U.S. Success Prompts IBEW Member To Seek World Title in Arm Wrestling

An arm wrestling tournament at a local fair in Minnesota caught Harold Ryden’s attention three years ago and now he’s a U.S. amateur champion who moved up to the professional ranks and finished eighth in the world.

Brother Ryden has been an IBEW member for six years and is now a member of Local 569, San Diego, California. He says he learned a lot about conditioning, training and technique early in his career, when he won "numerous titles throughout the Midwest before I moved California, where I took first place in the 80k right-handed competition in the Petaluma World Championships."

That success convinced him to try it among the pros. He qualified for Team USA and a berth in the world championships, where he finished eighth. He is still very new to the sport, he says, "and I have not come close to the titles I intend to win."

He credits a lot of arm wrestling success to training with a disciplined group of competitors. His personal schedule includes plenty of one-arm pull-ups, rope climbing, sit-ups and lots of table time, he says, "and, just for fun, sometimes I pick up the kids and use them as my hammer curls."

Local 387, Diamondbacks
Form Winning Team

Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Curt Schilling throws out the first pitch to open the junior baseball field named after him.

If the Arizona Diamondbacks develop any homegrown major league baseball stars, IBEW Local 387 could have a role in it. Volunteer members of the local have installed the lights for the six fields and the work will continue in partnership with Arizona Public Service (APS), Diamondbacks Charities and individual players.

"This program is an excellent way of showing our appreciation to the communities we serve," said Local 387 President Sam Hoover. Hoover said IBEW members in Arizona and at the Four Corners Plant in New Mexico also take part each year in school-lighting projects; clothing and food drives and are big supporters of the United Way’s Community Service Fund (CFS) Campaign. APS’ Community Service Fund and employee donations will exceed $453,000—dollars that Hoover said will be going back into the community throughout 2003. And particularly satisfying, he said, is "the amount of joy you see in the eyes of the crowd at each new baseball field dedication."

Honoring
Minnesota Korean War Veterans

Left - President Denny Tammen, Frank Vitorio and Business Manager Jim Brown check the lights installed by Local 242, Duluth, Minnesota, volunteers at the new Korean War Veterans Memorial. The memorial was dedicated August 23 and honors veterans of the Korean War from Northern Minnesota.

Applications for the 2004 Union Plus Scholarship program are now available. To download an application go to www.unionplus.org/
scholarships  or send a postcard with your name, return address, telephone number and international union affiliation to: Union Plus Education Foundation, c/o Union Privilege, P.O. Box 34800, Washington, DC 20043-4800.

The application deadline is January 31, 2004. Recipients’ names for the 2004 program will be announced on May 32, 2002. Only the winners will be notified.

This year, 105 students, representing 42 unions were selected to receive $150,000 in scholarships. Since 1992, the program has provided more than $1.8 million to union members or their families who want to begin or continue their secondary education.

For more information about all the Union Plus programs, visit www.unionplus.org