They call themselves “The Martians.” Not because they are from outer space.  Not because they are astronauts, or former astronauts, or even astrophysicists.

True, some of them may have a background in physics, chemistry or other sciences, but that has nothing to do with how they named themselves.

Nope, they are just a bunch of guys who enjoy getting together once a week and have been doing so without fail for 17 years.

The Martian name came from the 1992 book, “Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus.”

 “That was our inspiration,” said Jack Kulas, 74, one of the founding members who today serves as chief organizer. “It started when four friends from the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Gainesville (UUFG) met at Sandy’s Place on July 12, 2008, after an event at UUFG. One of the four emailed the others and said, ‘That was fun. Let’s do it again.’”

So, they did. Again and again. The idea caught fire, expanding and contracting over the years, with friends outside UUFG; currently, with 20 people on the email list. The group holds biweekly Saturday lunches and, on the Saturdays they don’t dine together, they meet via Zoom.

The meetings have no program.

“There is no agenda at the lunches or Zoom calls. Whatever the guys want to talk about is what is talked about,” Kulas said.

In other words, the Martians’ gatherings are a take on the song, “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” by Cyndi Lauper, only in this case, it’s guys who just want to have fun.

It seems more usual for women to have regular social gatherings for lunch or dinner than men, which is what caught Mainstreet’s eye about the Martians.

As of this writing, the Martians have held a total of 555 meetings, which include 369 meetups for lunch and 186 Zoom sessions. They have dined at 125 venues; some just once, and the most popular for them, Public & General, 20 times. Some 29 restaurants have hosted the Martians four or more times.

Kulas picks the restaurants, taking suggestions from other Martians or looking for new places that have just opened or someplace where they haven’t been in the past two years. Some 29 restaurants fit that qualification.

“The only requirement for the restaurant is that it serves beer, the Martians’ sacrament,” Kulas said.

The meeting where Mainstreet was present was at Sandy’s Place, where the first-ever get-together took place before they dubbed themselves the Martians. So, it seemed fitting for them to return to the scene of the “prime.”

At this meeting, after introductions were made, the talk turned from politics to music to dead rock stars from the 60s to Ron Lange’s expertise as a wine connoisseur. Sixty-two-year-old Lange is the youngest Martian. The oldest is 91-year-old Denis Whittaker. Four Martians have passed away since the group began meeting.

The Martians continue to attract new members and diehards. Mike Winslow, 80, joined this year.

“Jack told me about all the old guys hanging out twice a month,” said Winslow, a retired chemistry teacher at Oak Hall School. “I came just out of curiosity at first. I haven’t been offended yet, although they tried,” he joked.

Bud Jones, 89, joined in 2018 because he “felt a real need at the time. My wife was going through dementia, and it gave me a break once a week from taking care of her. And I really enjoyed the objectives of the group, visiting restaurants and drinking beer.

Founding member Paul Avery, 74, a retired University of Florida physics professor and an original member, said he is pleased that the group decided to continue to meet via Zoom on alternate weeks, after first starting virtual sessions during the pandemic.

“As Covid receded over time, we realized we liked the weekly format, so we meet alternately on Zoom or in person. The Zoom meetings also allow friends who have moved away to attend and stay in touch,” Avery said, as two Martians now live in upstate New York and Kansas City.

The Martians have every intention of continuing their gatherings. What they’ve got going is certainly not a “bromance,” but they sure do have a lot of fun.