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April 2007
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Vol. 2 / Issue 4
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In This Issue
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Quick Links
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Dear Jill,
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If you're receiving this issue at work, the design might be
compromised because Verizon firewalls are blocking the
coding. You may view a clean version on the Verizon
TelecomPioneers'
website. If you'd prefer a version be sent to your home
e-mail address, please e-mail
newsletter@verizonpioneers.org
and we'll exchange your e-mail addresses.
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The William J. Denver Chapter has been facilitating
communications between 14 schools throughout the Verizon
TelecomPioneers footprint and a Mr. Everest mountain
climber, Dr. Tim Warren, a chiropractor from Warwick,
RI. With a donation from the Verizon TelecomPioneers,
Dr. Warren was able to purchase satellite communications
equipment through which the participating schools have
been e-mailing him questions. Dr. Warren has been
answering the questions by posting his answers on his
website.
You can follow Dr. Warren's journey, see his dispatches
since he left on March 15, and sign up to be on his
dispatch email alert list. Go to
www.drtimwarren. com and click on "Follow the Climb.
" You also may click on "Alerts" and enter your email
address to receive dispatches from Dr. Warren from Mt.
Everest.
(Photo: At one participating school, Ritchie Elementary
in Wheeling, WV, West Virginia Chapter President Geneva
Templin ensured the students understood where Mount
Everest was located. She showed them a world map and
located Nepal for them before the broadcast. "This
project gave our students access to worldwide
information," said John Jorden, principal of Ritchie
Elementary.)
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The Genesee Chapter in Rochester, NY, had a unique opportunity
Sat., March 24-25, to display some of its donated mini-museum
collection at "Science Saturday" at the Rochester Museum &
Science Center. This program was specially designed for students
to experience science in a fun and hands-on informal setting. A
special Pioneer committee of Mark Davis, Lynn DiBiase, Tony
Intini, Desi Sidney-Smith, William Grace, Bill Reifsteck and
Kevin Sheedy designed the floor plan and determined which pieces
of the collection to display. Some of the exhibit pieces
included a can phone system as well as a live working switch.
They also displayed old phone books where visitors could look up
their family address history. During the event, both active
employees and Life Members staffed the booth. The chapter
received positive media coverage, including an article in the
local paper and two TV spots.
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Our Life Member Spotlight is on... Ed Callahan!
Ed Callahan has been an active member of the
Paterson-Passaic-Ridgewood (PPR) Life Member Club of the H. G.
McCully Upstate Chapter, since he retired as a Cable Splicer
from the I & M Department in 2002. He has held several appointed
and elected positions in both the PPR Council and Life Member
Club, including Clown Director, Historian, and Member-at-Large.
Ed served as the chapter's Life Member Representative from 2003
- 2006, and is currently the PPR Life Member Club Vice
President. He can be found actively participating in the
building of wheelchair ramps for the physically challenged,
painting playground maps for local schools, and cleaning the
beaches of South Jersey. One of his favorite projects these days
is working with DIAL, a county funded daycare service for
physically and mentally challenged adults in Clifton, where he
is the Bingo Caller for their monthly Bingo games. In 2005 when
Wilma hit the Florida Coast, Ed didn't waste any time stepping
up to volunteer with the Red Cross, and was sent to Miami, where
he spent weeks helping to bring food and necessities to the
flood victims there. He has also aided flood victims locally in
Wayne and Little Falls, NJ.
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Our Life Member Spotlight is on... Dot Bianco!
"Dot is the most dedicated and active person I know," is a quote
most often repeated by everyone who knows her. Dot is one of
McCully Downstate Chapter's TelecomPioneers Hall of Fame
recipients for good reason. In the past, she was a chapter life
member rep and the chapter's Clown Director. She was also the
Vineland LMC president for many years, and is currently the
club's Treasurer and Dictionary Project Coordinator.
Following are just some of the Pioneer endeavors in which she
has participated for many years: the annual Sports Jamboree,
annual Beach Clean-up, lap robe delivery, and Veterans Memorial
Home and Blackwood's Lakeland Hospital's "Fluffy" the Clown. As
"Book About Me" coordinator, she arranged and delivered books in
Atlantic, Cumberland, Camden and Salem counties. She has also
participated in US Maps projects, delivered food collections to
Emmanuel Center, and delivered medical equipment. She is also
active in her community with many other charities. Following are
just a few: United Way, Special Olympics, started Marketing Team
and the Grandparents Association at St. Mary's Magdalene School
in Vineland, taught clown classes to 7th Grade students at St.
Mary's school, Girl Scouts of America cookie sales, American
Cancer Society "Relay for Life," neighborhood collection for
American Heart Assn., Seniors Luncheon by Boys Scouts at Spring
Oak, member of Vineland's Sacred Heart School Alumni
Association, St. Mary's School East Grandparent's Association,
and secretary of Marketing Committee Team at St. Mary's School
East.
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Ignoring Friday the 13th superstitions, 20 Verizon
TelecomPioneer leaders traveled to Washington, D.C. in April to
tour the Talking Book offices and the Library of Congress. They
saw where all the repair parts were warehoused, the office where
braille translators are certified, and the archives of braille
manuscripts and books that are not read often. The group also
witnessed a reader recording a book about baseball facts. They
learned that readers read at one level of tone and show no
emotions at all. For more information about Talking Books,
contact Gabe Olah at jagapare@frontiernet.net.
(Photo: Kevin Watson of the Library of Congress showed the
Pioneers one of the prototypes of the C set that is used today.)
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"Age is like an unlisted phone number," said Ida Mae Thorne, "No
one needs to know it." This former switchboard operator from
Edison, NJ, turned 100 April 3 to much fanfare. President George
Bush sent a congratulatory letter and Edison Mayor Jun Choi
issued a proclamation. The party itself included lots of cake,
balloons, and guests, including her fellow McCully Downstate
Chapter members.
Ida Mae started working for Bell Telephone at age 17 and made $6
per week. She remembers the days when light was generated with
candles and a kerosene lamp. She retired in 1961. Ida Mae
credits her longevity to clean living, though she does enjoy
desserts, especially cheesecakes. "I don't drink or smoke. I
never ran around. I got plenty of sleep, and I only had one
husband," said Ida Mae.
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It's a Win-Win Situation! As a Pioneer, you can receive terrific
deals and savings on financial products and services, and your
local Pioneer Chapter also can receive monetary benefits from
the proceeds. The TelecomPioneers Association has developed a
Pioneers Financial Center that allows Pioneers, their families
and, in some instances, their friends, to enjoy discounts on
insurance, lending services, credit cards, and home mortgages.
Partner companies include Liberty Mutual, Sky Bank, U.S. Bank,
Affinity Financial Corp., and Wells Fargo Home Mortgage.
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Our Estore manager would like to hear your
recommendations on new products. Please e-mail
bruceyennie@verizon.net
with your feedback.
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