FDNY-CAROLINAS RETIREES ASSOCIATIONPresident's MessageHi Brothers, we have a couple of months off till our next meeting. To fill you in on some of the events that took place since our last newsletter: On Tuesday May 20, The FDNY Golf Outing group had a memorial ceremony for two of our brothers from the FDNY, Firefighters Gregory Forsyth James Young, and Captain Louis Mulkey, Charleston Fire Dept. Brother Kevin O'Brian - The FDNY 9/11 Golf outing chairman called me and asked if we could arrange the ceremony; FDNY-CRA stepped up once again, Joe Gibbons, Mike Healy and two of our brothers from New York made up the Honor Guard, we hired a bagpiper, and Chief John Tyler, Chaplin of the Horry County Fire Dept. was good enough to accept our invitation to attend. Everything went well, and a word of thanks to all who turned out. The FDNY 9/11 Annual Golf Outing was a success once again - with the support of our brothers and Arlene Tully, and Joan Mastropolo. we help set up; serve the food, and constantly taste-test the beer to make sure it remains at the right temperature, body ,and flavor this is an all day process that demands only our highly skilled personnel Brother Ralph Purser was appointed Honorary Brew Meister. Firefighters and families show up from Fire Dept's all over the country. This year, FDNY CRA was presented with a plaque in appreciation - and acknowledgement - for our participation .Thanks to all who turned out for our 5th year in support of this great event. Upcoming Events Our next regular meeting will be on Sunday August 24th. so we can coordinate our 9/11 Mass & Ceremony. Please keep this info. as this will be the last newsletter before 9/11. The Mass will be held at 8am at Our Lady Star of the Sea at Rt.17 & 8th. Ave. North in North Myrtle Beach. At 9:30 we will assemble at the Food Lion Shopping Center on Rt. 17 No. & Country Club Rd. in Carolina Shores, NC. Our Motorcade will proceed north at app. 10am. to Brunswick Comm. College at the Victory Garden The ceremony will begin at 11am. Directions to the college: From the South: 17North to Bolivia Make a right on Old Ocean Hwy. East; go app. 1, 1 1/2 miles past Mount Olive Church (on left) There will probably be State Police there to direct us into the parking lots. if not proceed through parking lot A, make another left into B or C. the victory garden is across a small foot bridge. From Wilmington and points north: Go past the college main entrance gate, continue south to Old Ocean Hwy. (1/4 - 1/2 mile. make a left, - follow directions above. Please do not park out on the roadways. ur annual picnic will be held sometime in October, tentative date Oct. 16th. with a rain date . Brother Bob Gustavson is looking to book the same location as last year, Carolina Shores. we will get the final dates and location out to you at our August meeting. Please sign up and pay up early. Brother Joe Gibbons will be taking the collection once again for the Troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Last year the donations were a little light. Maybe some of the brothers can dig a little deeper this year, who knows... it might be a good time to spend some of that Communion & Confirmation money and make a donation - please be generous.You can mail it into our CRA PO box & make a note that it's for our Christmas donation to the troops. Thanks Health Insurance and Medicare. The following is a letter from Larry Hatton, (WNYF Retirees page) Larry forwarded this info to the Broward City. FLA. group. Also, I spoke to Jim Dahl (UFA Retirees Liaison) this morning on this matter. GHI is looking to merge with HIP. As of this newsletter, the Unions, and The City of New York are against this merger and it is in the courts. Also GHI & Hip are seeking to convert to a FOR PROFIT Company; this will give the power of control to the shareholders and will probably lead to a reduction of services and larger Co-Pays. The retirees groups up north,URFA, Scarf (LI), Orange County Retirees are being asked to write their elected officials in order to prevent the New York State Insurance Commissioner from approving this. We can do something about this also. Most of us still have relatives living in New York State; ask them to write a short letter to city and state officials in protest. FYI: A list of elected officials - from the President on down - can be found in most local phone books. Good News: the Medicare reimbursement money has been approved once again for this year. Have a good summer, stay safe. Our October meeting will be held at the usual time and place - Oct.5th.2pm, Calabash fire house Fraternally Never forget the 343UFA... James Dahl, retired L-59, has been appointed by the UFA to be their retiree liaison. Jame's phone number is 212-683-4723. He has been given an office at the UFA headquarters and will sit in on Board meetings concerning retiree matters, but he does not have voting powers. Flags of Heros... will be available at meetings for $20.00 per flag. These United States flags are 24" x 36", with all 343 lost brothers from 9/11 embroider in the red and white stripes. Also, CRA golf shirts, hats, and tee shirts will be for sale at the meeting. Addresses and E-mails |