News Flash!
- February 10th – URGENT! IMPORTANT HEARING IN ANNAPOLIS: Weather permitting, of course, all Chapter 1747 members, their spouses and other family members and neighbors are requested to attend a hearing on SB 190, the Senior Tax Relief Act on Wednesday, February 10 at 1:00 p.m. This bill is our #l priority; if passed it would increase Maryland's special tax exemption for elderly taxpayers from $1,000 to $3,200 for those age 65 and older. Its value, when fully effective, would mean about $170 more each year in your pocket. Maryland NARFE is hoping to show the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee our solid support for this bill by filling the hearing room with NARFE members and other supporters.
For more information (including driving/parking/carpooling, and changes due to inclement weather), contact Ed Bice (301-646-3748).
- February 18th – General Meeting: Karen Sank, Preparedness Outreach Coordinator, Office of Emergency Management, will give us helpful and practical advice for unforeseen situations.
- March 18th – General Meeting: Speaker, to be announced, will discuss gardening and lawn care, gardening products, and growing herbs.
- PREVIEW OTHER UPCOMING ACTIVITIES: We've got lots of great activities and events coming up in 2010. They range from an officer training symposium (March) to a mini-convention (May) to the national convention (August/September). They include fun activities such as the annual parades in Crofton and Bowie (May) and our biennial picnic (June). They include having informational tables at Bowiefest (June) and the Odenton Fair (October). Please participate in these activities/events, not only to support our Chapter, but to get the word out in our communities about NARFE. Check out our monthly newsletter for details on all these and even more activities.
- SOME GREAT “VOLUNTEER” NEWS! In response to our request for help, we now have volunteers to pick up the chapter’s newsletter, seal it and label it, and take it to the Post Office. We also have a new Membership Chair. (Check out the President’s Message in the newsletter each month for updates on chapter volunteers.)
- BUT MORE HELP WANTED: With the recent resignation of our 2nd Vice President, we hope someone will come forward to fill this position. As stated in our by-laws, both of our vice presidents “Prepare, in order, to assume the presidency if the President is unable to fill that office; Serve as ex-officio members of all Committees, except the Nominating Committee; Assume additional duties as are assigned by the President.” To volunteer, or for more detailed information, contact President Dorothy Campbell.
- HELP WANTED: Two volunteers needed for the Chapter’s Membership Committee. One would send “welcome letters” to new chapter members using a list provided monthly by NARFE’s national office. The other would send letters to members who have not responded to national’s reminders to pay their dues. Both jobs require a computer/basic computer skills. To volunteer or for more information, contact Dorothy Campbell or any officer.
- Please contact Dorothy Campbell or any other officer to find out specifics. Please come out to these activities to support our Chapter and to get the word out in your community about NARFE.
- NARFE’S Legislative Program for the 111th Congress (2009-2010)
- Did you start receiving Social Security benefits early? You’d better read Don O’Donnelley’s Letter to the Editor.
- Check out our new In the News section!
Meetings
We hold general membership meetings at 10:00 a.m. on the third Thursday of each month, except in June, July, August, October and December. Each general membership meeting includes a special interesting and informative program. These meetings are held at Bowie City Hall, 2614 Kenhill Drive, Bowie in Conference Room 204.
Every October, the membership meeting is held on a Saturday so that those who work weekdays may attend. This special meeting features presentations from several of the largest health insurance providers so that you can become knowledgeable about Open Season changes. This meeting is in the Multi-purpose Room at Bowie City Hall.
Each June meeting is combined with a luncheon in odd-numbered years and a picnic in even-numbered years. In December, the meeting is combined with a holiday luncheon. There are no general membership meetings in July or August.
If you’d like to suggest a topic for a membership meeting, please contact the Programs Committee Chair, Howard Dobson. And if you need transportation to a meeting, contact President Dorothy Campbell.
What is NARFE?
The National Active and Retired Federal Employees (Association) (NARFE) is an organization whose members are current or retired federal workers and their spouses. Its main purpose is to protect earned benefits of its members. On the chapter level, NARFE holds regular meetings, creates social contacts, provides help in dealing with the federal bureaucracy, advocates for the NARFE national organization’s issues, and provides information on NARFE activities and concerns.
NEW MEMBERS NEEDED
Do you know of a business or facility (banks, fitness facility, spas, doctor offices, etc) that will let us display our newsletter and/or the NARFE magazine? Please let Dorothy Campbell or any other officer know. If you are still working for the government, maybe you can take several copies of the newsletter/magazine to work with you to display.
REMEMBER NARFE IS THE ONLY ORGANIZATION YOU CAN DEPEND ON WHILE YOU ARE STILL WORKING OR ARE NOW RETIRED
Just look at the benefits you are now receiving. You can thank NARFE for beating on the doors of the politicians to ensure we are receiving all that we earned over the years.
More Than Paying Dues
Paying dues to NARFE and Chapter 1747 makes you a member in good standing, delivers the chapter’s newsletter to you by mail, and now will provide even more information via the Internet.
But to be a good member takes some effort on your part. It entails attending membership meetings, participating in special events, working on committees, lobbying, holding office. It means recognizing that it’s your organization, and its continued growth and success depend on the participation of a greater circle of members – not just a limited number of officers and activists.
Advantages of Belonging to NARFE
NARFE is a membership organization of current and retired federal employees, spouses and survivors. NARFE is open to all persons who are receiving, or will be eligible to receive, an annuity or survivor annuity from any of the civilian retirement programs of an agency of the US Government.
NARFE is involved in protecting the earned retirement benefits of its members in over 2000 chapters in the United States. There is no other organization that can accomplish this.
Through NARFE, members receive the latest information on retirement issues, taxes, financial planning, and health benefits. In addition, members receive the monthly Retirement Life Magazine, written especially for current and retired federal employees.
When you join NARFE, you are assigned a local chapter that meets on a monthly basis, 10 times a year. The chapter provides social contacts, information on chapter activities in the community as well as lobbying the state legislatures important to members of NARFE and the local community.
To join, click here and obtain a membership application.
How Chapter 1747 Greater Bowie-Crofton Area Began
Fifty people assembled on April 15, 1980 at Bowie City Hall to form the Bowie-Crofton Chapter of NARFE. That meeting was organized by Ben Zitomer, a member of the College Park-Greenbelt Chapter who, along with others who lived in Bowie and Crofton, wanted to form their own chapter. Those 50 people signed on, and the quest for a charter for the new chapter proceeded.
On April 28, 1980 they adopted a constitution and by-laws, which national NARFE approved on May 6. On October 31, they were granted their charter and “empowered to do all things pertaining to the good of the organization ...”.
Since the beginning, our chapter has been able to grow to about 1000 members, consisting of both current federal employees and retirees. Now our chapter includes members from Bowie, Croften, Mitchellville, Odenton, and Gambrills.
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This is the official Web site of
NARFE Chapter 1747 – Greater Bowie-Crofton Area.
Created by Bill Meenahan as a public service. Maintained by Flash Gordon.
This page was updated 8 February 2010.
Opinions and positions that appear on this Web site are not necessarily those of NARFE’s national organization, despite the fact that this site bears the NARFE national organization’s name and seal.
URL: http://narfe1747.org/
