Comprised to date of 14 members, most who claim to reside in Waverly, established themselves in 2003 with an informal beginning at Ann’s Coffee Shop, formerly on Broad Street in Waverly.

Moving to Becky’s diner when Ann’s closed, the group was soon challenged to come up with a name. After endless hours of senseless debate, and like a scientist that just made a breakthrough and discovery, the acronym ROMEO, or "Retired Old Men Eating Out," was born.

But now, Leon Thomas of Waverly, who is retired from so many elements of the workforce that he is considered a quad-double-dipper by Frank Roney Sr., his cohort, is sporting around a talking monkey in the hopes of a renaming to "Retired Old Monkeys Eating Out."

"Really," said Thomas, "we insult each other."

Insult they do, and birthdays seem to be the worst.

The group places much thought into how they can best insult each other when they gain another year; in age that is.

The former Mayor of Waverly, Dan Leary, has a love for the Irish and is an avid fan of Notre Dame. The group proclaims that Leary also expresses some jealousy each year when rival Navy beats out his beloved team of Notre Dame. So what did they do? They gave him a giant cake that said "Go Navy" on his birthday last year.

But what they did to Leary seems mild in comparison to poor Alan (Doc) Dimon. Missing a thumb on his left hand, for reasons he won’t disclose, the retired old men had to do it - they had a cake created in the shape of a thumb.

But I guess "Doc" didn’t care. He said he can still hitchhike, but only in one direction.

This is a tough gang.

While I dared to join this group on one of their daily jaunts of "eating out," I tried to get this elite group of retired legislators, IBM retirees, Eye Doctors, Veterans and merchants to pass on a bit of their wealth of knowledge; but to no avail.

I asked them first what they thought about the recent financial crisis. "We don’t talk about anything negative," Leon Thomas replied.

Second I asked them why they formed as a group. "To keep the old men off the street," replied a quick witted Frank Roney Sr.

Third I asked them why they dress up like apes some mornings and make insulting cakes. "To look like idiots," came a reply from across the table.

With no luck at all in finding a serious response, we began talking about military service; and I think I nailed it.

Seems their newest member, Frank Fulbrook from Sayre, was one of the first to land on Omaha Beach. Fulbrook had four sons in the Army and one son that is currently serving as a Master Sergeant in the Marines.

With that conversation, a new tone overcame the group and I soon learned that nine of the 14 members served their country.

A wealth of knowledge was brought to the table at that point and I soon realized that the ROMEOs had a vast amount of experience that extended far beyond my years.

"They are a Think Tank," said Jim Raftis about his fellow ROMEOs. "They bring a wealth of knowledge to one table."

And this knowledge has already been tapped into. Leon Thomas noted that the group is sometimes called upon to brainstorm local problems for hopeful solutions.

The group also spreads goodwill by visiting nursing homes and centers to cheer up ailing ROMEO comrades or their families. They also pool their money on occasion to raise funds for a local charitable cause.