March 2014 Circulation: 3363 - Grumman Retiree Club

However, the period of good weather has permittedus to catch up with all of the mail received to date.Keep in mind that, after the mail is opened, sortedas to type of mailing (annual renewal, scholarshipdonations, club donations, etc.), all the personaldata from the applications has to be typed into thedatabase. Bob Ripp added that our procedure is tonot deposit checks until the data has been enteredinto the database in case questions arise when theinformation from the application form is added to thedatabase, so mid or late February checks are still notdeposited. This procedure has identified a numberof retirees who sent duplicate checks. These retireesthen have to be directly contacted as to the dispositionof the “extra” money.Betty thanked the office volunteers. She explainedthat altogether we have ten people who do this workand we process almost 4000 pieces of mail, just for thedues. Most volunteers come in one day a week anda few come in two to three days a week. Specifically,Betty cited and thanked volunteers Marge Cornell,Dorothy Leogrande, Tony Scaturro, Barbara Abarmi,Barbara Nilsen, Bob Ripp, Marion Abbott, FrankCarroll, Jim Oakes, Liz McGowam, Diane Bryers, andLynn Wesnofske. Frank Carroll picks up our mail fromthe post office boxes, Jim Oakes takes the hundredsof tabs that members donate and brings them to arecycling facility in Farmingdale, and Liz McGowanhandles our defensive driving course classes** Another problem that occurred with the duesapplications this year was that members included,in the envelopes with their dues checks, additionalchecks to buy Scholarship Fund raffle tickets andlisted the raffle check as a donation to the ScholarshipFund. Raffle tickets are not considered as a taxdeductible item under IRS rules. This meant thatthe applications had to be amended to delete the“donation” and to take the raffle ticket and check andleave it for Lynn Wesnofske. That action might notsound like a lot, but it slows the process down.** Marion announced that our Retiree Club, along withthe original Northrop retirement club. was written upin a recent article in the NGC in-house publication,Inside Aerospace.** The Aviation High School will host a CareerOpportunity Day on March 13. They are looking forspeakers to talk to students about their careers inGrumman. Call the office if interested.Community Relations- Past President Marion Abbott and 2nd VP PatSullivan are now making all luncheon arrangements.Great job today, ladies!- Marion announced that the June ScholarshipLuncheon is scheduled for Wednesday June 25, atthe Crest Hollow Country Club. The weather will bebeautiful and it’s a fun day and very satisfying to honorthe outstanding student award recipients.Website Problems - Bob Ripp:- A while back, the server crashed and the site dataand Member Search database was lost. However,during the repair period, incorrect e-mails wereinadvertently sent to members telling them that theirregistration had been accepted/approved along witha new user ID and Password.- If you tried to use the ID and Password, youdiscovered that they didn’t work.- Bob will ask the site vendor to send out an e-mail toall listed members, explaining the recent problems,along with a new ID and temporary Password. TheID will follow the convention of first five letters of lastname and the first two letters of your first name. Forexample: Joseph Smith would have the ID “smithjo”.- Once you receive that e-mail, you will be able to go toour website and have the capability of doing a membersearch. This database contains member name, cityand state of residency, and e-mail address. We donot include street address and telephone number. Asa reminder, the password is required only to log onto Member Search. Access to our website does notrequire a password.Treasurers’ Reports- Retiree Club: Frank Rizzo presented the treasurer’sreport. It was accepted as read. Frank announcedthat he and Rich Pawlowski are starting the IncomeTax assistance that they provide this time of the year.They do the taxes on Tuesdays. Call the office for anappointment.- Scholarship Fund: Harry Daum presented theScholarship Fund treasurer’s report. It was acceptedas read. Harry also reminded us that the QuarterlyScholarship 50/50 raffle tickets are not tax deductible.Travel - Nick Bazzicalupo (Prime Time Travel):** April 16 (Wednesday): “New York Rockettes – “Heartand Lights” at Radio City Music Hall. All travel to/fromNYC; lunch at a famous NYC restaurant. 139 pp5

Happy Birthday to: Zeke Witkin (87 on 2/8); WilburLindstadt (93 on 2/20); Ernest Finamore (88 on 2/22);Angela Matuza-Sessa (85 on 3/8); Charles Schmitz(69 on 3/17); Ernest Derryberry (93 on 4/4); and BobKopac (84 on 2/28).Anniversaries: Irene & John Wallace (65 yrs); Lillian& John Giunta (58 yrs). Congratulations on yourmilestones.Get Well messages were sent to David Reichel,Philip Blum, and Antoinette Santamaria. We sendour hopes and prayers for each to Get Well, soon.Prize Winners- Community Relations 50/50: Marvel Popolo, FredTreubig, Elaine Visconti, and Claudia Cinelli. Claudiagraciously donated 20 of her winnings to theScholarship Fund. Thank You, Claudia.- Scholarship 50/50: Sid Weihs, who graciouslydonated 30 of his winnings to the Scholarship Fund.Thank You, Sid.- Door Prizes: Bart Verga and Anne Donohue- Scholarship Mail-In Raffle: William Powers andRichard FoxNext Meeting: March 26, at the Milleridge Inn. Lunchat Noon ( 10/member; 20/non-member). Businessmeeting at 1:30PM. Send luncheon reservationcoupons and checks (payable to Grumman RetireeClub, Inc.) to: Grumman Retiree Club, Inc., PO Box476, Bethpage, NY 11714. Please write “Luncheon”on the envelope so that it stands out from duesapplications.The guest speaker will be Peter Rettaliatta, formerDirector of Procurement for Grumman. Peter currentlyis the President of Air Industries in Bay Shore, NY.A motion to adjourn the meeting was made, seconded,and approved. The meeting was adjourned at 3PM,and - as is the case on LI - the snow had stoppedand the sun was shining.By: Lou Kubat, *************CALIFORNIA / Golden WestMeeting dates: 3/11 (2nd Tues.) and 4/8 (2nd Tues.)6Our February 11th meeting was held at the FraternalOrder of Eagles, in Oxnard. President Fred Syrettopened the meeting at Noon with the Pledge ofAllegiance and a prayer for our members andfamilies who are suffering illnesses. He also offereda prayer for our service members all over the world.Vice-President John Torkelsen has been ill andunable to attend the meetings for the past severalmonths. We all wish him a very speedy recovery.We went over our roster of members, calling out thenames of those who were absent and asked for inputas to their current status. Some of us will contactthe absentees and invite them to attend our nextmeeting.A video program about life aboard the space stationwas presented by Craig Kaston. It was about all thethings we take for granted as normal here on earth.We normally think of sitting down at a table to eat ourlunch. However, on the space station, living is verydifferent. The food containers must be hand-heldor in some way tethered, as the containers will floataway. Sleeping requires you to be in a small cageto keep you from floating off to some place you maynot want to go. To use the bathroom, a small vacuumis created in the toilet to expel the excrement intospace where it floats forever. How would you like tobe on some future spacecraft and have to explain tomission control what you just ran into?Life on the space station requires a new way ofthinking and a different way of doing things we takefor granted here on earth.We saw a short spoof video showing F-14s in adogfight with some Japanese Zeros. You can guesswho won. It made for some interesting conversationafter the video.Next Meeting: March 11, 11AM, at Fraternal Orderof Eagles building in Oxnard.By: Paul Aanerud, ************FLORIDA/ First CoastThirty-seven members and one guest attended ourFebruary 18, luncheon meeting. President FredBauer called us to order and led us in the Pledge of

Allegiance, which was followed by an opening prayerby Chaplain Janet.After our meal, Fred introduced two new members,Charlie Baldwin and Bob Wolk. With Bob was his wifeFran. Welcome, folks, and we hope to see you often.Fred has not received any new club businesscorrespondence or any health/welfare reports fromour members.Recently, several members have received emailsconcerning a Retiree Club site with passwords.Answers to our inquiries about this site have notbeen forthcoming and we hope to learn more details.The site is having technical problems so we advisemembers to wait until more information is available.Fred announced the following Birthdays for Feb:Audrey Umbach, William Lainhart, Josephine Solt,Donald Schroeder, and Betty Rosone.Anniversaries: Mary & Lloyd Gillespie, and Fran &George Deangelis.Treasurer Bob Rathje reports we have 83 paidmembers and about twelve (2013) members not yetpaid for 2014. Bob plans to send all required fundsto headquarters in New York the first week in March.To those who have yet to pay this year’s dues: Wehope to see your check arrive soon. Please remit 15to Bob Rathje, 11046 Castlemain Cir. E, Jacksonville,FL 32256. Checks should be made out to GrummanRetiree Club.Don Kowalski donated a hardcover book as a prizein the 50/50 draw. Ironically Don was one of today’seight cash winners.Next Meeting: March 18, at the New Century Buffet,US 1 South, St. Augustine.By: Steve Cacace, Sec’y. ************************FLORIDA / Manasota WestOur February 12, 2014 meeting was called to orderby President Ted Martines, with the recitation of thePledge of Allegiance. There were fourteen membersand four guests in attendance on a beautiful Floridawinter day. We enjoyed lunch while overlooking theboating activities at the Pier 22 marina in Bradenton,FL.Treasurer Jim Murray gave his financial report,indicating our treasury is starting to build with thenew year. Secretary John Zinna informed us of JimWinding’s continued recovery and of Jim & Nancy’splan to attend next month’s meeting. VP Bob Nybergand wife Beth are traveling to Australia this month; welook forward to an update of their travels in March.President Ted spoke of the many scams focused onsenior citizens in Florida, with a cautionary warningto be on the lookout for these: if approached byphone, mail, or email, be sure to not provide anypersonal information, including SSN, credit cardnumbers, etc. It is also recommended to checkyour credit card statements regularly, as manyscammers will hit for small amounts and then - if notpicked up - repeat it monthly.We have two speakers planned for this season:1.At our March 12 meeting, we will have Mr. JoeMathis, from the Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium.Mr. Mathis will give an overview of the Lab’s activitiesand their on-going scientific investigations of RedTide, which affects our area periodically.2.On May 14, our guest speaker will be RonMcCarty from the Ringling Museum. Ron is the“Keeper” of Ca’d’Zan, which was the winter home ofJohn & Mabel Ringling.We are working on a speaker from the South FloridaMuseum for our April meeting. More info on that willfollow next month.Following Ted’s comments, we all gathered onceagain for our “Year End” photo, which - due totechnical difficulties in the past - didn’t meet our highstandards for the Club photo album. Now, with 18smiling faces, we got it right.Retiree Ned Sweeney and his wife Ann were two ofour guests. Ned told of his Grumman history, workingon the business side of many aircraft projects thenon to space projects. Now retired 21 years, his onlyboss is Ann, who keeps him in line. We also had Bob& Anne Moncski visiting, from Cary, NC. Bob retired7

from Grumman in 1994; he had worked across manyfacilities and programs, from the A-6E to the LM, andHouston to Calverton. Bob and Ned’s stories broughtback many fond memories to us all.We had our 50/50 Club drawings, and the winners,Diane Martines and Joan Goldblatt, made TreasurerJim happy by donating their winnings back into theClub. And, on the topic of finance, our own BobAlloca has offered his services in answering Taxquestions from our members.We encourage our members to bring guests. Ifthere are any Grumman retirees in the area, pleasejoin us at Noon on March 12, at Pier 22 Restaurantin Bradenton, FL: good company, great stories,beautiful views, and good food.By: John Zinna, Sec’y ****************************************FLORIDA/ Mid-WestOur February 20, 2014, meeting was opened byPresident John Cornacchia at 11:30AM.Greetings: Welcome to the Grumman Retirees Club,Mid-West Florida ChapterChaplin Gus Krayer opened our meeting with theinvocation and the Pledge of Allegiance.There were 24 members in attendance and noguests.Our only February birthday is: Art Bellion. Actually,Art’s “real” birthday is in October. However, wealways have our picnic that month and his birthdayusually isn’t recognized. We decided to observe Art’sbirthday this month so we are sure to be able to enjoythe celebration.There were no Anniversaries for the month ofFebruary; however Joan & Art Bellion celebratedtheir 69th Anniversary in January and were unableto attend last month’s meeting. We felt that it wasimportant to not pass up the opportunity to “ Wishthem the Best”.There was one correction to the minutes for January:8The date of our meeting in April. The Motion to acceptthe minutes as corrected was made by Gus Krayerand seconded by Ruthann Grieshammer. Theminutes of our January meeting, as corrected, wereaccepted unanimously.The Treasurer’s report was given by Gus Krayer. Themotion to accept the Treasurer’s report was made byRuthann Grieshammer, seconded by Madeline Arso,and accepted unanimously.Sunshine Committee:Citrus County: All is wellHernando County: It has been reported that Bea Hallis in rehab at Hartland, on US 41, in Brooksville. Wewish her the best for a speedy recovery.The entertainment for this month was Tony D andwhat we called his “magic guitar”. The sounds wereamazing.We had seven 50/50 winners. Congratulations to all.The meeting adjourned at 1:15PM.A fun time was had by all.Future Meetings: All meetings start at 11:30AM, andare held at the Buffet City restaurant, Route 50, inBrooksville:March 20; April 17; May 22. Summer Recess. Sept18; Oct 16; Nov 20; Dec 18.Our meetings are a great time to meet old friendsand new people who have a common bond of yearsof service with Grumman.By: Kathy ****************FLORIDA / SpaceCoastFebruary 19, 2014A beautiful and sunny day brought 88 membersand guests to the Suntree Country Club to socializeand to hear the latest news on the activities ofNorthrop Grumman and, in particular, NGC”s plansfor the Melbourne facility. Following the traditionalopening of the Pledge of Allegiance, led by PastPresident Peggy Graefe, and a meaningful prayer

by Sergeant-at-Arms Ed Romano, our membersshared a sumptuous buffet and heard Vice PresidentJohn Lau brief us on the outstanding career of ourdistinguished speaker, Rick Matthews.Rick’s career as a Colonel in the U.S. Air Forceincluded service overseas where he was exposedto the singular capabilities of the J-STARS aircraft.Hence, he was no stranger to our technical prowesswhen he came to work for Northrop Grumman. Duringhis rise to his present position as VP Military AircraftSystems; Manufacturing Operations and MelbourneSite Manager, he learned of the unique Grumman“family” culture and vowed to enhance the tie betweenhis existing employees and the local retired Grummanworkers . . . a goal he repeated several times.Rick led us through the differences in managementstyle under the past several corporate CEOs, leadingto the present leaders as expressed in the creationof five Centers of Excellence, two of which arecentered in Florida. The company now is really aGlobal Security Company, embarking on spreadinginternationally: NGC is currently opening officesoverseas. The Air and Space businesses have beenmerged and this sector is a 10 billion business, withAero alone representing 4 billion annually.Rick noted activity in the J-STARS and E-2 programs,stating that with the move of the E-2 program officeto Melbourne this Summer, we will have 600 peoplein the Melbourne area - “and growing”.Showing slides of the new facilities under construction,Rick informed us that there was much more underwaythan the 210,000 square-feet building scheduled forcompletion by June 9. With the refurbishing of theold buildings and the site renovation, his plan isto create a “scalable, walk-able, flexible campus.”Rick humorously indicated that his dedication to thisproject had already been demonstrated by paying 15,000 to extract and relocate the gopher tortoisesfrom the site.In closing, Rick re-stated his desire to have thecompany “re-connect” with the community, includingmany of the same organizations that our club workswith. Along this line, Northrop Grumman will be thesponsor of this year’s Melbourne Air Show, featuringthe USAF Thunderbirds. He is attempting to havethe show put on at Melbourne Airport, over ourrenovated facility.As part of the effort to re-connect with retirees, heis hoping to have a Family Day Program after theBethpage group arrives. As he left for a meetingand dinner with our Governor, Rick stated that helooked forward to “breaking bread” with us again inthe future.SpaceCoast March fotoSpaceCoast March fotoSpaceCoast March fotoSpaceCoast March fotoSpaceCoast March fotoSpaceCoast March fotoL to R:Past Chapter Presidents Peggy & GeorgeGraefe; NGC VP Rick Matthews; Chapter VP JohnLau; Chapter President Bob Prais.Community Relations:Chet Emery reported that get-well cards were sentto Gene Sirota, Ed Lecun, Joe German, and JerryErnst.New Members:We had the pleasure of welcoming new membersKaren Warsinski and Tom Lewis to our club. Tomcomes to us via Westinghouse (a subsidiary of NGC),where he was Director of Undersea Operations.Treasurer’s ReportBill Waldron provided details of January’s financialactivities, including receiving our Tax Exemptcertificate, sending a check for 730 to the VeteransHonors Flight, and finishing the month with solidbalances in both our regular account and ourScholarship Fund.Travel and Entertainment - Maureen Ayers:** The New Smyrna Balloon Festival, March 2830. In addition to numerous balloons, there will bevarious demonstrations, music, helicopter rides, andmuch more. Admission is 10.** For something really different, try the BrevardParks Big Kids Adventures. The May program9

features the “Titanic Dinner”, where each visitor willbe assigned an actual passenger’s name. The visitorwill find out at the close of the

Mar 04, 2018 · Grumman Retiree Club, Inc., 600 Grumman Road West, M/S Z49-25 Bethpage, NY 11714-5000. Address Periodical postage rates paid at Bethpage, NY. Subscriptions rates of 11 are paid through membership dues. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: Grumman Retiree Club, Inc. c/o Command P