Magazine Mar-Apr 2019

HAPPY 70 TH BIRTHDAY

MEMBER FEATURE

Our 70th birthday celebrations continue! The Club turned 70 in September last year, and we’ve reached out to Members who are also celebrating their 70th birthday to share the joy. Hear from long-time Member Priscilla Rogers , who joined The Club with her spouse in 2001 and will turn 70 on March 5.

WHY DID YOU JOIN THE CLUB? My better half, Gunter Dufey and I have been Members for 18 years. We are both professors and first came to Singapore for our sabbaticals. We taught at Nanyang Technological University, and the university provided an apartment for us. We decided to call up the former occupant of the apartment to find out more about the expat community in Singapore. The former occupant was a professor fromMassachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and told my partner and me that one of the best things in Singapore is The American Club. WHAT DOES THE CLUB MEAN TO YOU? To me, The Club is a safe and secure place to get away, take a breather, and connect with people. It’s alsoaplace of celebration –wedon’t just celebrate the quintenssial American holidays like Fourth of July or Thanksgiving, but also holidays like Chinese New Year and Singapore’s National Day. We also feel rooted in Singapore – Gunter and I run a foundation to support Asian students who are interested in exploring education paths in American universities. We also mentor these students and help them with their college applications – it helps that we are both professors who have taught for many decades. At The Club, we don’t feel like expats. HOW HAS THE CLUB CHANGED OVER THE YEARS? The facilities have obviously changed over the years, but The Club remains a wonderful place for families, professionals and the expat community to connect. Just last week, I met up with a former student of mine from University of Michigan! The reputation of The Club is also as prestigious as ever. I love that the staff constantly looks out for us too. My partner and I frequent The 2 nd Floor, and sometimes he will meet beautiful ladies (his former students or business associates) at the restaurant without me. The restaurant staff will often go up to him and his guest and pointedly enquire about my whereabouts and well-being. It’s so endearing that they are so protective of me! It feels like we are family. WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE PART ABOUT THE CLUB? The food at The Club is amazing. I miss the old Eagle’s Nest – the truffle fries were my go-to order, and I love the curry with shrimp and dim sum from The 2 nd Floor. I also love that The Club is a home for us. Gunter is from Germany, studied and taught in the States, before we made Singapore our 2nd home. I love that I can meet lots of former students at The Club – we even have some former students who joined as Club Members! WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO AT THE CLUB? We just had a cozy party at The 2 nd Floor to celebrate Gunter’s 79 th birthday on January 30, but we are already planning ahead for the next one. We are looking forward to our 180 th year party next year – I’ll be 70 by then and Gunter will be 80, and we’d have been together for 30 years. We can’t wait to celebrate with our friends at The Club.

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