HP/Agilent Retired Employees Club - HPREC Oregon

General Membership Meeting - Web Press Update and Tour by Ed Schwallie - March 15, 2010

About 40 signed up for the web press tour at HP. Ed gave an overview then we were off to Bldg. 8 to see the presses.

Check out the new GSB YouTube Channel that is now live!  Videos of the T300 and our customers, O'Neil Data Systems and Consolidated Graphics are prominently posted here. 

Share with your family, friends and colleagues the excitement around our industry-changing product launch of which each of us have made important contributions to its success!

Camping Group at Lincoln City - March 12, 13, 14, 2010

Although there were only six outfits for the Lincoln City Camp out it was a great weekend to get away. Fairly nice weather at the coast after a hugh hail storm on Friday night. The group played pool, air hockey and watched the movie Proposal. Devin Horn had basketball games all weekend so some RV’ers enjoyed going to the ball games. His team played very well, and was undefeated until Sunday. The Premier RV Resort management entertained the group with Karaoke, the best was of course our own Vy Frederick, Linda Parker and Sharon Butterfield singing “Spanish Eyes”. Don’t think they are ready for American Idle or will hit it big anytime soon; and they shouldn’t give up their volunteer day jobs!

Novak’s Hungarian Restaurant Albany - Lunch March 10, 2010

Submitted by Ken Imamura - chair

On March 20, 2010, twenty of the HPREC members and spouses attended a delicious lunch at Novak’s. A great time was had by the attendees. The popular foods were the Hungarian goulash, Kielbasa sausage, a Hungarian type of calzone and great salads. We had a good time socializing before and during lunch with what people are doing, catching up on the “old” days.

It happened to be Pat Shelly’s birthday so we all celebrated with well wishes, happy birthday singing and a special birthday treat which he didn’t share!

This is a family owned restaurant where the family came from Hungary in 1957. They have had recognition of food lovers ranging from "Northwest Best Places" to “Bon Appétit”. While chicken paprikas remain their signature dish, they have long been known simply as Novak's Hungarian Restaurant. They have fresh baked specialty breads and more pastries than ever. They have very good food at reasonable prices and the restaurant is highly rated by their customers.

Beauty and the Beast (Sunday Matinee) canceled

This program was scheduled for February 7, 2010, then rescheduled to February 10 due to ticket availability. It was eventually canceled due to lack of participation. Although there were numerous club members that purchased tickets individually. Great performance!

Bunco Group

After the holidays the bunco group started up again in January with 5 tables (20 players). Thanks to Lew and Kathleen Peters for securing the club house for the bunco group to meet once a month and have a good time and get caught up with friends. !

Emergency and Tsunami Preparedness - January 19 ,2010

Submitted by Judy Thompson

Guest speakers were Peggy Peirson, Emergency Service coordinator, Benton County Emergency Management and Steve Napack, HP retiree and owner of the RedESupply in Corvallis for Emergency Preparedness, located at the corner of 6th and Van Buren in Corvallis..

Steve and Peggy explained that wherever we live, there are threats to our well-being, whether natural or man-made. With good planning and proper supplies, we can all be more resilient to these potential disasters.

An earthquake is looming for Benton County, which becomes the benchmark for preparedness. It is not a matter of "if" but "when" a major earthquake will hit the Willamette Valley. Such earthquakes tend to strike every 300-450 years. The last one was on July 26, 1700. The coastal plates off Oregon shift and rise 1-1/2 to 2" per year. There is a very large seduction zone from the Vancouver Islands to Northern California 30-60 miles off shore with regular earthquakes. There is also a very large fault running through Benton County across NW Corvallis and parallel’s one in Kings Valley along Hwy 34.

What is your vulnerability? Your home, commuting, at work, at your business, school, play ground, etc. have mitigation measures to minimize your risk. Have plans in place with family members, where to meet, how to contact. Remember phone lines will likely be out of service. Know how to turn off your natural gas. Bolt and strap tall objects and furniture, secure special or precious objects.

Be prepared for 5 days to 2 weeks for each household; include food, water, medications, money and entertainment. Organize a neighborhood emergency preparedness event. Know who is the most vulnerable in your area and include at least three other people in your planning. Don’t forget the pets! Practice emergency drills - drop down, run for cover, hold on!

Steve and Jan Napack have their own company in Corvallis to help you get prepared. Contact RedEsupply to discuss your needs and kits required for your home, vehicles or business.

RedEsupply provides only the best emergency supplies and emergency kits for you and your family. Many types of emergency preparedness products are available for individuals, professional responders, volunteers, State Agencies, The Red Cross, FEMA organizations, public and private schools and universities, institutions, medical centers, corporations, small business and other public and private agencies. Specifically you will find kits and emergency supplies for earthquakes, floods, fire, storms, snow, and auto emergency supplies needs. RedEsupply has emergency food, eye protection, nylon cording, emergency flashlights, and many others. You will find that our first aid kits, medical and disaster kits, emergency preparedness kits, quality water filters, food rations, medical and safety supplies and equipment, emergency rations and emergency water, food storage and water storage containers, emergency heat and heating supplies, emergency flashlights and lighting will serve your emergency needs.

Website for RedESupply: www.redesupply.com

Holiday Dinner Party - December 6, 2009

On Sunday, the club hosted the annual Holiday Dinner Party. With food prepared and beautifully served by Valley Catering, we enjoyed a delicious buffet dinner featuring glazed salmon with fruit chutney, chicken breast with cranberry relish, wonderful side dishes which made it hard to choose! Surely some had a taste of everything! During dessert, we were treated to the voices of the Linn Benton Community College Men’s Vocal Quintet. The club made a $100.00 donation to the group which will be used to help with their expenses when they travel to New York in the spring where they have been selected to perform and represent LBCC in a music festival.

Table decorations of red poinsettias and candy treats made our room bloom with cheerful color. As always, raffle tickets were a hit since there were so many wonderful prizes to choose from. And, guess who won the HP All-In-One Printer door prize provided by HP- Martha Taylor, and Jan Burchard won the Deskjet printer.

After dinner we enjoyed a rollicking game of Holiday Trivia hosted by Donna and Chris Mann! What fun we always have trying to come up with the correct answers to such questions as:

How much was the first bonus Dave and Bill gave to their employees in 1940? The answer was $5.00.

What Company’s 1939 marketing promotion featured the song Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer? The answer was Montgomery Ward.

We sang “Happy 93rd Birthday” to Neta Martin-Couron who encourages us to keep up the good living! And finally we enjoyed beautiful holiday music played on violins by two of Rita and Russ Pinard’s granddaughters, Megan and Jenny Pinard.

Thank you to the committee members and to all who attended to make this year’s party a great success.

Birding in Willamette Valley - November 5, 2009

On November 5, 14 HPREC members went on a Birding expedition to the Philomath Treatment Pond and McFaddin Marsh led by Audubon Society field trip leader Rich Armstrong. Considering it was November, we had good weather with a few sprinkles. We saw lots of different ducks, Canada/crackling geese, some hawks/eagles, herons/egrets and some little birds like sparrows. At each stop along the way, Rich used his expertise, spotting and explaining each species of bird we saw, he and Carolyn had high powered scopes to look thru so we had “a birds’s eye view” of each bird. As we arrived at the Philomath Treatment Pond we were greeted by seeing a beautiful bald eagle land and perch in a tree close by.

We ended the birding activity with lunch at McGrath’s and had some nice social time. It was a cool day so many people had either stew or clam chowder.

I want to thank Rich Armstrong who did a fantastic job leading the activity and Carolyn Bales who suggested the activity to Judy Thompson and helped on the activity with her expertise and scope. Rich also sent to me and I distributed to the group information on the Corvallis Audubon Society, mid-valley Birding Society, recommendations on reference on birding, and an extensive (33) list of birds that we saw.

Those attending were Carolyn Bales, Neal and Linda Meyers, Kathy and Rich Amos and friend (Marisa), Dick and Julie Oughton, John and Jodi Altendorf, Sharon Butterfield, Margaret Watson, and Ken and Joanne Imamura.

United Way Day of Caring - September 25, 2009

The annual United Way Day of Caring began at Parker Plaza with Corvallis Mayor Charlie Thomlinson kicking off the day in front of about 500 students and volunteers. We had 24 HPREC members sign up to help at the Benton County Fairgrounds set up and serve the lunches to all the volunteers (the students were fed on campus). We served about 300 lunches. What a sight to see with all the orange shirts! After serving lunch which consisted of sandwiches, cookie, chips and an apple (and having a free lunch) our members cleaned, and put all the tables and chairs away. This year Sheila and Walt Tomschin drove to Monroe, and Steve Naberhuis drove to Alsea to provide lunches for the volunteers that were spending all day on projects. Sheila Tomschin and Sharon Butterfield took the remaining lunches to Jackson Street Youth Shelter and the Community Outreach Center located off 9th Street. Both places had crews working on projects such as: painting, cleaning carpets, sanding and staining playground equipment, trimming and hauling away debris and building fence. It was a wonderful sight to see with so many volunteers from our community helping with nearly 100 different projects on the Day of Caring.

Kimhoa’s Social Lunch - September 3, 2009

Our club had 11 members join in for lunch at Kimhoa’s restaurant in Corvallis. This restaurant is owned and operated by an HP employee and serves delicious and reasonable Tai, Chinese, Japanese, and/or Vietnamese food of appetizers, soups, meats, and vegetarian dishes. We each ordered our own dishes and enjoyed them. We had a great time socializing and talking about challenges facing HP retiree’s. We shared our experiences and knowledge on the retirement trail.

Oregon Coast Aquarium - Newport, OR - August 10, 2009

Twenty-two HPREC Club Members had lunch at Local Ocean in Newport before taking a behind-the-scenes tour of the Oregon Coast Aquarium. At one time, we had a waiting list of 6 with others saying they would like to go but had conflicts. This is an activity we should do again with the help of Chris Mann. It was a beautiful summer day in Newport.

We had a great lunch at Local Ocean and a fantastic behind-the-scene tour of the aquarium. Most of us got our fill of seafood at Local Ocean. The favorite was fish and chips with wraps a close second. It was great to sit together in the warm sun and socialize and take in the view and odor of the bay front. Some walked the water front before having lunch. I am sure there was some shopping.

Chris Mann organized and guided the behind-the-scenes tour of the Oregon Coast Aquarium with help from Donna. Chris volunteers as a diver at the Aquarium which made him a very knowledgeable guide. We went behind the scenes to visit the nursery and holding areas in the main building which included an octopus and moon jellies; off course we saw all the obstacles of pipes, pumps, stairs, hoses, and equipment; viewed the "At the Jetty" exhibit from the public area and from above; took a break in the Passages of the Deep (POD) Gleason Event room to view the pelagic exhibit from behind closed curtains and then explored the POD from the top; and finished with watching a feeding of the harbor seals and California sea lions that included a special sea lion encounter. We got a treat at the feeding of the sea lions where our own Karen Daniels got "kissed" by her boyfriend, the sea lion. Thank you Karen for "volunteering.” Safety was discussed at the start of each segment of the tour as this was of prime importance. This tour took two hours.

Everyone enjoyed the tour. It was nice for me to see and talk to fellow retirees that I had not seen for years. These events are great for reminiscing the "old" days. Thanks to Chris Mann for organizing the tour and Donna for helping him out.