Wednesday, January 27, 2010

CAFÉ 101, A GREAT BUFFET


The Chapter has an opportunity to have a group lunch (buffet) at Café 101, Daytona State College at 1200 W. International Speedway Blvd, on March22, 2010. The cost of the Buffet is $11.00. Those members who would enjoy an excellent lunch in a very nice atmosphere in the company of other Federal retirees are encouraged to reply to this message or call Cece at 672-5827. We hope to make the reservation for twenty people if we can confirm that number by the end of the February meeting.

Make your reservation now.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

State of the Union

When President Obama took office a year ago, we faced an array of historic challenges: an economy in freefall, job losses averaging almost 700,000 a month, a middle class under assault, two wars and badly frayed global alliances.

Faced with these unparalleled challenges, the President and his Cabinet got to work. The Administration took bold steps to rescue the country from a potential second Great Depression; to rebuild the economy for the long-term, so businesses can thrive, the middle class can grow and all our families can be more secure; and to restore America’s leadership in the world as we wrestle with the global challenges of the 21st Century.

Check out the Cabinet’s reports and learn more about what we’ve done this past year and how we plan to keep our Nation moving forward in the next.

Thank you,

Valerie Jarrett
Senior Advisor to the President

P.S. Tomorrow at 9 p.m. EST, remember to watch the President’s State of the Union address live at

Sunday, January 24, 2010

SERVICE AWARD for JUNE GRIFFIN





MRS. JUNE GRIFFIN

January 15, 2010

June Griffin has demonstrated her wiliness and skill in assisting her fellow human beings in a number of ways her entire life. We in the Ormond Chapter first met June Griffin in 1992 when she served as a counselor for the elderly at the Council On Aging (COA). June was part of one of the first NARFE Service Centers in our state. She assisted both NARFE members and the elderly in matters of insurance, Medicare, and living assistance.

While June was volunteering at the COA she was also a caregiver at home for two of her grown children. June had two children who needed physical and medical assistance. In addition to her volunteer work and care giving, June was a widow. These tasks did not stop June from becoming involved in our new NARFE Ormond Beach Chapter. First she was a caller, and later she became Treasurer for the Chapter. June has served as Treasurer for the past nine years. During this time her son‘s health improved; but her daughter still needed help, and June also became Guardian of her grandson. June has been a caregiver for over eighteen years and still found time to serve NARFE and her fellow retirees.

June Griffin’s list of accomplishment as Caregiver, Chapter Officer ,Caller, assistant on projects like the Senior Expo and COA all indicate that she is an outstand human being and deserves our recognition.

I am pleased to give June Griffin the Chapter Distinguished Service Award for the year 2009.

Robert Wehrli,

President of NARFE Ormond Beach Chapter 2247

Friday, January 22, 2010

COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES

1. Alice Mauzy has volunteered to organize a visit to The Windsor of Palm Coast this Sunday, January 31 between 1:00 p.m. and 4:00p.m. If you are interested in attending the open house, then contact Alice at 441-6675.

2. Trish Vevera will be participating in IMAGES: A Festival of the Arts in New Smyrna Beach January 30&31, Saturday and Sunday, from 10 to 5p.m. Trish’s art will be located at booth 128.

Go to http://www.imagesartfestival.org/ for additional information and a map.

IMAGES: A Festival of the Arts in New Smyrna Beach is ranked one of the “100 Best Small Town Art Shows in America. The show is spread along Riverside Drive, partway up Canal Street, and throughout picturesque Riverside Park in New Smyrna Beach, and is open from 9 AM to 5 PM Saturday and 10 AM to 5 PM Sunday.

Parking is available on Canal Street, Sams Avenue, Magnolia Street, Andrews Street, North Riverside Drive, and in the Chamber of Commerce parking lot at 115 Canal Street. Parking attendants are available to assist you. HANDICAPPED PARKING is available under the South Causeway overpass accessible at Lytle and Magnolia Streets.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

RETIRED VA workers

As discussed in the January issue of NARFE magazine (page 12), the court decided that the VA violated federal pay statutes by failing to pay weekend premium pay of 25% or night premium pay of 10% to certain groups of health care workers when they used annual or sick leave instead of working their regularly scheduled weekend or evening shifts. Over 2 dozen job classifications of retired VA workers in skilled health occupations, including registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, and pharmacists, are eligible to receive back pay. The case affects retired health care employees who worked at the VA at night or on weekends between September 1995 and the present. Approximately 150,000 current and former employees are eligible for the settlement.

To become eligible for payments, retired employees must file a claim form by visiting www.VAbackpay.com no later than February 9, 2010. The website also provides all of the necessary explanations and instructions. Please do not contact the Court or NARFE.

Transportation Needs

The next meeting of the Senior Association Coalition has been scheduled for Tuesday, February 2, 2010, at 10 a.m. at the Council on Aging office, 160 N. Beach Street, Daytona Beach; parking and entrance on Palmetto side of the building. This meeting will provide important information regarding transportation in our county and may last longer than usual; therefore we have made arrangements to provide lunch at the Council on Aging office at 12 o’clock noon.

Meeting Topic Transportation Needs in our Communities Presenter Lois Bollenback

Senior Transportation PlannerVolusia County Metropolitan Planning Organization

Friday, January 15, 2010

HAITI EARTHQUAKE

FLORIDA STATE EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT TEAM

RESPONDS TO HAITI EARTHQUAKE

TALLAHASSEE- -In response to Tuesday’s earthquake in Haiti, the Florida State Emergency Management Team has deployed personnel from around the state to assist in recovery efforts. The State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC) is currently operating at a Level 2 or partial activation.

“We are continuing in our planning and coordination efforts with the federal government to be able to provide any needed assistance and resources to our neighbors in Haiti at this time,” said Governor Charlie Crist. “We know from experience that disasters have no borders and our state team is ready, willing and able to answer the call.”

Response efforts by the state of Florida to date include:

· Two 72-member urban search and rescue teams, South Florida Task Force Team 1 and South Florida Task Force Team 2 and 12 canines deployed to Haiti to provide search and rescue assistance. South Florida Urban Search and Rescue teams respond to a variety of disasters, including earthquakes, hurricanes, typhoons, storms and tornadoes, floods, dam failures, technological accidents, terrorist activities and hazardous materials releases where victims may be trapped, lost or injured.

· The FloridaOne Disaster Medical Assistance Team (DMAT) out of Pensacola joined DMAT teams from throughout the United States at a staging area in Atlanta, GA. FloridaOne DMAT is comprised of people with expertise in the fields of medicine, mental health, communications, administration and logistics.

· On Wednesday Governor Charlie Crist pledged to provide assistance to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Floridians who have friends and loved ones in Haiti.

State emergency management officials continue planning efforts with state, federal and international disaster officials to assist with response and recovery efforts for the island nation. Operations, logistics, plans and human services teams are prepared to assist with any mission requests.

Floridians and neighbors across the country can contribute to “Neighbors to the Rescue” by going to www.FLADisasterRecoveryFund.org – or by calling 1-800-825-3786.

About the Florida Disaster Recovery Fund

The Florida Disaster Recovery Fund, formerly the Florida Hurricane Relief Fund, was initiated during the 2004 hurricane season to assist with the unmet and long-term recovery needs of survivors. The fund is managed by the nonprofit Volunteer Florida Foundation and fueled entirely by private sector donations, with grants made to long-term recovery organizations. For more information about the Volunteer Florida Foundation please visit www.volunteerfloridafoundation.org.

For more information on the Florida Division of Emergency Management and to GET A PLAN!, please visit: www.FloridaDisaster.org. All students, teachers and parents can find educational information and free downloadable materials at: www.KidsGetAPlan.com. And for the latest situation and flash reports go to: www.YouTube.com/FloridaSERT.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

WISDOM


Thomas Jefferson said in 1802,
'I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than
standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered..'

Sunday, January 10, 2010

WEALTH

Silver in the Hair
Gold in the Teeth.
Stones in the Kidneys
Sugar in the Blood.
Lead in the Feet.
Iron in the Arteries.
And an inexhaustible supply of Natural Gas.
Who ever thought we'd accumulate such wealth.

Contributed by Loraine Lavage

Friday, January 8, 2010

OUTREACH PROGRAM



When the Chapter applied for a grant from the Federation to conduct a combined membership drive and public relations project we had only the Senior Epo in mind. Before the grant was approved we had the opportunity to expand our plan to include at least one health fair at the Volusia Mall. About the same time we began thinking of including active Federal employees in our activities. A natural choice was the Postal Employees, since we had several retired postal worker as members already. So the final plan included Senior Epo’s, Health fairs, and an unnamed active which would be the choice of the Postal Workers.

The first two activities went off as planned. Including the Postal Employees was another story. Numerous attempts were made to negotiate with the leadership of the locale Post Officers with no success. The latest attempt was to invite the Post Master of the Williamson office to our next Chapter meeting. The last word was that the Post Master was on sick leave and his substitute wasn’t available at the hour of our meeting.

As the saying goes a miss is as good as a mile. We need a new plan. We will continue to try to reach the postal workers, but it is obvious that it can’t be done from the top down. Our efforts will have to be from the bottom up. If every member tries to approach his own mailperson by giving that person a NARFE magazine and a Chapter Newsletter that will be a beginning to a more lasting relationship.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

ANNOUNCING A CHAPTER WEB-SITE

Until recently most of my efforts have gone into developing the Chapter Blog known as NARFE NEWSLETTER or http://narfenewsletter.blogspot.com/. In my opinion, we needed a have a communication system that included a two way directional journalism element within the Chapter other than the telephone which is limited to the number of persons involved. The Blog seemed to fit that bill; so in June of 2009 I initiated the Blog, which has served us since then. The Blog now has 109 Postings covering numerous issues for example 38 involving the Chapter, 19 on Community, 24 on Health Care, 18 involving Legislation, and 15 regarding Service to mention only a few of the issues that are included in the Blog. The Blog also has a link to the new Chapter web-site http://sites.google.com/site/narfeormond/ .

The web-site is still being developed; but you can few it, and I will take suggestions on improving the site as well. At the present time, it is important to get the bones identified and established like a calendar that will need far more work. At present it contains the By-Laws which for the most part tell who we are and how we operate. It contains the Monthly Minutes which records the action of the Chapter, and it contains the hard copy Newsletters that are sent to all its members monthly. The photos convey some of the spirit and involvement of the members also necessary for a complete description of who we are and what we stand for in the community. Both the Blog news and web-site were developed to increase communications and the public awareness of NARFE. For both to be affective they must be used.

Sunday, January 3, 2010

TRUTH IN NEWS ( REPORTS)

It is a new year, but many of our concerns are still with us and must be faced in the coming months. For example, the actual Health Care Bill has not been negotiated between the House Bill and the Senate Bill. We have made out so far, but must keep up with the changes that are possible. The Chapter Blog contains updates from NARFE National and links to comment to our Representative in Congress on our likes and dislikes. We might not be able to contribute directly to the solutions to many of the problems facing the country, but we can stay informed, objective, and open to the facts. The following comment by Ron Richardson addresses this very point.

Hi Bob,

After reading the comments, I have come to the conclusion that confusion and partisanship abounds. I follow politifact.com among other non-partisan sites to make some sense of what the pundits are espousing. I would recommend this site to anyone who is unaware of it.

This is the statistics that they reported: “Among the items we've checked on health care, here's how the ratings broke down:

True 14.7 percent
Mostly True 10.3 percent
Half True 19.2 percent
Barely True 16 percent
False 30.1 percent
Pants on Fire 9.6 percent
*
(Total does not equal 100 percent due to rounding.)”

Obviously this does not include every statement made, but does include the most common. I suggest that people visit the site and make their own decision.

Ron Richardson

*

(Truth-O-Meter ratings here at PolitiFact are about journalism, and not meant for social science. We select facts to check based on our news judgment. Still, it's interesting to look at how the ratings have broken down this year when it comes to health care. We fact-checked more than 160 statements about health care in 2009, and a lot of them were wrong.)

You can read about these news items and check their truth at this web-site. There are other sites that do the same kind of fact checking.

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2009/dec/29/health-care-debate-2009/