Local News

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.

New L-146 training centre hosts four days of training

THE FIRST MASTER rigger course developed for Canadian Boilermakers took place at the Local 146 training centre in Edmonton, Alberta, last December. The four-day course was a joint initiative between Boilermaker National Training, Local 146 and the Canadian local lodges to enhance the rigging knowledge and expertise of our members in the area of rigging.

LOCAL LODGE 555, the “Triple Nickel,” celebrated its 60th anniversary in Regina, Saskatchewan, January 10 with a dinner and dance. Some 400 members and guests attended the event, including four former business managers.

EIGHT MEMBERS OF Local 60 (Peoria, Ill.) completed OSHA 30 training last September. Front row, l. to r., instructor Darren Lindee, Denis Burress, Suzan Besimi and Joe Palazzo. Back row, l. to r., Jason Johnston, Lucas Balek, Aaron Lochbaum, Mark Walbeeser and Henry McGlothlin.

Littoral combat ship will be named USS Detroit

MEMBERS OF LOCAL 696 reached another milestone October 18 with the launch of the U.S. Navy’s LCS 7 into the Menominee River at the shipyard of Marinette Marine Corporation in Marinette, Wis. Marinette Marine is a subsidiary of Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri.

Local 1 • Chicago

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

LOCAL 158 (Peoria, Ill.) members and their families turned out in good numbers September 1 for the annual Peoria Labor Day Parade organized by the West Central Illinois Labor Council, AFL-CIO. Members of the lodge are employed by Komatsu America Corp.’s Peoria Manufacturing Operation, Mining Division. They build large (up to 360-ton payload), off-road mining trucks for mining applications around the world. They also support mining equipment produced at other Komatsu facilities, such as bulldozers, excavators, and wheel loaders.

Twenty-seven Boilermaker dependents earn awards totaling $50,000

THE BOILERMAKERS’ International Executive Council scholarship committee announced the winners of its 2014 scholarship program this past April. The committee awarded $50,000 to 28 recipients, with $40,000 being allocated to U.S. applicants and $10,000 to Canadian applicants.

Adventure takes more than five months

IF YOU EVER plan to hike the 2,186-mile Appalachian Trail, Dola Holland has some advice. Pack light. Bring rain gear. Plan on cold weather, even in the South.

Holland, a member of Local 29 (Boston) and his 4-year-old black lab, Miss Kay, made the five-and-a-half-month trek in 2013, starting in Maine on June 11 and ending in Georgia on November 23. It was a trip that had captured his imagination for some time, especially as the trail meanders close to his home near Plymouth, Vermont.