December 11th, 2024
Monthly Meeting Report
The 292nd AFDRA meeting was called to order at 1900. After the Pledge of Allegiance, Morris Gutierrez gave the opening prayer. A moment of silence was held for all the retirees that we have lost in 2024.
Roll call of Officers and Advisory Board members.
President’s Report;
By Kerry Horton
On January 6th, 2025, the auditorium at the Academy will be renamed the Sam Trujillo Auditorium in honor of his pioneering work in developing the Paramedic program back in the 1970’s and 80’s. Sam has always worked to advance the services of the Albuquerque Fire Department and that still holds true today being a founding member and current President Emeritus of the Albuquerque Fire Department Retirees Association. The renaming ceremony will take place at the Fire Academy Auditorium starting at 10 am. Hope many of you can stop by and help honor Sam with this dedication.
The AFDRA Peer Support Group has held two Kitchen Table meetings, and we feel that they met our expectations. We will continue to schedule more meetings, probably after the busy holiday season, and our hope is that the meetings continue to grow. Those that attended gave us great feedback and we are very happy with the direction that we are headed.
The Social Security Fairness Act Bill that will eliminate the Reagan era Windfall Elimination Act that has reduced our social security earnings will die on December 31st if the Senate does not act on it in time. We are encouraging all our members to contact Senators Heinrich and Lujan and show your support for this Bill. Just go to Heinrich.senate.gov and Lujan.senate.gov, click on the “Write” tab, and express your desire for them to support the Social Security Fairness Act.
Vice President’s Report;
By Donny Sanchez
Donny was absent due to prior refereeing commitments.
Secretary’s Report;
By Eddie Abeita
Eddie gave a brief and humorous report on last month’s meeting and a motion to accept the minutes as said was passed.
Treasurer’s Report;
By Mike Fox
Mike gave the financial report for November and all funds are accounted for. As always, the financial books are open for everybody to review. A motion to accept the financial report passed.
Historian’s Report;
By Herman Bishop
Herman gave a quick synopsis of the current newsletter and some background insight to some of the stories. He also shared that he still has firefighting dreams, but now the fires all have a positive outcome. We assured him that we all suffer from “Job” dreams no matter how long we’ve been away.
Committee Reports;
Funeral Committee, The Ignacio Perez family sent a thankyou card thanking us for the respectful and honorable services that our Honor Guard provided.
Christmas Committee, The AFDRA Christmas Dinner plans are set and as a matter of fact, the dinner is tonight, December 12th, and I hope we see you there.
Election Committee, no report.
Museum Committee, No report.
Matters Good for the Association.
Remember to visit our website afdretirees.com
The meeting was adjourned at 2030.