William Penn, 1963 (46. évfolyam, 5-23. szám)

1963-09-18 / 18. szám

VOL. XLVL SEPTEMBER 18, 1963 NUMBER 18

The XXV invention Of The William Penn Fraternal Association

On September 9, 1963, at 9:00 A.M., Julius Macker, President of the William Penn Fraternal Association officially opened the Convention with a short greeting to the delegates.

Ernest Bendzsuk, accompanied by Doris Tomory, sang the American national anthem, and Alex Sohonyay sang the Hungarian national anthem.

Invocation was made by Father Richard Molnár from Munhall, Pennsylvania.

Albert Stelkovics, Secretary, announced that four National Officers, two Vice Presidents, 12 members of the Board of Directors, 5 members of the Auditing Committee and 120 delegates were present for a total of 143 official members of the Convention.

A motion was made and seconded that Field Manager Elmer Charles and Investment Manager Richard Phillips be given voting rights as regular members of the Convention. The motion was carried by a vote of 98 for and 16 against; making a total of 145 eligible votes at the Convention.

Attending the Convention without voting privileges were Mr. László I. Dienes, Editor of the Associated Hungarian Weeklies of New Jersey, and Mr. Frank J. Cher, Administrator of the Fraternal Affairs Department who represented our own publication, the William Penn and also the Hungarian weekly papers. Mr. Eugene Szebedinszky represented the Pittsburgh Magyarsag.

Dr. Gesa Farkas was recognized as the honorarv representative of the Hungarian Weekly papers. (Dr. Farkas was not present at the Convention).

Mr. Frank Wukovits of South Bend, Indiana, Employees District #3 and Mr. Imre Készéi of Parma Heights, Ohio, District #6 were nominated as Convention Chairman. Mr. Wukovits received 107 votes and was elected Chairman of the Convention. Two Vice Chairmen were elected; Mr. Frank Radvany, Jr., of Trenton, N. J., who received 88 votes and Mr. John J. Phillips of Pittsburgh, Pa. who received 87 votes.

Stephen Lang, Jr. and Louis Fodor were nominated as Convention Secretary. Mr. Stephen Lang, Jr. of Bethlehem, Pa. was elected by 101 votes.

President Julius Macker appointed Frank Bero from Bridgeport, Conn., Geza Madarasz from Detroit, Mich., Frank Balogh from Chicago, 111., and Mary Huthansel from New York as Tellers.

President Macker turned over the gavel to Frank Wukovits, Chairman of the Convention. Chairman Wukovits introduced the following guests: Mr. John Bencze, honorary President of the Association, Mr. Joseph Vasas, former Secretary of the Rákóczi Aid Association and Mr. John Szalanczy, former Treasurer of the Verhovay Fraternal Insurance Association.

Many greetings to the Convention were read. Among them were greetings from Mayor Wagner of New York, Mr. Foster Farrell, Secretary of the National Fraternal Congress, UNIVAC Corporation of Pittsburgh, Pa., Branches 18, 249, 55 and 521.

Mr. John Bokor made a motion that a telegram be sent to the President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, and to the Secretary of State, Dean Rusk, in the name of the members of the William Penn Fraternal Association. The motion was carried and Stephen Lang, Jr. and John J. Phillips were assigned to prepare the telegrams. The text of the telegrams was to urge the United States Government not to recognize the Kadar Communist regime and to not make any pacts with the Kadar government.

Chairman Wukovits appointed George Tokár as Sergeant at Arms.

The Convention also accepted the recommendation of the Board of Directors that the Convention Banquet be held on Tuesday evening, September 10, 1963 at the Urban Room of the Penn-Sheraton Hotel.

The Board of Directors Report, as follows, was read to the Convention by Secretary Stelkovics:-REPORTOF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

OF THE WILLIAM PENN FRATERNAL ASSOCIATION TO THE XXV-TH NATIONAL CONVENTION SEPTEMBER 9, 1963 To The Convention Delegates:

Ladies and Gentlemen — Fellow Delegates!

Our most cordial welcome to you!

The State Laws governing Fraternal Benefit Societies provide that, at least once in every four years, the Association’s duly elected representatives meet in convention as the Supreme Governing and Legislative Body of the Association. The William Penn Fraternal Association complied with these Laws when the XXV-th regular convention was called into session for September 9, 1963.

The State Laws further provide that, in the interim between conventions, a Board of Directors be responsible for the management of the affairs of the Association. The Board consists of 12 Members, the President and two Vice- Presidents. The Board met in Special Sessions on September 19, 1959, November 20, 21 and 22, 1959 and on January 17, 1961, and held 8 regular semiannual meetings during the past 4 years. During 1960, the then Vice-President Julius Macker was elected Board Chairman, and during 1961, 1962 and 1963 Vice-Pi^sident Varga was elected Chairman of the Board. In 1960, Director Julii íj. Lenart was the Recording Secretary of the Board, and in 1961 Dijo'u!' P. Baila ueciiine the Board’s Recording Secretary.

...-■cerpts of the Minutes of each Board meeting were published in the English and Hungarian editions of our Official Organ, the WILLIAM PENN. Only excerpts were published because internal matters do not belong before the general public and our competitors.

The Staff and General Counsel Gay B. Banes attended each Board meeting, and when necessary for consultation purposes Medical Director Samuel C. Gomory and Actuary Robert E. Bruce also were in attendance.

We, therefore, as Board Members submit to you, the duly elected Delegates, the following accounting of our stewardship for the calendar years of 1959, 1960, 1961, and 1962.

We respectfully request that you follow this Report closely, so that you may be in a good position to pass judgment on our actions.

THE PRESIDENT’S DEPARTMENT

The last Convention instructed the Board of Directors to carry out various proposals and plans; therefore, we report on these matters first.

The Amendments to the Charter, as adopted by the last Convention, were duly submitted to the respective State Officials, and same were approved and recorded as of May 1960.

The designation of “V” or “R” after Branch numbers was eliminated; and, in some instances, Branches were renumbered to eliminate duplications.

The Board was authorized to introduce the direct Premium Billing System on a pilot basis. Much preliminary work has been done, such as renumbering of certificates to avoid duplication, and surveys were made with three different firms relative to possible use of new equipment. However, at our 1963 Spring Meeting, we tabled this matter so that the new Board, elected at this Convention, could study the matter further and then render a decision.

The Convention resolved that certificate loans be issued on 5% per annum basis. Endorsements to this effect were approved by the Insurance Departments; and, accordingly, interest on certificate loans for all certificates issued after January 1, 1960 are on 5% per annum basis.

Contributions to the American-Hungarian Federation were made over the past four years at the rate of $3,000. per annum, as authorized by the Convention.

The request of the American-Hungarian Studies Foundation for financial aid was referred, by the last Convention, to the Board. We have authorized the sum of $1,200. annually for this purpose.

The Convention resolved to have the District Office expenses paid by the Home Office; however, the resolution did not state when this was to commence, nor did the resolution enumerate which of the District Office expenses were to be paid. We made this effective January 1, 1960, and reimbursed expenses of light, heat, one business telephone and postage to the Branches with District Offices.

The Pension Plan was reviewed and liberalized effective January 1, 1963.

C. S. O. certificates were again submitted to Missouri for approval. How(Continued On Page 2)