December 2013

Continued on page 5.

Alumni ConneCtions

Kent Powers ... Having Fun and staying Busy! After retirement in September, 2009, Sheryl and I moved from Houston back to Tulsa to begin the next chapter of our lives. This new chapter began with buying five acres on the west side of Tulsa and building our retirement home. Although I was technically retired, I felt I was on special assignment monitoring the construction of our new house. This assignment was probably a blessing (I know Sheryl felt so), given that it kept me from interfering with her daily routine and helped me transition into retirement life for the better part of a year. Since we moved into our new home in September, 2010, retirement life has consisted of hobby activities, traveling, and volunteer work. My hobby activities revolve mostly around golf and tennis. My golf buddies and I usually play a couple of times a week, taking advantage of the quality public courses in the Tulsa area and those senior rate discounts (one of the few benefits of getting older). After placing my tennis game on hold while in Houston, I decided it was time to dust off the cob webs and return to the tennis court. My only disappointment has been the realization that trying to regain my tennis form is not like riding a bike.

Personal Profile

News for aNd about retirees aNd former employees of CitGo.

Kent Powers

See more photos on page 2 and 3.

On September 9, 2013, the End of Summer Luncheon was held at Ti Amo Restaurant, in Tulsa. About 100 Alumni members and their guests were in attendance and everyone enjoyed a super delicious luncheon buffet in the Tuscany Room, Ti Amo’s private dining room. The guest speaker was City of Tulsa Councilor for District 8, Phil Lakin, who discussed the exciting new plans for Tulsa’s River Parks and the future road projects in south Tulsa. The event was an overwhelming success, in that it combined great food with friendly conversations and laughter among the Alumni and their guests. Seeing old friends and getting a chance to catch up on their post CITGO activities was a real pleasure for all. The only problem was that there was not enough time to visit with all the people we wanted to. I guess one will have to wait for the next Alumni event (the CITGO Alumni Christmas Party December 9th) to visit with those Alumni we missed at the End of Summer luncheon. A big round of applause is owed to Kathy Moore, Jeanne Sturges and Carolyn Stewart who coordinated this event. Again, great food, in a great place, with a great speaker with a near capacity crowd made for a great time for all attendees.

2013 end-of-summer luncheon A Big Hit once Again!

Page 2 The CITGO Alumni Connections

More End-of-Summer Luncheon Photos ... Continued from cover.

Page 3 The CITGO Alumni Connections

More End-of-Summer Luncheon Photos ... Continued from cover.

CITGO Alumni Group Annual Christmas Dinner

Monday, December 9, 2013 DoubleTree by Hilton Tulsa Warren Place

6100 S. Yale Tulsa, Oklahoma

Check-in begins: 6:00 p.m. Cocktails: 6:30 p.m. (cash bar)

Dinner: 7:30 p.m.

RSVP to Kathy Moore: ak.moore@yahoo.com, or leave a message at 918-296-5183. Please include the following information with your RSVP:

Name(s) of those attending Choice of entrée preference for each attendee:

Chicken Pork Loin London Broil

$25/person

Please make your check payable to CITGO Alumni Group and mail to:

Kathy Moore 315 East 123rd Ct. Jenks, OK 74037

Reservation deadline: November 29, 2013

Page 5 The CITGO Alumni Connections

Personal Profile Bruce Adams ... What’s He Been Doing since He Retired in 2012?

Funny that you ask; I will give you a very quick status of current and future items. There are quite a few, so hang on. For seven years, I have been the Executive Secretary for the National Masters Racquetball Association (www.NMRA.info). We only have two face-to-face meetings, at our March and July tournaments, which start out with an all day Tuesday board meeting. Imagine six to eight hours of typing; then making a Powerpoint presentation for the banquet on Friday; shooting pictures; playing two divisions in our round robin format; coordinating the audio visual for the banquet and the meal itself. Recently, I have been to New Mexico, Wisconsin, Arizona twice, California, Oregon, and North Carolina. I also assist our outstanding newsletter The Racquet Racket. On the local racquetball level, I have resumed regular workouts at the Thornton Y, preparing for more events in Tulsa, OKC and Cushing. Check out the Hall of Fame section of www.OklahomaRacquetball.com. I also attend a strength coach twice weekly for my legs on the racquetball court. I “strongly” recommend it. No pun intended. I have not done as much traveling as I had planned since Gwen is still working. However, we went to Saint Louis to Sweetie Pie’s Restaurant Christmas week; I went back to Houston for a quick visit of friends, co-workers and my church; New Jersey is our annual trip over Thanksgiving weekend. Another trip this spring was cancelled due to a death in the family. I recently got with the OSU Black Alumni Society. While talking to the President, I told him I wanted to get active in honor of former employee and alum Debra McIntosh. She was active and had worked on me for years to become active. With her death one year ago on my birthday, I told Sam Combs I would become active. He replied “that is great Bruce. We need more, active Board members.” What could I say. I am currently the sole person on the Financial Committee. Many of you have seen me at the last few CITGO Alumni events. It is a special feeling seeing each and every one of you. Lots of good memories! Gwen and I are season ticket holders with the WNBA’s Tulsa Shock. They just missed getting into the playoffs this year, so maybe season six will be the year. After only making about four home games last year, with the Houston commute to work, I made just about all 18 home games this season. I have also been asked to work with the North Tulsa Economic Develop Initiative (NTEDi), a group to promote and assist with more businesses in North Tulsa. You may have seen a few months ago the opening of the Shoppes on Peoria. I feel honored to

work with one of my high school teachers on NTEDi. Five years ago I got active with Toastmasters International. It is a communication and leadership organization. It is better known for public speaking, but that is one small aspect of the organization. I was club president in Houston; later their webmaster until a month ago; now I belong to two clubs, preside over one, and am the Area Governor over four clubs. In addition to assisting our clubs with leadership and liason with the district, we host two speech contests at the area level. My first contest will be a joint one on September 21st. More info can be found at www.OKToastmasters.org. Another CITGO Alum (Evelyn Page) asked me to work on our church’s Capital Improvement Committee. Not being one very good at raising money, they wanted someone good with contractors, writing specifications, budgets, plans and writing processes. Thanks Alan, Kent and Jim! I am also active with the church Usher Board and Sunday School. Our biennial family reunion asked me to serve on the Scholarship Committee. We provide scholarships to family graduates at our reunions, with the 2014 reunion in southern California. I am backing up the Treasurer of that committee. Other items (hobbies) that come and go: playing tennis with employees when I retired; renewed our amateur radio licenses (ham radio); tailoring; tai chi and aikido; reading novels (thanks Jim Barrett); remote control cars (thanks Chris Roethe); photography of animals; recent wedding photography and videography; videography editing software; watching younger cousins in high school football and basketball; grilling a couple of nights a week and various house projects; catching up with other retirees/former employees and friends is “keeping me busier now than when I was working. ” As one person put it, being retired is like being on vacation all the time. We are very blessed to have good health and the opportunity to enjoy this time of our lives. I wish you the best also.

Bruce Adams

We want the CITGO Alumni Connections to offer information from and about ALL retirees and former employees of CITGO. If you participate in activities with other CITGO Alumni in your area, we want to hear from you so we can share what you’re doing with the rest of our membership.

Please send announcements or updates you would like to see in the Newsletter to cornelia.schlecht@cox.net.

The CITGO Alumni Group’s membership year runs from January 1 through December 31 and dues are paid once during that period. If you haven’t paid your $10.00 membership dues for calendar year 2013, now is the time to do it. By paying your dues, you will receive copies of the CITGO Alumni Connections newsletters to keep you up to date on news and events of the CITGO Alumni Group. Send your $10 membership fee (made payable to the CitGo alumni Group) to:

Carolyn Stewart7509 E. 91st Pl. • Tulsa, OK 74133 bstewart47@cox.net

please include your e-mail address and/or any mailing address updates with your payment. thaNk you.

If you pay your membership dues in cash, please attach your name to the cash so Carolyn will know who she received the payment from.

Please send newsletter article contributions for the CITGO Alumni Connections by e-mail to:

Ray Yarroll at rpyarr@cox.net

or by u.s. mail to:

Ray Yarroll7421 E. 74th St. • Tulsa, OK 74133

Page 6 The CITGO Alumni Connections

Kent Powers ... Continued from cover.

Our travels have taken us to a number of exciting places, with 2012 being our most active. The year started with our 20th wedding anniversary trip to Hawaii, followed by a golf buddies trip to Myrtle Beach, a trip to New York City to check out Broadway and the U.S. Tennis Open, and a trip to San Francisco to pick-up a new puppy (our kids are four legged). Having done our best to spur on the airline industry in 2012, we are glad to be staying home in 2013. One of my goals during retirement was to do volunteer work. Having grown up in Tulsa, I wanted to find something that would allow me to give back to the community. Leave it to a fellow CITGO retiree to steer me in the right direction. Terry Diacon has been a Habitat for Humanity home building volunteer for several years and convinced me it would be worth my while to join his Tuesday morning Habitat group (better known as the Tuesday Morning Miracle Workers). This dedicated group has been building habitat homes for 20 years and includes several CITGO retirees. Working with this group has been very rewarding and especially gratifying when it comes time to turn the keys over to the new homeowner. When people ask me how I like retirement life, I am reminded of a sign that best summarizes my thoughts. It says: “Retired…No Clock, No Boss, No Worries.” I hope it is the same for you.

Reminder ...Our CITGO Alumni Group e-mail directory is available on our website http://www.citgoalumni.org/

Simply click the “directory” tab.

The password is the current day’s date (for example 02132012 ... tomorrow it will be 02142012, etc.)

If you have any questions or corrections, please let us know.

In MEMoRIuM

Jim Rusy(industrial lubes)

leroy Vance(terminal manager)

REtIREMEnt REIMbuRSEMEnt

ACCount PRogRAM

The retiree reimbursement account Program information

has been added to the website. it can alternatively be accessed via a link on the “Home” page, via the drop down list under the “Benefits/resources” menu bar button, a link on the “Benefits/resources” page,

and (finally!) a link on the “Tulsa news & events” page.