Greetings, fellow workers! Normally President Bruce Dennis writes this
report, but this being a busy time of year for all, he asked me to write
this as a favor for him. During this last meeting we had 84 members present
and five guests. With our membership standing around 1,200 members that
makes this attendance less than 10 percent. Pretty damn pathetic in my
humble opinion! If you care about your union and the state of affairs this
country is in, you should attend more meetings. We need your involvement! We
had 17 new members sign on this month, only two of whom made it to the
meeting to be sworn in. Carl Harvey and Donovan Thompson were awarded 247
T-shirts for their attendance. A motion to withdraw from the Local was
granted to Bob Moore, Patrick Driscoll, and G. Dean Jones.
A moment of silence was held to honor departed brothers: O.B. Maxwell, a
64-year member at 96 years old; and S.J. Lows, a 9-year member who died at
55 of lung cancer.
Under reports, Lead Organizer Ben Embree spoke about the excellent
solidarity of members honoring the picket lines at the Strand and John Ross
Buildings. He also said there would be openings for two to three more
organizing interns in the near future. Representative Joe Whitney reported
that only 400 out of 6,000 Plan Administrator survey forms were returned. If
you have had any problems with the Plan Administrators, these survey forms
are your opportunity to get these issues resolved.
Under Good of the Order, Richard Petrich (aka Surf) spoke about the
importance of the upcoming contract talks. He stressed how vital it is that
every member participate, and when the opportunity comes up that we all vote
on the contract. He pointed out the sad but true fact that only 5 percent of
our members voted to ratify the last contract. Let’s review that again … 5
percent! Dovetailing on that issue, Field Representative Joe Whitney spoke
of the need for more participation in the “Contract Captain Campaign.” This
is an unprecedented effort in the Pacific Northwest Regional Council of
Carpenters to get the full involvement of all the members in the contract
negotiations. If you are interested in becoming or learning more about the
“Contract Captain Campaign,” call the Regional Council office at
503-261-1862 or Joe Whitney at 971- 645-5532.
Also under Good of the Order, Field Representative Cliff Puckett of Local
1388 thanked everyone for honoring picket lines. As the saying goes, “A
picket line is a picket line!” A good union member never crosses a picket
line no matter which trade is on the picket line.
As meetings go, this one was relatively short. The meeting adjourned at
7:45 p.m.. After adjournment, the local gave out 27 Christmas hams for those
lucky enough to get the right ticket. For those of you who don’t know it, we
give out prizes every meeting, and if you attend 11 out of 12 meetings in a
year’s time, you will be awarded a new Carhartt coat, but ya can’t win if ya
don’t attend! The next meeting is Tuesday Jan. 9. Hope to see you there.
General membership
General membership meets the second Tuesday,Jan. 9, at 6 p.m. at the Carpenters
Hall, 2215 N.Lombard, Portland. If you have any questions,please feel free to
contact the office at 503-289-9632.
Retirees
Retirees meet for lunch the second Monday, Jan.8, at 11 a.m. at JJ North’s,
10520 NE Halsey, Portland.
Executive Board
Executive Board meets the fourth Tuesday, Jan.23, at 6:30 p.m. at the Carpenters
Hall, 2215 N. Lombard, Portland.
We are still working on the cost study for building a parade float to be used
in the Portland Rose Festival Parade. We can then re-decorate the float with
artificial flowers and use it in various parades around the Regional Council.
The purpose of this float is to show unity and pride in who we are as a vital
part of our communities.
The 2007 Parade will be a big event attracting as many as 500,000 spectators,
and millions more will watch the parade on television.
Recently a float chassis was donated to the Regional Council. It is 42 feet
long and 12 feet wide. At this point, we need your design ideas to help complete
a comprehensive cost study. This will enable us to ask The Regional Council for
funds to build the float. For pictures of last year’s floats visit
http://www.rosefestival.org/events/grandfloralparade/2006_floats.shtml
These are the design objectives from The Rose Festival Parade Float Manual.
These specifications should be kept in mind when completing your design.
Entertainment
Dramatic impact spectacle
Pageantry
Animation (this can include people on the float)
Use of floral and natural materials for decoration And the float design
criteria are • Themes (the 2007 theme is “Centennial Celebration”)
Symmetry (it should be equally entertaining from both sides)
Images (the most successful float designs use larger than life,
animated, interactive, elements that use aspects of whimsy, drama, humor and
style)
Appeals to children
Riders (a maximum of 10 riders are allowed)
Maximum length 50 feet
Maximum width 15 feet
Maximum height 14 feet
Please send your design ideas with a color drawing or sketch that gives
a good idea of what you think the float should look like by Jan. 15, 2007 to
Larry Heckethorne at 339 NE 4th Avenue, Hillsboro, OR 97124. Or, if you have
questions you may contact him at 503-693-9429 evenings, or email him at
heckethorne@yahoo.com .
My name is Eileen Schmidt. I am a third-term apprentice working at the
Atwater for Hoffman Structures on the South Waterfront, and a single Mom with
three young ones at home, and found that it was really tough trying to make ends
meet. With the holidays coming, I was really concerned with not only paying the
bills and daycare but putting gas in the car, buying groceries and somehow
buying presents. But I found that I really have an extended family that cares. I
not only received moral support from the members at last month’s meeting, but
you were kind enough to pass the hat to help a Sister and her family out. I was
so overcome that I found it hard to speak, to express gratitude for a helping
hand when we needed it most. So instead of speaking I’m writing: “Thank you, my
brothers and sisters!” You’ve made me proud to be a union member and proud to be
a union carpenter! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
The following members are celebrating their birthday this month. We would
like to wish them all “Happy Birthday”! We hope you enjoy your special day!
Brent Allen, Christopher Apple, Donald Bain II, Reed Banals, Brian Barlow, Clyde
Barlow, Jose Beltran, Brett Berquam, Stephanie Bishop, Daniel Bott, Mike Bottom,
Jason Brewer, Monty Burbank, Brandon Burleigh, Robert Burris, Dale Clarke, Ralph
Clinton, Michael Cochrane, Ricardo Cule, Randy Daggy, Brian Dawson, Curtis
Deibele, Richard Dietz, Everett Downey, Merle Ehlinger, Brad Esler, Peni
Falepapalangi, Tony Fenton, Bryan Fiske Sr., Patrick Fleming, Carlos Flores,
Jason Forgue, William Fowler, Paul Frantchuk Jr., Matt Fuls, Brian Garcia, Jon
Gates, Craig Gearheart, Randall Gehrs, Garry Goodwin, Steven Gregory, Curtis
Hazel, Kyle Heckaman, Cletus Heilman, Gregory Hill, George Hill, Daniel Hill,
Wade Hillard, Martin Hoerling, Wade Huber, Bart Jankans Jr., John Jardine,
Joshua Johnson, Roland Joseph, David King, Rob Kohler, Tom Koopman Jr., Leo
Larsen, Rudy Lies, Scott Logue, Dion Lynn, Patrick Mapes Jr., Raymond Mason,
Paul McDonald, Ben Mohr, William Moorehead, Jason Morgan, Bruce Morton, Keith
Murphy, Kevin Neal, Paul Nicholls, Michael Nolan, Herman Oelschlager, Herbert
Olive, Kare Oranen, Brian Orr, David Otos, Robert Pfeifer, Adin Pop, Joey
Potter, Kristian Ray, Jason Reber, Michael Rosselot, R. R. Russell, Rick Scoggin,
David Smith, Andre Thomas, Paul Thornburg, Tobin Tipton, Douglas Vinson, Mark
Wagoner, Robert Wait, Ralph Wales, Kenneth Whitaker, Marcus Willis, Edward
Wisely.
