| Retired Professional Fire Fighters of Wisconsin |
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DAVE WENZEL, SECRETARY - TREASURER S68 W17281 ROSSMAR CT. - MUSKEGO, WI 53150 262-679-3212, ddrywl@sbcglobal.net April 2011 Brothers and Sisters An awful lot has happened since my January newsletter and I'm sorry to say a lot of it wasn't good for the working man and the retiree. First off what is near and dear to all of us is the May 1st pension adjustment. For those of you who have not seen or heard the core portion for annuitants will be going down for the 3rd year in a row. This years decline will be a -1.2% we are still recovering from the giant loss of 2008. For those still hanging on to funds in variable accounts they will see an 11% increase in those funds. Governor Walker has set the rights of workers back 50+ years by removing our collective bargaining laws. While he did exempt Fire and Police it will only be a matter of time before arbitrators and others reduce our benefits to match those of our fellow municipal workers. The good news of the whole ordeal is it has united unions and fired them up. Recalls for both parties are in the future and yesterday's election results shows that those associated with Walker did not fair well. I have some bad news for those waiting for an announcement for our June Golf Outing. Tim Healy has tried in vain to work with HoChunk to accommodate us as they have in the past and has run into a brick remodeling wall. They have major remodeling taking place and will not be ready for any type of event such as ours until late July at the earliest. Tim did try to work something out with other motels in the area but didn't have any success. Therefore we are going to hold the outing on August 28th and 29th with golfing on the 29th. I would like to thank all of you who sent applications back to me a second time after my computer crash. A good many of you experienced the same disaster I did. I still have about 160 members who have not paid 2011 dues or did not get back to me confirming they already paid. So if you receive an application in this mailing you are one of those 160 I need to hear from. If you already paid your dues for 2011 tell me so and if not please mail them in. For the over 80 group if you get one please send it back and let me know your still with us. For all of you who wished my wife (Saint Sue) and me a good trip to Arizona this winter it didn't happen. About a week after my last newsletter I followed the direction of my computer and crashed myself. I slipped on the stairs at our home and tore my quad tendon off my knee cap on my right leg. It's been 9 weeks since the surgery and I still have another month to go in a brace and about 2 months of rehab after that. I couldn't have done it without a world of help from Saint Sue (Healy gave her Sainthood) I owe her big time. Four retired guys are walking down the street in Ft Meyers, FL when they see a sign that says "Old Timers Bar" "All drinks 10 cents!" They look at each other, and then go in, thinking this is too good to be true. The old bartender says in a voice that carries across the room, "Come on in, and let me pour one for you! What'll it be, Gentlemen?" All four ask for a martini. In short order, the bartender serves up four iced martinis - shaken, not stirred, and says, "That'll be 10 cents each please". The four men stare at the bartender for a moment, looked at each other... then paid the 40 cents. After the second round which cost them another 40 cents, their curiosity got the best of them. Finally one of the men asked "How can you afford to serve martinis as well as these for only a dime apiece"? "Well I'm retired from Boston and I always wanted to own a bar. Last year I hit the lottery for $50 million and decided to open this place. Every thing is the same price 10 cents, beer, wine, liquor all the same". "Wow that's quite a story" says one of the men "now I have to ask you, there are two guys at the end of the bar (Durkin & Speranza) who aren't drinking and haven't had a drink since they came in. What's with them"? "Oh they're from Wisconsin.... They're waiting for happy hour at 4:00 when drinks are half price". Take care, stay safe. Dave. |
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