CWA LOCAL 2105

Communications Workers of America
Maryland/West Virginia

2 West Potomac Parkway, Williamsport, MD 21795 Phone: 301-582-2105 Fax: 301-223-7160

Here are the dates for our upcoming meetings in 2018! They are:

Tuesday, April 17, 2018

Tuesday, July 17, 2018

Tuesday, October 16, 2018

Remember that membership dues are now payable for this year - $10 per member and $5 per associate member.

Best wishes to all for a happy spring!

Roger, Vickie, and Terry

P.S. Note to our callers : Please call the folks on your list to remind them of this meeting - Thanks!!

	Health Care Benefits Coordinators
Ines Millard- 1-888-571-7218 MD/DC/VA/WV-Actives Medical, Dental, Vision, Disability and Enrollment Issues ines.l.millard@verizon.com
Jodi Grant- 1-888-324-4969 NJ/PA/DE-Actives Medical, Dental, Vision, Disability and Enrollment Issues jodi.l.grant@verizon.com
Cynthia (Cindy) Ebner- 1-866-248-4449 Mid Atlantic Retirees Medical, Dental and Enrollment Issues cynthia.x.ebner@verizon.com
The HCBC's can handle issues from any active or retired Mid-Atlantic CWA (NJ, PA,DE,MD,DC,VA,WV) represented members, regardless of their home state.

2016 Bell Ringers

CWA Local 2105 has played a part in making the holidays happier for the less fortunate for many years. This Christmas season, the local's Retirees rang the bell for the Salvation Army Kettle Drive on December 7 at Hagerstown's Valley Mall.

Local Member Craig Lewis and his son, Dustin, also helped out, as they have done for a number of years.
The retiree ringers included Becky Huffer, Bob & Jean Bollinger, Michael Lushbaugh, Pat Pulieri, Merrill & VIckie Layton, Kathy Geer, Roger Grimes, Monte Gordon, Garth Martin & Grandson Keegan, Bill Morrison and Skip Ware.

The Salvation Army advised us that we raised a total of $322.86 this year.

Thanks to all who helped make someone's Christmas merrier!

WILLIAMSPORT — White beard? Check. White hair? Check. Round belly that shakes like a bowl full of jelly? Not quite.

Roger Grimes embraces his striking resemblance to Santa Claus.

“I have a beard, but I’m not as fat as I used to be,” said Grimes, 79, of Pinesburg, which is west of Williamsport.

He doesn’t just look like the jolly old elf — he IS Santa for his native Williamsport.

Since 2010, Grimes has taken a seat on the stage at the back of the Barn at Springfield Farm during Charlie Brown Christmas and listened to thousands of wishes from young and old.

He’s on his second red suit, to which his wife added white trim along the cuffs of the sleeves and pants.

“They sort of get rough a little bit,” Grimes said of his costumes.

For about three years before playing Santa in the barn, he portrayed the bearded merrymaker every night at Williamsport’s Town Hall for about two weeks during Christmas season.

He also climbs to the top of a firetruck at 7 a.m. Christmas Day to ride through the town’s streets shouting best wishes to bystanders.

“It gets pretty cold on top,” where he is perched in a seat he uses for hunting, he said.

“It’s been a tradition in Williamsport forever,” Grimes said of Santa’s Dec. 25 ride, which he can remember watching as a child of 4 or 5 years old.

A popular pair

Grimes is also part of the annual Williamsport Christmas parade, which this year was Dec. 2. Last year, for the first time, he was joined in the parade by Mrs. Claus.

Beverly Knode didn’t want to steal Santa’s thunder, but “the kids were insisting I be there,” she said.

For the last five or six years, Knode has been playing Santa’s spouse at Charlie Brown Christmas. She started out as a helper who kept the bearded elf’s visitors organized.

“I’ve got kind of a loudy voice and I kept everybody in line,” said Knode, 53, of State Line, Pa.

Now she dons a red crushed-velvet dress with fur around the neck, cuffs of the sleeves and hem. She puts an apron around her waist and sports a hat, under which she tucks her hair, which she sprays with white and gray coloring for her role.

Knode’s Mrs. Claus persona is modeled after her grandmother Ethel Hull, who died 21 years ago.

“She’s who I am (as Mrs. Claus), basically,” Knode said of Hull, who lived in Cumberland, Md. “I always thought of Mrs. Claus as a grandma — cookies and cakes and pies,” she said, adding with a hearty laugh that she doesn’t cook.

Like Grimes, who also visits schools and reunions dressed as Santa, Knode takes her Mrs. Santa on the road.

She plays the notable Christmas spouse during the holiday season at Hagerstown Regional Airport. Her “spouse” there is Rick Rowe of Hancock.

Knode and Rowe will listen to wish lists from all ages from 3 to 5 p.m. Monday, Dec. 19; 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 21; 4 to 6 p.m. Friday, Dec. 23; and 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, Dec. 24, at the airport. She said bikes, toys, coloring books and candy are distributed there, as well.

I wish ...

With people tiny and not so tiny perched on their laps, Grimes and Knode have listened to plenty of lists being recited.

Adults have asked for “money, cars, four-wheelers, guns for the guys,” said Knode, a customer-service agent for Southern Airways. “World peace, a new body, I’ve had ’em all.”

Grimes said visitors from nursing homes often request better health, but “happiness, that’s the big thing.”

Some children’s wishes warm their hearts.

A girl about 7 years old stands out in Grimes’ memory.

“She wanted world peace. She wanted good health for everybody,” said Grimes, who retired from Western Electric Co. after 32 1/2 years of service.

Knode is touched by kids’ kindheartedness, particularly “the little ones that ask for things for other kids,” or want their grandmothers to be happy.

What is Grimes’ wish this year?

“I just wish things would get straightened out ... here in our own country,” he said. “There’s so much unnecessary poverty in the United States.”

Christmas celebrities

Grimes doesn’t need his red suit to be acknowledged as Santa.

He said he was at a crab feed in Williamsport this summer and was approached by a woman who recognized him. He recalled that she sat on his lap last year, and she assured him she would do it again this year during Charlie Brown Christmas. The event was held this year on select days from Saturday, Dec. 3, to Sunday, Dec. 11.

Throughout the year, Grimes said children approach him when he’s out and about and pull on his sleeves to get his attention.

Knode, on the other hand, has some fun with her anonymity because people don’t envision her as Mrs. Claus when she’s not in costume. When children she knows visit her and Santa, she calls them by name.

“It freaks them out,” she said.

As Mr. and Mrs. Claus, Grimes and Knode help create the magic of Christmas, but they also receive it.

“That’s my Christmas present to me,” Knode said. “It’s just giving back ... keeping the spirit of Christmas alive.”

“You get the feeling that they have hope,” Grimes said of those he meets while portraying Santa. “It’s a good feeling.”

“It just gives you such joy in your heart,” Knode said. “They say there’s no such thing as Santa. Yes, there is.”

Thanks to the 2015 Bell Ringers!

Local 2105 Retired Members Vickie Layton, Roger Grimes and Denise Stroup participated in the Western Maryland ALS Walk on Sunday, November 4, 2012 at Baker Park in Frederick. This is the 6th year a team representing our Local has participated in the walk. "Our little team of three raised over $1,000 dollars! Thanks to everyone who supported us!"

CWA Local 2105's Retired Members Chapter held their annual picnic at the "Top of the Mountain" at the McClellan Gun Club outside of Keedysville on October 23, 2012.

Members were treated to hot dogs, grilled steaks, scalloped potatoes, green beans, cole slaw and cake.

Items discussed at the business meeting prior to lunch were the new agreements between CWA and Verizon and CWA and AT&T. The club voted to donate $100 to the ALS walk, and Helen Troxell won the 50/50 drawing and generously donated her winnings.

Many thanks to Roger Grimes for getting all of the food to the club, to Dick Forrest for helping us make arrangements for having the picnic at the club, to Merrill Layton and Elmer Gibney for grilling the steaks, to Judy Peiffer for helping to set up and serve, to Teresa Schafer for picking up the cake, to Betty Reeder, Judy Peiffer, Roger Grimes, and Penny Bryant for helping to clean up. We hope we didn't forget anyone. The folks in this club do a great job of pitching in and working together and everyone's participation is really appreciated. Thanks also to Carole Gibney for taking notes at the last minute!

We will be ringing the Salvation Army bell on Wednesday, December 12 in front of J C Penney's in Hagerstown's Valley Mall. Please contact Vickie Layton at 301 791-1486 if you can help in the afternoon or evening.

Our next meeting will be January 15, 2013 at the Northern Avenue Legion in Hagerstown.

The Salvation Army - Doing the Most Good

Helen Troxell, Bill Morrison, and Vickie Layton attended the Salvation Army's annual banquet on April 17, 2012, representing Local 2105's Retired Members Chapter.

CWA Local 2105 has been a supporter of the Salvation Army for many years.

This past Christmas the organization provided assistance to 12,672 families in the Hagerstown area, giving away nearly 20,000 toys, almost 17,000 food items, and nearly 20,000 gifts to individuals in nursing homes.

Although many people associate the Salvation Army with the Christmas Kettle Drive, the Hagerstown "Army" does a lot more than that. Throughout the past year it assisted over 65,000 people.

Their Women and Children's Shelter provided 9,522 days of lodging to 448 people. Their "Midday Manna" feeding program served 32,952 people lunch. The organization also sponsors social development sessions, camps for children, comprehensive assistance, group worship and other visitations.

Local 2105's Retirees are proud to volunteer to serve this worthy organization.

Retired Member John Estes is our local "Dinosaur Man.!

Over the past several years, John has been an ambassador of good will to elementary schools all over the tri-state area. He announced at the January 2012 Retired Members Meeting that 159 elementary schools have now received his hand made dinosaurs. Roger Grimes has accompanied him on a number of visits to the schools. We thank John for being such a fine representative of our CWA Local 2105 Retired Members Chapter and we congratulate him on sharing his time and talents with thousands of youngsters. CWA has long been known as the "Community Minded Union" and John is a shining example.

Local 2105 Retirees Chapter Officers are:

President : Roger Grimes 301 223-7982

Vice-President : Vickie Layton 301 223-1486

Treasurer : Terry Schildt 301 824-6354

Secretary : Denise Stroup 301 739-6049

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