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01/24/2018 07:30 AMMadison is famous as a summer destination, but when the weather turns cold and the vacationers leave, that’s when the fun begins at the Madison Winter Club.
A social membership organization, the club also hosts a lecture series for the whole community, including a brunch with guest speaker Opera Theater of Connecticut Artistic Director Alan Mann on Sunday, Jan. 28. President Mario “Marty” Triola says the series provides an excellent opportunity for the club to open its doors.
“It’s a great way to bring the community to the club and hopefully experience a lecture that’s interesting, entertaining, and educational. The community events are a chance for people to see who we are and what we do,” he says.
“We think there may be many people who would like to belong to our club, but don’t know about it! It’s a very warm club with a welcoming atmosphere and a fun, active environment.”
The Madison Winter Club began as all good social clubs should—with a great big party. In 1934, members of the Madison Country Club gathered their summer friends for a New Year’s Eve party, with just a few electric heaters and an oil stove to warm the group. The idea of the Madison Winter Club was formed and officially incorporated in 1938 with the mission of “providing a varied program of events for the benefit and enjoyment of its members.”
For the next 25 years, the club met at several locations including the Surf Club and Legion Hall before purchasing its permanent clubhouse at 251 Boston Post Road in 1966. With renovations, the rich interior complete with solid wooden bar and ornate fireplace, is a second home for its 150 male and female members.
“We have Thursday and Saturday dinners with our own chef—the Saturday dinners are themed and quite special. Some of our recent events were the Casino Night, Titanic Dinner, Road Rally; at Christmas we had a gala with a string quartet; and in spring we’re having An Evening in Paris with a mezzo soprano singer.”
Marty says club members have created several special interest groups dedicated to bridge, books, chess, and photography, as well as a bowling league and the Winterpoofs singing chorus.
“Before Christmas, members put presents under the tree here and we donate them to Toys for Tots. It’s a way to help children get gifts so they can celebrate Christmas the way we want all children to. And every spring we have a breakfast for the town’s first responders—fire, police, ambulance—to recognize the hard work they do in our community.”
Most current club members are from Madison, Guilford, and Clinton, however Marty says residents of all shoreline towns are welcome and there’s no complicated initiation process.
“Anyone interested in joining the Madison Winter Club just has to talk with the membership chair and we ask for two letters of recommendation from existing club members,” he says. “New members are always warmly welcomed and in no time at all are having fun and meeting new friends.”
Marty and his wife, Ginny, have been club members for eight years, and he stepped up to a two-year term as president in 2016.
“We moved to Madison in 2008 and we didn’t know anyone in town. A neighbor invited us to a club event, so we came along and had a wonderful time. We’ve made such good friends here and we have met so many people. The Madison Winter Club made such a difference to our lives here,” he says.
“There are some challenges that I thought I could help address. Nearly every club in the country like ours has a decline in members, as young people tend not to sign up for these social clubs,” he notes. “I believe I’ve accomplished the important goal of getting the club’s membership back up, and I think we’ve really stepped up our events and activities.”
Last year, Marty led a new initiative for the club: summer events.
“Historically, the club has shut down over the summer, but last summer we had three events—a Boston Symphony concert at Tanglewood, a Thimble Islands cruise and pizza party, and a trip to see Saturday Night Fever at the Ivoryton Playhouse—and now we plan to do more events this summer,” he says.
Marty and Ginny purchased their Madison property as a summer home, situated midway between their son, Scott, who lives in Boston, and their son, Marc, who lives in New York City. They found themselves happily at home here and sold their family home in Duchess Country, New York to become year-round residents.
Marty is a member of the Madison Golf Club and two years ago, joined the Madison Beach Club, while Ginny is on the board of the Madison Historical Society and a member of the Madison Garden Club.
“We almost bought a house in Westbrook, but we discovered it needed extensive work to the seawall so we looked at our house in Madison. We didn’t know anything about town—certainly not how special a place it is. It was really just blind luck,” he says.
It was a significant move for Marty, who had grown up in Duchess County before completing an undergraduate degree at Marist College, a master’s degree at St. John’s University, and post-graduate work at Union College. He is a professor emeritus at Duchess County Community College, where he taught statistics and mathematics for 30 years.
“Early in my career I began writing statistics textbooks. In the past two years, I’ve published six books including my 42nd textbook. My elementary statistics textbook is in its 13th edition and for the past 23 years, it has been the best-selling statistics textbook in the country,” he says.
“Statistics is rich in examples and exercises that are so applicable to so many different aspects of our lives. It’s not abstract. Students see that they can apply statistics to whatever field they want to study or work in.”
A passionate runner, Marty also enjoys golf, tennis, and boating. He has proudly traveled to all 50 U.S. states (his favorite is Maine) and to many international destinations including a family safari trip to Kenya.
“When our boys were young, we spent two summers traveling across the country in a motor home and we went to 45 states. It was great fun—they were the two best summers of my life. We took the boys on a safari in Kenya, hiking in the Canadian Rockies, and a week rafting on the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon.”
One of Marty’s favorite destinations is up in the clouds: he was previously an aircraft pilot with a commercial license.
“The whole experience is so exhilarating. It’s a totally different world, being up there all alone. I enjoyed the intellectual challenge of flying with instruments and keeping it all going. It’s just joyful.”
The Madison Winter Club, 251 Boston Post Road, hosts a brunch with Opera Theater of Connecticut Artistic Director Alan Mann on Sunday, Jan. 28 at 11:30 a.m. The cost is $25; registration is required. On Sunday, Feb. 11, there is also a lecture on The XXXIII Olympic Games with Olympic scholar Linda Fuller. For more information, call Bob Sjogren at 203-245-7934 or visit www.madisonwinterclub.org.