Retired Officers
The purpose of the Association is to promote and foster law enforcement in Howard County, to increase the effectiveness of the police profession, and to enhance the confidence of the public in the Department of Police for Howard County.
A primary objective of the Association is to maintain and promote the history and tradition of the Howard County Department of Police and the men and women that have served the Department.
The Association presently has a membership of one-hundred and fifty retired and veteran Howard County Department of Police officers and employees. Although the primary focus of the organization is retired police officers, the rules of the organization do include categories of membership for veteran officers that separated prior to retirement and civilians.
The Association meets quarterly, and sponsors a number of social and fund raising events throughout the year, the proceeds of which support projects that benefit retired and active Howard County Police officers and community groups and services.
In addition, the Association supports a number of worthy causes such as the Special Olympics, Howard County Seniors and Law Enforcement Together Council, and the Howard County Police Officers Memorial.
President .......................................... Bobbie Friesland
Vice-President ................................. Linda Freeman
Secretary .......................................... Skip Beall
Treasurer ......................................... Ken Fleischmann
Sergeant-at-Arms ........................... Mike Williams
Chaplain ........................................... Joe Collins
Howard County Police Retired Officers Association, Inc.
P.O. Box 2302
Ellicott City, MD 21041-2302
PLEASE keep your address, phone and e-mail address current with the secretary.
fjbeall@verizon.net
Meeting Minutes
Howard County Police Retired Officers Association
18 January 2012
Call for Order
The call was made at 1900 by President Bobbie Friesland. The meeting was held at Jilly’s in Ellicott City.
Opening of meetingA prayer was offer by Joe Collins.
Attendees
Friesland, Freeman, Fleischman, Hafner, Moran, Beall, Gavin, Keller up from North Carolina, Williams, Langenfelder, Collins, F. Dawson+1, T. Kennedy +1, Swing +1, McCauley, Souder, Belleville, Shinham, McKeldin, Stanton, McGlynn, Hajek & Hajek, Spanos +1, Vittetoe, Middleton up from Texas, Knutson, Besseck, Bellido de luna.
Proposal and election of new members
Dan Davis and Bud Rudacille
Installation of new members
Welcome to Dan and Bud
Report of Offices/OfficersTreasurer: Ken opened a savings account at M&T and transferred $18,000 into it. Our total balance, as of 12/31/2012, is $23,661.10.
Secretary: Keep email addresses current! Renew your membership dues before 31 March 2012!!!! Prior to the meeting 53 members had renewed their memberships for 2012.
Old/unfinished business
MD Tax Exempt Status: Bobbie contacted State of MD to see if we qualify for exemption for paying MD sales tax. No definite answer from State of MD if we qualify, they said to apply and they will review our forms. The paperwork is about 90% complete.
The Association delivered platters to the 8 satellite offices and communications on 20 December 2011. We received a thank you from Chief McMahon. Thanks to Mark, Karen, Beth (and Dana), Al, Ken, Bobbie and Linda for delivering the platters. After the deliveries were made several of the folks met back at Bare Bones for dinner.
New Business
Chris Murray, of Crestlawn Memorial Gardens, gave a presentation discussing the plans and parameters for the Police, Firefighter and EMT Garden of Valor at the cemetery. If anyone would like additional information about plots in the Memorial Garden please contact Mr. Murray at 410-442-5700.
Bobbie sent a thank you letter to Chief McMahon for his assistance during Bobby Jones’ funeral and also for his assistance, in the past, that he provided to Capt Burke’s funeral.
We received the plaque and shirt for sponsoring the Police Unity Tour last year. The shirt was raffled off and won by Kenny Fleischman. We raised $60 through the raffle.
A request has been made to support the Police Unity Tour for 2012. A motion was made, and seconded to donate $1000.00.
There will be a Basket Bingo to benefit the Police Foundation. The basket bingo will be held on March 16th 2012, in Glen Burnie, at the Elks Lodge off of Quarterfield Road. (We are getting a great deal). Doors will open at 6PM and bingo will start at 7PM. We are not yet selling the tickets….that will begin in February…. Bobbie can provide tickets to the retirees and anyone else who might like to attend. Hopefully, the Association can fill a couple of tables! It’s actually a lot of fun!! The tickets will be either $20 or $25….probably $20. More to come.
Bobbie is looking for donations that could be put in for auction items at the Basket Bingo. Last year she put together a basket of gift cards from restaurant. She also had a cooler filled with different alcoholic beverages, etc…. you get the idea.
Ken Fleischman was looking to see if there was any interest in designing and then purchasing challenge coins. If approved by the membership we would then need to get Chief McMahon’s approval to use the HCPD seal. There was no interest from those present. Sorry, Kenny!
Ken Fleischman would like to change the by-laws to allow the president to serve more than one term. Currently the Constitution and By-laws state “A full term President of the Organization shall not be eligible to succeed himself/herself”. None of the members that were present knew why the original Constitution and By-Laws stated this. Ken made the motion and it was seconded by M. Williams. More research is necessary before presenting this to the membership for a vote.
The new Memorial Wall, to honor those officers who died while on active durty but not in the LOD, has been completed at the Northern District. There is a possibility that a Memorial Wall will be created at Southern District.
Based on our IRS exemption we need to remove corporate membership from our by-laws. We are in violation of the IRS rules.
Bruce Lohr is participating in the Deep Creek Dunk again this February. He has requested a donation. A motion was made and seconded to sponsor Bruce in the amount of $250. The Deep Creek Dunk benefits the Special Olympics of Maryland.
We received a letter from Dave Suggs about his friend suffering from a brain tumor and having surgery here at Hopkins. Dave is hoping to find a temporary place for his friend, Andy Muir, to stay while recovering. Andy is a Gulf War veteran and the Veteran’s Administration has denied him any additional benefits. Andy is due in Baltimore on 8 February 2012. If anyone can help, or knows anyone who might be able to help, please contact Dave at 813-546-8904.
The Association has been approached about endorsing a candidate who is seeking an elected office. The topic was discussed and because of our 501 (c) (7) exemption we are unable to provide any endorsements of this nature.
Rick McCauley is going to purchase Orioles tickets, again this year, as part of the High 5 Fund Raiser. The tickets sell for $15 each and $5 would go our Association if we wish to participate. There is no cost to the Association. I’ve been told that the tickets are really good seats along the third base line. I will send out emails as Rick sets the dates and has tickets available.
Frank Dawson has suggested that the Association consider partnering with the River Hill High School PTA to sponsor a concert given by the “Hubcaps”! Frank is going to do some additional research, document investment and profit figures and provide it to the Association. There’s a potential for clearing between $6,000 and $20,000 depending on different factors. Frank suggested September 2012 or Spring 2013 as possible timeframes for the concert. More to come on this.
Frank Dawson introduced his guests Tom Kennedy and Trish Murphy. Tom is a retired DEA agent and was one of “the original” DEA agents. Tom has retired from the DEA and he and Trish have relocated to Howard County. Frank made a motion to allow Tom to join the Association as an Associate Member. The motion was seconded. A vote to approve was taken and passed. Tom paid his dues and is completing his membership application. Welcome Tom!
For the Good of the Order
Marna McLendon is trying to locate a couple of former officers. Doug Price, Keith Miller and Kenny White. If anyone has any information on any, or all, of these former officers please let Marna or Skip Beall know. Thanks.
We were very glad to see Steve Keller and Dick Middleton at the meeting. Steve was in town from North Carolina and Dick was up from Texas. Nice to see you guys!
