The Blue Hydrant

Methuen Police/Firefighter Retirees Association

September, 2015

Special points of in-

terest:

OUR MEETING PLACE

We meet at Sanborn Hall,

90 Hampshire Street,

Methuen at 7PM.

2015

October 1, 2015

There will be only one (1) meeting

a year – to be held on the first

Thursday of each October. Starting

in 2015

SUNSHINE

COMMITTEE

Call Vinny Belfiore if you

know of anyone needing a

card, cheering up, etc.

at 978-683-6801.

Outing Cancelled!

The Second Annual MPFRA

Family Outing has been can-

celled for 2015. We simply

could not get any volunteers

to help with the planning

and execution of what was a

promising venture for us as

an association.

50/50 Raffle

Winners

The June 50/50 raffle winner was

Mike Hatem.

Police Chief’s Message

Great news for the city of Methuen. The Methuen police received 9 new recruit officers who graduated from the Northern Essex Community College police academy in June 2015. These officers fill long vacated positions and will allow us to better serve the com-munity on a daily basis. This was the

first class to graduate from the new

NECC academy. This academy is fo-cused on positive community engage-ment and quality customer services. These officers are a new breed of offi-cers who have been trained to defuse situations and foster positive commu-nity police relations. These officers are in the field training mode and will hit the streets on their own in September 2015. Please take a moment to intro-duce yourselves if you see new young faces. They are well aware of the sacri-fices those who have gone before us and those who have forged our place in

this community.

We are in the process of hiring two community engagement specialists who will focus on drug abuse, preven-tion and treatment options for our community. With the Opioid addiction disease blazing all around our county we are fortunate to have these special-

ists join our department. They will be conducting follow-ups, community training and community engagement in all aspects of addiction and treatment. These two professionals who are spe-cially training in the areas of addiction and treatment will be a great addition to what we do on a daily basis to help

fight this dreadful disease.

Chief Joseph E. Solomon Methuen Police

President’s Message I would like to thank everyone who par-

ticipated in the process for making it

possible to put an article before the City

Council regarding bringing the Police

and Firefighter I.L.D. retirement pay

closer to 50% as provided by General Laws; Part I; Title IV; Chapter 32; Sec-

tion 90D.

West Councilor George Kazanjian

worked many hours with Stephen

Devan, Johnny DiGloria, and me re-

garding the process.

With George Kazanjian’s help and re-

search with the City Accountant Tho-

mas Kelly, the City Council put this on

the Agenda for City Council Meeting for

August 3, 2015. It passed the Council

unanimously.

Since the outcome of his efforts were so

rewarding, in that 13 current retirees

under I.L.D. received 20% .of the

amount needed to bring them to 50% of

the pay of current police and fire fight-

ers. We hope to see the Council work

with us to make further increases over

the next few years.

Many thanks to our City Councilors for

their help.

Robert Murad, President

M.P.F.R.A.

Photograph Highlights

Recently there

were nine per-

manent police

officers sworn

in, there were

fourteen re-

serve officers,

and two inter-

mittent offi-

cers. The nine

permanent offi-

cers have suc-

cessfully com-

pleted the training and

are on the

street. Wel-

come to the

new officers

from the

MPFRA. May

you have suc-

cessful and

rewarding ca-

reers. Here are

just a few of

them on the

day they were

sworn in.

Page 2 The Blue Hydrant

The M.P.F.R.A. needs to remain active!

As we move forward we all need to

be mindful that the retirees need a

presence. Collectively we can make

a difference.

MEETING VENUE

The M.P.F.R.A. will begin holding

meetings at Sanborn Hall, 90

Hampshire St.

PURCHASE YOUR BRICK TODAY

If you know anyone who may want a

memorial brick we hope that you

will encourage them to make their

purchase.

2016 M.P.F.R.A.

Election Nominations and

Election at the October 1

meeting. Make every effort

to attend. There will be a

50/50. The more entrants,

the bigger the take!

*****************

WEBSITE

M.P.F.R.A has a website. We

post important news and in-

formation helpful to you as a

retiree.

www.mpfra.com

Mayor Stephen Zanni announced fire Captain Tim Sheehy will take over as

interim chief of the department starting July 1

John A.

“Rocco” De-Benedetto, 78, passed away on Wednesday

August 12, 2015 at Law-rence General Hospital.

John was born June 9, 1937 to the late John and Rose DeBenedetto. He at-

tended Holy Rosary Grammar School and served as an altar boy at Holy Rosary Parish. He was a 1956 gradu-ate of Lawrence High School. After

high school, he joined The Navy Re-serves and worked as a truck driver for Prince Macaroni Company of Lowell and Freeman Fuel Company of

Methuen. He joined The Methuen Fire Department and served as a firefighter until his retirement. John was a member of The Methuen Senior Cen-

ter. He loved to play pool. He was an avid sports fan and especially enjoyed The Boston Celtics and The New Eng-land Patriots. He also enjoyed doing

woodworking.

The M.P.F.R.A. is an organization dedicated to the preservation of the

rights the Retired Police and Firefighters have earned through their

service to the community of Methuen. It strives to foster social rela-

tionships as well as provide a platform for expression and brother-

hood.

Through meetings and a clear exchange of ideas, comments, and sug-

gestions we can remain strong in our defense of the rights of our mem-

bers as the economy changes and budgets get tighter, we must remain

united to thwart off any interest the city has of reducing our benefits.

c/o Steve Devan 7 Green Street

Methuen, MA 01844-3414

Methuen Police/

Firefighter Retirees

Association

Please feel free to send info you

would like others to read. Send anything you may have to Steve

Devan.

OUR WEBSITE

M.P.F.R.A. hopes you use our

website and we hope it will help

us reach out to our members.

Please visit it often and stay in touch.

Do you do Facebook? We have

a page on Facebook that we try

to keep filled with the latest

news and information. Visit us

at our M.P.F.R.A. Facebook Page

* * * * * * * *

www.mpfra.com

Be careful out there!

rmurad@mpfra.com or sdevan@mpfra.com

www.mpfra.com

Membership Committee

Retired Captain Thomas

Fram and his committee, Retired Captain Edward G u y an d r e t i r e d firefighter Dick Aziz are

working very hard to reach out to retirees who have not yet joined the M.P.F.R.A. in an effort to

increase membership and have a membership that is strong and

dedicated to all retirees. All members of the organization are eligible for a free e-mail address.

Visit us on

the WEB

Insurance Issues? As a retiree, should you ever have any insurance

questions, Connie Childs welcomes your calls and questions. She is a very valuable resource! Call her at her home anytime, leave a message and she will return your call if she misses you the first time.

978-688-6369