CLFP Foundation Circular Summer
Now Available Online

Bob Fisher, President, Certified Leasing and Finance Professional Foundation, VP, Business Development, Ascentium Capital, noted
in the CLFP Foundation Summer Newsletter, "Most notable is the increase in the number of CLFPs and CLFP Associates from 290 at the beginning of the year to 346 as of June 6. Our Executive Director now has an assistant, Lauri Monson who joined the Foundation late in May.

He noted the CLFP Foundation will be exhibiting at the following events:

• ELFA Credit & Collections Conference in Denver, CO
• ELFA Operations & Technology Conference in Baltimore, MD
• NEFA Fall Funding Symposium in Bloomington, MN

"Another initiative that we have been working on is exploring the 11 states where we do not have a CLFP with the goal of having at least 1 CLFP in all 50 states by the end of 2017. We’re even offering one year’s dues to be comped for the first CLFP in those states."

His full remarks and news are available in the Summer Circular:
http://www.leasingnews.org/PDF/CLFPSummer2016.pdf

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Letters?!?!---We get Email!
Responses Included

 

Stop Drinking the Kool-Aid,
   Facebook Ads Don’t Work for Finance
FinTech #102 by Brittney Holcomb
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Jun2016/06_02x.htm

In Leasing News this morning there was an article by Brittney Holcomb mentioning that Facebook ads don’t work for Finance.

That may be Brittney’s experience… but I know personally that leads can be generated with Facebook ads.

While the vast majority of my customers come either from a vendor referral or a Google search, I do use social media, it does generate leads, and the ROI is positive.

Yesterday my website received 57 visitors from Facebook. 3 of those visitors filled out a form requesting more information.

Moreover, in order to create those 3 leads, I spent a grand total of $7.76 ($2.25 per lead).

Ads generated via social media are not as strong as someone who has Googled your service and it’s hard to make a case that a broker can’t be profitable paying $2.25 for a lead.

Moreover, I can test ads on Facebook for less money per day than lunch costs me. Google Adwords, in contrast, typically costs from $5 to $25 per click for equipment leasing- & financing-based keywords.

A good conversion rate of clicks to leads from Adwords is 5%. That means a company relying on Adwords is often paying from $100 to $500 per lead – perhaps ½ that amount if they have implemented retargeting properly.

With numbers like that, a good number of brokers lose money when they try PPC, and with $5+ clicks, the amount lost could be substantial for a small broker.

I have no horse in the race as I do not run any sort of an agency, but I’m very appreciative of you as Leasing News was of enormous help to me when I was starting out as a broker and I wanted to tell you the other side of the story.

Brokers who take the time to figure out social media can most definitely generate leads from it – particularly on Facebook. 

Rob Misheloff
rob@smarterfinanceusa.com
www.smarterfinanceusa.com
(949) 735-3421 (mobile)

Author Responds:

(I always love feedback on any of my pieces :)

(Very interesting perspective as well. I can agree with most points this broker makes. He’s developing real website visitors from his promoted Facebook ads and he said he’s even received a few contact form fill outs, which is awesome! While they may not be ‘hot leads’ like the Google ads provide, they are still leads. I’ve seen brokers have similar results from social media without paying for ads. There are strategies involved in social media marketing that help business owners gain visibility in their target audience without purchasing ads.  Might be an idea for another piece down the road ‘Making Your Social Media Profitable For Free’ :)

(Thank you again!)

Brittney Holcomb / Director of Paid Search
The Finance Marketing Group
Office: 518-591-4645 / Fax: 518-677-1071
90 State Street, Suite 1500, Albany, NY 12207
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn   http://financemarketing.com

-----

Letter to Editor--George Ferguson
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Mar2016/03_23.htm#letters

"Whatever happened to George Ferguson?"

(Name withheld)

(The vendor used by Sheldon Player, Equipment Acquisition Resources. He lost his business along with its property, his house, he reportedly is not in good health, and Leasing News was told he is living solely on social security.

(He entered a change of plea and on June 2, 2016; a Jury Trial was set for 11/7/2016 with a motions to be filed by 10/24/2016 with Responses to be filed by 10/31/2016. Honorable Harry D. Leinenweber, Northern District of Illinois. Editor)

“How many active brokers and funding sources do you think there are in leasing in the USA?

“I know this is a wide open question, but just a ballpark, using the guideline of a:

“- broker being a company that would originate at minimum a few deals a month and send deals to a Financial Pacific / RLC / Axis type funding source.

“- funding source being a company like Ascentium / Financial Pacific / not necessarily the Big Banks.

“If I was to “guesstimate” I would say maybe 500 brokers and 100 funding sources.  What would you guess?”

(CLFP Name Withheld)

(Brokers: Over 5,000 by last count, and not talking about car dealership F&I who also get involved in equipment and other business dealings, or vendors who also work as brokers for customers for other types of equipment. Not counting banks or other finance companies, as your requirement, or even business real estate agents.

(There are lessors who have 500 to 700 brokers and one once claimed 2,000.  And we are not talking about equipment or software salesman who broker on the side a few deals a month.

(Funders over a 1,000 easy, not counting all the banks, and leaving out alternate finance, and just the United States. Maybe more if you bring in captive lessors, but generally don't work with brokers (although they pay their salesmen and dealers).)

Editor

National Alliance of
Commercial Loan Brokers
Second Annual Conference
Oct. 4th -6th
Las Vegas, Nevada
www.naclb.org

"One funder, now affiliated with a bank, who wants to attend, thought the conference was primarily involved in real estate. I don't know where he got that impression. How should I answer that if I get another such inquiry."

Editor

Response from Chair of Conference:

(To answer your question, I think it would be wise for anybody to attend that provides capital to businesses or brokers capital to businesses. It does not matter what form of capital it is (leasing, working capital, factoring, etc.).

"We do have some commercial real estate lenders that are there and a few commercial mortgage brokers that attend but almost 90 percent of brokers and lenders are in the business financing space. I don’t know where a lender would think our conference was primarily real estate based. It is actually the opposite. Let me know if you need any other talking points."

Kris D. Roglieri
Commercial Capital Training Group
www.CommercialCapitalTraining.com
90 State St. Suite 1500
Albany, NY 12207
Office: 518-694-3047
kris@commercialcapitaltraining.com

 

 

[headlines]
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##### Press Release ############################
                         

Fleet Financing Resources Eclipses $500 Million Funded
Since its Inception in 2002 – 3,700 Businesses Nationwide

Riverside, CA – Fleet Financing Resources, LLC (FFR), nationwide lender for  commercial transportation equipment, announced it has surpassed half a billion dollars of funded leases and finance contracts since its inception in 2002.  The equipment primarily includes motor coaches, school buses, shuttles and other buses of all sizes to fleet operators on a nationwide basis.

“We would like to thank our partners in the transportation industry for the successes that Fleet Financing Resources has achieved in the past 13 years,” said Jim Krug, Director of Operations and Account Services.  “As a boutique lender, the half billion funded milestone is a testament to our commitment in providing our customers with the highest quality financing tailored to their specific needs.  It is extremely gratifying to see so many fleet operators from across the nation getting the resources they need from FFR to grow their business.”

About Fleet Financing Resources - FFR offers financing and leasing for all new and used titled transportation equipment - specializing in buses of all sizes.  Founded in 2002, Fleet Financing Resources has been successful in providing finance solutions to over 3,700 businesses nationwide.  FFR offers a broad funding menu of products and services tailored to each client’s specific needs.

http://www.ffresources.com/

###### Press Release ###########################

Shepherd Mix
Dallas, Texas Adopt-a-Dog

Catt
ID: 146508
Breed: Shepherd / Mix
Gender: Female
Age: 5 months
Size: Medium
Location: Jan Rees-Jones Animal Care Center, Dallas

Adoption Information:
http://spca.org/howtoadopt

SPCA of Texas
2400 Lone Star Dr.
Dallas, TX 75212
Main Phone Number: 214-742-SPCA (7722)

Hours: Daily, Noon to 6 p.m.

Adopt a Pet
http://www.adoptapet.com/

 

[headlines]
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Leasing News Classified--Free
Services

(Providing Services and Products)

 

Maximum 100 words.

This is not for funding sources, lessors, brokers, but for service providers to the leasing industry. This is not to promote a product or software, but is "outsourcing work" related as indicated by the people whose service is available.
Send an email to kitmenkin@leasingnews.org

We will include a photograph of yourself and/or the URL address to your "blog" or website for free.

 

(Leasing News provides this ad as a trade for appraisals and equipment valuations provided by Ed Castagna)

News Briefs---

US Community Banks Lash Out at ‘FinTech’ Upstarts
   Calls for Them to be Fully Regulated
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/518095b8-2adc-11e6-bf8d-26294ad519fc.html#axzz4AvYpeHgV

FirstMerit, Huntington settle lawsuit with shareholders who disputed merger terms
http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20160607/NEWS/160609843
/firstmerit-huntington-settle-lawsuit-with-shareholders-who-disputed7

Consumer Credit G.19  April, 2016
  Federal Reserve System Statistics
http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/g19/current/default.htm

Nidhi Bothra Tells How India’s New Leasing Association Came About --Assetfinance International
http://assetfinanceinternational.com/index.php/global-news/asia-pacific/asia-pacific-articles/13705-nidhi-bothra-tells-how-india-s-new-leasing-association-came-about

Marketing Lessons from Muhammad Ali
  by Dan Janal
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/marketing-lessons-from-muhammad-ali-dan-janal?trk=hp-feed-article-title-publish

Senior Credit Analyst - Minimum 5 years of small ticket/high volume equipment finance underwriting experience preferred - Relocation benefits available for the right candidate - For a complete job description, please click here www.pawneeleasing.com Established in 1982, Pawnee Leasing Corporation located in Fort Collins, CO specializes in commercial equipment leasing and financing up to $150,000 to smaller, closely-held business enterprises. Pawnee Leasing is a U.S. subsidiary of Chesswood Group Limited, a publicly-held specialty financial services company based in Toronto, Canada (TSX:CHW).

 

[headlines]
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--You May Have Missed It

ComScore Study - Marketing Power of Podcasts Is Huge
http://www.webpronews.com/comscore-study-podcast-marketing-2016-06/

[headlines]
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SparkPeople--Live Healthier and Longer

15 Diet-Friendly Ice Cream Choices
Get the Scoop on Picking a Healthier Ice Cream
http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/nutrition_articles.asp?id=1118

[headlines]
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Baseball Poem

When I go to a Red Sox Baseball Game.(Arts and Lifestyle)


The Boston Herald; 10/13/2003; Tardiff, Nicole

         Byline: Nicole Tardiff

I can't explain

the feeling I get

when I go to

a Red Sox

baseball  game.

 

It's like this

BANG of energy that rushes through my veins.

I'm free.

The air is filled with

the spices of

hot dogs, pizza,

Fenway freshly cut grass.

I love it.

Here

everyone is like me,

cheering on my fave

Red Sox players.

I'm not different.

Here

I fit in.

 

Nicole Tardiff, 17, is a senior at Lexington High School. This poem was originally published in "2:25 P.M.," a book of poetry and prose from Lexington High School's participation in the Student Publishing Program.

Lexington's Student Publishing Program has been selected as one of the top high school writing programs in the country by Web del Sol, the largest nonprofit publisher of periodical contemporary literature in the United States.

See http://www.225pm.org for more information about the Student Publishing Program and its free online literary magazine and writing resources

 

[headlines]
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Sports Briefs----

Warriors' dominance of Cavs is already leading to questions about Big Three's future
http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20160606/BLOGS06/160609884/warriors-dominance-of-cavs-is-already-leading-to-questions-about-big

Tiger Woods withdraws from 2016 U.S. Open, is 'not physically ready to play'
http://www.sbnation.com/golf/2016/6/7/11879572/tiger-woods-2016-us-open-withdraw-injury-quicken-loans-return

New sight for 49ers: Kaepernick throwing passes
http://www.mercurynews.com/49ers/ci_29988520/new-sight-49ers-kaepernick-throwing-passes

Receivables Management LLC John Kenny • End of Lease Negotiations & Enforcement  • Third-Party Commercial Collections john@jkrmdirect.com | ph 315-866-1167 www.jkrmdirect.com

(Leasing News provides this ad as a trade for investigative
reporting provided by John Kenny)

[headlines]
--------------------------------------------------------------

California Nuts Briefs---

Californians cut water use by 26 percent in April
http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/water-and-drought/article82101472.html#emlnl=Morning_Newsletter

El Niño rains fail to dampen drought-tolerant gardening trend
http://www.mercurynews.com/bay-area-news/ci_29988431/el-nino-rains-fail-dampen-drought-tolerant-gardening

[headlines]
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“Gimme that Wine”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJnQoi8DSE8

Coastal California Pinot Noir in Short Supply
http://www.winesandvines.com/template.cfm?section=news&content=169740

Pacific Northwest Vineyard track ahead of 2015
http://www.greatnorthwestwine.com/2016/06/06/pacific-northwest-vineyards-track-ahead-of-2015/

Syrah plays vital role in Northwest red blends
http://www.greatnorthwestwine.com/2016/06/05/syrah-red-blends/

Size of Wine Glass Matters, Study Says
https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2016/06/size-does-matter-cambridge-study-concludes/

Is this the biggest threat to the San Francisco Bay Area's
    billion dollar wine industry?
http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/blog/2016/06/ava-startup-threat-to-bay-area-wine-industry.html

Salesforce to buy Demandware for $2.8 billion
  Transaction to Close July 31, 2017
http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/blog/techflash/2016/06/salesforce-to-buy-burlington-based-demandware.html

Auction Napa Valley raises $14.3 million for charities
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/5675534-181/auction-napa-valley-raises-142?artslide=0

Pennsylvania is not for wine lovers
http://www.post-gazette.com/opinion/Op-Ed/2016/06/05/Pennsylvania-is-not-for-wine-lovers-1/stories/201606050146

Free Mobile Wine Program
http://leasingnews.org/archives/Feb2010/2_26.htm#mobile

Wine Prices by vintage
http://www.winezap.com
http://www.wine-searcher.com/

US/International Wine Events
http://www.localwineevents.com/

Leasing News Wine & Spirits Page
http://two.leasingnews.org/Recommendations/wnensprts.htm

     1670 - A Virginia slavery act decreed that slaves who had become Christians before their importation were not liable to lifelong servitude. This law reflected the moral concern felt in America over the enslavement of Christians.
    1697 - The husband of Hannah Duston was awarded the sum of 25 pounds (equivalent to today dollar about $10,000) for her heroic efforts, the first public award to a woman in America. On March 16 of the same year, in an attack on Haverhill, Massachusetts, Indians captured Hannah Duston and killed her baby, killing or capturing 39 others in addition. After being taken to an Indian camp, she escaped on April 29 after killing 10 Indians with a tomahawk and scalping them as proof of her deed.
    1786 - The first ice cream to be made commercially was sold by Mr. Hall of 76 Chatham Street (now Park Row), New York City, who advertised its sale.
    1789 - James Madison introduced twelve proposed amendments to the Constitution in the House.  By 1791, ten of them were ratified by the state legislatures and became the Bill of Rights.  Another was eventually ratified in 1992 to become the 27th Amendment.
    1816 - Mary Lucinda Bonney’s (1816-1900) birthday; educator and reformer who organized and headed a successful women's school in Philadelphia as well as the Central Indian Committee which campaigned for the U.S. to honor its Indian treaties. Under her leadership, the plan to allot land to individual Indians was developed and approved by Congress.
http://www.school.eb.com/women/articles/Bonney_Mary_Lucinda.html
    1851 - The "Alta" published a proposal for a citizens committee of safety following an outbreak of lawlessness and arson.
    1852 - Chinese laborers on the three-story granite Parrott Building, first fireproof structure in town, went on strike in 1852, demanding more pay.  Since only they could read the characters on the building's granite blocks, which had been cut, dressed, and numbered in China, they got it.
    1861 - Tennessee seceded from the Union in a two to one vote in the state.  (lower half of: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/jun08.html )
    1862 - At the Battle of Cross Keys, Virginia, Confederate forces under Gen. Stonewall Jackson saved the Army of Northern Virginian from a Union assault on the James Peninsula led by Gen. George McClellan.
    1863 - Residents of Vicksburg flee into caves as General Ulysses S. Grant's army begins shelling the town.
    1867 - The birthday of perhaps the greatest American architect, Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959), born at Richland Center, WI. In his autobiography, Wright wrote: "No house should ever be on any hill or on anything. It should be of the hill, belonging to it, so hill and house could live together each the happier for the other." http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/jun08.html
    1869 - Ives W. McGaffey of Chicago, Illinois obtained a patent on a "sweeping machine," a light hand-powered suction device for surface cleaning. Although he did not coin the word "Vacuum Cleaner," he is credited with its invention. Melville Reuben Bissell of Grand Rapids, MI, in 1876 received a patent on a "broom action: variable pressure sweeper, responsive to different grades of floor covering. The first vacuum cleaner driven by a motor was invented by John S. Thurman of the General Compressed Air and Vacuum Machinery Company, St. Louis, MO, in 1899 for a "pneumatic carpet renovator." Vacuum Cleaner came into the American language as a shorter name of maker, it was a "Vacuum" cleaner.
    1869 - Pioneer Japanese immigrants establish a tea and silk farm colony at Gold Hill, California. Americans of Japanese ancestry (Nisei) lived in this country and struggled courageously for freedom and equality. This heritage was attacked following Pearl Harbor as they were shipped off to concentration camps and their homes, businesses, and property were stolen from them.
    1886 – Congress passed the first Civil Rights Act.
    1982 – In the act that triggered the litigation, Homer A. Plessy refused to go to a segregated railroad car (Plessy v. Ferguson).
    1893 - Birthday of Dorothy Deming, author of the Penny Marsh books on nursing as a career.
http://www.seriesbooks.com/demingdorothy.htm
http://www.elliemik.com/helpwanted.html
    1906 - Pianist Frank "Sweet" Williams
    1906 - Birthday of guitarist Willie Morris, Bolton, MS. http://www.adelphirecords.com/video/JugBand.html
    1906 - Birthday of Pianist Billie Pierce (1906-74) was born Wilhelmina Goodson in Marianna, Florida.  Known best for performing with DeDe Pierce, she was a boogie-woogie piano player with a distinctive blues shouting style that was reportedly unforgettable.
http://www.louisianamusicfactory.com/showsearchresults.asp?&
OutletID=1&SearchField=a&SearchString=Pierce
http://music.kelkoo.co.uk/b/a/cpc_150701_vtl_artist_c15332934.html
http://www.enigmaterial.com/jazz/ph1966/ph66_bpierce.html
    1906 – President Theodore Roosevelt signed the Antiquities Act into law, authorizing the President to restrict the use of certain parcels of public land with historical or conservation value.
    1909 – Clarence “Cack” Henley of the San Francisco Seals in the Pacific Coast league threw the longest complete game shutout in professional baseball history. Henley threw 24 scoreless innings against the Oakland Oaks before finally winning, 1-0…guessing on his pitch count???!
    1916 - Birthday of Canadian trumpeter and bandleader Johnny Holmes, in Montreal.
    1917 – Walt Disney graduated from Benton HS.
    1917 - Birthday of Byron Raymond (Whizzer) White (1917-2002) at Fort Collins, CO.  Retired Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the US, nominated by President Kennedy Apr 3, 1962. White was an All-American halfback for the University of Colorado.   He also played basketball and baseball. After graduation he signed with the NFL’s Pittsburgh Pirates (now Steelers) after they selected him in Round 1 of the 1938 NFL Draft, and he played the 1938 season. He led the league in rushing in his rookie season and became the game's highest-paid player. He won a Rhodes scholarship to the University of Oxford and, after having deferred it for a year to play football, he decided to attend.  After Oxford, White played for the Detroit Lions from 1940 to 1941. He led the league in rushing in 1938 and 1940, and he was one of the first "big money" NFL players, making $15,000 a year.  His career was cut short when he entered the Navy during World War II; after the war, he elected to attend law school rather than return to football. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1954.
    1921 - Birthday of Alexis Smith (1921-93), born Margaret Alexis Fitzsimmons Smith in Penticton, BC.  After moving to southern California as a child, she attended Hollywood HS and LA City College where she was discovered.  She was an actress who starred with many of Hollywood's most sought-after leading men including Cary Grant, Clark Gable, and Errol Flynn in the 1940s and 50s. She won a Tony in 1972 for her sensational performance as the cynical and aging former showgirl in “Follies”. She was the patron for U.S. novelist Rita Mae Brown.  Her sole survivor was her husband of 49 years, actor Craig Stevens who played “Peter Gunn” on the TV series.
    1921 – LeRoy Nieman (1921-2012) was born Leroy Leslie Runquist in St. Paul, MN.  He was an artist known for his brilliantly colored, expressionist paintings and screen prints of athletes, musicians, and sporting events.   
    1925 - Birthday of Barbara Pierce Bush, former First Lady, was born in NYC.  She met George Herbert Walker Bush at age 16, and the two married in 1945, while he was on leave during his deployment as a naval officer in World War II.  They had six children together, among them former President George H. Bush and former FL Governor Jeb Bush.
    1925 – Eddie Gaedel (1925-61) was born in Chicago with dwarfism.  On August 19, 1951 for the St. Louis Browns, he was called into pinch-hit against the Detroit Tigers.  Standing a mere 3’ 7”, he was walked on four pitches, was replaced by a pinch-runner, and never played again.  The owner of the Browns at the time was Bill Veeck.  His death was gruesome.  On June 18, 1961, the unemployed Gaedel, who had just turned 36, was at a bowling alley in Chicago. Gaedel was followed home and beaten. His mother discovered him lying dead in his bed.
    1933 – Comedian and writer Joan Rivers (1933-2014) was born Joan Alexandra Molinsky in Brooklyn.  She died of cardiac arrest in an operating room September 4, 2014; age 81.
    1936 - Birthday of actor-singer James Darren was born James William Ercolani in Philadelphia, PA. 
http://www.jamesdarren.com/
http://celebhost.net/jamesdarren/
    1937 - Eight-and-one-half-foot giant Calla Lily blooms, New York Botanical Gardens.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2001/06/05/MN182256.DTL
    1939 - Soprano saxophone player Sidney Bechet records "Summertime," (Blue Note 6)
    1940 - Birthday of singer Nancy Sinatra, was born in Jersey City, NJ. Graduate of University High School in West Los Angeles. After forming an association with producer Lee Hazelwood, she made number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1966 with "These Boots Are Made for Walkin". Nancy Sinatra also had several hit duets with Hazelwood, and one with her father, "Somethin' Stupid," in 1967.
http://www.nancysinatra.com/
http://www.theveteran.net/nancy/
http://www.sinatrafamily.com/news/index.php
    1940 – Neptunium (Element 93, Symbol Np, Atomic weight 237) was created at the University of California at Berkeley, CA, by Edwin Mattison McMillan and Philip Hauge Abelson. Neptunium was the first element created that was heavier than uranium, the heaviest naturally occurring element.
    1942 - Chuck Negron, lead vocalist for Three Dog Night, was born in New York City. Three Dog Night, formed in Los Angeles in 1968, became one of the most commercially successful American rock bands of the 1970's. Negron had been a session vocalist before he was recruited by group founder Danny Hutton. Three Dog Night's first album in 1969 yielded a million-seller, "One," and after that they were seldom absent from the charts. Among their other hits were "Easy to Be Hard," "Joy to the World" and "An Old-Fashioned Love Song." The group also had a number of best-selling albums. Three Dog Night's commercial magic had waned by 1975, and the group gradually broke up. The three original vocalists of Three Dog Night - Chuck Negron, Danny Hutton and Cory Wells - reunited in 1981.
    1944 - Birthday of Boz Scaggs, singer, musician, songwriter (“Silk Degress”, “Middle Man”), born William Royce Skaggs in Canton, OH. Following two albums with the Steve Miller Band in the late 1960's, he spent nearly a decade trying to make it as a solo act. Scaggs finally made it in 1976 with the album "Silk Degrees," which sold five-million copies. Singles from the LP, "Lowdown," made it to number three and “Lido Shuffle” to #13  on the Hot 100.
    1944 - *PEREGORY, FRANK D., Medal of Honor
Rank and organization: Technical Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company K 116th Infantry, 29th Infantry Division. Place and date: Grandcampe France, 8 June 1944. Entered service at: Charlottesville, Va. Born. 10 April 1915, Esmont, Va. G.O. No.: 43, 30 May 1945. Citation: On 8 June 1944, the 3d Battalion of the 116th Infantry was advancing on the strongly held German defenses at Grandcampe, France, when the leading elements were suddenly halted by decimating machinegun fire from a firmly entrenched enemy force on the high ground overlooking the town. After numerous attempts to neutralize the enemy position by supporting artillery and tank fire had proved ineffective, T/Sgt. Peregory, on his own initiative, advanced up the hill under withering fire, and worked his way to the crest where he discovered an entrenchment leading to the main enemy fortifications 200 yards away. Without hesitating, he leaped into the trench and moved toward the emplacement. Encountering a squad of enemy riflemen, he fearlessly attacked them with hand grenades and bayonet, killed 8 and forced 3 to surrender. Continuing along the trench, he single-handedly forced the surrender of 32 more riflemen, captured the machine gunners, and opened the way for the leading elements of the battalion to advance and secure its objective. The extraordinary gallantry and aggressiveness displayed by T/Sgt. Peregory are exemplary of the highest tradition of the armed forces.
    1945 - *LESTER, FRED FAULKNER, Medal of Honor
Rank and organization: Hospital Apprentice First Class, U.S. Navy. Born: 29 April 1926, Downers Grove, Ill. Accredited to: Illinois. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a Medical Corpsman with an Assault Rifle Platoon, attached to the 1st Battalion, 22d Marines, 6th Marine Division, during action against enemy Japanese forces on Okinawa Shima in the Ryukyu Chain, 8 June 1945. Quick to spot a wounded marine lying in an open field beyond the front lines following the relentless assault against a strategic Japanese hill position, Lester unhesitatingly crawled toward the casualty under a concentrated barrage from hostile machineguns, rifles, and grenades. Torn by enemy rifle bullets as he inched forward, he stoically disregarded the mounting fury of Japanese fire and his own pain to pull the wounded man toward a covered position. Struck by enemy fire a second time before he reached cover, he exerted tremendous effort and succeeded in pulling his comrade to safety where, too seriously wounded himself to administer aid, he instructed 2 of his squad in proper medical treatment of the rescued marine. Realizing that his own wounds were fatal, he staunchly refused medical attention for himself and, gathering his fast-waning strength with calm determination, coolly and expertly directed his men in the treatment of 2 other wounded marines, succumbing shortly thereafter. Completely selfless in his concern for the welfare of his fighting comrades, Lester, by his indomitable spirit, outstanding valor, and competent direction of others, had saved the life of 1 who otherwise must have perished and had contributed to the safety of countless others. Lester's fortitude in the face of certain death sustains and enhances the highest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.
   1946 - Harmonica player, composer, band leader James Harman birthday, born Anniston, AL.
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=Bxt6uaknk5m3v
    1947 - Birthday of detective writer Sara Paretskey in Ames, IA.  She is best known as the author of the Chicago-based detective series featuring the opera singing, liberal feminist, V. I. Warshawski, who lacks house cleaning and cooking abilities, but is "hard boiled."  “Killing Orders”, “Burn Marks”.  
http://www.saraparetsky.com/
http://www.valueshop.com/bkgpparetsky.html
http://www.cwru.edu/artsci/engl/marling/hardboiled/Paretsky.HTM
    1948 - The first African-American officer commissioned in the Marine Corps was John Earl Rudder, a midshipman in the regular Naval Reserve Officers' Training Corps at Purdue University, Lafayette, IN.  He was commissioned as a second lieutenant and he served as an enlisted man in the Marine Corps Reserve from July 24, 1943 to June 26, 1946.
    1948 - Milton Berle starred on the "Texaco Star Theatre." He soon earned the nickname "Mr. Television", and he continued to be America's top TV comedian until 1956. In 1948, only about one percent of America's homes had TV. However, by 1956, thanks in large part to Berle, the percentage was much higher. When Berle was on, theatres often closed and neighborhood taverns noted a big decrease in business.
http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/M/htmlM/miltonberle/miltonberle.htm
http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/B/htmlB/berlemilton/berlemilton.htm
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0040041/
    1949 - An FBI report named as Communists celebrities Helen Keller, Dorothy Parker, Danny Kaye, Fredric March, John Garfield, Paul Muni, and Edward G. Robinson.
    1949 – George Orwell’s “1984” was published. The novel is set in Airstrip One (formerly known as Great Britain), a province of the superstate Oceania, in a world of perpetual war, omnipresent government surveillance and public manipulation, dictated by a political system under the control of a privileged Inner Party elite that persecutes individualism and independent thinking as "thought crimes."  The tyranny is epitomized by Big Brother, the quasi-divine Party leader who enjoys an intense cult of personality but who may not even exist. The Party "seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power.”
    1950 – The Boston Red Sox defeated the St. Louis Browns, 29-4. It was a one game baseball record for scoring. Al Zarilla of the Sox scored four doubles in the game.
    1951 – Top Hits
“Too Young” – Nat King Cole
“On Top of Old Smokey” – The Weavers (vocal: Terry Gilkyson)
“How High the Moon” – Les Paul & Mary Ford
“I Want to Be with You Always” – Lefty Frizzell
    1951 – Birthday of rock singer Bonnie Tyler, born Gaynor Hopkins in Skewen, near Swansea, South Wales.  Her biggest hit is the million-selling  “Total Eclipse of the Heart’’ in 1983. The single tops Billboard’s Hot 100 for four weeks.
http://www.80smusiclyrics.com/artists/bonnietyler.htm
http://www.bonnietyler.com/main.html
    1953 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that restaurants in the District of Columbia could not refuse to serve blacks.
    1953 - A 1/2 mile wide tornado struck Flint, Michigan. 115 people were killed making it the worst tornado in the state's history. This tornado, rated F5 on the Fujita scale, was the last single tornado in the U.S. to kill over 100 people.   116 were killed, 844 injured, and 340 homes destroyed.
    1954 - Record promoters officially began phasing out 78s and giving 45s to radio DJs instead.  How many under the age of 50 will understand this statement?
    1955 – The Brooklyn Dodgers optioned left-handed pitcher Tommy Lasorda to the minor league Montreal Royals to make room for Sandy Koufax who had been on the disabled list.  In 1954, during a tryout for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Koufax's fastball broke the thumb of the team's bullpen coach. Branch Rickey, by then the GM of the Pirates, told his scout Clyde Sukeforth (of Jackie Robinson fame) that Koufax had the "greatest arm [he had] ever seen.”  Dodgers scout Al Campanis heard about Koufax from a local sporting goods store owner. After seeing Koufax pitch for Lafayette High School in Brooklyn, Campanis invited him to an Ebbets Field tryout. With Dodgers manager Walter Alston and scouting director Fresco Thompson watching, Campanis assumed the hitter's stance while Koufax started throwing. Campanis later said, "There are two times in my life the hair on my arms has stood up: The first time I saw the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and the second time, I saw Sandy Koufax throw a fastball."  The Dodgers signed Koufax for a $6,000 ($53,000 today) salary, with a $14,000 ($123,000 today) bonus. Because Koufax's signing bonus was greater than $4,000 ($35,000 today), he was forced to remain on the roster for at least two years before he could be sent to the minors.
 
    1957 - Birthday of Scott Adams, cartoonist, creator of "Dilbert," born Windham, NY.
    1959 - Top Hits
“Dream Lover” - Bobby Darin
“Personality” - Lloyd Price
“Quiet Village” - Martin Denny
“The Battle of New Orleans” - Johnny Horton
    1959 - "I Only Have Eyes for You" by the six man, Chicago vocal group, The Flamingos, enters the Billboard chart, where it will reach #11.  This is a doo-wop all-timer and one that was great for submarine race-watching!
    1960 - Roy Orbison released "Only the Lonely.”
    1961 - A Major League Baseball record was set when four Milwaukee Braves batters – Eddie Mathews, Hank Aaron, Joe Adcock, and Frank Thomas -  hit consecutive home runs in the game's seventh inning. They still lost to the Cincinnati Reds, 10-8.
    1961 - Elvis Presley's seventh film, "Wild in the Country" premiers.
    1962 - Birthday of Nick Rhodes of Duran Duran who was born Nicholas James Bates in England.
http://www.vh1.com/artists/az/duran_duran/bio.jhtml
http://www.duranduran.com/
http://www.duranduran.co.uk/
    1963 - The Essex release "Easier Said Than Done," a song that will climb to #1 on both the US Pop and R&B charts.  Founding members Walter Vickers (guitar) and Rodney Taylor (drums) were members of the US Marine Corps stationed in Okinawa, Japan.  After being transferred to Camp LeJeune, NC, they enlisted fellow Marines Billy Hill and Rudolph Johnson as group members.  Next they added a female lead singer, Anita Humes, another Marine.
    1963 - The Crystals' "Da Doo Ron Ron" peaks at #3 on the Billboard Pop chart. The effort is the brain child of Phil Spector, who uses a multi-track recording system to build the song layer upon layer to achieve a result that will become known as a "wall of sound". Backing musicians include Glen Campbell on guitar, Hal Blain on drums, Leon Russell on piano and Nino Tempo on sax.
    1965 - President Johnson authorizes commanders in Vietnam to commit U.S. ground forces to combat.
    1963 - American Heart Association became the first agency to campaign against cigarettes
    1965 – Major League Baseball held its first free agent draft and the Kansas City A’s chose Rick Monday as the first overall pick.  Picking second, the Mets picked Les Rohr and they waited until the 10th round to choose Nolan Ryan.  Johnny Bench was chosen by the Reds in the second round after they selected Bernie Carbo in the first.  Other notables:  Minnesota chose Graig Nettles in the 4th round, the Kansas City A’s chose Sal Bando in the 6th round, Tom Seaver was chosen by the Dodgers in the 10th round, Nolan Ryan in the 12th by the Mets.
    1966 - Merle James Smith, Jr. of Baltimore, MD, part of the class of 113 cadets who were graduated this day, became the first African-American Coast Guard Academy graduate. The ceremony was held at Jones Field, New London, CT. His commission was presented to him by his father, a colonel in the regular army.
    1966 - A tornado ripped right through the heart of the capitol city of Topeka, KS, killing sixteen persons and causing $100 million damage. The tornado, which struck during the evening, cut a swath of near total destruction eight miles long and four blocks wide. It was the most destructive tornado of record up until that time.
    1966 - The Elvis Presley film “Paradise Hawaiian Style'' premieres.
    1967 - Top Hits
“Respect” - Aretha Franklin
“Release Me (And Let Me Love Again)” - Engelbert Humperdinck
“Croquet Alley” - The Mamas & the Papas
“It's Such a Pretty World Today” - Wynn Stewart
    1967 - Attack on the USS Liberty. At 2 PM local time, the unescorted US intelligence ship USS Liberty, sailing in international waters off the Egyptian coast, was attacked without warning by Israeli jet planes and three Israeli torpedo boats. She was strafed and hit repeatedly by rockets, cannon, napalm and finally a torpedo. Casualties: out of a crew of 294 Americans, there were 34 dead and 171 wounded. Israel apologized, claiming mistaken identity, but surviving crew members charged deliberate attack by Israel and cover-up by US authorities.
    1968 - The Rolling Stones release "Jumpin' Jack Flash."
    1968 - Don Drysdale, pitcher for LA Dodgers, lost his major league streak of scoreless innings pitched, when it was stopped at 58-2/3 by Howie Bedell, of the Philadelphia Phillies, who hit a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning. The Dodgers did beat the Phillies 5-3 that day. Until 1987, Drysdale's record stood, when it was broken by Orel Hersheiser, also of the Dodgers at that time.
    1968 - During a meeting on Midway Island in the Pacific, President Richard M. Nixon and South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu announce the imminent withdrawal of 25,000 US troops from Vietnam, and emphasize that all remaining US grounds troops will eventually be replaced by South Vietnamese forces. In 1961, President John F. Kennedy had sent the first large force of US military personnel to Vietnam to bolster the ineffectual autocratic regime of South Vietnam against the Communist North. Three years later, with the South Vietnamese government crumbling, President Lyndon B. Johnson ordered limited bombing raids on North Vietnam and Congress authorized the use of US troops. By 1965, North Vietnamese offensives left President Johnson with two choices: escalate US involvement or withdraw. Johnson ordered the former, and troop levels soon jumped to over 300,000 as US air forces commenced the largest bombing campaign in history. Over the next few years, the extended length of the war, the high number of US casualties, and the exposure of US involvement in war crimes such as the massacre at My Lai, helped to turn many in the United States against the Vietnam War, and created a perilous national division. In the spring of 1969, as protests in the United States against the war escalated, US troop strength in the war-torn country reached its peak at nearly 550,000. In June, Richard Nixon, the new US president, announced the beginning of US troop withdrawal, but intensified bombing in an effort to salvage the embattled war effort. Large US troop withdrawals continued in the early 1970s, but President Nixon expanded air and ground operations into Cambodia and Laos in attempts to block enemy supply routes along Vietnam's borders. This expansion of the war, which accomplished few positive results, led to new waves of protests in the United States and elsewhere. Finally, in 1973, representatives of the United States, North and South Vietnam, and the Vietcong signed a peace agreement in Paris, ending the US military involvement in the Vietnam War. By the end of 1973, the US contingent in Vietnam had shrunk to only fifty military advisors. On 30 April 1975, the last of these and other US nationals were airlifted out of Vietnam as Communist forces launched their final triumphant offensive into South Vietnam. The Vietnam War was the longest and most unpopular foreign war in US history, cost fifty-eight thousand American lives, many more lives of Vietnamese soldiers from both North and South, uncounted lives of Vietnamese civilians, and long-lasting damage to the environment in Vietnam.
    1968 - James Earl Ray, alleged assassin of Martin Luther King, Jr., was captured.
    1968 – Robert F. Kennedy’s funeral took place at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in NYC.  Immediately following the mass, Kennedy's body was transported by a special private train to Washington, D.C. Thousands of mourners lined the tracks and stations along the route, paying their respects as the train passed. The train departed New York at 12:30 pm.  The four-hour trip took more than eight hours because of the thick crowds lining the tracks on the 225 miles journey to prepare for the interment at Arlington National cemetery next to his slain brother, President John F. Kennedy.
    1969 - New York Yankees honored Mickey Mantle by retiring his number 7 in a ceremony preceding a double-header against the Chicago White Sox. 60,096 fans came out to salute Mantle and to watch the Yankees sweep the Sox, 3-1 and 11-2. The Yankees have retired 22 numbers in all, more than any other baseball team.  They retired #51 for Bernie Williams, #20 for Jorge Posada and #46 for Andy Pettitte in 2015.  Derek Jeter’s #2 and Paul O’Neil’s #21 will likely be retired in the near future.
    1969 – The last episode of “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour” aired on CBS.  The series was a major success, especially considering it was scheduled against the major NBC television series, “Bonanza”, with content that appealed to contemporary youth viewership with daring political satire humor and major music acts.  Despite this success, continual conflicts with network executives over content led to the show being abruptly pulled from the schedule in violation of the Smothers' contract in 1969.  On April 6, 1973, the Federal court ruled in favor of the Smothers and ordered CBS to pay them $766,000. Despite the Smothers' legal victory, the show never returned to the air.  Despite this cancellation, the show won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy, Variety or Music Show.     
    1969 - Having already been fired for his worsening drug use, Brian Jones officially announced that he is leaving the Rolling Stones, saying that he "no longer see(s) eye to eye (with the group about) the discs we are cutting." In less than a month he will be found dead.
    1970 - No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit: “Long and Winding Road,'' The Beatles.
    1973 - After quarterbacking for the Baltimore Colts for 16 of the NFL's most exciting seasons ever, including back-to-back NFL Championships in 1958-59, Johnny Unitas signed a two-year contract to finish out his football career with the San Diego Chargers. He never did look right with bolts on his helmet instead of the horseshoes!!
    1974 - Severe thunderstorms spawned at least twenty-three tornadoes in Oklahoma during the afternoon and evening hours. One of the tornadoes struck the town Drumright killing sixteen persons and injuring 150 others. A tornado struck the National Weather Service office in Oklahoma City, and two tornadoes hit the city of Tulsa. Thunderstorms in Tulsa also produced as much as ten inches of rain. Total damage from the storms was around thirty million dollars. It was the worst natural disaster of record for Tulsa.
    1974 - Paul McCartney and Wings had the top spot on the Billboard singles chart with "Band on the Run," a song on which Paul played bass, guitar and drums.
    1975 - Top Hits
“Thank God I'm a Country Boy” - John Denver
“Sister Golden Hair” - America
“Bad Time” - Grand Funk
“Window Up Above” - Mickey Gilley
    1977 – Kiss’ debut album was certified gold.
    1978 - Through the voice of its president Spencer W. Kimball, the Mormon Church reversed a 148-year-long policy of spiritual discrimination against African- American leadership within the denomination. The declaration extended priesthood and temple blessings to all worthy male members of the Church.  The Mormon attitude about Black church members is little understood outside their church, but here is a site chronicling a group trying to bring "fair" information concerning the LDS.
http://www.ldsblacks.com/history.html
The Official Decision as recorded by the LDSBlacks.com
http://www.ldsblacks.com/declare2.html
About this site:  http://www.ldsblacks.com/gordon.html
    1982 - A re-united Simon & Garfunkel leave for a nine date European tour starting at the Hippodrome d'Auteuil in Paris. It ends June 19th in London.
    1982 – The Ageless One, Leroy ‘Satchel’ Paige (1906-82) died.
    1983 - Top Hits
“Flashdance...What a Feeling” - Irene Cara
“Overkill” - Men at Work
“Time (Clock of the Heart)” - Culture Club
“Lucille (You Won't Do Your Daddy's Will)” - Waylon Jennings
    1986 - In the longest nine inning game in American League history, the Orioles beat the Yankees 18-9 in four hours and sixteen minutes.
    1986 - No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit:  “On My Own,'' Patti LaBelle & Michael McDonald.
    1988 - Overnight thunderstorms in Iowa produced 5.20 inches of rain at Coon Rapids. Thunderstorms in the Florida Keys drenched Tavernier with 7.16 inches of rain in 24 hours. Eleven cities in the central U.S. reported record high temperatures for the date.
    1989 - After the Pirates take a 10-0 lead in Philadelphia by sending 16 batters to the plate in the first inning, Pirate broadcaster Jim Rooker announces if the Bucs lose the game he'll walk back to Pittsburgh. True to his word, the radio by-by-play man organizes a charity walk from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh after the season as a result of the Phillies comeback win over the Pirates, 15-11.
    1989 - Thunderstorms produced severe weather over the Central Gulf Coast Region during the day and evening. Severe thunderstorms spawned 17 tornadoes, including one which injured ten persons and caused a million dollars damage at Orange Beach, AL. Thunderstorm winds gusting to 90 mph killed three persons and injured four others at Mobile, AL. Thunderstorms also deluged Walnut Hill and Avalon Beach, FL, with eight inches of rain.
    1990 - CDR Rosemary Mariner becomes first Navy woman to command a fleet jet aircraft squadron.
    1991 - General Norman Schwarzkopf, commander of Allied forces in Operation "Desert Storm", leads the National Victory Parade up Pennsylvania Avenue past the reviewing stand holding President George H.W. Bush and other dignitaries in the first such military parade held in the nation's capital since the end of World War I. Among the contingents of military units are composite battalions of Air and Army Guard personnel who served in theater.
    1991 - Top Hits
“More Than Words” - Extreme
“I Wanna Sex You Up” - Color Me Badd
“Rush, Rush” - Paula Abdul
“Meet in the Middle” - Diamond Rio
    1991 - Paula Abdul started a two-week run at #1 on the US album chart with "Spellbound".
    1991 - Bruce Springsteen married longtime girlfriend Patti Scialfa in a private ceremony at the couple's mansion in Beverly Hills, California. Bob Dylan was among the guests. It was the second marriage for Springsteen, who divorced model Julianne Phillips in 1988, and the first for Scialfa, who used to sing in Springsteen's E Street Band.
    1995 - The downed Air Force pilot Capt. Scott O’Grady was rescued by US Marines in Bosnia.
    1998 - Former LA Laker Earvin "Magic" Johnson's new late-night talk show averaged a 3 Nielsen rating in its opening night in 40 major cities. It dropped to a 2.1 rating the next two nights, and was soon cancelled.
    1998 - The National Rifle Association elected Charlton Heston its president.
    2001 - For the first time in Major League Baseball history, the two Texas teams play one another in the regular season. The Astros beat their interstate rivals, the Rangers, 5-4 in the first game of the Lone Star Series played in Arlington, Texas. 
  2003 - Billy Joel won a Tony award for the orchestration of his musical, “Movin' Out.”  
    2004 - Tampa Bay holds off the Flames for its First Stanley Cup: Lightning 2, Flames 1
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A23531-2004Jun7.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/08/sports/hockey/08cup.html    
    2005 - Going yard twice in his 4-for-4 day, Alex Rodriquez becomes the 40th and youngest big leaguer to hit 400 career home runs. On the 316th day of 29th year of his life, the Yankee superstar third baseman, who surpasses Ken Griffey Jr. for the honor, connects for a solo shot off Brewers' southpaw Jorge De La Rosa in the eighth inning for the milestone marker.   
    2009 - New York's legendary Apollo Theatre celebrated its 75th anniversary with a concert featuring, among others, The O'Jays and Patti Labelle. During the proceedings, Labelle and Quincy Jones were inducted into the venue's Hall of Fame.
    2010 - Pitcher Stephen Strasburg made the most eagerly anticipated debut in decades before a sell-out crowd in Nationals Park in Washington, DC. The recipient of the largest signing bonus in history lived up to his advance billing, striking out 14 while walking none in seven innings.  The Nationals beat the Pirates, 4-2, for Strasburg's first major league win.
    2010 - Old Man River, otherwise known as Tim Wakefield, rolled along to another milestone, passing Roger Clemens for most innings pitched in Red Sox team history with 2777.
    2010 - The trial of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich began, facing corruption charges regarding his alleged attempt to sell Barack Obama's Senate seat.  He would be convicted in 2012 and is now serving a 14-year prison sentence.
    2013 - For only the second time in Major League history, two games went 18 innings on the same day. The Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Texas Rangers, 4-3 in 18 while the New York Mets lost to the Florida Marlins, 2-1 in 20. 

Stanley Cup Champions
    2004 - Tampa Bay Lightning

NBA Champions
    1982 - Los Angeles Lakers, MVP:  Magic Johnson, L.A.  
    1986 - Boston Celtics, MVP: Larry Bird, Boston.