A Place for all the Old Timers to Get Together

 

The Pioneer's Club

The Pioneer’s Club Newsletter

Volume 6, Issue  10

October 2012

Obituary Correction

Obituary Page

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

 

They will be missed by who knew them.

 

Henry A. Stoddart- September 11, 2011, Greece,  NY at age 96. Henry was a proud Captain Pilot of the Army Air Corps. Henry enjoyed playing golf and spending time with his family.

 

James V. Whitcomb - September 13, 2012. Henrietta, NY . James worked in Substations. James served his country during WWII in the Army Air Corp and among his commendations for his service, he received the Air Medal with six oak leaf clusters and the East African-Middle Eastern Service Medal

 

      John J. Hinds - October 3, 2012, Gates, NY. John worked in Credit and          Collection. He was a WWII and Korean war veteran. He ws also a mem       ber of the RG&E Armed Forces Club.

October Events

Here are the important dates for October

 

       October 8—  Columbus Day

                     National Childrens Day

                     Thanksgiving Day (Canada)

                     Health and Sports Day (Japan)

       October 16— National Boss Day

       October 20— Sweetness Day

       October 22— Breast Cancer Awareness Day

                       Labor Day (New Zealand)

 

       October 31— Halloween

October Birthdays

Our Retiree Benefits

Help Wanted

Web Page

Speaking of our Web Page, it’s soon going to be that time of the year when we all do our holiday shopping.

 

With shopping in mind, I must remind everyone that if they are considering any purchases from Amazon.Com, we are an affiliate.

 

What that means is that if you use the link on our web site to go to the Amazon.com web site and make a purchase. The club gets a small stipend from them.

 

Every little bit helps to maintain our club. So remember us.

 

Here’s a quick link:   Amazon Page

 

I’m thinking of adding other links to our site. Are there any you might like?

This is another appeal for your help only this time it’s from Meals on Wheels

 

I received a  request from :

Julie Malley

Manager, Volunteer Services and Logistics

Meals on Wheels

 

To put out a plea for help for volunteers. As you all know this is a service that helps our friends and neighbors when they become infirm and cannot provide for themselves either temporally or on a more permanent basis.

 

She sent me this poster.

Pictures!!!!

 

The Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum restored the General Electric 1941 locomotive that used to operate at Beebee Station. Attached is an article I wrote for the NYSEG/RG&E intranet. I thought the Pioneers might enjoy reading the article. The only difference between the articles is I added a paragraph with the names of retirees who volunteer at the R&GVRRM.  Retiree Dave Shields reviewed the article for accuracy.

 

I sent out an Obit for Edward Shields earlier this week. It was in error.

 

I received this email from Dave Shields.

 

My father, Edward L. Shields, worked in the RG&E Electric Maps and Records Department.   He passed away during Thanksgiving week in 2006 at the age of 82.  He was a veteran of the U.S. Army during WWII.

 

To everyone who received this notice please accept my apologies for this error.

 

 

Well as you all know our former employer is making changes to our health benefits again. Only this year it’s a major change.

 

Since they dropped me from their system years ago, I don’t get invited to these fun meetings. But I will pass on anything you guys send me about them, anonymously of course.

 

 The only this I like each and everyone of you to remember. These changes are probably not being made out of the goodness of the Company’s heart. More than likely they are being made to save the Company money.

 

On 9/10/2012 12:05 PM, donald wrote:

I left the Health care meeting at 11:45 A.M. Monday. It was a very confusing experience. AON HEWITT NAVAGATOR, who made the initial presentation, lasting 11/2 hours was done with and without the microphones, so hearing was a problem. In essence, they have to be contacted and your health care selection set up between Oct. 15-Dec. 31, or you lose support from Iberdrola permanently, and it will differ depending on when you retired or if you are still working. All communications have to be done by phone or computer, since they are located in Illinois, without a Rochester office. You must work through them, only and it doesn't look like we can retain MVP, but, they think Blue Cross/Blue Shield Rochester, will be included. If you have questions, let me know,  I will be back with them , when I take Macleod tomorrow afternoon. It was a mess! Don
P.S. There were about 200 attending, mostly RG&E, but some NYSEG and Constellation, plus a few Kodak people, all with different HMOs and hundreds of questions. Don

 

Don,

Thanks for your concern regarding the RG&E health meetings held today.  Our meeting notice said nothing about a morning meeting just that we were invited to attend a scheduled meeting at 1 pm today, which we did attend.  We found the info interesting and there were several good questions from the full house in attendance. 

We were left with the opinion that we will have to do a good amount of homework so we can make the best decision for the coverage we want, both here and in Florida. We really do not need any more homework, on any subject, but I guess if we are going to make sensible decisions on important issues we will do just that as long as we can.

Went to MVP today and we were told that AON Hewitt will be offering MVP to us old people, talked to the women who said that she was working fast and furiously to get it in place, so to wait until we get the stuff from AON. There are 1100 RG&E retires enrolled in MVP , so I guess they want to keep us and there probably were a lot of complaints. It made us happy

 

So far this is all the news I have to point out. The warning is the time period, 10/15 to 12/31.  If you don’t comply they’ll drop you and you’ll never be able to rejoin.

 

The good news is that you may have MVP as one of your choices.

Become a volunteer and help us deliver meals.

 

Only takes an hour to deliver

Routes go out mid-day

Easy to follow route directions

Meal pick-up sites in your neighborhood

Volunteer weekly, monthly or seasonally

 

Give it a try!

Call us at 787-8326 for more information or visit us @www.vnsnet.com

 

 

**Did you know that Meals On Wheels provides nutritious meals to homebound residents in our community? 

Requests for Meals On Wheels services can be made by anyone- family, friends, doctors or the recipients themselves. 

For more information call 787-8397.

Pioneers Club Newsletter

R&GVRRM – Beebee Station Locomotive

September 4, 2012

 

All Aboard! The Beebee Station Locomotive Is Back on the Tracks!

 

Industry, NY – Woo! Woo! The 1941 General Electric locomotive that used to move coal cars around RG&E’s long-closed Beebee Station generating plant has returned to the rails after a 21-year retirement.

 

Its current owner, the Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum unveiled the refurbished 45-ton locomotive at its annual volunteers’ picnic on August 18.

In September 1991, RG&E donated the GE 1941 to the museum, which is dedicated to preserving the American railroad experience.

 

The sparkling locomotive prompted a standing ovation from volunteers and guests as it glided down the tracks to the Museum’s refurbished 1909 railroad depot in Industry, a village in the Town of Rush, south of Rochester. Cameras and cell phones recorded the event as the locomotive’s new paint gleamed in the bright sunlight and its engine purred.

 

The locomotive underwent extensive work, including the complete rebuild of one of the locomotives’ two diesel engines, extensive sheet metal work, all new cab glass, and all new “Brewster Green” paint and lettering, including the classic RG&E “Torch in Hand” (“Always at Your Service”) logo,” which was re-created by hand. In the cab is a tool box that is also emblazoned with the RG&E lettering.

 

The big test was the train’s inaugural ride. Hauling a small passenger car, the locomotive eased along on a track that took it through woods and fields to the nearby New York Museum of Transportation. Along the way was a set of signs fashioned like Burma-Shave advertising signs from 1930s and ‘40s, the hey-day of passenger trains.

 

The locomotive made its public debut at the Museum’s “Diesel Day” on Sunday, August 19. Train rides were also offered to the public.

 

General Electric built the locomotive in1941 for its Riverwood plant in Massachusetts. The locomotive then saw service with the Pittsburgh, Alleghany & McKees Rocks Railroad, at Groveton Paper in Groveton, NH and then with the Livonia, Avon & Lakeville Railroad, which sold it to RG&E in1965.

 

RG&E employees and retirees who are active or have been active as R&GV Railroad Museum volunteers include David Abell, Neil Bellenger, Keith Blackhall, Scott Gleason, Roger Harnaart, Dick Holbert, Bill Mitchell, Dave Shields and Ed VanHorn. They have been instrumental in having RG&E also donate two locomotives from Russell Station and a retired line truck. 

 

About the R&GV Railroad Museum: Operated by volunteers, the Museum partners with the nearby New York Museum of Transportation to bring a unique dual-museum experience of the railroad and transportation history of Rochester and Western New York. The museum, founded in 1971, has more than 40 locomotives, cabooses, and freight and passenger cars, among other railroad memorabilia. There is also a three-track yard to display restored railroad stock. The museum/depot is located at 6393 East River Rd., Rush, NY. It is opened from mid May to the end of October on Sundays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.  The New York Museum of Transportation is open year round on Sundays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, visit www.rgvrrm.org and www.nymtmuseum.org.

Sad Pictures!!!!

To those of us who worked there , these pictures of the RGS sign being removed from 89 East Ave are sad. I guess that the expense of the removal is reflected in our health care benefits……. Or maybe it was just to satisfy someone’s ego.

 

 

 

Maybe these were just removed to make room for the “For Sale”  signs.

 

Speaking of for sale, I received this email from a friend at Energentix

 

Tom,

It is will regret that I have to tell you that Energetix was sold 8/22/12 to Direct Energy, that on that day I ceased being an Iberdrola employee and that at some point in the near future I may be laid off. It means after 32 years I cannot retire from the company or receive medical payments (such as it is).  That said, I still consider myself an ex RGE employee because neither Energy East nor Iberdrola had a clue how to treat good employees or people. This is evident based on how they seem to treat retirees.

 

Thought you should know.

 

And I thought all of you should know.—Tom

Welcome Home

Jim Quadd sent me this flyer. I promised to put it in the September Newsletter, but I forgot.

 

So anyway here it is. When I inserted it, it got small. I hope you can still read it. It’s a great idea.