Remember that the deadline for receipt of ballots for the election of 2008 officers is November 28. If you have not yet returned your ballot, please do so immediately and remember that you must sign the outer envelope but cannot write on the inner envelope. A drawing for a free membership will be conducted from the valid envelopes.

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The November meeting, held at the Florida Solar Energy Center was a huge success. The guest speaker, Dr. Ernest Simpson, gave an intriguing talk about the chemistry of wine. In order to demonstrate the subtleties of flavors, a wine tasting was included. The 25 people in attendance agreed that it was one of the more enjoyable meetings this year!

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Nahid Mohajeri, our current chair, worked indefatigably on this year’s "Imaginary Molecules" competition among the high schools and sent us a report on this highly successful activity: We received 12 molecules, each one of which deserved to be the winner. The molecules went on display at Florida Solar Energy Center and a panel of 5 judges picked their favorites based on Creativity (50 points), Bonding (30 points), and IUPAC name (20 points). The winners are:

First Place winner: "Mr. Crustac-ene" from Seminole High School

Second Place winner: "Giraffenium" from Mainland High School

Third Place winner: "Pandomonium" from Edgewood High School

In addition to trophies for our 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winner, the teachers will receive chemistry kits from Flinn Scientific, Inc. and each student will receive a $10.00 gift certificate.

Nahid would like to thank all of our volunteers for making this year’s NCW a success.