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ALRONA
Board |
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ALRONA
NEWS 17th
ALRONA General Meeting
The meeting was called to order at approximately 9:00 AM by Wolfram Knoblauch, President who welcomed all. He then introduced the Board, namely, Helga Levy, Vice President, Boris Seges, Treasurer, Renate Geerdts, Membership Chair, Marina Schloesser, Travel Insurance Chair. Secretary, Rosemarie Passaro was unable to attend. Also introduced were the local Chapter Chairs present, namely Herb Kaufhold of the New York Region, Lutz Bier of the Midwest Region and Ingrid Steele of the Florida West Region, as well as Heidi Beurton from Paris, who represents all retirees outside of Germany within the GeLH worldwide organization. A moment of silence was observed to remember those who passed away since the last meeting, namely Ed Nennecke and Jacqueline Gounis. The membership was informed of the recent passing of Mr. Chowanietz, the longtime well liked head of the SeeheimTraining Center. Greetings from former President and holder of the gold pin John Kok were read to the membership. Regrettably John was unable to attend due to health reasons. Vice President Helga Levy presented an overview of the activities for the next two days, especially the next day’s cruise and dinner dance. 152 members and guests were in attendance at this year’s successful Alrona Reunion. Franz Herzig and Joe Herzig of the Lufthansa Federal Credit Union were introduced. In their presentation outlining the many functions and services of the Credit Union they discussed many issues of interest to the members. President Wolf Knoblauch reported on the successful training of a retiree team in the New York area which would be called in case of an emergency to assist with phone service and general duties. Also, a special mention was given to the fundraising efforts in form of a bake sale headed by Linda Sotomayor which raised a significant amount for the Help Alliance, the Lufthansa charitable organization. A communication by Ruth Ann Baker concerning the Medco Prescription Drug Plan was read indicating that for 2012 and beyond this coverage will stay intact. Lufthansa will still contribute $117 per subscriber per month to this plan. The meeting proceeded with a vote and election. A quorum of 15% of all members necessary to make decisions at the meeting was confirmed. President Wolf Knoblauch proposed a change in the bylaws to change the required quorum percentage of members present from 15% to 10%. This was done in anticipation of a possible decline in membership attendance at general meetings in the future. A vote was taken and the proposal passed, with one opposing vote. President Wolf Knoblauch then proceeded to announce that he would not run for the presidency again, due to personal and health reasons. He indicated that he would still be available to the board to share his experience of past years. Vice President Helga Levy agreed to be the candidate for the Presidency, and she was elected unanimously. She spoke briefly to thank all for their confidence. After a coffee break, Heidi Beurton made a presentation on the new procedure of ordering standby tickets involving other (non-Lufthansa) airlines which will have to be done by the individual retiree in the future. Many questions were answered, however, the new procedure still has quite a few wrinkles to be ironed out. The General Meeting ended around 1 PM. During the Dinner Dance the following day, Marina Schloesser and Renate Geerdts were honored and received the silver pin to acknowledge their longstanding efforts on behalf of Alrona. As usual, a lot of fun was had and lucky winners were the recipients of a monetary raffle as well as donated prizes and two confirmed LH tickets.
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