Related Articles
Related Articles
May 2005 IBEW Journal RETIREES CLUB OF L.U. 449, POCATELLO, ID—The Retirees Club of Local 449 continues to meet at the union hall in Pocatello. When the snowbirds return, meetings will be moved to Blackfoot. ID, a more central location. Meetings are held the 2nd Tuesday of every month. Following the meetings, members enjoy playing cards before going out to lunch for continued conversation and fellowship. As a service project, a cash donation was made to the local food bank. An acknowledgement was received stating the food bank has been extensively used this winter and the donation was greatly appreciated. Some members, and many spouses, have never toured the JACT Training Facility. Arrangements were made for the club to tour this facility and learn how it operates. Local 449 is soliciting old photographs of IBEW members and/or projects for the upcoming 100th celebration of the Local. Please contact the local office if you can help out with this project New members are always welcome and encouraged to join us. Bob Wetherbee, Pres.
RETIREES CLUB OF L.U. 558, SHEFFIELD, AL—Congratulations to James "Bud" Blackstock on his retirement as apprentice director. He has devoted 35 years total in different aspects of service. He helped many of our apprentices become proud and strong union members. Here’s to you, Bud. May retirement be all you dreamed of. Retirees Club Pres. Tom Whitfield attends many Local 558 meetings and always encourages the younger members in their endeavors as union representatives. We encourage any of our retired members to come by on meeting night and share some of the old times with us. It is always a pleasure to see you. Please make plans to attend the annual June "Retirees Roundup." They enjoy good food and fellowship. Do not miss your opportunity to be part of the fun. For more details contact Pres. Whitfield. We extend our sympathy to the families of all those members who passed away this year. Among those who passed away was Gordon Pesnell, who fought a four-year battle with cancer. Our prayers are with all these families. Get involved with the Retirees Club. It gets better with more participation! Looking for you in June! Belinda Phillips, P.S.
RETIREES CLUB OF L.U. 606, ORLANDO, FL—Our club is always having a great time of feast and fellowship. Throughout the year they have had several luncheons at the union hall. At each of these meetings all of the families bring in non-perishable food items to be donated to the needy apprentices. These apprentices know they can count on retirees when they are in need. The club’s annual October luncheon was held last year at Fort Christmas. The weather was great for an outdoor get-together. The retirees are always looking for new members to join their club. If interested contact Pres. Bob Hamburg. Janet Skipper, P.S.
RETIREES CLUB OF L.U. 654, CHESTER, PA—Local 654 retired Bro. Walter Mitchell and a friend, Ralph Kramer, left the First West Chester Fire Company on Aug. 18, 2004, for the fourth annual 9-11 motorcycle ride to visit all three 9-11 crash sites. A presentation was made at the Flight 93 site in Somerset County, PA, to three volunteer fire companies for their participation. On Saturday the bikers met at the Pentagon parking lot and then preceded north to the World Trade Center site where presentations were made to the New York police, the fire department and the Port Authority. Approximately 1,500 bikes were involved. They drove 960 miles in three and a half days. "Along the route people were out waving flags, blowing horns and waving from overpasses," Bro. Mitchell reported. "People came from across the United States and Canada for the ride. The only bad part was the road into the Flight 93 site, broken black top, tough on a bike. You would think with all the money spent on the war they could fix the road into this area that is honoring those who lost their lives on Flight 93. I’m proud to be a free American. We must never forget." Our thanks to Walt and all the bikers. T. Francis "Jeep" Hanley, P.S. RETIREES CLUB OF L.U. 824, TAMPA, FL—The Retirees Club of Local 824 met Jan. 12, 2005. An outside insurance company was invited to speak at our meeting. Our Club has still not experience the growth we have hoped for, but Rome was not built in a day so we will still keep working for more retirees to attend. When we meet we see many faces we have not seen in a long time. This great fellowship and issues we need to address will keep us going on. For our bothers and sisters who have not retired, we wish them the best this year and hope the labor market and many things we have enjoyed can be achieved to some degree again. Betty S. Watson, P.S.
RETIREES CLUB OF L.U. 948, FLINT, MI—The ‘948 food bank’ has evolved through the year to assist fellow members in need as a result of extended periods of limited work. Donations of money and foods from the active and retired members, sister electrical Local 252 and area merchants have made this project work. The distribution of boxes of nonperishable foods and gift cards for use in local merchant stores ensure the necessities for a family. The Retirees’ Club appreciated the donations of money, goods, and the time devoted to this effort; hopefully this project will be concluded by the time this article is published. Special thanks to Jimmy Harris and Al Carlisle for all the hard work they put into this project. Please remember these Local 948 members who have passed away since last May: Gerald Roberts, Max Glover, Joseph Vincent, Robert Hawkins, Edward Prine, Louis Raspolic, Charles Mark, Glenn Webb, James Powell, Ray Mullaly, Jim Rutherford and Jim Davis. Jack Williams, P.S. NEW JERSEY RETIREES ADVISORY COUNCIL—The IBEW Retirees of New Jersey have long had an established club, the New Jersey Retirees Advisory Council, open to all former active members. We value those who have made important contributions to our labor movement and consider them too valuable to be disregarded. Therefore, we welcome the enlistment of retirees and their spouses from all New Jersey locals with the objective of helping pensioners from all New Jersey locals with enhancing their lives, providing linkage with local unions, providing agendas favoring union interests both locally and nationwide. And, of course, there’s the social aspect of "shooting the breeze" with fellow members or guests over coffee and lunch at no cost to members and their spouses. We hope to see you soon. The meetings are held on the first Monday of the even numbered months of the year, i.e., February, April. June etc., alternately between two mid-state locals: Local 400 at Route 138 E., Wall, NJ; and Local 269, 670 Whitehead Road, Trenton, NJ. Show up—Speak up—Be involved! Joe Collins, P.S. |
