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Date: 2/08/03, It was a cold, dark, February morning, the chill of winter hangs in the air...
5:35 a.m.- The 1st Union Label delegate to arrive at the District 70 hall was Dennis Williams, David Robertson arriving minutes later. Soon other delegates begin to arrive. Kevin Jamis, Barbara Kelly and Peggy Shields are there.
6:30 I arrive, late again, but I bring donuts to make up for it. Veggies were being chopped and chili and hobo stew are being put on the stove.
6:45-7:30. The other kitchen help comes in. The kitchen is bustling with activity. Larry Stafford, Dennis Peterson, Larry Moore, all are there. They show up to help sell
chili during the Local 834 meeting.
10:00-11:30. At the Local 834 meeting several gallons of chili sold. Machinists sure like to eat, God bless ‘em. Peggy and Barbara sell door prize tickets like crazy.
12:00. The afternoon is busy. More delegates arrive to help set up more tables, set out prizes and start slicing desserts. Gary Hall shows up. He traditionally is our
beverage maker, and sets about doing his job. The bingo machine and board is set up and ready. I get the gift certificates sorted and into envelopes for prizes.
4:50. The first people start coming in to get their bingo cards and a choice seat for the activities. More and more show up.
5:30. We start dishing up the chili and stew. More people come in.
5:45. Garland Moore arrives with the evenings big Black Out prize. Once again Garland and his wife Arlene and daughter Allison have donated a 27” color TV. That makes the
folks there set up and notice as we carry it to the stage.
6:00. It is getting crowded a bit so we scramble to set up another row of tables. They fill quickly, so we add another 5 tables. Luckily, it’s enough to seat everyone! What
a crowd!
6:40. We start BINGO! Gary Cochran calls the numbers and Garland “Bear” Moore emcees the event with a little bit of help from yours truly. Woe to the people wearing Nike
shoes. They get a “scolding” from Bear, and a quick lesson of the workers rights violated by Nike. Then the serious bingo begins.
We did bingo for adults. We had bingo for kids. We did a special bingo for laid off workers and their families. We even did a bingo for retirees. It was a great time
for everyone! We even ran out of chili! I’ve been coming to this event since ’95, before I was in Union Label, and this is the 1st time that I recall that the chili ran out before the night was up. We went and got more chili fixin’s and made more. It was gone before the night was done.
And talk about prizes! We had tackle boxes, watches, candles, hand made Afghans, shirts, collectables, jewelry and gift certificates and more. We had toys for the kids.
Our big winners were Carol Burrows, winner of the fire proof safe. Barbara Hanson won a DVD player, and laid off family member Justin Babcock also won a DVD player.
Josh Strotkamp won a Boom Box in the kids Black Out. And the adult Black Out winner was Audie Satterfield, who won the 27” TV and a DVD player.
I’d like to thank the delegates and our friends for their donations. I also want to thank the District 70 staff for donating the 3 DVD players. Sherri Hood for the
jewelry, and Mark and Laurie Love for the $100 cash. Judy Pierce for the gift certificates.
And when you are out there, spending your Union negotiated wages, please remember the businesses that donated to our event. They are:
River City Saloon at Pawnee and Oliver, Marion’s Oven, Kathy Bays Salon, Red Rock Canyon Grill, Jason’s Deli, Applebees; Andover, On the Border; North Rock Rd., Macaroni
Grill; North Rock Rd., Carlos O’Kellys; South Broadway. Also I want to thank American Time, for the watch from last years Union Industries Trade show.
A big “Thanks” goes out to all the delegates not mentioned previously. Leroy Lehman, Susan Marchand, Terry Haskins, Connie Kleinschmit, Richard Flaharty, Mabel
Moore, Dan Briggs, Brian Alexander. If I missed your name I apologize. I know there were more, but I can’t recall the names. A special thanks to Robin Young. Thanks guys!
All in all, it was great fun and a great success! Thank you for everyone who came out for our event and also to the members who bought tickets and donated them to
their laid off brothers and sisters. You know who you are. And so do we!
Remember, Buy Union and Buy American! It’s Important!
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