UGCAC Presidents Message - 2nd Quarter 2018
Dear UGCAC Chapter Members,
Our UGCAC Chapter of the Chevron Retirees Association (CRA) continues in good organizational health with an increase in membership to 255 this year, an increase from last year’s total of 242. There are a lot of good reasons to join and be an active member in our chapter and in CRA on a national level. Since I stepped in for Steve Ohnimus as South Texas Area Vice President, following his injury in a fall, I have a renewed appreciation for all of the benefits available through CRA and all the places we can serve our fellow retirees. There are several groups available for Chevron employees heading for retirement, to include former Unocal folks, which provide help for medical, financial and other issues during the transitioning out period. I had a chance to attend a panel discussion on health benefits in June for the “Boomers network” of those heading for retirement. Chevron and CRA hosted 84 employees for lunch information session lead by a panel of well- informed retirees on the practicalities dealing with health care options. Well- informed answers were given for the many questions. CRA used the occasion to amplify the benefits of being active in a chapter and to recruit members. Chevron offers preretirement information sessions around the country through “R4R” (ready for retirement) network covering benefits and financial planning help.
Our chapter will continue to offer ways to help and be helped including our September luncheon meeting. We are working on a program designed to help “get our houses in order” through legal and practical advice. An estate attorney will cover wills, trusts, powers of attorney etc. and we will get advice on navigating through these difficult transitions with help from Jack Schanck who has been assisting Steve and Daisey with their issues. Please continue to pray for and support them.
Dale Putnam, Ed Ruckstul and I attended the CRA annual meeting in San Antonio hosted by the South Texas Area of CRA. It was obvious that Steve had led the planning as the meeting organization was great, all the details were covered and the accommodations were excellent. The meeting showcased the work of and benefits provided by standing committees which offer excellent places to serve the CRA membership. It is a tradition for the current meeting host to give a “silly gift” to the area VP for the next meeting which is in New Orleans. In order to keep good order, we gave James Mouille a Texas Ranger style Stetson (in a colorful Marti Gras motif) , badge and golden handcuffs for crowd control. James seemed to like the hat as he wasn’t seen without it for the remainder of the meeting. In a demonstration of the support Chevron has for CRA, the chairman of the board Mike Wirth made a same day round trip from California to address our group. The company is in good hands.
On a final note, to keep our membership level up, there has been discussion with the Houston Metro Chapter of having satellite sub chapters or at least meeting in places other than the Hess Club in Houston. Members in outlying area have expressed an interest in setting up sites in the Woodlands, Katy and Pearland. Our chapter was asked to expand our membership in the southwest metro area to include some of the 1400 Chevron retirees in the zip codes surrounding Sugar Land. The UGCAC board is looking at the option favorably. More to come.
