Eileen Wood of Amherst sent a postcard of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, which is 19,340 feet high. She said she spent six wonderful weeks in Africa. She enjoyed the beaches and bush in Mozambique, where her son serves in the Peace Corps. She successfully reached the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro. It took seven days. She must have great stories.

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Dick Krause announced the speakers for the Amherst Rotary Club, which now meets at the Amherst Brewing Company on University Drive. Residents are welcome to attend the lunch when there are speakers of general interest. The schedule: Feb. 2: Scott Johnston, The Multiple Benefits of Exercise; Feb. 9: Epi Bodhi, Working in East Africa With the Global Women's Water Initiative; Feb. 23: Carolyn A. Martin, Amherst College president.

The Amherst Club, of which I am a member, also meets at the Amherst Brewery and extends the same invitation to the public to hear speakers and enjoy the buffet lunch. The schedule: Feb. 7: Jen and Reza Shafie of Tiger Press Printing; Feb. 14: Nancy Fletcher, classic Valentines; Feb. 28: Clare Higgins, executive director of Community Action in Greenfield.

Sorry, but in both cases there is no free lunch; you have to pay.

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Jim Pistrang of Amherst corrected me via email. This is just the second "Annie" done by ALSCT, not the third. He is right and I apologize. All the productions are listed in the program.

He offered a nice historical perspective. "I was also in the audience at the Junior High in November 1994, that was the last show before I got involved with the group. I'll never forget the performance I saw - the 'Sandy' in the show chose to wander off the stage and up the aisle of the audience in the scene where Annie calls him. Marisa Michelson, playing Annie, maintained her composure and eventually lured the dog back onstage. David Rothenberg played a policeman in 1994, and he's working backstage in our current production. According to David Mullins, over 330 people were involved in some aspect of this year's production!"