Local News

FOUR BOILERMAKERS FROM Local 85 (Toledo, Ohio) took part in the 2015 Wounded Warriors Run in Rossford, Ohio, August 23. The 5K event raises awareness and funds for the Wounded Warriors project.

Local 85 served as a general sponsor of the run, which drew over 175 participants.

“These events represent what the IBB is truly about — Brotherhood!” said BM-ST Tim Timmons. “We stand hand-in-hand with those men and women who have sacrificed so much for our freedom.”

Local 1 — Chicago

JOHN F. RIEL, BM-ST of Local 1, Chicago, reports presentation of membership pins to the following:

• 70 YEARS — Daniel Raggio;
• 45 YEARS — John Beckwith, Sr., Charles Lyles, Merrill Lynn; and
• 25 YEARS — Thomas Feeney, William Lambert, Arnold Lisk, Jeff Newton.

Local 40 — Elizabethtown, Ky.

MIKE AUTRY, BM-ST of Local 40, Elizabethtown, Ky., reports presentation of membership pins to the following:

L-105’s McWhorter scores on “redemption” hunt

NICK MCWHORTER, a member of Local 105 in Piketon, Ohio, was ecstatic when he learned he had been picked for a Brotherhood Outdoors hunting trip (televised this past spring). Hunting and fishing are a cherished tradition in the McWhorter family. The McWhorters also cherish their craft as construction Boilermakers: Nick’s father, John, and brother, Matthew, are also members.

Lodge names new training center for late BM-ST

THREE SONS AND THE WIFE OF THE LATE GEORGE PINKERMAN, a former BM-ST of L-667 (Charleston, W.Va.), stand in front of a plaque dedicating the lodge’s new training center in his name April 15. Left to right are Brian, Brenda, Chad and J.T. Brian and Chad are L-667 members. George Pinkerman, who served as BM-ST from 1999-2011, passed away April 5, less than two weeks before the dedication was to take place.

Students get exposure to Boilermakers; union eyes potential members

ALLEN PARK – Now in its 13th year, the Boilermakers Local 169 (Detroit) High School Welding Invitational has earned a permanent spot on the spring calendar, establishing a program of matching up skilled high school welders with potential jobs in the Boilermakers.

AS OPPOSITION TO fast track and the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal swelled across the United States, three Boilermakers from Local 627, Phoenix, joined with members of other area unions May 20 to protest the deal outside the district office of U.S. Congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ 9th). Holding an opposition banner are Richard Lerma, left, and Shaun Scharer. Not pictured is Daniel Gardener.

More than four dozen turn out to help Wayne Woloszyk

FOR THE PAST 25 years, Wayne Woloszyk’s spring included the major chore of cutting and piling several cords of firewood.

However, this spring brought him a much more serious chore. In mid-February he was having so much trouble swallowing that he went to see a doctor. The news could not have been more devastating.

National Transient Lodge

MARK VANDIVER, Director, National Transient Division Services, reports presentation of a membership pin to the following:

• 35 YEARS — David L. Ordway.

Local 1 — Chicago

JOHN F. RIEL, BM-ST of Local 1, Chicago, reports presentation of membership pins to the following:

AN ICE SCULPTURE depicting the Boilermakers’ official seal helped set the stage for Local 169’s celebration of 120 years as an IBB lodge February 14. The celebration was held at the MGM Grand Detroit in conjunction with the local’s annual dinner-dance fundraiser benefiting the lodge’s scholarship program. Local 169 received its charter as a construction lodge on October 10, 1895. BM-ST Bob Hutsell put the lodge’s longevity into perspective, noting, “Boilermakers Local 169 has been around longer than the John Deere Tractor, Firestone, Goodyear, and U.S. Steel.

MARK SUTHERS, A retired Local 83 member who now commands American Legion Post 598 in Kansas City, Mo., hoped he could count on his lodge to come through with help for veterans in need this past February, and the lodge didn’t let him down. Business Manager Joe Lewandowski presented Suthers with a donation that paid for enough personal hygiene items to fill two pick-up trucks. Lewandowski and Suthers delivered the items to St. Michaels Veterans Center, a newly-built facility that offers permanent housing to nearly 60 formerly homeless vets in the Kansas City area.