*****Joint District Meeting in Fergus Falls September 25^th*****  

A District meeting will be held in Fergus Falls on Monday, September 25^th at the Best Western (Bigwood Event Center).  Registration begins at 10:45AM with the meal served promptly at noon.  Dick Thissen will be the featured speaker.  See below for details.  The meeting is open to ALL NARFE members, prospective members, current and retired federal employees, and guests in Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota.  If you plan to attend please let me know by September 15^th.  The Event Center needs a head count for the meal.  

***District 6 Joint Chapter Meeting: Promoting Chapter Revitalization
Alexandria, Detroit Lakes, Fergus Falls, & Thief River Falls
***Open to ALL NARFE Members, Current & Retired Federal Employees, & Guests: Minnesota , North Dakota, & South Dakota
*** Noon Meal & Meeting Including Awards & Door Prizes:  Promoting Chapter Participation
Registration 10:45-- 11:30, Welcome 11:40, Lunch 12:00 noon, adjourns 3:00PM
*** Monday, September 25, 2006: Bigwood Event Center (Best Western) Fergus Falls Kempher Room (210 West Exit 54.  Go east.  Turn left at first stop light)
***Luncheon:
Roast beef, mashed potatoes & gravy, vegetable, salad, dessert, & coffee
Cost $11.50 (tax and tip included)
***Speakers:  Protecting Earned Benefits
Dick Thissen Region 5 National Field VP, Frank Boys Minnesota Federation President, Mary Burkett Minnesota Federation Membership VP, Carolyn Billing District 6 Field Officer, Legislative Leaders, and Suzanne Acton Blue Cross/Blue Shield

Quality meetings are better than quantity.  Recently a chapter evaluation form was sent to your chapter president.  It is an internal document to be used by your chapter to help increase both chapter attendance and participation.  I am willing to meet with you to help you generate ideas. We need to “think outside the box” when coming up with innovative ideas to meet our goals. 

Meeting attendance is vital to the membership and the organization. Participation is instrumental to NARFE and its ability to work for you.  The organization protects you and your retirement benefits.  Get involved.  Attend your next chapter meeting.  Become a chapter officer.  Serve on a committee.  You need NARFE and NARFE needs you!  Together we can make a difference!

The Thief River Falls NARFE Chapter #2328 received the Lawrence Biever Membership Award for the second year in a row at the Forty-first annual Minnesota state NARFE convention in Willmar.  The award is given to the chapter with the largest percent of increase in chapter membership.  Pictured left to right are Janet Berg Thief River Falls member, Carolyn Billing District 6 Field Officer, Mary Burkett Minnesota Federation Membership Vice President, Frank Boys Minnesota Federation President, Raymond Berg Thief River Falls Chapter President, and Richard (Dick) Thissen Region 5 National Field Vice President.  The NARFE organization has been in existence since 1921 and works hard at improving and protecting our earned federal retirement benefits.

 Member Contest: “What NARFE Means to Me”

NARFE is conducting a member contest to foster increased awareness of how valuable NARFE membership is, to focus on past achievements, and to encourage members to participate in the future.  All members are urged to submit a statement on the topic “What NARFE Membership Means To Me”.  Winners will be published in the NARFE Magazine.  Keep your statement to 150 words or less. E-mail your entry to rl@narfe.org or send it via mail to NARFE Headquarters, Attention: Contest, 606 North Washington Street, Alexandria, VA 22314.

The Federation gives recognition and monetary rewards for recruitment.  One is given to the chapter with the largest percent of increase in chapter membership.  It is called the Lawrence Biever Membership Award.  The other is given to the top three individual recruiters (minimum of three recruits in order to qualify).  The Headquarters publication Recruiters Quarterly is used as the sole source of determining the winners of the individual recruiter awards.  All federation board members and any others involved in group recruiting will be excluded from eligibility.  

The Thief River Falls Chapter #2328 won the Lawrence Biever Award at the 2005 and again at the 2006 convention.  The Fergus Falls Chapter #1207 won this award in 2004.  Let’s all work very hard to keep this prestigious award in District 6.  Let’s earn the individual recruiting award in District 6 as well.  Along with the recognition there are monetary rewards.

Current Federal Employees are our future.  There are special incentives for recruiting them.  13.3% of Minnesota NARFE members are current federal employees.  The national average is 5.7% and Region V is 8.0%.  Minnesota NARFE membership is 21.4% of its potential membership. 70% of NARFE membership recruitment is done by the OPM blind mailing.  Let’s all take action and do it at the local level!  The above statistics are as of April 30, 2006.

Use the matching fund program for recruiting.  Matching funds can not be used for retention.  Headquarters will pay 50% of the recruiting costs.  Send your request to Chuck Timanus at Headquarters through Frank Boys, Federation President for his signature. Use your imagination and be creative with strategies you use to recruit new members.

Alexandria Vikingland #2213 chartered on October 24, 1989:  The chapter meets on the third Thursday every other month during the months of February, April, June, August, October, and December at the Traveler’s Inn in Alexandria at 2:00PM.

Detroit Lakes #1842 chartered on August 3, 1981 : The chapter meets on the second Wednesday during the months of April through December at the Holiday Inn in Detroit Lakes.  The chapter does not meet during the winter months.  Lunch is at noon with the meeting to follow at 1:00PM.

Fergus Falls Lake Region #1207 chartered on September 21, 1971:  The chapter meets on the second Monday of each month at the Senior Center in Fergus Falls.  The chapter does not meet during the summer months.  Their next meeting will be October 9^th.  Lunch is at noon with the meeting to follow at 12:45PM.

Thief River Falls #2328 chartered on September 20, 2000:  The chapter meets during the months of May, June, August, and September at the Senior Center in Thief River Falls.  Lunch is at 11:45AM with the meeting to follow at 12:30PM.  

Bills covering state income tax exemption on our annuities will be re-introduced in the Minnesota House and Senate as soon as the 2007 Legislative Session begins.  It will be important to contact your legislators especially those on the Tax Committee and the Ways and Means Committee early in the 2007 Legislative Session.  Even though we were unsuccessful during the 2006 Congressional Session, we accomplished a lot in our first year of efforts.  We have a better understanding of what needs to be done in order to accomplish our goals, and we are optimistic that things will go better this next year.  Incidentally the state of Iowa was successful in getting a similar bill passed in 2006.

Contact your legislators by phone, mail, fax, E-mail, and/or in person to let them know how you think on our issues.  Also be sure to thank Representative Collin Peterson and Senator Mark Dayton for being great friends of NARFE.  Our priorities are:

1)  Protecting Our Earned Benefits.

2)  Premium Conversion S-484/HR-994.  Pretax dollars used to pay health insurance premiums.

3)  GPO/WEP Repeal S-619/HR-147.  Pension offset and the windfall provision elimination.

4)  Health Savings Accounts.  NARFE does not favor the HSA’s.

Alexandria Chapter #2213 Happenings

Alexandria Chapter Officers from left to right are Merle (Pete) Nordstrom, President; Ward Aas, Vice President; and Phyllis Tucker, Secretary-Treasurer.  Elected and Carolyn Billing installed them on June 15, 2006.

The Detroit Lakes Chapter posts their meeting minutes on the Minnesota NARFE Web Site.  If you are unable to attend your chapter meeting, check the web site to stay informed.  Election of officers was held on June 14, 2006.  They were installed at the June chapter meeting by Frank Gathman, a recent transfer to the Detroit Lakes chapter from Arizona chapter #1413.