GENERAL:
2011 started with the cancellation of our January 18th Board Meeting because of ice and snow. This did not keep the Board from reaching our goals for the year.
MEMBERSHIP:
For 2011 there were 2145 members of AMPRA of which 1022 were paid members.
The Board needed to replace Wally Conrad, and Doris Heck who completed their terms on December
31, 2010. Wally and Doris requested to be put on Emeritus Status which was approved by the Board. Because of personal reasons, Winslow Brown resigned from the Board. Audry Zerbe, Dean Miller, and myself volunteered to serve on the Board which brought the number of members on the Board to
22 according to our By-Laws. Hugh Rozman’s term as President of AMPRA, INC., expired on
December 31, 2010 however, he kindly agreed to chair our meetings until a new President could be
found. At that time we had no lst or 2nd Vice President to serve on the Board. In May, after volunteering to come back on the Board as President, and being elected by the Board, we now have a
1st Vice President (Dick Hoffman) and a 2nd Vice President (Dan Casey).
We needed to reach out to the new Retirees to inform them of AMPRA, INC., and invite them to join our
Membership. This year we drafted a welcoming letter explaining AMPRA and put it into packets
outlining the activities of AMPRA. These packets were delivered to TE Connectivity by Chairperson
Dee Nesbit to be distributed to new retirees.
This year we mailed out Annual Renewal Forms to all registered Members. We did not put the form
Into the New & Notes as in the past. We are hoping for better results by doing this by mail. On this form is a place to specify whether you want to continue to receive the newsletter via hard copy or via on-line access.
On December 31, 2011, Hank Grissinger and Loretta Phillippy will have served their tenure on the Board.
Loretta has requested to become an Emeritus Board Member. She will continue to serve as Chairperson of the Program Committee. The Board thanks Hank and Loretta for their outstanding service.
FINANCIAL:
Our Audit Committee reported quarterly that our Treasurer’s Books are accurate. We cannot however, continue to have cost overruns at some of our events. Our Board in 2012 will have a committee to review our Actual vs Budget to see where we can cut costs to keep from increasing costs or membership fees to our Retirees. However, some increases may be necessary.
PROGRAM;
As always, our Program Committee chaired by Loretta Philippy did another outstanding job. Events like the Spring Fling at Allenberry, Senator’s Baseball on June 10th, night at the Casino/Races on July 13th, the Pig Roast on September 14 (move from hot July), and our Annual Christmas Party today, were well planned and very successful.
Because of new difficulties and costs in play for bus pick-ups at the various shopping centers, our Chairperson of Travel/Trips Pat Martin made a motion that we cancel all bus trips for the foreseeable future and leave the entertainment and adventures to local drive to locations only. There’s too much competition in the area for bus trips and we have had to cancel so many in recent years that it no longer seems to be worth the effort. The Board voted unanimously to suspend bus trips.
Our Golf Outings seem to be a big success under the leadership of Chairperson Dick Hoffman. This year there were 62 golfers on the course. Next year the outing will be on September 20, 2012 at the Range End in Dillsburg.
SPECIAL PROJECTS;
AMPRA Web Site (
www.ampra.net ) is now providing AMPRA Newsletters as mention above and sign-up sheets for AMPRA events (thanks to Chairperson Dick Hoffman). We hope by going paperless we will save on postage. Members with computers are being asked to go on-line to receive the Newsletter and sign-up event sheets. According to our E-mail Chairperson Bill Hair there are 902 members on our E-mail list. If all went paperless that would be a big savings on postage. We will continue to send hard copies to those who specify it.
E-mail Blast is now up and working according to Chairperson Steen Reber.
BY-LAWS:
AMPRA, INC. will be changing their mailing address to: AMPRA, INC., % DASHER INC, 777 East Park Drive, Harrisburg, PA 17109. This had a majority vote of approval from the Board. Our Chairperson Barry Wagner was working with Dave Henschel (AMPRA Lawyer ) who said that we must have a Street Address for our non-profit charter from the State.
NEWS & NOTES:
Our Editor, Mary Ann Swartley, continues to improve the format of our Newsletter. We went to a tri-fold version, which will save on mailing and printing costs.
DEATHS:
As this date, there were 103 reported deaths for 2011. The Board did not consider this as a complete list. As of May 2011, TE Connectivity, for some reason, stopped sending us monthly lists of deceased retirees. We have been trying to contact TE Connectivity to continue this program however, we have gotten zero response. AMPRA will continue to watch the newspaper obituaries for any of our members. Without mentioning AMP, TYCO, and TE Connectivity on the obituaries we probably will miss a lot. We will continue to seek working relations with TE Connectivity and will provide a list of deaths in our newsletter rather than wait until the end of the year.
SICKNESS & HEALTH:
Our Chairperson Anne Wolfe has reported sending out 54 sympathy cards. These cards contain information on who to call about unused Pension benefits and for Life Insurance benefits
Several weeks ago, our Secretary Karl D. Billman, went to New York to see a program. He went via train and when walking through Penn Station, Karl took a very bad trip down three steps and broke bones in both of his arms. He is now in the Colonial Park Care Center, 800 KingRuss Road, Room G-6, Harrisburg, PA 17109. Christmas cards and get well cards are welcome. May GOD bless and heal Karl back to normal. Did I say normal; I mean to his ole self.
NEW PROGRAMS:
This year we started a new program called “PARTNERS”. This will be chaired by Past President Hugh Rozman. We are reaching out to businesses to provide cost savings for our Membership. One we have contacted is Pro Source, a wholesale floor covering business. It will cost AMPRA a one time fee of $25.00 to secure a group membership. Our membership can save 40% off carpet and 20% of other floor coverings. Once this is finalized, we will notify our membership.
SUMMARY:
2011 has been a good year. The Board Members are continuing to provide good service and programs. A big THANK YOU to all the Board members for their dedication and continued successful hard work they do for AMPRA, INC. Also, a big thank you to Hugh Rozman for his following of the By-laws and remaining on the Board as President until one was found. I am back and with the continuing strength and hard work of our Board, AMPRA, INC., will remain intact.
GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS AND GOD BLESS OUR COUNTRY.
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR.
Gerald J. Hopple President
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