INTEREST GROUPS
SEPTEMBER 2026
Sponsored by Artworks Interest Group
WORKING IN WATER
An Interview with Martha Vicente, by Kim Hafermalz
Photos by Kim Hafermalz
Bucket Buddies Travel Showcase
Story by Paul Tanenbaum, photos by Natalie Tanenbaum
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Bucket Buddies attendees
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Premier Vacations
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Bucket Buddies Team
August 15, 2026. Bucket Buddies, Mirehaven’s travel interest group, hosted a travel planning showcase at the Amenity Center featuring tour companies, refreshments, live music, and raffle prizes.
Representatives from Premier World Discovery and Collette were on hand to share travel information and handouts with attendees. Premier World Discovery, a 108-year-old travel company, offers 170 tours in five styles. Collette offers more than 80 destinations worldwide, along with European river cruises. Both companies said they do not provide travel services for visually impaired travelers.
The event also included a buffet of snacks and baked goods from Baked by Chefanie. Live entertainment from the Time Travelers Band added to the travel-themed atmosphere with music from the 1960s and 1970s.
Tables were decorated with world-themed napkins, balloons and stress balls to match the vacation-and-travel theme.
Susie Kuykendall, leader of the Bucket Buddies Interest Group, said the event reflected the group’s growth. “Every year we keep getting better and better, with more and more people joining and traveling with us, we keep getting bigger and bigger.”
The showcase ended with a raffle, as Jeff Mullagin announced 40 winning numbers for 40 prizes. Organizers expect the next Bucket Buddies Travel Showcase to continue building on the group’s momentum.
Can You Tell Red From White?
by Chuck Webster
Wine Interest group collage
photos by Chuck Webster
August 23, 2026. The Mirehaven Wine Interest Group tested palates on August 20th at Sherri and Ross Kimes’ house, where 24 oenophiles tried to tell the difference between red and white wines, essentially blindfolded!
Only one-third—eight of 24—correctly identified all six wines as red or white. Diana Oreck identified five. Your Mirehaven News correspondent managed three—and gave up after four.
For the blind tasting, Ross Kimes and Wine Interest Group Chair Larry Yatsko poured six wines out of sight into obsidian-black ceramic glasses. All were served at the same temperature, eliminating two major clues: color and the usual temperature difference between reds and whites.
The results may not be as embarrassing as they sound.
Even expert wine judges are inconsistent during blind tastings. During one tasting judges unknowingly scored the same wine—literally poured from the same bottle—three times and gave it different scores. And wine experts have been fooled when red dye was added to white wine.
Apparently, we taste with our eyes, too.
Try it at home: You don’t need black wine glasses. Have your spouse or a friend pour a red or white wine out of sight. Close your eyes before they hand you the glass, take a sip, and make your call.