A Place for all the Old Timers to Get Together

 

The Pioneer's Club

The Pioneer’s Club Newsletter

Volume 6, Issue  6

June 2012

Thank You

Obituary Page

We lost  four individuals that I am aware of since the last newsletter.

 

They will be missed by who knew them.

 

Shirley L. Ulmer - May 1, 2012 in Rochester, NY. Shirley was an Executive Assistant on the 10th floor.

 

James H. "Jim" Attridge - May 6, 2012 in Macedon, NY. He worked in the Telephone Service Department in the 1980's

 

Jeff “Shorty” Cottom—May 20, 2012 in Geneseo, NY. He worked at Russell Station retiring when the station closed. He was a popular individual. I received two remembrances from individuals about their time with him.

 

From Frank Tenbroeck submitted the following : "He'd had leukemia on and off for some time while still working and thought he had it beat. Shorty worked in operations for 30 years and retired when the station closed. He often served as shift superintendant in the last years. Never a dull moment with that guy. He will be sorely missed. "

 

William T. “Terry” Clark –May 25,2012 in Rochester, NY. Terry retired from General Maintenance.

June Events

Here are the important dates for June

 

       June 3rd—Canadian Forces Day

       June 6th—Jefferson Rd Office Lunch (Tulley’s on                  Jefferson Rd.) First Wednesday of every                    month except August

       June 14th—Flag Day

       June 17ty—Father’s Day (My personal Favorite)

       June 20th—Fist Day of Summer (Wasn’t that in                    March?)

       June 24th—St Jean Baptiste Day (Quebec)

June Birthdays

Why we Remember on Memorial Day

Our Retiree Benefits

I spoke a little to soon when I said that I hoped everything was working out well for all the members.

 

I got this email about a month later.

Wouldn’t it be Nice If?

I want to take a minute to thank everyone who sent me a birthday wish. At 67 these things mean a lot to an old guy.

5/4/2012

 

I can't say I trust AON either. The literature we received is not formulated correctly and does not show the PEP credit subtracted from the premium. And oh goodie, it went up 119% this year for a single person policy!! 

 

I still have not (after almost 4 months) received a check from these clowns at 89 for an OVERPAYMENT of one month on health insurance in 2006... 

 

Don't know who these other retirees worked with but I am having no luck at all.....doesn't even matter if you go to 89, no one will see you!

5/2/2012

 

I just found out yesterday that MVP for us RG&E retirees changed with 2012.  If I got a notice other than a huge booklet, I missed it.  Have to admit I didn’t look at booklet if I got one.  Just recycled it.  I seem to recall that I called them a couple of years ago to see if we could receive it electronically and they said government won’t let them.

 

Anyway, we not get $300 toward preventive DENTAL care.  Maybe you would like to send out to Pioneer.org?

 

Editor: Now I miss understood the email so I wrote back (and as you see I got yelled at)

 

The addition of $300 dental was ADDED in 2012.  As far as being notified, I can’t be sure because I didn’t read booklet.  Also, with the way I don’t read my mail timely, can’t be sure if I received something that I ignored.  HATE MAIL.  Please don’t blame anyone.  Just let our people know which they may already know! Unlike me.

 

  Editor: So as I now understand it get an additional $300 towards dental care. I knew I liked MVP for some reason.

Now this next one was good news.

I got a couple of related emails last month, The premise sounds good. I wonder if someone in HR could justify why it’s not available to all retirees,

5/15/2012

 

Tom, as I am sure many retires know, anyone on a July-July insurance program is currently getting a six month program and converting to a calendar year program in January 1213.  Although we all know RG&E would like to be rid of us, perhaps this is a good time to get everyone to starting lobbying the company to add all around coverage as an option from MVP.  I have talked to MVP’s Medicare sales manager about their Gold Anywhere Plan which I think they market as USA Health or a similar name.  It provides full coverage anywhere the same as the current “in network” plan and is currently somewhere around $40/ month more than the MVP Gold offered by RG&E now.  I think that would be a relatively reasonable increase for those of us who may be out of NY during the winter if we could convince RG&E to offer it.  When I talked to MVP I asked if we could buy the upgrade directly from them and they said no but he would ask their sales rep who works with RG&E to discuss it with the company when developing the options in health insurance to be offered in January.  Maybe if a number of us pushed the company a little and called MVP we could get something started.

Perhaps you could put some suggestion in the next Pioneers News Letter if you thought it was worthwhile.  If you do, I would prefer my name not be mentioned as we are going through some insurance issues at this time and don’t want jeopardize my discussions.  MVP said they develop the plans months in advance so input from retirees should be soon.

I asked a few questions and got more information

5/16/2012

 

Tom, I talked with the head of Medicare Plans at MVP today and he indicated there were two  plans in addition to MVP Gold HMO-POS that we should lobby RG&E to make available to retirees.  These are Gold Anywhere and USA Care.  Both are PPO’s.  I’m not sure about the difference in benefits of an HMO vs. a PPO.

 

As I understand, the Gold Anywhere is very similar to MVP Gold except that rather than a 70%/30% split on “out of network” services for up to 6 months.  It provides about the same services as MVP Gold during up to 6 months “out- of-network” with possibly a little higher co-pay for various doctors and specialists.  The MVP official said this what people who still reside in network but are out-of-network for up 6 months would likely want.

 

The second plan, USA Care I believe is a little more expensive but is like MVP Gold and is for people who are no longer NY residents.

 

I obviously don’t know a lot about health insurance so people might want to try and find more details their selves.

 

He indicated he has already talked with the MVP sales rep who works with RG&E to ask about RG&E providing these options when developing the annual plan that will be available for all of us in Jan 2013.

 

I am not sure the best way to go about learning more about the specific plans or the best person to contact at RG&E.  I have been out 13 years and don’t know anyone left.  I assume the best way might be a letter campaign to the current RG&E President or the head or HR.  I also don’t know how hard, or if, we can push or if management can simple stop the benefits we bitch too much.

 

Let me know your thoughts or ideas from others if you have any way to move forward with a note on next month’s mailing.  It sounds like we would have probably  3-4 months to try and influence the outcome.  I will keep in contact with MVP to see if they are making any progress on their end.

 

 

These plans sound very good for those “snow birds” who travel in the winter. No where did the writer ask for an increase in RG&E’s contribution towards our health insurance.

 

Let’s see if we get an answer back.

Memorial Day

The Vets Club held a Memorial Service at the flag pole on Scottsville Road on Friday, May 25, 2012.

 

I do not have any information or pictures yet because I am writing this too close to the event. Next month I’ll do better.

 

A very heartfelt “Thank You” to all who attended from those of us who served.

Honor Flights

Since we’re on a Veteran’s Kick, I’ll post some emails I received concerning the Honor Fights to Washington, DC.

5/7/2012

Hello Tom, Tim Browne here.
Just a note to let you know that I accompanied an Honor Flight from the Space Coast of Florida with 25 WWII Vets to visit their memorial in Washington DC.  It was an honor to do so and a touching event for these veterans, all of which had never been to their memorial (which was put in place some 60 years after the "Greatest Generation" fought for our freedom).

I would highly recommend getting any WWII vets that you know to sign up (via application through Honor Flight) to go on this special trip. "Guardians" (escorts) for these vets pay their own way (approx $400 and worth every penny).

I took some video of Changing of the Guard at Arlington at will forward link to you for you to publish if you wish/can.

Lest We Forget

Take Care

Tim

5/7/2012

 

Hi Tom,

 

Honor Flight Rochester is trying to reach World War II veterans to sign them up for an Honor Flight Rochester trip to visit the World War II Memorial.  I believe Honor Flight Rochester’s future plans include offering the trip to Korean War and Vietnam War vets. Right now we’re trying to reach the WWII men and women.

 

Could you send this out with the next Pioneer’s Newsletter?

 

Honor Flight Rochester is part of the Honor Flight Network, a not-for-profit, volunteer organization.  Our goal is to take as many WWII veterans as possible to visit the World War II Memorial in Washington, DC.  The trip is free to all veterans.  Since 2009, Honor Flight Rochester has flown 1,000 WWII (and a few Korean and Vietnam War veterans) to Washington, DC.

 

Honor Flight Rochester’s trip is a two-day affair, leaving Saturday morning and returning to Rochester Sunday at approx. 11 a.m.

 

I took my WWII veteran dad on the trip (I was a guardian).  I now volunteer on the publicity committee, speaker’s bureau, and the “ground crew.”

 

Here is the link to the Honor Flight Rochester website http://honorflightrochester.org/ for applications, information.

 

 

Rick Meier

Web Page

As many of you found, our web site had problems. When anyone tried to go to our site Google produced an error message that we had an unsafe site and proceeding on was not advised.

 

So after a lot of complaining and moaning, I repaired all 5000+ pages and took off the code that Google was complaining about.

 

Our web site is back up and running and has been error free for a couple of months. Please check it out and if you find any errors let me know so I can work on them. The only error I know of is the Calendar page. It just plain doesn't work and I’m not sure how to fix it.

 

The Pioneers Club

Annual Picnic

Last month I sent out a teaser about this year’s Annual Picnic.  Well low and behold I have even more information for you from Arnie.

 

First: There is no increase in price!

 

It’s still going to be $16.00 per person.

 

Second: The menu is exactly the same. We will be having Hot dogs (Red & White), Hamburgers, Grilled Chicken Breast, Rolls, Baked Beans, Cole Slaw, Potato Salad, Macaroni Salad, Milk, Tea, and Coffee, and Dessert, and Chips, Pretzels & Peanuts at the bar

 

 For tickets, you must send a check made out to the “Pioneers of RG&E” for $16.00 per person..  Then mail it to:

Arnie Stockslader

131  LeGran Rd

Rochester, NY  14617

 

 We would like the checks in our hands by Thursday, July 19, 2012.  This will give us time to make sure there is enough food and drink for everyone attending.

Special Photos to Remind You

The Story of Life as told in Two Pictures

Welcome Home

Sudeten Germans make their way to the railway station in Liberec, in former Czechoslovakia, to be transferred to Germany in this July, 1946 photo. After the end of the war, millions of German nationals and ethnic Germans were forcibly expelled from both territory Germany had annexed, and formerly German lands that were transferred to Poland and the Soviet Union . The estimated numbers of Germans involved ranges from 12 to 14 million, with a further estimate of between 500,000 and 2 million dying during the expulsion. (AP

One last thing

Lee Loomis has assumed the duties of Chaplin for the RG&E Armed Forces Club. Included in these duties is the  reading of the veterans who have passed on since the Club’s last Memorial or Veterans Day Service.

 

To meet this job duty we need your help.

 

I track those Pioneers Club members in our Obituary column (via the D&C obit column and/or notifications by friends) but I have no way of knowing if that member was a veteran or not. What we are asking is if any one of our deceased members is a veteran, please notify Lee (leeloom@aol.com) and let him know. He will include their name in the next service.

 

Our job would be a lot easier if the Company would be forthcoming with this information, but many years ago I asked someone in HR if we could receive death information from them.

 

Well the answer I got would have been funny if it wasn’t true, “We can’t give out that information without the person’s permission.”

 

It’s hard to get a dead persons permission.