UA Local 498 Gadsden, AL

We at local 498 wish George Colvin a long and happy retirement!

Just some f.y.i for our members. As most of you know, the Alabama Pipe Trades set up a fund to help the tornado victims from last April. Donations from all over the United States and Canada came in. The total raised came to over $61,000.00. Because of this we were able to distribute $12,600.00 to people affected by the tornado in our jurisdiction. This not only helped some families that desperately needed it but shows the compassion, brotherly love, and solidarity of union members to the general public. The fact that Local 498 raised some $4,000.00 at the Pic-Nic speaks highly of our members and makes me proud to be associated with each and ever one of you.

GARRY “GABBY” FROST
BUSINESS MANAGER
PIPEFITTERS LOCAL 498

Ivan Rasco receives a plaque for being an instructor for 27 years. Many members have benefitted from his dedication to the local and the U.A. href=”http://ualocal498.org/blog/?attachment_id=240″ rel=”attachment wp-att-240″>

Only 2 people in your life has ever volunteered to give their life for yours-Jesus Christ and the Men and Women of the American Armed Forces. On this Veterans Day we, the officers of Local 498, would like to say a special thank you to all the veterans, past and present. May God protect our troops!

It’s offical! The TVA Board of Directors approved the construction to complete Bellefonte Unit 1. The motion was amended to state that construction begin after fueling of Watts Bar which is scheduled for early 2014. It’s our hope that this releases more pre-construction work.

I would like to thank everyone for making the Chili Cook-Off a huge sucess. In spite of the rain we had a total attendance of about 200 and raised over $4,000! It goes to show again that organized labor can be counted on to help out and 498 is certainly no exception. I personally had several questions from the public asking what it is we do and what we stand for and this is a good thing. Avery Chesser won the rifle, the Etowah County Democratic Women won the Best Chili and William Plant Services won the People’s Choice. While there are many people to thank I would like to reconize a few that were in attendence: Billy Borchert (Nashville Local 572 Business Manager) John Eaves (Birmingham Local 91 Business Manager) Carl  “Smooth”Lovett (Huntsville Local 377 Organizer) Darrell Turner (Pipeliners Local 798) Jack Page ( Former Representative) Al Henley (State AFL-CIO Sec/Tres.) Leroy Nicholson (State AFL-CIO Director of Lift Program) Terry Davis (State AFL-CIO Labor Liaison) and Bob Carpenter (Regional 8 Manager for IAPMO) We also had several local politicians as well as the chairman of the Etowah County Democratic Party, Whit Torbert. I would also like to thank The Gadsden Times for the write-up Friday as well as the photos on Sunday  Most of all thanks goes out to the committee members, local members, contractors, all the contributers, cookers, community and the general public.

Congradulations to Avery Chesser for winning the Henry Golden Boy 22 rifle! Also to the Etowah Democratic Women for winning the Best Chili Award and to Williams Plant Services for winning the Peoples Choice Award!

As most of you know the Local’s car was destroyed in the tornado on April 27. The Local was able to purchase a 2010 Mercury Grand Marquis. If it’s as good a car as the old one it should last for many years. (The other car was a 98 model with over 250,000 miles and still ran great!) Contrary to popular belief, I did not burn the tires off trying to get the old car under the tree as it fell!

Click here to download or print the flyer to share and as always, we welcome your comments and ideas.

As we all know, Memorial Day is a day to celebrate the lives and sacrifices of our Military Servicemen and Women, specifically the ones that didn’t make it home. We just wanted to take this opportunity to thank all our Military members, past and present, and their loved ones for taking up the challenge of defending our great country. Each service member takes their Oath of Obligation knowing that they could potentially be one of the ones that doesn’t make it home to their families and loved ones. Below is a list of our members and family that have taken this oath.

David Battles
John “J.C.” Cornelison
Joshua Cornelison
Felix “Pete” Evans
Alton Galimore
Barry George
Jeff Goggans
Andy Jones
Rex Moore
Don Nelms
Michael “Spike” Pickett
Ivan Rasco
Larry “Cowboy” Shelton
Millard Temple
Bobby Thrash
Jason Underwood (Son-In-Law of Garry Frost)

Click here for more on the history of Memorial Day.

Everyone have a safe and happy Memorial Day weekend and please comment and let us know if we missed anyone and if you get a chance, give thanks to those who would have made the ultimate sacrifice for the freedoms we cherish and to those who remain ready to go at a moment’s notice.

“We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm.”
-George Orwell