News Flash!

Meetings

For details of our September and October meetings, see the two paragraphs below.  Our chapter usually meets at Bowie City Hall, 2614 Kenhill Drive, Bowie, on the 3rd Thursday of the month at 10:00 a.m. in Conference Room 204.  All meetings are open to the public, and there is never a charge to attend.  We hold meetings from September through June, except October.  At these meetings we have lined up interesting topics with speakers to give presentations.  If you’d like to suggest a topic of interest, please contact the Programs Committee Chair, Barbara Wheatley.

We hold an annual health fair in October.  It is held on the 3rd Saturday so that all retirees and current federal employees have an opportunity to attend.  It’s our most popular meeting.  This meeting features presentations from health insurance providers so that you can become knowledgeable about changes during Open Season.  And, of course, we have health care providers on site to give annual flu shots.

We also assist members with their questions and problems with retirement or related issues.  For details, see Service Officers.

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 Bowie-Crofton 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.

Do you have any suggestions or comments?  Is there additional material we should put here?  If you find technical problems, tell us which Web browser you use, including the version number.  Contact the Webmaster.


 
This is the official Web site of
NARFE Chapter 1747 – Bowie-Crofton, Maryland.
Created by Bill Meenahan as a public service. Maintained by Flash Gordon.
This page was updated 30 May 2009.
 
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/