47th HFRA meeting found us back at the Elks!
.
Seventeen members gathered at the Hamden Elks Hall last Tuesday afternoon for the Association's first in-person meeting before the COVID-19 shut down that started fifteen months ago. The restrictions on large in-door gatherings and mask requirements for those fully vaccinated were lifted on May 19th, so members attending in person were required to be fully vaccinated as of May 22nd.
.
An additional seven members showed up on Zoom, including out-of-state members Ed Badamo, Tom Hart and Jeff Stoehr. This was Tom Hart's first meeting.
.
Many thanks to member Brian Forsyth for arranging a special Tuesday opening of the Elks so that our Association could meet once again in our pre-COVID venue. Unfortunately, Brian was unable to attend due to medical tests being conducted that day, but we understand he is doing well and we all hope he is back at 100% a.s.a.p.
|
Seated (L-R): Jim Koutsopolos, Tom Doherty, Ralph Dievert, Chick Manware, Jim Leddy, and Don LaBanca.
Standing (L-R): Don Buechele, Bill Fitzmaurice, Kevin Shields, Bob Surprise, Austin Williams, Paul Frodel, Dave Johnson, Dave Strawhince, Harold Mangler, Bob Mordecai, and Dennis Baker.
|
 |
| For this first combo meeting of the Association, 17 members attended in person at the Elks and seven members tuned in with Zoom. The two remote members seen on the Zoom video were able to listen and could be heard. But the five unseen members were not heard by the secretary, who was taking the minutes and monitoring Zoom activity from back of the room. We believe these problems can be remedied. |
|
|
 |
| HFRA Pres. Bob Mordecai sat alone at this one. Secretary DJ monitored the Zoom activity from right behind using a laptop. Another computer faced the crowd so the Zoom attendees could see almost everyone. Because the microphones are in the computer screens, they were far away from whoever was speaking, making audio for the Zoom members difficult to hear. We're going to work on fixing that before our October meeting. |
|
|
 |
| CLICK TO ENLARGE ALL PHOTOS |
|
|
 |
| PIZZA IS SERVED - The Three Ds grab a bite from Tonino's, thanks to the HFRA treasury and delivery courtesy of Barb Johnson. On the other side, the bar was open for regular or high-test beverages. |
|
|
 |
| Fitz and Chick dig in. Notice anything different about the walls since 15 months ago? |
|
|
 |
| Kevin Shields and Bob Surprise. Kevin presented a donation to the archives from 57 years ago. See immediately below. Still haven't figured out what's different about the walls? |
|
|
Kevin Shields' dad, Joe Shields (1929-2008), was a Hamden career firefighter from 1960 until his 1980 retirement. For most of the 1960s Joe served as secretary for the Hamden Paid Firemen's Sick Benefit Association.
.
Before a 1965 Hamden Town Charter revision that completely overhauled town government, the Board of Fire Commissioners had authority to grant or reject rank & file requests for pay raises and other benefits that went to the Board of Finance and eventually the Board of Selectmen. The Sick Benefit Association was the closest thing the rank & file had to a union and, eventually, that body did become the bargaining unit under collective bargaining.
.
In late 1964, the Board of Fire Commissioners approved a request from the SBA for three weeks vacation for fire personnel with ten years' service, and four weeks of vacation for those with twenty years' service. Kevin presented the HFRA with a framed letter, dated October 15, 1964, signed by his father as secretary of the Sick Benefit Association, thanking the Board for approving their request.
.
Thank you Kevin. Your dad's letter is a reminder of how far we have come since the days before collective bargaining.
|
 |
| CLICK TO ENLARGE |
|
|
 |
| Tom Doherty, Jim Leddy and Paul "Froggy" Frodel. Have you guessed what is different about the walls in the Elks' meeting room? |
|
|
 |
| Three members of the Class of May 1978 (L-R): Don LaBanca, Bob Mordecai, and Dennis Baker. Dave Strawhince came along a couple of months later. Don and Dave both attained B/C rank. |
|
|
If there was any upside to the March 2020 restrictions brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic it was the introduction of the Zoom platform as an alternative to in-person meetings. Our last in-person meeting before the shutdown was February 12, 2020. There was no June 2020 meeting.
|
After we discovered its potential, we used Zoom for our October 2020 and February 2021 meetings, with 21 members attending in October and 18 in February.
.
Whenever possible we will continue to use Zoom for regular in-person meetings because it allows out-of-state and non-ambulatory members to attend. The audio glitches at the June meeting will be worked out for future meetings.
|
So, have you figured out what has changed about the appearance of the meeting room since we last met in the Elks' Hall in February 2020?
|
|
