be the second Tuesday of that month. All of these events are budgeted and members shall pay in advance the necessary dues to cover the costs for transacting these events and for related Club expenses. Unbudgeted events can be held from time to time at the whim of The Club. Guests can be accommodated at most Club events.
Over the years the menus have gradually become more copious, the wines more numerous and often more glorious. Altogether, the dinners have been an adventure in gentle serendipity, which may be called the search of unforeseen pleasures.
Members have sought to combine with moderation of scale brilliant freshness in the fare and the atmosphere it engendered. As members have become critics, and sometimes fussbudgets, the dinners came more and more into focus, sharpened and heightened, as did each member and many of the places where The Club dined. Yet the excellence of food and wine, an admirable goal, must in such a group always cohere with Michel de Montaigne’s words: "For I say with Epicurus that one should not so much consider what one eats as with whom one eats it…There is no dish so sweet to me, and no sauce so appetizing, as those derived from the company."
Summary of Objectives
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The Club is strong in its feeling that the friendship among members and the camaraderie of an evening together at dinner with wine and good fellowship far outweigh the quality of the offerings at the table. The Club also feels strongly that each member should accept some of the responsibility for planning and executing Club dinners and functions during the year, and contributing his part to the enjoyment and benefits of The Seventh of April Club.
Credits
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During the preparation of this Club Charter, considerable liberties were taken with respect to the comments and writings over the years by Club members. Our Club’s heritage is founded on the awe inspiring words and deeds of past and present members. Special credit must be afforded to George Fuermann.
JPC/sevchrtr
The Seventh of April Club 