Huntington Post Ends 2004 With Charity and Festivity
By Mark D. Kessinger, F. SAME

On Dec. 21, Huntington Post members assisted the Salvation Army with distributing toys and food to 531 needy families with more than 1,500 children in the Huntington, W.V. area. According to Robert Mullins of the Salvation Army, “I’ve been doing this for 12 years and I’ve never seen such a large turnout from one organization.” His wife, Capt. Sandra Mullins, added, “Not only did SAME help us with the distribution of toys, they also sponsored angels on our angel trees. We didn’t have to buy any additional toys this year because there were no unclaimed angels.”

Members of the Post said it was a very rewarding experience that proved we can make a positive difference in the lives of those less fortunate. Two Huntington Post Directors, Richard Mitchell and Lee Sutphin, who both serve on the Salvation Army’s Board of Directors, participated in the toy distribution as did Bill Graham, Mark Kessinger and Nadine Plumley.

Sutphin reflected on the day by saying, “It makes you feel good inside to know you’re helping others. Next year I hope we can have even more folks from SAME help out.”

Prior to that, the Huntington Post hosted its 10th Annual Holiday Dinner Dance at the Don Morris Room in the Marshall University Memorial Student Union. More than 120 individuals attended.

This was the first year that the Huntington Post has co-sponsored the event with the Marshall University College of Information Technology and Engineering.A brief awards ceremony also took place, during which Richard Mitchell was congratulated on his induction as a SAME Fellow and Bill Graham presented the Regional Vice President’s medal to Mack McCarty of Triad Engineering. Gold sponsors for the event were DLZ International, FMSM Engineers and Wastetron. Silver sponsors were ATS-Chester Engineers, Barr & Prevost, Bergmann Associates, Burgess & Niple, Eastham Associates, Terradon Corporation, and Woolpert LPP. EMH&T was a bronze sponsor.

Thanks also go to the dinner dance committee that included Post members Steve Englehardt, Donna Hinchman and Mark Kessinger, and Marshall University staff Betsy Dulin and Bill Pierson.

San Antonio Post Recognizes Its Members
By Dick Kochanek

More than 200 members of the San Antonio Post celebrated the holidays and the Post’s outstanding year with a Holiday/Membership Appreciation Celebration at the Frost Bank’s Plaza Club in downtown San Antonio on Dec. 4.

The Post presented $5,000 scholarships to three deserving students: Timothy Soeken, AF ROTC, Texas A&M; Matthew Bragg, Army ROTC, Texas State University–San Marcos; and Jeffrey Buchholtz, AF ROTC, Baylor University. J.B. West, TEXOMA Regional VP was a special guest and presented RVP awards to 2004 National Conference Committee members and installed the 2005 Post Board of Direction members. West honored outgoing President Tom Russell for his outstanding work and presented the Post with the “Best Post in TEXOMA Region Award for 2004.”

The Post’s Marine Corps guests took away five large boxes of toys for the Toys for Tots Program to which party participants contributed.

At the Jan. 11, 2005, Post meeting, the San Antonio Post honored its Outstanding Young, Individual and Sustaining/Public Agency Members for 2004. Chris Davila, CH2M HILL, was presented the Outstanding Young Member Award. Davila handles many of the details for the monthly Post meetings and other activities, serves as the Post’s Newsletter Editor and was a member of the Post’s 2004 National Conference Committee.

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Molly Holden, CH2M HILL, received the Outstanding Individual Member Award. Holden is the Co-Chair of the Scholarship Committee, and was a member of the 2004 National Conference Committee and the Post Holiday Celebration Committee.

The Air Force Center for Environmental Excellence was presented the Outstanding Organizational Member Award. AFCEE has more than 30 members in the San Antonio Post and has members serving on the Post’s Board of Direction and the National Conference, Scholarship and Golfing Event Committees. Kay Grosinske, the Post’s Assistant Secretary/Historian and a member of the AFCEE team, accepted the award for the organization.

Chicago Post Plans Engineering Week Activities
By Robert Foster

The Chicago Post is gearing up for National Engineers Week, Feb. 20-26. Specifically, Post activities include:

Additionally, the Post welcomed its newly-elected Post Officers during a special social on Jan. 22, 2005.

Portland Post Recognizes Long-time Member
By Toni Leon

The Portland Post recognized Robert Cashion for his 54 years of membership at their Sept. 1, 2004 meeting. Cashion’s father was with the Corps of Engineers and gave him his first membership in SAME while he was an engineering student. Cashion graduated in 1952 from the University of New Mexico with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. During his career, he worked for the New Mexico Highway Department, the California Department of Highways, and the Arabian American Oil Company in Saudi Arabia. Cashion’s recommendations to young people just graduating or entering the engineering field is to, “select a specialty you like and build on it for your career.”

Top Ten Sustaining Members with Most Post Memberships

URS Corporation - 69
Shaw Environmental & Infrastructure Inc. - 59
AMEC - 51
CH2M Hill - 49
Earth Tech Inc. - 47
MACTEC Engineering and Consulting - 45
Weston Solutions Inc. - 45
ARCADIS - 43
Michael Baker Corp./Michael Baker Jr. Inc. - 33
MWH - 33
Stanley Consultants Inc. - 33
Washington Group International Inc. - 32
HNTB - 28
PBS&J - 28

Top Ten Advertisers in TME and SAME News and on www.same.org

1) Burns & McDonnell
2) Weston Solutions Inc.
3) Michael Baker Corp.
4) Johnson Controls Inc.
5) PBS&J
6) Black & Veatch Corp.
7) Resonant Machines Inc.
8) Bobcat
9) Caterpillar Inc.- Defense & Federal Products
10) Red Valve Co. Inc.