99700000 <haynes@ucscc.ucsc.edu> (10/17/90)
I got to wondering what happened to the Telephone Pioneers organization after the great Bell System breakup. haynes@ucscc.ucsc.edu haynes@ucscc.bitnet ..ucbvax!ucscc!haynes [Moderator's Note: They are still around in the local operating companies, and at AT&T. There was some question back in the early eighties if His Honor was going to permit that fine, charitable organization to continue or if he would insist on busting it up also and forcing its disbandonment. I have not heard anything much about them lately however. They used to do a lot of very good work with handicapped people here; building special telephones for them, etc. If anyone reading this is a member, how about an update from your chapter of the Pioneers? PAT]
hakanson@cse.ogi.edu (Marion Hakanson) (10/18/90)
In article <13612@accuvax.nwu.edu> Jim Haynes <haynes@ucscc.ucsc. edu.uucp> writes: >I got to wondering what happened to the Telephone Pioneers >organization after the great Bell System breakup. >[Moderator's Note: They are still around in the local operating >companies, and at AT&T. There was some question back in the early >. . . >them lately however. They used to do a lot of very good work with >handicapped people here; building special telephones for them, etc. If >anyone reading this is a member, how about an update from your chapter >of the Pioneers? PAT] I'm not a member, but I'm the next door neighbor to the real thing. My neighbor worked for AT&T, and now works for USWest (he still says AT&T once in awhile by mistake, though :-). He calls his group "Telephone Pioneers of Oregon" (note that USWest covers a lot more territory than just Oregon), and indeed describes it (and his involvement) as organizing fund-raising events for charities, often related children and the handicapped in some way. I get the impression that these folks are pretty committed to whatever cause they choose for their one big event each year. I can relate an anecdote he shared with me. It seems that in downtown Portland there is a pair of buildings which used to be owned by AT&T. If I've got the story straight, the former Pacific NW Bell (now subsumed by USWest) resided in some part of one of the buildings, and there was apparently a substantial underground tunnel between the two, to facilitate the convenient sharing of heat and cooling, and of course for electrical and foot traffic as well. When the breakup came, the tunnel had to be filled in, and a new energy system had to be installed in the orphaned building. That's some demarc, eh? Marion Hakanson Domain: hakanson@cse.ogi.edu UUCP : {hp-pcd,tektronix}!ogicse!hakanson
svec@uunet.uu.net (Larry Svec) (10/19/90)
I am not a Telephone Pioneer but I recall seeing in the 1990-1991 ARRL
Amateur Radio Repeater guide, a Chicago Repeater on 444.775 Mhz whose
sponsor organization is "TELEPHONE PIONEERS". The trustee of the club
is WA9PAC (I guess I could lookup the name in a callbook). I'll have
to jump on and talk to some of those HAMS/TELEPHONE PIONEERS some time
and see what's going on ... you scanner listeners in Chicago area
might pick up some info by listening in as well.
Larry Svec - KD9OF (good in 1987 or newer callbooks)
home: 708-526-1256 e-mail: uunet!motcid!svecl
work: 708-632-5259 fax: 708-632-2413, -3741bakerj@ncar.ucar.edu (Jon Baker) (10/20/90)
In article <13612@accuvax.nwu.edu>, haynes@ucscc.ucsc.edu (99700000) writes: > I got to wondering what happened to the Telephone Pioneers > organization after the great Bell System breakup. > [Moderator's Note: They are still around in the local operating ..... > them lately however. They used to do a lot of very good work with > handicapped people here; building special telephones for them, etc. If > anyone reading this is a member, how about an update from your chapter > of the Pioneers? PAT] Couldn't claim to be a member (and doubt I ever will be, since those working for 'them' don't seem to be eligible), but I do know that The 'Pioneers build a park right near work here, in Phoenix, specifically for the handicapped. Of course, it has full wheel-chair access ramps all over, including special ramps and safety-bars going down into a swimming pool, and numerous other recreational facilities. It has received a small degree of recognition in the press. I don't know why all public parks don't have such facilities. It's not like it would useless to non-handicapped people. JB [Moderator's Note: You say you could 'never be a member since those working for them are not eligible', but I think the rule is you have to be employed by a telco for twenty years to be eligible. At least under the old consolidated Bell System, twenty years continuous employment was the required minimum for Illinois Bell people. The various chapters have always been very dedicated and mindful of the needs of handicapped people, particularly regarding use of the telephone by those people. The Telephone Pioneers has a long, very glorious history, dating back to the beginning years of AT&T. And of course, as most of you know, Alex Bell was a teacher of deaf students, and was himself increasingly deaf in his old age. During her lifetime, his wife Mabel also devoted herself to serving handicapped people. PAT]
ndallen@contact.uucp (Nigel Allen) (10/20/90)
The Telephone Pioneers of America also operate in Canada, at least in the operating territories of Bell Canada (most of Ontario and Quebec) and Martitime Tel & Tel (Nova Scotia). Our Moderator writes: > They are still around in the local operating companies, and at AT&T. I think that Pioneers in independent telcos (the term used pre-divestiture to refer to non-Bell system telephone companies) belonged to a separate organization, the Independent Telephone Pioneers. I do not know whether this group is still separate from the main body of Pioneers. Does anyone know whether any of the long-distance carriers have their own Pioneer chapters? I rather doubt it, since traditionally the Pioneers were a service club for telco employees who had been with the company a long time (21 years, perhaps, although the Bell Canada clubs have reduced the requirement somewhat). People who weren't yet eligible to join could help out as "Future Pioneers". Interestingly, the president of the Telephone Pioneers of America is always an executive of a telephone company, typically the president or a vice-president. As much as I admire the work of the Telephone Pioneers, I suspect that the organization was founded at least partly to foster the idea that telephone company workers and their managers are "one big, happy family".
smk@attunix.att.com (S M Krieger) (10/22/90)
> [Moderator's Note: You say you could 'never be a member since those > working for them are not eligible', but I think the rule is you have > to be employed by a telco for twenty years to be eligible. At least > under the old consolidated Bell System, twenty years continuous > employment was the required minimum for Illinois Bell people. The last I heard, employment was dropped to 15 years. About 6 years ago, the drop from 20 to 15 was phased in one year at a time, so the first year of the phase-in, 19 years employment was required, then 18 the second year, etc. I was offered the chance to join when I had completed 17 years employment with AT&T. Stan Krieger Summit, NJ ...!att!attunix!smk [Moderator's Note: I hope you took them up on the invitation to join. Telephone Pioneers is a wonderful, worthwhile organization. PAT]
IZZYAS1@oac.ucla.edu (Andy Jacobson) (10/23/90)
The TPA (Telephone Pioneers of America) runs an excellent museum in San Francisco (140 New Montgomery St., Pac*Bell's head office, and a beautiful old building at that). They have a lot of historical displays, old switchboards, an SxS demo, old and new phones, cable dammage, lots of stuff on Alexander G. Bell, and Mabel, and a gift shop where you can buy lots of Pac*Bell _and_ AT&T trinkets. The museum is staffed by several knowlegeable retired engineers, who keep the exibits in good shape, and love to talk trivia. It is quite something to hear them whistfully expound on the virtues of the old Bell System, and tell Judge Greene jokes. Highly recommended.
nol2105%dsacg2.dsac.dla.mil@dsac.dla.mil (Robert E. Zabloudil) (10/23/90)
In article <13612@accuvax.nwu.edu> Jim Haynes <haynes@ucscc.ucsc. edu.uucp> writes: >I got to wondering what happened to the Telephone Pioneers >organization after the great Bell System breakup. They're still around in Columbus, it would seem. My wife had one of the good old volume-control handsets, since we're hard of hearing. The local PhoneCenter stores are selling them off (and may have already done so), and the 'new' phones just don't do the job quite as well. One day, my son (old enough to know better!) decided to take it apart to see how it worked. In short: he practically trashed it, my wife was devastated, and we somehow got it fixed by a telephone pioneer (either gratis or for a whole lot less than a new handset would have cost, if they were even obtainable. As a side note, she had to give up a promotion with her employer because they could not get a good volume-control phone to work with their el-cheapo system. One advantage of the good old days, I guess. So we are grateful to those old-timers. Hope the Pioneers stay active for a long time. Thanks! Bob Zabloudil Opinions strictly my own, of course.
carroll@beaver.cs.washington.edu (Jeff Carroll) (10/26/90)
In article <13612@accuvax.nwu.edu> Jim Haynes <haynes@ucscc.ucsc. edu.uucp> writes: >I got to wondering what happened to the Telephone Pioneers >organization after the great Bell System breakup. >[Moderator's Note: They are still around in the local operating >companies, and at AT&T. There was some question back in the early My aunt, who was a career operator with Indiana Bell and retired when their operator services were consolidated at South Bend, is quite active in the Fort Wayne chapter of the Telephone Pioneers. Since Fort Wayne is in GTE-land, many other members of the chapter are GTE people, and some work for United Telephone and some of the small local telcos. I'm not aware that the Pioneers were ever exclusively Bell System people. Jeff Carroll carroll@atc.boeing.com
wts@winken.att.com (William T Sykes) (10/30/90)
Pat,
The following is two articles highlighting the Telephone Pioneers Of
America - Old North State Chapter 79, which include AT&T employees and
retirees in a number of NC counties. These counties include Alamance,
Forsythe, and Guilford, the core counties of what was the North
Carolina Works of Western Electric. I believe the Pioneers associated
with Southern Bell and the area Independent Telcos participate in
other chapters, hence the article publication in an AT&T "in-house"
magazine. Comments in brackets [] are mine. Please find room to
publish in its entirety, as I believe they deserve the recognition
this this forum affords.
William T. Sykes
Reprinted _with_ permission from AT&T Directions, October 1990
(published for AT&T employees by the Guilford Center Public Relations
staff.) [All typos are mine - wts] Copyright AT&T - 1990.
"_CONGRATULATIONS - Pioneer Chapter 79 earns national honors for support
of Camp Carefree_
Freedom is a precious commodity.
Freedom is the priceless gift the Pioneers have helped give children
stricken with illnesses like leukemia, Hodgkin's disease, spina bifida
and cystic fibrosis.
Freedom is Camp Carefree.
Located near Stokesdale, Carefree is the only residential camp in
North Carolina for children with these types of problems. And its
free.
Six years ago the camp was just the dream of Anne and Gib Jones,
Stokesdale residents who lease 22 acres of their farm to the camp for
$1 a year. Today, thanks to the Pioneers and other groups, the dream
has mushroomed into a place where special children - walking or in a
wheelchair - can go swimming, canoeing, horseback riding and
participate in other activities they may never have done before.
"The Pioneers have been my security blanket," says Anne, the camp's
executive director. "Whenever we have had a pressing need, they have
been there to make sure it was taken care of."
Over the past four years, 1,500 Pioneers cared enough to spend more
than 15,000 hours raising money, building a medical infirmary and a
recreation building, and completing three duplex dormitories.
"Things kind of snowballed", says Russ Tagert, [Telephone Pioneer]
chapter [79] administrator. "We kept asking them what they needed,
and they told us."
The Pioneers obliged further by building over 500 feet of wheelchair
ramps and walks and planting hundreds of shrubs and trees.
The Pioneers' dedication to Camp Carefree and the children it serves
earned them a [White House] Presidential citation in 1989.
And this September, at the Pioneer General Assembly, it earned them
the national "People Who Care" award. They were also selected as the
number-one chapter among the 105 chapters throughout the U.S. and
Canada.
"Camp Carefree has been our most challenging, rewarding and exciting
activity for many years," Tagert says. "Although our role has
certainly been significant, we were not alone. The camp's success has
been a total community effort, and we are grateful for the opportunity
of helping make it happen."
"The real rewards come each summer when the camp swells with laughter
and smiles."
--Jeanna Baxter
[Captions accompanying article photographs (photographs deleted for
technical reasons - wts :-) ]
"With the support of volunteer counselors, chronically ill children at
Camp Carefree spend a fun-filled week participating in activities they
never dreamed possible."
"Music is among the activities available to Camp Carefree kids. And
whether walking or in a wheelchair, they also get the chance to go
swimming, canoeing and horseback riding."
-------------(Second Directions Article)-----------------------
_Chapter 79 Celebrates 20 Years of Service to Local Communities_
"The Pioneers are having a birthday.
This year culminates two decades of fellowship, fun and community
service for the Old North State Chapter 79.
Started July 1, 1970, Chapter 79 is now one of the largest in the
association and is a consistent leader in membership and community
service, according to Russ Tagert, chapter administrator.
Old North State members give more than 500,000 volunteer hours each
year and raise more than $100,000 for community service projects.
Some highlights of the past 20 years:
- rebuilding and refurbishing dormitories for a drug
rehabilitation center and the American Children's Home
- raising more than $137,000 to restore the Statue of Liberty
- treating 1,000 underprivileged children to a tailgate party
and Wake Forest football game.
- constructing buildings and walkways at Camp Carefree (see
previous story above)
- building a medical and dental clinic for Greensboro's [NC]
inner city
- purchasing a $30,000 "Vision Van" for conducting glaucoma
screening throughout the state
- building 150 wheelchair ramps and other therapeutic devices
- cleaning a portion of the Appalachian Trail in the snow
- fingerprinting thousands of children
- sponsoring "beep-ball" and Easter egg hunts for blind children
- holding a fishing rodeo for the indigent and aged
- conducting public health fairs in three malls
- purchasing a $16,000 van for the food bank"
-- Jeanna Baxter
[Captions accompanying article photographs (photographs deleted for
technical reasons - wts :-) ]
"Put together over 100 youngsters at an Easter egg hunt, and you're
bound to get some smiles. Each year the Pioneers sponsor the hunt and
a pumpkin picking on the [AT&T] Guilford Center grounds for hearing
and visually impaired children from the Piedmont."
"With the help of law enforcement and community agencies, the Pioneers
have fingerprinted more than 32,000 children as part of their Child
Safe program."
William T. Sykes AT&T Federal Systems Advanced Technologies Burlington, NC
UUCP: att!burl!wts att!cbnewsl!wts Phone: 919-228-3265
[Moderator's Note: Thanks very much for sending these items in. I do
agree that the Pioneers are a very worthwile organization, and
deserving of the publicity they can receive from the Digest. I'm glad
to share the news from your local chapter. Are there others out there
with important activities going on? PAT]