Alpha Study Club met at the Methodist Church on January 24, 2023, with Jo Anne Sash as hostess. In the absence of President Averiel Koester, Joan Appelgate opened the meeting with a reading called Life is Like A Book.

Roll call was answered by 15 members telling of their favorite thing about winter. The Secretary’s report was read and approved. We are to keep Rob and Kathy Herink in our thoughts and prayers as Rob recovers from illness. Bonnie gave the Treasurer’s report.

The Christmas Luncheon held at the home of Deb Wentzien was a success and Karen Handorf reported that at the Festival of Trees, Alpha won 1st place in the Theme Category. Westbrook Acres received two poinsettia plants from Alpha to enjoy during the holidays.

Membership discussion was tabled until another time.

Joan closed the meeting by reading Noah’s Ark: Everything I need to know, I learned from Noah’s Ark.

Lynne Sash reviewed the book “Empire of Pain” by Patrick Radden Keefe. The history of the Sacker dynasty is rife with drama but the source of the family fortune was vague until it emerged that the Sacklers were responsible for making and marketing a blockbuster painkiller (Valium) that was the catalyst for the opioid crisis. The same marketing campaign used for Valium would be used for the more potent OxyContin. This is the saga of three generations of a single family and the mark they would leave on the world, a tale that moves from the bustling streets of early 20th century Brooklyn to the seaside palaces of Greenwich, Connecticut and Cape d’Antibes to the corridors of power in Washington DC. Empire of Pain chronicles the multiple investigations of the Sacklers and their company and the scorched earth legal tactics that the family has used to evade accountability. It is a portrait of indifference to human suffering and greed that built one of the world’s great fortunes.