NARFE Chapter 306 Page 1

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1 NARFE Chapter 306 Page 1 NATIONAL ACTIVE AND RETIRED FEDERAL EMPLOYEES Volume 9, Issue 5 Hagerstown MD May 2017 From the Desk of the President NOTES From Your Chapter-President: As May "Kicks-Off" our Springtime, it's Grilling-Season just around the corner, and NARFE members have an "In" with Omaha Steaks! See pg.50 of your current (May 2017) NARFE magazine for this and many more Member Perks - i.e.-vacations, Financial Services, Insurance, Hotels, Car Rentals, Moving Services, Telecommunications and Health Screening! Do you collect a NARFE M-2 Card from a "Prospective" NARFE member? Remember, M-2 Cards are Time Sensitive and should be sent to NARFE HQ A.S.A.P.! The sooner NARFE HQ get the M-2 Cards and get them entered into the NARFE database, the sooner the prospects will receive information about NARFE and the value they provide; they will get a Thank You Letter and be added to regular acquisition mailings. Also, if they have an address, they receive notifications of upcoming Webinars and a "Prospect" version of NARFE NewsWatch. Our Chapter has received a box full of Supplies/Forms from NARFE HQ; we now have F-135/Membership Brochures/Applications and F- 100/Be Prepared For Life's Events, as well as many others - On The Registration Table at our Monthly Membership Meetings! I Hope To See Many Chapter Members At Our June-9TH Picnic; Now Is The Time To Send Your $12.00 Check To: NARFE Chapter-306, to Our Treasurer. We Must Confirm Our Number by Mid-May!!! LEGISLATION: A Quick-Note from Gordon Brown, 2ND Vice President, Maryland NARFE Federation - "MARYLAND HAS A PAC, TOO" - The Maryland Federation is doing the same thing with NARFE-PAC at the State level that NARFE is doing at the national level. There are important issues being considered in the Maryland State Senate and House of Delegates that impact on ALL seniors. The Maryland Federation's State Legislative committee closely follows these issues; committee members attend, and testify at, hearings in the legislature on those issues. Committee members also attend fund raisers for legislators at which they do their best to influence the legislators' actions on issues affecting Maryland NARFE members. All of this costs money so the Maryland Federation established its own PAC-MDPAC. MDPAC urgently needs the support of every NARFE member in Maryland. Contributions to MDPAC can be sent to Mr. Dave Roseman, 9980 Foxborough Circle, Rockville, Md Checks should be payable to MDPAC. V/R-Ed Reed, President. VP Report: Houston, we have a Problem! Well, maybe not that bad, but our Chapter 306 annual Picnic/ Meeting on June 9 th. is in Jeopardy, as of writing this article. At this time, only 5 Chapter Members have paid for the Picnic. To complete the contract with SkyCroft Conference Center, the minimum number of people attending is 20, and we are way short of that number. Our Chapter is responsible for calling SkyCroft with our final attendance count in May. Please, I'm encouraging everyone to send ( Mail ) your check for $12.00 per person ASAP to our Treasurer Pandi Reed, 1204 Virginia Ave., Hagerstown, Md Please Note: make your check out to _NARFE Chapter # 306, NOT to Pandi. Deadline is our next Lunch Meeting on Friday May 12th.. Also, another way of paying for the Picnic Lunch, is to Pay at the May Lunch Meeting in person. The Menu for our Picnic at SkyCroft: Lemon pepper fish, grilled chicken breast, mashed potatoes w/gravy, green beans, garlic French bread, salad bar, condiment bar, and cherry chocolate cake for dessert. What a deal for only $12! Russ Wingerd, Chapter 306 Vice President Treasurer's Report for April Mar. 18, 2017 Balance $ Credits $ Expenses $ Raffle $ April 23, 2017 Balance $ Pandi Reed, Treasurer

2 NARFE Chapter 306 Page 2 Secretary s Report: Minutes of NARFE Chapter 306 April 14, 2017, Regular Meeting President Ed Reed opened the meeting and welcomed 23 members and guests. Ken Bohrer and Joe Costa were welcomed. Ken is employed in the IRS Computing Center in Kearneysville, WV; Joe was employed with the Department of Defense at Letterkenney Army Depot. They will be joining Chapter 306. President Ed led us in the Pledge of Allegiance and offered the invocation. Lunch followed. Russ Wingerd introduced our guest speaker, Dr. Chris Vaccari, cardiologist from Hagerstown Heart, and turned the meeting over to him. Dr. Vaccari addressed heart-related issues such as: What is heart disease? What makes our heart beat? How do we detect coronary disease? He also responded to many questions. CHAPTER BUSINESS MEETING A. Minutes Barb Ware reported that the minutes of the March 10, 2017, meeting appeared in the April newsletter. The minutes were accepted as presented. B. Treasurer s Report Pandi Reed reported the following (after sharing a delightful story ): Monies are due no later than our May meeting for the June 9 picnic; cost is $12 a person Checking account balance is $ Chapter s annual insurance ($100 this year) has been paid The Special Raffle has netted a $368 profit Drawings took place: Free Lunch Dot Buhrman; 50/50 $52 collected; $26 won by Jim Dray; Special Raffle Pandi Reed received $25 C. Speakers Vice President Russ Wingerd May Amy Olack, Commission on Aging June Picnic Randy Burns discussing the Flags of the Civil War September Rhea Von Brandenburg, Rest Haven Funeral Home October and November to be finalized D. Chapter Volunteer Chairperson Reports a. Membership Dorothy Smith was unable to attend today s meeting. In her absence, President Ed reminded all of the Annual Raffle. b. Service Officer Tom Brudenell Alerted us to active scams: someone wanting to check on water; bogus grants; scam related to Google Chrome. Go to scambusters.org for further information c. Sunshine Mary Vera was not at today s meeting. Dot Buhrman had talked with Mary. Barb and Charley mentioned they had met up with Elisabeth and Vance Creech recently. Both are well. d. NARFE/PAC Hilda Wingerd distributed pins to those who had contributed to NARFE/PAC e. Alzheimer s Charley Ware announced the Alzheimer s LONGEST DAY is Wednesday, June 21; he suggested that members make a contribution of $21 to Chapter 306 (checks payable to Chapter 306; indicate Alzheimer s on memo line). A chapter check will then be sent to the Alzheimer s Association. f. Newsletter Dot Buhrman announced that April 24 is the deadline for the May newsletter. She also told us that copies of the Spring 2017 SourceBook (Guide to Retirement Living) are available. g. Hospitality Annual Picnic Vice President Russ Wingerd reminded us that the Annual Picnic will again be held at Skycroft Conference and Retreat Center, 9621 Frostown Road, Middletown, MD 21769; date: Friday, June 9, 2017; cost: $12 a person. Make checks payable to NARFE Hagerstown Chapter 306. NOTE: See directions below. Totem Pole Barb Ware announced there are just two tickets available for I Love a Piano The Music of Irving Berlin. Call Barb at if you can join us on Wednesday, July 19, for this performance! Tickets are $35 each. Summer Dutch Treat Lunch Friday, August 25, at China Buffet in South End Shopping Center, 11:30 a.m.; cost: $7.50 including tax. Just Show Up! h. Legislation Positions still needed to be filled: Legislation Coordinator and Postal Reform Coordinator OLD BUSINESS a. The following Chapter 306 members will be attending the Maryland Federation s 43 rd Biennial State Convention, April 30-May 2, 2017, in Ocean City, MD: Ed and Pandi Reed, Russ and Hilda Wingerd, and Janice Kelsh. b. President Ed Reed attended NARFE National Legislative Training in Alexandria, VA, March c. During the NARFE 2017 Legislative Training Conference, Chapter 306 was thanked by Jason Freeman, NATIONAL NARFE/PAC coordinator, for our $660 that had been contributed by Chapter members. d. A thank you note was received from Karen Horejs, our March speaker. NEW BUSINESS a. Our chapter s fiscal activity will be audited in May. b. NARFE recently unveiled a new Legislative Action Center (LAC) for NARFE members to use to contact their members of Congress; it empowers us to easily become advocates with new functionality in an easy-to-use-format. Go to for details. c. An important issue to be discussed at this year s Maryland Federation Convention will be updating the Federation s By-Laws to reflect changes voted on during NARFE s National Convention. d. NARFE s Maryland Federation has selected our President, Ed Reed, to serve as an Assistant Congressional District Leader for Congressman John K. Delaney s Maryland Voting District 6. In this capacity, Ed will be responsible for relaying any senior or NARFE-related information to our Chapter. Upcoming Chapter 306 Meetings (a) Friday, May 5, 2017 Leadership Team meets at the Commission on Aging at 10:00 a.m. (b) Friday, May 12, 2017 Regular Meeting held at Western Sizzlin Restaurant; gathering time 11:30 a.m. Respectfully submitted, Barbara Ware Barbara Ware, Secretary

3 NARFE Chapter 306 Page 3 Service Officer s report: I came across a website on disaster preparedness, and it suggested this site: Household-Records.shtml and I got this in reply: "Oops! We Can't Find the File Error. So, I reported it on their page for feedback. I don t expect a reply; but I do have an alternative all can use: the NARFE form f-100. I have mentioned this form before; remember? I am in the process of revising/updating my own, and because there are many changes, it is taking some time but not as much time as starting from scratch. I very much recommend using the online fill able version. Find it at Using the online version you can complete and print, later revise as information changes. This is a detailed form,and you will need to allow time to gather all information to complete all the items required. This is a very handy form for keeping a lot of personal information, but also it is invaluable (that word means "very valuable" despite its appearance!) for survivors or as a reference in case of illness. Please take this as a serious exercise for yourself and your loved ones. Tom Brudenell, Service Officer Membership report. You may ask yourself why should we concern ourselves with recruiting new members. It is more important than ever to keep our chapter strong. As our membership gets older and cannot get out to meetings as before our newsletter helps to keep them informed. Other benefits include narfe magazine, webinars about the changes that affect our pay and benefits, service officers who are knowledgable about life changing events can give us the help we need. Dorothy C. Smith, Chair. FEDERAL-LEGISLATION: The Postal Reform Act (H.R.-756) would force current Postal Retirees to enroll in Medicare, Part B in order to retain their FEHBP coverage, which removes their choice in health care decisions and sets a dangerous precedent for All Federal Retirees. The current Postal Reform Bill, "H.R. 756, the Postal Reform Act of 2017," Unfairly places the burden of fixing the Postal Service's financial issues on the backs of its retirees. In a: Feb 13, 2017 article By FederalSoup Staff, titled: "Federal Employee Group Rejects Reform Bill" - The president of NARFE issued a statement opposing recent bipartisan supported postal reform legislation. NARFE President Richard G. Thissen said forcing current postal retirees and survivors to pay an additional $134 per month for health care coverage and enroll in Medicare is not the best way for the USPS to save money. Thissen said other possibilities to increase revenue include allowing USPS to ship alcohol or provide financial services and allowing USPS to pay its health insurance bills when they are due, and not before and end the pre funding requirement. "NARFE has offered an alternative that is simple, fair and reasonable: Maintain automatic enrollment of current postal retirees into Medicare Part B, but provide them with a short opt-out window of 60 or 90 days," he said, adding, "Without this option, the bill breaks a promise regarding postal retiree health benefits." Activism is important at all times, and contacting our Congressional representatives should be done whenever issues arise that impact the interests of our federal retirees. We cannot afford to become complacent. Our elected officials know they have a large number of current and retired federal employees as constituents. 1. Go to: NARFE.org -&- "Click-On-Legislation" 2. When there, send s = "Against: Postal-Reform-Bill" = "Automatically-by-Clicking-On-It"!! 3. Call or visit the Congressional Office that is closest to you. Let them know you are a constituent, the job you hold or held as a federal employee and you'd like to share with them the same message we (NARFE) are sharing in Washington DC. 4. Go to the NARFE website (NARFE.org), click the legislative tab, click the topic you want to share, follow the prompts and send your Congressional Representative and senators the information about the topic. V/R-Ed Reed, NARFE Chapter President - &- MD-NARFE-Congressional-District-6-Asst.-Leader (CDL). O.B.T.W.- Our Chapter "Really-Needs-A- Volunteer- Legislation-Chair."-- "Would-You-Please-Consider-This"??? NARFE PAC REPORT WHAT IS NARFE-PAC? * NARFE's political action committee (PAC ), the political arm of NARFE. * Raises and spends money to elect fed-friendly members of Congress. * Builds strong relationships between NARFE and lawmakers. * Works in concert with lobbying and grassroots efforts to defend your pay and benefits. Hilda Wingerd - NARFE- PAC Chair.

4 NARFE Chapter 306 Page 4 For The Good of The Chapter Chapter 306 Special Annual Raffle We have only 2 more months on the current Raffle (May and June) But the new entries will be kept separate until after our June picnic. Then the old ones will be destroyed. The entries are the same price as this past year $25 for 6; $14 for 3 and $5 for 1. We are already accepting new entries for the September 2017 through June 2018 drawings. Entries can be made at the chapter meetings or by mail to; Dorothy C. Smith 1058 Matthew Ct. Hagerstown, MD SPECIAL ANNUAL RAFFLE ENTRY PRINT NAME MONTHLY PRIZE $25. ADDRESS Starting September 2017 Through June 2018 (10 months) Phone number - - 0r - - Attached is payment of $ for entries $5.00 for 1 ENTRY; $14.00 FOR 3 ENTRIES $25.00 FOR 6 ENTRIES Make payment to: NARFE Chapter 306, Annual Raffle Forms may be returned at monthly meetings or by mail to the Coordinator. Dorothy C Smith 1058 Matthew Ct. Hagerstown MD *** A very special Acknowledgement to Lawrence Hoeck for his generous contribution ($250.00) toward the printing and mailing cost of our monthly newsletter. Larry, THANK YOU!!!*** April 14, 2017 food donations were taken to the South High Food Pantry by Charley and Barb Ware. DIRECTIONS TO SKYCROFT (Skycroft is located 14 miles northwest of Frederick just off US Alternate Route 40) From South and East: 1) Take I-70 exit 49 (Braddock Heights/ Middletown exit), turn left on Alternate Route 40 and go 9 miles to the top of South Mountain. Turn right towards Washington Monument State Park. 2) At the stop sign turn right on Monument Road, make the next right on Michael Road. Go ½ mile and turn right onto Skycroft driveway. From North and West: 1) Take I-70 to exit 35 (Route 66) and go south 5 miles to Boonsboro. When the road ends, turn left on US Alternate Route 40 and follow for 3 miles to the top of South Mountain. Turn left towards Washington Monument State Park and then follow instructions for #2 above. *** A new address for Burt & Jean McKenney, Tranquility Circle Room #123, Hagerstown, MD *** Our next Business Meeting will be Friday, May 5, :00 am at the new Senior Activities Center & Offices of The Washington County Commission On Aging, 535 East Franklin St. Hagerstown MD. We plan to have Lunch following our meeting, location to be determined. You are welcome to join us for the meeting as well as lunch, Dutch treat. May 12, 2017 Membership Luncheon Meeting (11:45 am) at The Western Sizzlin Steakhouse, York Rd, Hagerstown MD. Our speaker will be Amy Olack, Executive Director of the Washington County Commission on Aging, addressing programs for Senior Citizens. If you are thinking of supporting the Chapter Treasury would you consider donating a gift of $25.00 the month of your birthday? Our current Birthday sponsors are Barbra Boward, and Janice Kelch, we wish Barbara and Janice a very Happy Birthday!

5 NARFE Chapter 306 Page 5 PAID AD PAGE We encourage you to check out our sponsors! DOLCE Gourmet Pizza & Eastern European Restaurant / Frederick Street, Hagerstown MD Monday Saturday 11am-9pm Closed Sunday New Beginnings Christian Fellowship Sunday Worship 10;30am George Snyder, Pastor A new start up Church meeting at the nbcf@aol.com Chewsville Community Center White Hall Road Chewsville Maryland Senior Care Provider Agnes Willis-Price Karen Horejs, Realtor PREMIER REALTY Valley Mall Road Hagerstown MD Karensteam@kw.com Phone Mobile: Office: Experienced Geriatric Caregiver In home. 30 Years experience Professional Care references. Respite care with 24 hr notice Phone Cell