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Spring/Summer, 2013
Greetings Retirees:
Our next meeting will be Monday, September 23, 2013 at 7 p.m. at Jack Tate’s, 22144 Morley.
President’s Report:
Hopefully everyone survived the winter and that this newsletter finds you in good health and spirits.
This will be a busy year election wise, not only for the various city offices, mayor, council, etc. but also we will be having elections this fall for officers for our association. According to our by-laws, elections are held every two years in the fall of odd numbered years and terms are two years. The new officers will take over at the annual Christmas dinner in early December. Nominations will be at the fall meeting which this year will be on September 23 at 7 p.m. According to the by-laws, if only one person is nominated for an office that person shall be declared the winner, if more than one person is nominated then ballots will be mailed to members in good standing.
The offices up for election are:
President
Vice-President
Secretary
Treasure
Trustees (3)
Sgt. at Arms.
On a personal note, I have decided not to run for re-election as president of the association. A few years ago Jim Sarb, Dave Wood and I agreed to run for office with the hopes of keeping the association up and running. At the time there was real concern about what the city might try to do to our health care and a viable retiree association seemed important. The association is in good shape and with a few changes in my life, I feel it is time to move on and let someone else take the reins. Jim Sarb, Dave Wood and Ed Sikora as secretary have done a good job and deserve your support if they should choose to run for re-election. Ed Sikora has indicated that he will not be seeking re-election so there are openings for president and secretary. Dave Wood needs to be commended for the work he did to straighten out our books, get us on good legal grounds and in good financial health.
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LODD:
On May 8th Westland Firefighter Brian Woehlke was killed when a roof collapsed at a commercial building fire. Firefighter Woehlke was 29 years old and had been a Westland Firefighter for just under one year and is survived by his wife and 13 month old daughter. Brian was a Dearborn resident and the grandson of retired Dearborn Firefighter Jarvis Woehlke.
The Dearborn Firefighter’s Burn Drive donated $5,000 to the fund for the family of Brian Woehlke and will be holding various fund raisers. If you wish to donate to the fund for Firefighter Woehlke’s family, contact Burn Drive Chairman, Steve Worden at Station 2 (313-943-4142.)
Retiree Association Scholarship:
This year we will again be offering scholarships to the children or grandchildren of association members, current police officers and firefighters who are taking college classes to enter the law enforcement/firefighter/EMT field. Each applicant will be eligible to receive up to $300 and $1,200 has been set aside for this purpose. Previous awardees will be eligible to split whatever is left after new applicants have been awarded.
Applications should be sent to DPFRA, 2350 Monroe, Dearborn, MI 48124. Eligible applicants need to supply the names of their parent or grandparent and need to furnish proof they are enrolled in a program. For high school seniors a letter of acceptance will suffice. Deadline for applying is August 15, 2013.
Fire Department News:
Talks are underway to consolidate the Dearborn and Melvindale Departments. According to various news sources, the administrations of Dearborn and Melvindale are discussing the final financial details of the proposed merger of the two departments.
Both the Dearborn union and Melvindale union have approved the deal. The main hang-up was how to blend the Melvindale firefighter’s seniority into the Dearborn Department. The Melvindale firefighters will come in with a combination of their time on the job and time in rank. This was important in that seniority plays a large role in promotions and it was felt that none of the members of either department should suffer due to this merger. Late News: Merger has been approved.
Treasurer’s Report:
If anyone has any questions regarding the treasury or status of their membership, please feel free to contact me at 313-231-2288 or via email at dpfra@att.net.
Dues are $10.00 for active and guest members. Dues are not required for honorary (widows/widowers of deceased members) members and newly retired police officers and firefighters receive their first year complimentary. The dues structure operates on a calendar year basis with memberships expiring December 31st of each year. Members may pay in multiple year blocks.
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The association total membership year to date is 365; 296 active and 69 honorary.
Income through 3/31/13 $1,740.00
Office Supplies 97.49
Postage 188.32
Expenses through 3/31/13 $285.81
Total Assets as of March 31st, 2013 $31,166.52
Dave Wood
In Remembrance:
Our condolences go out to the families of our members who have passed away since our last newsletter.
Police:
Joe Maceri 10-5-12 1953-1987
Robert Wiley Sparks 12-7-12 1962-1990
Walter Coleman 3-3-13 1957-1990
Fire:
Roy Cox 11-26-12 1966-1994
Richard Dragan 6-1-13 1963-1997
Spouses of Retirees:
Cynthia Muraca 1-8-13 Wife of Gary
(1977-2002)
Olga Petlichkoff 5-10-13 Wife of Sam
(1948-1984)
Beneficiaries:
Audrey Bennett 10-12-12 Wife of Richard
(1946-1969)
Elizabeth Drouare 10-21-12 Wife of Harold (1944-1967)
Dollie Schleif 5-10-13 Wife of Norm
(1941-1975)
Civilian Employee:
Sherryl Leedy 3-24-13
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Police & Fire News:
We need members to consider running for office. Please consider this. There will be several vacancies. I would like to encourage the retirees from the last several years to get involved. Attend a breakfast and come to the meeting. There is a minimum amount of work and effort and the pizza, pop and beer at the meeting is free.
The city has eliminated Blue Care Network Health Care Plan effective July, 2013, leaving Blue Cross and HAP as the remaining insurance. There is no talk about future health care but Obama Care is coming soon.
Last fall after Hurricane Sandy a group of Dearborn firefighters and police officers went to New York, November 8-11, 2012 to help residents in the aftermath. There was an article in the Dearborn Press & Guide (www.pressandguide.com) November 28, 2012. The men are; Fire Capt. Steve Worden, Firefighters Chad Bronson, Mike Mattern, Jeff Powell, Adam Ferrell, Mike Reiter, Matt Ferrell and Police Corporals Jason Skoczylas and Lee Willmuth.
I heard From Joey Thorington, President of the Firefighters Union regarding the merger with Melvindale. The unions have agreed and it is now up to the cities.
Heard from Greg “Augie” Allgeier , President of POAD Union. He recently attended the POAM convention where there was instruction on the Affordable Care Act. Even the health care carriers are uncertain of the future. The situation is a mess and premiums will no doubt increase. The Right to Work Law that passed in March has not hurt the POAM. The newer POAD officers are under the Mers Pension and are 132% funded. Dearborn Police Department is currently at 182 (140 POAD & 42 LSA). Twenty-four officers will be eligible to retire in the next eighteen months and the city plans on hiring after July 1st. Augie also reports that Chip Harrison who was injured in a motorcycle accident last year is still recovering and will need more surgery.
Spoke to George Earhart who is back from Afghanistan. Mike Dolan and Scott Lawson are still working there. Their jobs while there along with the FBI was to train the armed forces in police procedures, evidence collection and prosecution. It is a challenge. The country is about 1000 years behind us. There are no records, people’s names change depending on occupation or where they live or age. There are no identification checks, documentation or date of births and it seems that whatever the troops set up as soon as they leave, it reverts to prior conditions.
I heard from Roy Orr, still out in Arizona, doing well, still playing golf and bowling.
Two retired police officers are running for city council this fall; Bob Bochenek and Mo Berro.
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With the summer season here, festivals and carnivals are in abundance. I spoke to retired Officer Rich Margittay who has studied and investigated carnival games for years. If you have ever wondered how the games are gaffed, he has written an interesting book on carnival games. It is available in hard cover from him for $25 at 3407 Katherine, Dearborn, 48124 (313-278-2997). He also has a website www.carnivalcongames.com and his email address is carnivalcongames@comcast.net.
Rich received some good news recently. A U.S. District Judge dismissed the defamation lawsuit filed against him by a carnival company last October. So if you are at any of the carnivals in the area you may run into him there.
Police & Fire Retirements:
John Salem 10-1-12 1990
Tony Mencotti 12-29-12 1985
John Kanitra 1-19-13 1988
Mohamed Beard 2-5-13 1988
Ken Muscat 2-5-13 1988
Wayne Secombe 2-22-13 1987
Kevin Haxter 1-29-13 1988
Websites:
Police Officer’s Association of Michigan www.poam.net
Dearborn Firefighters www.dearbornff.org
News of Dearborn www.PressAndGuide.com
Job Search www.aarp.org/work
City of Dearborn www.cityofdearborn.org
Nixle www.nixle.com
With Nixle, Dearborn Police send notifications about information on crimes and road conditions. You can also sign up for information for other cities.
Pension Update:
Chapter 21 140%
Chapter 23 90%
Dearborn Police & Fire Communication Exchange:
Send name & email address to:
Al Ruprecht 1-248-345-6977 allanruprecht@comcast.net
For those retirees that do not belong, Al started this network many years ago and it keeps us informed of events that members would like to know quickly such as health care or deaths. It also can be used by members to spread info rapidly. It’s a good deal.
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Monthly Breakfast at Leon’s Restaurant:
Police: 2nd Tuesday of month at 9:30 a.m.
Fire: Last Tuesday of month at 10:00 a.m.
Police – varying group of 5-12 share a few laughs and memories. It would be nice to enlarge the group. Jimmy Hubbard usually shows and his stories are always interesting.
Dearborn News:
The new city hall and train station are still going forward.
Cheli’s Chili Bar at Oakwood and Michigan has closed, purchased by Najib Rizk, owner of LeCigar Lounge. He is converting it to a sports, cigar bar and grill.
LaFontaine VW has opened at the location of the former Oxford Lanes on Telegraph. LaFontaine has 16 franchises, owns 10 dealerships and employs over 700 people in Michigan.
Longtime politician, George Hart, the singing senator, passed away in January. He was 88. He had just married for the first time the month before.
St. Martha on Oakwood is closing this summer.
The city of Dearborn has reduced the number of hours that part-timers may work from 30 to 28 hours. The reason appears to be that no one seems to know the effect of the coming Affordable Care Act (Obama Care) will have on health insurance.
Jack Tate, who generously donates his club room for our meetings, is head of the Dearborn Historical Museum. Recently he had a new budget approved for $200,000, alas, before the final approval it was cut back to $59,000.
Dearborn will have a farm market again this year on Fridays 9 a.m.to 3 p.m., May 31, 2013 to October 18, 2013, located behind the Bryant Library.
The Homecoming is scheduled August 2-4.
The Arabic Festival scheduled for June was cancelled.
Finally, a fire retiree was visiting his son and daughter-in-law when he asked for a newspaper. His son said, “Dad this is the new world, we don’t waste money on newspapers. Here Dad, you can borrow my iPad”. The retiree states that for certain, the fly never knew what hit it.
Jim Sarb/ed
kasjes@comcast.net
313-563-8696
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