Next Meeting

Please Reserve Early!
By Jim Fitz-Patrick

Our program this month, arranged with the assistance of President Stan Swogier, will be presented by United Rentals. Sales Manager Dave Myers and Inventor and Materials Manager Dave Capolupo will tell us everything we want to know about the rental business and how United Rentals can assist you in your business. Our dinner will be a full course pork tenderloin dinner and will cost $20 inclusive. As always, reservations are extremely important to assure proper seating arrangements and food preparations. Please call your reservations to Cathy at the Builders office (693-5736) or fax them to her at 693-5738. They can also be called into me at 283-0557 or faxed to me at 283-0733. PLEASE make your reservation by Friday April 8th.

Festival of Homes

We are pleased to announce that we have Co-Chairpersons to run our Festival of Homes 2005. At the last meeting, Bill Burg of Alside Windows and Doors and Rachel Leo of Kitchen World Distributing, Inc. agreed to take on the huge responsibility for our fall show. The tentative dates are September 10th and 11th, September 17th and 18th, and September 24th and 25th. The Home Show Committee held its first meeting a week ago and has scheduled the next one for Thursday April 7th at either J.T. Wheatfield's or the Builders office located at 2728 Niagara Falls Blvd., Wheatfield, beginning at 8:30 AM. Please call Cathy at 693-5736 or Executive Officer Jim Fitz-Patrick to verify the meeting location. Meetings will be held every other week at the same time and place so all the many details can be covered. If you have any questions, please call Bill at 297-1118/870-1437 or Rachel at 434-5606/628-1813. It was great to see Treasurer John Ennis at the last Home Show meeting. If you would like to talk with him, please call him at 692-8282.

Circle the Date

Circle the date of June 8th on your calendar for our general meeting. On this date we will have the leaders of NYSBA as our guests. Executive Vice President Philip La Rocque and 2005 President John Hofelich will explain what NYSBA does for you and your business and also explain what you can do to assist them in their many projects.

Dues

Bills for your 2005 dues were mailed to everyone two months ago. If you have not sent in your payment of $400, please do so immediately. We need your check so we can remit your dues to NAHB and NYSBA and have funds to run your Niagara County Builders Association.

50/50

Our Build Pac 50/50 Split at the March meeting was won by Tom DiMatteo of G.T. Custom Built Homes. Tom received $44 as his share of the split, and was seen heading toward the bar with his many "friends" after the meeting.

Events

Golf - Our annual golf tournament will be held on Monday July 11th at Niagara Frontier Country Club in Youngstown beginning at 11:00 AM. Chairman Jim Kuryak of Niagara National Insurance will be chairman again this year. The cost of this fun event this year will be $100 per person (due to increased costs at the club) and will be limited to the first 84 people who remit their payment. We would also appreciate your consideration of being a Tee or Green Sponsor at a $100 fee. A special mailing will be sent out early next month giving complete details. If you have any questions or need further information, please call Jim Kuryak at 684-6000 or on his cell phone at 830-8323.

Picnic - Our other great summer event is our annual picnic, which will be held on August 25th at West Canal Park in Pendleton. Please note the date has been changed to Thursday, August 25th in order to avoid conflicts with several other meetings affecting members of our association. Chairman Larry Quigliano of L.J. Quigliano Excavating is working out the final price with J.T. Wheatfield's who will be catering our picnic again this year. We hope to keep the price the same as last year ($35 in advance and $40 at the door). However this all depends on the costs of the various items we have for your picnic.

Lobby Day - Remember NYSBA Lobby Day is April 19th in Albany. This is a great opportunity to meet with our Senators and Assembly persons to express the issues facing our business. State Director Skip Mazenauer is unable to represent NCBA this year. However, Gary Pollard and Scott Schlager from Pollard Windows will be attending. We also expect a few of our other Officers and Board Members to attend. If you are planning to attend this important function or want further information, please call Skip at 773-7676. Final date to register is April 4th, 2005.

For Your Information

A recent NY Court of Appeals case on the issue of Section 240/241 of the Labor Law has held that a builder who has provided for safety training can escape the absolute liability for injuries imposed by these sections. That is why our association should develop a strong local safety-training program. I am sure NYSBA will assist us in putting a program together.

You should also be aware that NAHB has held a round of meetings on the future of FNMA and FHLMCC, these organizations who buy mortgages from lenders and securitize them, have come under intense heat lately for accounting irregularities and lack of effective oversight. They are very important to a smoothly functioning mortgage credit system. We must preserve their mission. Contact your representatives and tell them so.

Robert Wieboldt

We are pleased to report that Executive Vice-President of the Long Island Builders Institute, Bob Wieboldt, is on the mend after quadruple bypass heart surgery. Many of us "old timers" remember Bob when he was the Executive Vice-President of NYSBA, prior to being replaced by Phil La Rocque a number of years ago. Keep up the good work Bob and get back to the office soon. LIBI needs you.