Fun in the Sun
RETIREES’ CLUB OF L.U. 3, NEW YORK, NY/NASSAU COUNTY CHAPTER — Our local’s retirees’ chapter hosted 130 members and spouses at the Nassau County retirees’ picnic. We played many exciting games, including bocce ball, bean bag toss, horseshoes and egg toss. The delicious food for our picnic was served by Valley Catering.
The warm, sunny day went by fast when spent with good friends. The Brotherhood remains strong when we share good times together.
John Milligan, P.S.
South Jersey Retirees Volunteer With Toys for Tots
RETIREES’ CLUB OF L.U. 3, NEW YORK, NY/SOUTH JERSEY CHAPTER — Along with the U.S. Marines, our retiree members volunteered in December with Toys for Tots in Neptune, N.J.
More than 75,000 toys were distributed to groups in central New Jersey.
Congratulations to Joe Vitale on his 80th birthday.
Nancy Savarese, P.S.
Eat, Drink and Be Merry
RETIREES’ CLUB OF L.U. 3, NEW YORK, NY/WESTCHESTER/PUTNAM CHAPTER — Our local’s retirees’ chapter held its annual holiday party Dec. 9 with the goals of having a great time and finishing the year strong with fundraising for the chapter’s favorite charity, the Fisher House Foundation. The Fisher House builds comfortable homes where military and veteran families can stay free while a loved one is in the hospital. These homes are at military and VA medical centers around the world. The retirees’ club events, including a golf outing and the four-day vacation at the Educational and Cultural Center in beautiful Long Island, play a huge part in our fundraising.
More than 60 members and spouses filled the large dining room for the four-hour party held at Ciao’s Restaurant in Eastchester, N.Y. The delicious five-course meal was served and drinks were flowing along with plenty of smiles, laughter and great stories. Business Representative Louis Sanchez made a heartfelt speech about keeping our union strong and staying vigilant in retirement.
Each year we hold a 50/50 raffle and an “ugly Christmas sweater” contest with the winners bringing home cash and wine gift baskets. This year’s big raffle winner was member Lenny Diecidue. Treasurer Don Raffa won the sweater contest with his rendering of Santa roasting chestnuts on an open fire. Members had a great time and a great year and look forward to 2026.
Frank Balbo, Comm. Dir.
Do You Need a Living Trust?
RETIREES’ CLUB OF L.U. 11, LOS ANGELES, CA — Our local’s retirees’ club will host a free presentation by an experienced probate attorney to explain the advantages of a probate-avoiding living trust. William R. Moore, a UCLA and UC Davis Law graduate admitted to the California Bar in 1983, will answer your questions about wills, probate, living trusts and advance health directives.
Moore is not affiliated with the IBEW or Local 11, and his legal opinions and advice do not represent the legal opinions and advice of the union. Moore may be retained to prepare a basic living trust, a deed placing real estate in the trust and an advance health care directive for a flat fee of $500.
A living trust can spare your heirs the expense, inconvenience and delay of probate and help with taxes.
Being a member of the Local 11 Retirees’ Club or being retired are not requirements to attend.
RSVP will be required on or before April 1, and the presentation will be April 8 at the Electrical Training Institute.
If interested in attending or for additional information about the presentation, please contact the Retirees’ Club at Retireesclubibew11@gmail.com.
Al Etherton, Pres.
Local 35 Retirees Welcome Spring
RETIREES’ CLUB OF L.U. 35, HARTFORD, CT — Our first-year apprentices started their second year and were sworn in at our November members’ meeting. Retirees’ Club President Dennis Machol and Kenneth White attended the meeting, joining to encourage them to continue with the union and help them understand the great benefits we have.
Our Christmas luncheon was a great time, and we enjoyed each other’s company. Representatives from Labor First attended to explain their advocacy for us and our insurance plans.
Our first luncheon of the year will be March 11 at noon at the Knights of Columbus Hall, 171 Pascone Place in Newington. We hope to see you there!
With profound sadness, we announce the passing of David Popielarczyk. David was a friend of mine and will be missed dearly. He was a proud member of Local 35. He continued his career development, obtaining his E1 electrical license and becoming a contractor under ABC Electrical Contractor LLC. David was also an instructor for almost 10 years for our apprentices, and he taught continuing-education classes for Locals 35 and 42. He will be missed.
Kenneth R. White, P.S.
New Year, New Happenings
RETIREES’ CLUB OF L.U. 53, KANSAS CITY, MO — Well, 2025 is gone, and we will be well into 2026 by the time you read this. I think we can all agree that time could slow down just a little. I want to wish everyone a happy, healthy and prosperous new year!
The Local 53 annual Christmas party was held Dec. 12 at the Ameristar Casino. I was not able to make it, but I understand there was a good turnout, good food and a lot of good stories shared.
The local will be hosting our spring retiree luncheon at the hall April 10. We hope everyone can make it. It is always good to see old friends and catch up. Oh, and there is always good food. We will also be presenting service pins.
April 25 will be the annual crappie tournament/fish fry. It will be at Truman State Park as usual. It would be nice to see some more retirees in attendance. Over the last few years, we haven’t had much of a presence.
As always, I want to thank Ben and all of the staff at the local for putting these events on. I know it is a lot of work, and it is greatly appreciated.
If anyone is interested, there are still a few of us meeting for lunch every second Thursday of the month at 11 a.m. at the Grand River Grill in Urich, Mo. We would love to have you join us.
For all who are unable to attend functions and meetings, we want you to know that you are missed and not forgotten!
Bob Stuart, Pres.
Local 58 Retirees Plan Service Pin Party
RETIREES’ CLUB OF L.U. 58, DETROIT, MI — Our annual pin party honoring members with service pins marking 50 to 75 years of membership will be Saturday, April 25, at the local union hall. Honorees will be sent invitations this month.
Please RSVP in a timely manner and be sure to mark the date on your calendar. Honorees will be our guests with a catered lunch. Those being celebrated are welcome to bring guests at the cost of $25 per person. This event is a great way to visit with fellow honorees and celebrate your time in the IBEW. All the details will be included in your invitation letter. If you don’t receive an invite and you are entitled to one of these pins, please call the local union at 313- 963-2130, extension 3013, for further information.
Midterm elections are this November. With all the chaos surrounding our elected officials and political appointees, this is a good time to get involved either in state or federal elections. Consider a PAC donation at ibewgov.org/ibew-pac or mail your contribution to the IBEW PAC at 900 Seventh St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20001. Continue to practice community engagement.
Pat Nuznov, P.S.
Retirees Celebrate Local 105’s 125th Anniversary
RETIREES’ CLUB OF L.U. 105, HAMILTON, ON — Our retirees’ club was honored to receive an invitation to the local’s 125th anniversary celebration. It was truly a wonderful commemoration. Our heartfelt thanks go out to Local 105 and Lucy Moretti and her team. Together they created unique centrepieces for the tables, a lamp featuring an old-fashioned light bulb they built with their own hands. Additionally, each attending member received a handsome cutting board designed with the Local 105 125th emblem and “Grounded in History, Powered by Members” stamped across the bottom. It was such an honor to be included in this memorable event!
Our 2026 plans are to have a breakfast at Michelangelo’s in January and a Valentine’s luncheon and dance in February. In March, we have an outing planned for “The Piano Man,” a tribute to Billy Joel and Elton John. This outing includes a stop at the Windmill County Market and a lunch at the Gathering Place. In April, we’ll go back to the Cairn Croft in Niagara. We’re looking forward to a wine tour in the Niagara wine region in May. And, as always, we look forward to our annual barbecue luncheon in June.
New members have joined our executive board. Many thanks to our past members for all of their contributions. We truly appreciate all your dedicated hard work. We also send a big “welcome” to our new members and thank them also for taking time out of their personal lives to make our lives more fun!
We are so lucky and proud to be a part of the Local 105 Retirees’ Club! Our sincere heartfelt thanks to all of you!
Eden McLean, P.S.
Happy New Year From Local 134 Retirees
RETIREES’ CLUB OF L.U. 134, CHICAGO, IL — Wishing all a Happy New Year, even though we are a quarter into the new year already. Hoping everyone is safe and starting the year in good health.
A monthly newsletter goes out to all Local 134 retired members, and this is a big job for the writers, editors, printers and mailers. I’d like to send out a big thank you to executive board members Mario Coletta, John Izzo and Bob Pitlock; President Hale Landes; Vice President Keith Berls; member Brian Cronin; and all other contributors. The newsletters keep us informed about upcoming meetings, events, guest speakers, special dates and times, and pricing when applicable.
In the monthly newsletter, there is an opening column titled “From the Podium.” Because of what is happening across our country, a part of the November column, written by our Retirees’ Club President Hale Landes, stays in my heart. I feel it should be read by all IBEW members, so I share Hale’s words with you:
“Sisters and brothers, many of our members come from immigrant families and many more are friends with immigrants. These are trying times with these racist and fascist policies coming out of Washington, D.C. We are our brothers’ keepers. We are our sisters’ keepers. We must stand up for those who are being assaulted by our government actors. In this newsletter you will find some information from the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. Please save it, print it, share it with all of your friends and family and ask them to share as well. Their website is icirr.org. It is up to us, all of us, to do what we can to stop these attacks on immigrants. My grandparents survived the pogroms in Russia. I have family that escaped or survived Nazi Germany and sadly some who did not. Like many of you, my father and uncles fought against the Axis powers in World War II. They fought not just for America and Americans, but for all the people of the world to be free from fascism.”
This was such a touching piece for me that I asked Hale’s permission to share it here, and permission was granted.
Susan Kleczka, P.S.
Holiday Giving
RETIREES’ CLUB OF L.U. 257, JEFFERSON CITY, MO — Our retirees attended the annual Christmas party hosted by the local Dec. 9. Seventy-four members and guests were treated to a family-style luncheon. A raffle was held for scratch-offs and a poinsettia. Donations are collected annually for St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn. Retirees collected $1,000 this year to support St. Jude’s mission of saving children and finding cures.
Save the date for the 100th anniversary celebration of Local 257. The celebration will be Saturday, March 21, at Capital Plaza and Convention Center in Jefferson City. Enjoy an evening of dinner, drinks and live music as we celebrate this milestone.
Petition signatures to stop the gerrymandered Missouri congressional map are being counted by the secretary of state’s office. If 110,000 valid signatures are collected, meeting minimum thresholds in at least two-thirds of the state’s congressional districts, the law is placed on hold until a referendum can be held at the next November election. Please stay informed, as your vote counts!
The retirees of Local 257 wish all a blessed and healthy 2026.
Connie Hamacher, P.S.
Christmas Season at Local 654
RETIREES’ CLUB OF L.U. 654, CHESTER, PA — Looking back at the 2025 holiday season, we hope that our local’s retirees and their families had a great time, with lasting memories. Our local membership decorated the trees and vegetation surrounding the outside of our union hall. The lighting is always fantastic, and it brings many visitors from near and far to our parking lot area for a picturesque drive-through.
The Local 654 officers and membership gave our retirees another superb Christmas luncheon at the union hall. It’s always a good time to see brothers and sisters we haven’t seen in awhile. As usual, the food was fantastic and the fellowship was heartwarming.
It is with heavy hearts that we mourn the passing of retired members John V. Batt Jr., James J. Connors, Lawrence Metzger, John M. Papili Sr., Timothy C. Tart and Robert “Bob” S. Watson. Our sincere condolences go to their families and friends.
William Faulkner, P.S.
Happy New Year!
RETIREES’ CLUB OF L.U. 756, DAYTONA BEACH, FL — We hope you are all doing well. Even though it is already March when you read this, we want to wish everyone a happy and healthy 2026! We are still having low attendance at our meetings and would love to see more of you attend.
A pin ceremony was held in December, and we want to congratulate and thank everyone for their years of service to the union.
It has been quite a while since my last article, so it is with great sadness that we send our condolences and prayers to the families and friends for the passing of Brothers Richard C. Francis, Steven E. Gibbs, Arthur L. Hawes, Merle B. Johnson, David E. Lammers, Peter S. Parise, Terry F. Scholz, Richard T. Smith, Clyde L. Snell, Robert R. Tyre and Joel W. Vincent.
We would like to also invite any retired and unemployed brothers and sisters and their spouses who are in the area to come and join us. Our meetings are held on the second Wednesday of each month at 11:30 a.m. at the Local 756 union hall in Port Orange, Fla.
Diane Gibbs, P.S.
Local 915 East Retirees’ Club Celebrates Brotherhood
RETIREES’ CLUB OF L.U. 915, TAMPA, FL/EAST CHAPTER — The Local 915 Retirees’ Club’s East Chapter met for our monthly luncheon and meeting. The East group meets on the third Monday of each month. We had a fantastic lunch of smoked brisket, mac and cheese, and slaw. The food was made by Brother Jim Miller, and what a great job he did with the food.
After lunch, we held our regular club meeting, discussing many of the current and future events. After the meeting, many of the brothers had quite a few stories and brotherhood to share, and a good time was had by all.
Barry Harber, R.S./P.S.
Local 915 West Retirees’ Club Celebrates Brotherhood
RETIREES’ CLUB OF L.U. 915, TAMPA, FL/WEST CHAPTER — The West Chapter of our Retirees’ Club met for our monthly luncheon and meeting. The West group meets on the first Monday of each month. We discussed some business and had a lot of talk of days gone by and some current events. It’s really nice to be able to spend this time each month with our fellow brothers. The oldest of our group are Al Vision (102) and Al Thomas (98).
James Neimeyer, Pres.
