News Flash!
- September 16th – General Meeting: Amy Billing speaks about the Maryland Community Services Locator.
- October 16th – General Meeting: On Saturday our health fair provides information on the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. Representatives from 7 Health Plans will tell us what’s new for next year. The annual October switch in meeting day is so that those who are still working may attend.
- November 18th – General Meeting: Mr. John Hatton from the Legislative Department at NARFE National Headquarters will answer questions on healthcare reform laws, the fiscal commission, and other current topics.
- December 16th – Holiday Lunch – TBA.
- Read – The 2011 Legislative Program of the Maryland Federation of Chapters of NARFE.
- Read – Chapter President Dorothy Campbell’s comprehensive report on the 2010 Maryland Federation Mini-Convention.
- PREVIEW OUR SPECIAL ACTIVITIES: Every year we participate in lots of great activities and events in the communities covered by our charter. They include fun activities such as the annual patriotic/holiday 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 to our communities about NARFE. Check both the website and our monthly newsletter for details on these and even more activities. For specifics, or if you know of other events, contact any Community Events Coordinator or any officer (see Chapter Newsletter or the website officer list).
- 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 regularly for updates on chapter volunteers.)
- HELP STILL WANTED: With the 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.
- 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 the 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, advocates for state issues that mainly benefit seniors, and provides information on NARFE activities and concerns.
NEW MEMBERS NEEDED
Do you know of a business or facility (bank, fitness facility, spa, medical office, 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 HAVE RETIRED
Just look at the benefits you are now receiving. You can thank NARFE for beating on the doors of the legislators to ensure we receive all that we earned over our working years.
More Than Paying Dues
Paying dues to NARFE and Chapter 1747 makes you a member in good standing, delivers the national magazine and 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 success and growth 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 retirement programs of a civilian 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 NARFE 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 and also lobbies its state legislature on issues 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, the chapter has steadily grown, and today our membership hovers around 900 current federal employees and retirees and their spouses. Our chapter includes members from the five communities listed in our charter -- Bowie, Crofton, Mitchellville, Odenton, and Gambrills — as well as other surrounding areas.
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 – Greater Bowie-Crofton Area.
Created by Bill Meenahan as a public service. Maintained by Flash Gordon.
This page was updated 31 August 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/
