Summer 1989 VALLEY VOICE

A publication for active and retired AT&T Network . Systems and AT&T Bell Laboratories employees of Merrimack Valley Works 1600 Osgood Street North Andover, MA 01845

A. E. Dugan Transmission Systems Vice President

lililey JiJice office (508) 960-2302 Editorial staff: Irene Dumas, x2377 Dianne Coppola, x3553

Contributing reporter & Pioneer Happenings editor: Bob Gablosky, x2307

Photography: Roger Culliford, x2597

lililey JiJice is published for employees like Cathy Petersen, analyst in Bell Labs prototype realization center. Cathy ran the 5k and 'lOk road races and carried the AT&T banner during the opening ceremonies at the recent corporate national championship. (story on pg. 19) Cathy was unavailable for the group photo.

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Engineering Excellence Society scholarship awarded to Robert Morse, Exeter scholar

Scholarship winner Robert Morse, 3rd left, pauses with Engineering Excellence Society officers Larry Fisher, Ernie Fusi, and David Rudd; Transmission Systems Vice President Al Dugan; and Bob Morse, Sr.

The 1989 Merrimack Valley Works Engineering Excellence Society scholarship has been awarded to Robert L. Morse, Jr., son of Bob and Virginia Morse of Kingston, NH.

Bob was selected for this honor in light of his outstanding accomplishments as a student at Phillips Exeter Academy. During the June 4 graduation exercise, he was awarded highest honors for academic achievement. He was named the recipient of the Yale Cup as that senior best combining the highest standards of character and leadership with excellence in studies and athletics.

While at Exeter, Bob was chairman of the board of the Exonian, the school's weekly newspaper. He was captain of the track team and winner of the most valuable member award. He served as co-captain of the spring track team and recorded Hall of Fame times in the 800m and l500m events at the New England Interscholastic Championships. He also played varsity football.

Bob was awarded prizes in French, U.S. History and Chemistry and was designated a commended student in the 1989 National Merit Scholarship program. He will study engineering at Princeton University in the fall.

Bob Sr. is transmission product planning manager, located in Andover. A native New Englander who began his AT&T career at Merrimack Valley, he has had assignments at Allentown, New York Headquarters and New Jersey before returning to the area . The family also includes Sarah, a lower at Exeter, and Ben, an eighth grade student.

•. • on the cover

Bob Morse, recipient of the 1989 Engineering Excellence Society scholarship (story above), is shown at Phillips Exeter Academy in front of Amen Quadrangle. Photo by Roger Culliford .

Custolller Conference Center prepared for serious business Construction on schedule

W e mean business at Merrimack Valley when we say the

customer is important. Anyone walking by the main entrance to the office building can see for themselves - something is definitely in the works.

The new customer conference center, scheduled for completion in October, will allow us to greet customers with the world class treatment they expect from AT&T.

Visiting customers will be ushered past a comfortable lobby entrance to an up-to-date facility consisting of a presen­tation room, conference room and visitor's office.

The presentation room, a large 41x27 foot audito­rium style room equipped with the latest in video projection equipment, is to be the scene of product demonstrations and sales talks.

In the adjacent confer­ence room, details of the sale can be discussed in a comfortable setting, and a private office will allow customer representatives to call their headquarters staff in privacy.

Shop tours will continue to be an important, infor­mative part of MVW customer visits.

First impressions are lasting impressions, and we at Merrimack Valley are ready to show our customers we are serious about wanting to be their vendor of choice.

Thanks ... ... to those employees who must change some long standing habits and are still trying to become accustomed to using the building's side entrances. Once the conference center is complete, only scheduled customers and guests will be invited through the new lobby. Employees are asked to continue use of the side entrances, knowing that any inconvenience is far outweighed by the serious business being carried on within the walls of the new center.

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R. E. ALLEN, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

AT&T

W. B. MARX, President Network Systems

P. D. FENNER, President Transmission Systems

A. E. DUGAN Transmission .

R. J. SANFERRARE T ransmiss ion

Systems

K. D. RASCHKE Manufacturing Vice President Systems

Vice President Vice President N. Carolina Works

J. W. STYRING Director 01

Engineerin~ .. Mig. Trans. EqUipment

J. F. HENRICKSON Director 01

Product Mgmt. it Design Tecltnology

R. A. MOLINE Director of

Engineering I. Mig. Components

Transmission Management Board

Board members are responsible for Transmission Business Unit strategic direction and major resource allocation decisions. Members include P. Fenner, along with Messrs. Buchner, Chernak, Dugan, Macurdy, Raschke, Robinson, Sanferrare and Thomas, all shown on the chart above.

w. O. ROBINSON Director of Prod. & Mrkt. Mgmt. Trans. Systems

As part of the continuing effort to increase profitable growth and customer focus

of the Transmission Business Units, the Network Systems organization was realigned on July 1, 1989. The realignment established business and market objective responsibility within smaller organizational entities, each with resources necessary for implementation.

M. M. BUCHNER, Jr. Transmission

Systems Vice President

W. N. FABRICIUS Director of Prod. & Mrkt. Mgmt. Trans. Systems

(open) Director of

lACS Project Trans. Systems

1. A. ABElE Director, Circuit Cross·Connect &

Terminal lab.

A. M. HOFMANN Director, Facility Cross·Connect &

Terminal lab.

F. C. KELCOURSE Director, DiVtal

Transmission laboratory

W. B. MACURDY Vice President

Transmission Systems

J. CHERNAK Transmission

Systems Vice President

J. 1. PAGE Director of Prod. & Mrkt. Mgmt. Trans. Systems

D. H. MORGEN Director, Digital

loop Carner Applications Lab.

R. C. CHAPMAN, Jr. Director, loop Transmission Systems lab.

N. G. LONG Director, loop Applications Laboratory

1. W. HUSEBY Director, Digital

loop Carner laboratory

D. G. THOMAS Transmission

Systems Vice President

R. H. SHURTER Director of Prod. & Mrkt. Mgmt. Trans. Systems

J. R. STAUFFER Director, Wide band

Transmission Facilities

R. P. HECKEN Director. Radio

Systems .. Terminals lab.

A. U. MAC RAE Director, Satellite

Communications & Signal Process. lab

J. M. SIPRESS Director, Undersea

Systems laboratory

(}nderstonding the organi%Otion chart

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Robert E. Allen William B. Marx Peter D. Fenner

Macurdy Dugan Styring Sanferrare Henrickson

Buchner Kelcourse Chernak Thomas Hecken

Robert E. Allen - Bob assumed his current responsibilities as chairman and chief executive officer of AT&T in April 1988. Bob met many MVW employees on past visits to Merrimack Valley.

William B. Marx - Bill filled the position formerly held by Wayne Weeks, who recently retired.

Peter D. Fenner - Pete is respon­sible for the profitability of the Transmission Business Unit and a member of the Transmission Management Board.

William B. Macurdy - Bill is responsible for the development and manufacture of several MVW products, including Lightwave and Digital Radio, Digital Cross Connect and Network Multiplex , and Digital Loop Carrier SBU operations.

Allan E. Dugan - AI is responsible for global Transmission Equipment manufacturing and the Merrimack Valley Works site. MVW Equipment Factory employees report through line organizations to AI.

James w. Styring - Jim is responsible for engineering and manufacture of all transmission equipment at Merrimack Valley.

Robert J. Sanferrare - In addition to Digital Terminal and Digital Carrier SBUs, Components and Apparatus SBU and Other SBU, Bob is responsible for both development and manufacture of MVW Compo­nents. Components Factory employees report through line organizations to Bob.

Moline

John R Henrickson - John is responsible for product management and development of the Component Factory product line.

R. Alan Moline - Alan is responsible for engineering and manufacture of all Component Factory products.

Morgan M. Buchner, Jr. - Mal is responsible for Digital Cross Connect and Network Multiplex SBU operations and results.

Frank C Kelcourse - Frank is responsible for development of Digital Transmission equipment.

Jess Chemak - Jess is responsible for Digital Loop Carrier SBU operations and results.

David G. Thomas - David is responsible for Lightwave SBU and Digital Radio SBU operations and results.

Rudolf P. Hecken - Rudolf is responsible for development of Radio Systems and Terminals.

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Merrimack Valley VVorks People

PROMOTIONS

[;

ffective July 15, Nelson Bridges became Technical Support Engineering Manager,

Radio and Multiplex Systems. Nelson began his AT&T career at

Merrimack Valley in 1966. He completed assignments at the Southern California Service Center and in repair engineering. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Lehigh University and a Master of Science degree in Industrial Engineering from Northeastern.

ON THE MOVE

II ew faces at Merrimack Valley include David Hitchcock, general

accounting and systems development manager; and Shannon Hitchcock, component factory cost accounting forecasting and business units results manager.

Originally from the North Carolina Works, they moved to headquarters in Southgate, New Jersey, for close to a year before moving on to our better New England weather.

They are in the process of settling in Haverhill.

* * * Hugh Scott, former manufacturing

resources director at North Carolina Works, on July 1 became Merrimack Valley Works Materials Management Director.

Hugh holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Virginia Tech. and an MBA from Wake Forest University, where

he served for several years as an adjunct faculty member in the graduate school of business.

Hugh is certified in production and inventory management (CPIM), and continues to be active in the American Production and Inventory Control Society (APICS).

Hugh and his wife, Cindy, and two children are making their home in Londonderry, N. H.

* * * Effective July 15, Ken Jones,

development engineer in the AIM process engineering group at MVW, was promoted to Customer Engineer­ing-OS Manager and is located at the Columbus Works. He has responsibility for transmission hardware engineering.

Ken is a 5-year Merrimack Valley Works employee and holds a BSEE degree from Rutgers University and a Master of Science degree in Computer Engineering from the University of Lowell.

Ken and his wife, Barbara, who works in the MVW quality assurance group, and their one-year-old son will relocate to the Columbus area.

* * * Effective July 15, Louann Basillio

reported to work at the New Jersey Southgate location as Financial Analyst Planning Manager.

Louann began her AT&T career as a cost accountant at MVW and was most recently the general accounting, financial analysis and forecasting manager.

In 1987 Louann was elected by the TWIN (Tribute to Women in Industry) Council as one of ten outstanding women in industry.

* * *

Bridges Hitchcock

* * * Effective August I, Rick Bangle,

manager of purchasing and transpor­tation, became Manager, Purchasing and Transportation - Nassau Metals Corporation, located in Gaston, South Carolina.

Rick is responsible for combining recycling operations currently in place at the wholly owned AT&T subsidiary with procurement of all new metals, making the Gaston facility the source of all metals for AT&T.

SUPERVISORY INTERNSHIP PROGRAM

T he Supervisory Internship Program affords occupational level engineers the opportu­

nity to experience supervision and learn the operating side of our business first hand.

As part of this program, Elaine Webb, Jlanning engineer in the 5ESST HIC shop will become Supervisor, SL Specialty FIC shop.

Hitchcock Scott Jones Basillio Bangle

SUPER STUDENT

(fJ ary Nilsson, a packer in the packing and shipping area by night, has been a

parttime Northern Essex Community College student, working towards a degree in business.

In April Gary was initiated as a member of the Beta Omicron Chapter of Alpha Beta Gamma, the national business honor society of community and junior colleges. Gary has maintained an impressive 3.2 grade point average.

Gary's wife Michele is a produc­tion associate on the Vision Line.

IN MEMORIAM

Everett Andrade, retired saw operator, July I, 1989

Margaret W. Craston, retired inspector, June I, 1989

George E. Gately, retired stock selector, June 29, 1989

Raymond Gaudreault, retired production service clerk, June 9, 1989

Milton C. Hughes, retired layout operator, June 6, 1989

Manfred Jones, retired MTS, BL, May 23, 1989

Josephine M. Lane, retired operator, July 7, 1989

Rosamond H. McLeavy, retired process checker, May 26, 1989

Charles H. Naylor, retired assistant manager, May 3, 1989

Mae D. Paris, retired machine operator, May 26, 1989

Celia M. Skea, retired packer, July 3, 1989

Angelina I. Somma, retired benchhand, June 4, 1989

Donald L. Walker, retired section chief, June 24, 1989

RETIREES

Years of Service

June 39 William Adams 31 Pauline 1. Butler 28 John Ludwick 15 Patricia Joy Pitts

July 36 Harry R. Bedell 27 Anne L. Burke 33 Philip G. Cartier 34 Rena B. Cayer 32 Renwick G. Clements 33 George F. Colloten 29 Paul R. Despres 33 John P. Gauvin 30 Ronald L. Hilchey 28 John B. Makus 33 David H . Robinson 29 Elwood T. Stagakis

SERVICE ANNIVERSARIES

During June the following employees celebrated service anniversaries of 25 or more years (in increments of 5 years)

Robert Blais (25) Thomas Cannon (25) Thomas Doyle (25) Victor Makarewicz (25) Janet Robinson (25) Kenneth Tentarelli (25) Alfrieda Trotochaud (25) Wiley Baldwin (30) Willard Barnes (30)

Webb Nilsson

George Blair (30) Diane Blanchard (30) John Bucuzzo (30) Richard Chavers (30) George Colby (30) Richard Cooney (30) Thomas Daley (30) Robert Dow (30) Donald Durand (30) Mac Emshwiller (30) Helen Fornea (30) Robert Gerardi (30) Ovie Giust (30) R. R. Grady, Jr. (30) Mary Greenwood (30) Joseph Habib (30) Thomas Haley (30) Robert Haner (30) John Hannon (30) Ronald Hilchey (30) John Jennings (30) John Keizer (30) Wilbur Ketchum (30) Dennis Klockow (30) Kevin Coyne (30) Arlyn Leach (30) A . P. Ligor (30) Charles Marino (30) W. P. Michaud, Jr. (30) Art Olsen, Jr. (30) Ernest Packard (30) James Raney (30) Winfield Rowell (30) Richard Sanders (30) Kurt Seastrand, Jr. (30) Edward Sewasky (30) Kent Sternstrom (30) Robert Webber (30) Russell Wooster (30) Donald Zorn (30) A. Courtney Longton (35) Barbara Trafton (35) John Dulgarian (45) Joan Hart (45) Harold Smith (45)

.. o o .c Co

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Around the ·Works AWARD WINNING PERFORMAN{;E

M errimack Valley's largest customer, AT&T NOD,

recently presented their prestigious Customer Service Award to two MVW employees.

NEW UGDTWAVE {;ONTRACI' SIGNED WITH NIT

A T&T's newest contract with NTT (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation) more

than doubles past contracts. Unlike previous contracts for

DDMlOOO and Echo Canceler products which were designed for

Marcia P. Lathrop and Frank A. Kothman, right, material planners in the MPPC (Material Planning & Procurement Center) , were instrumental in helping this important customer lower inventory costs.

__ -,,"II our market and purchased by the

In presenting the award, 1. R. Cheshire, account manager for AT&T Network Operations Division , remarked that Marcia and Frank are

"not only efficient and accurate, but always friendly and willing to exert that extra effort to provide customer satisfaction."

ENGUSD LANGUAGE PROGRAM GRADUATES 92

Certificates were awarded recently to 92 Merrimack Valley Works employees who

completed a year-long course in English as a second language.

The Manufacturing English-as-a­Second Language program is a partnership between AT&T, CWA Locals 1365 and 1366, the City of Lawrence and the Lower Merrimack Valley Private Industry Council.

The model project emphasizes manufac­turing tenninology towards its goal of in­creasing the English proficiency of AT&T employees, enabling them to meet the challenges of a changing technology.

To date over 300 MVW employees have earned certificates through the 3-year-old program.

MARlA TAVERAS ' obvious delight translates A session will begin to pride of accomplishment in any language. in September. Call Jan

ts.I _ _ ~"::'--"_""':====-iiUI!!~_-=:_.:::::::lI-=:!:DIDru Penta on x3424 for details .

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Japanese, this new lightwave project is being designed specifically for the Japanese market.

The lightwave system is the first application of the new international synchronous optical communications standards and will be used by NTT in the Japanese domestic telecommunications network.

During a tour of Merrimack Valley's Vision Line operation (below), Japanese and Merrimack Valley Works executives view a typical printed wiring board in the SMT process area.

~CROELECTRONICS

EXPO '89 AT MVW

M errimack Valley Works employees received first class "customer" treatment

on June 21 and 22 when component supplier AT&T Microelectronics arrived with a professional "under the big top" trade show.

As a way of demonstrating their commitment to supporting the strategies of internal customers, Microelectronics developed EXPO '89, their first show exclusively for i----'~D~a-v-e-Ed-= wards, MVW manager of materials operations engineering, Bob Newton

internal customers. prepares for the ribbon cutting ceremony opening EXPO '89, while Frank Merrimack Valley is one of McGinnis lends a hand. Frank is AT&I Microelectronics new account

Microelectronics' largest customers. management and quality assurance vice president. "We brought EXPO '89 here to show Merrimack Valley that you are as important to us as your outside customers are to you," said Carolyn Collins, head of the Account Management team located here.

In addition to the tent exhibits, employees were invited to a series of technical seminars discussing applications and future product directions.

Len Winn, Merrimack Valley

b-----'-,~=;;;..-, of Quality, was one of the

hundreds who toured the exhibit areas. "The casual dialogue between the show hosts and technical visitors that was so prevalant is a valuable tool in a customer/supplier relationship," said Len. "Quality and other concerns were viewed easily by both from a different perspective."

PUT OUT THE FIRE!

Who would enter a burning building complete with intense heat and no

visibility? Merrimack Valley 's well trained Emergency Response Team.

Thirty-two members of the MVERT recently completed a of intensive fire brigade training conducted by the Massachusetts Firefighting Academy.

Training consisted of direct and indirect attack strategies, entry and ventilation techniques for fighting fires and putting out natural gas fires.

On Friday, July 14, team members attended a full day practical at the academy's Barnstable, Mass., location. Here they were divided into groups, and each group was given the opportunity to apply what they learned - how to enter a burning building, put out and overhaul the fire, search for victims and ventilate the smoke from the building.

After the day's events, all agreed that firefighters are definitely an underpaid lot!

& WIR HOP

Photo collage by Bob Gablosky - story on page 18

QWL RESPONDS TO INQUIRIES ABOUT ALLIANCE EMPLOYEE RESOURCE CENTER

Alliance Employee Resource Center 1600 Osgood Street North Andover, MA 01845 (508)960-2410

Established May 1989

Joseph J. Giampa, Director

Published Mission: To serve as the highest quality resource for CWA represented employees who want to take charge of managing change in their own lives, and to support those individual efforts by assisting them to realize their optimum career and personal growth and secure satisfying employment in their chosen field.

This unique Union/Company joint venture offers CWA represented employees at

Merrimack Valley a number of career assessment services, training courses, life planning workshops and other programs designed to help those employees advance their careers both inside and outside AT&T. The Center helps facilitate each employee's access to those opportunities, helps them make appropriate choices in using the services offered, and provides support so that each employee can successfully complete the programs they enter. Training and education is offered both on site and at local

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schools and colleges. Pre-paid tuition refunds are available for many off site educational and training sessions. On site education and training is offered before and after regular working hours to accommodate the schedules of the employee work force.

History: .

The Alliance for Employee Growth and Development became an established entity as a result of the 1986 General Bargaining Agreement negotiations between AT&T and CWA. These organizations share a vision that the growth and development of the individual is the key to success in a competitive world wide marketplace. The Alliance's mission is to support individual efforts to develop career and personal growth and enhance each individual's employability through continuing learning experiences.

The Alliance, in conjunction with the AT&T Merrimack Valley Works and Northern Essex Community College, established in May of 1989 an Alliance Employee Resource Center located at the AT&T site in North Andover, MA.

The Alliance Employee Resource Center staff consists of one full time director, two full time career advisors and one full time program assistant. The members of the staff are employees of Northern Essex Community College working under an agreement with the Alliance. Their offices are on site at AT&T's Merrimack Valley Works. An employee career resource library is

(]W(b notes

planned in the near future. This unique Union/Company joint

venture has the cooperation and consultation of a board called the Alliance Local Committee which is comprised of two AT&T managers and the presidents of the two Local CWA unions.

WANT TO MORE???

The Alliance Employee Resource Center, along with the MVW Human Resources

organization and the CWA Locals, announces two upcqming

ALLIANCE DAYS.

On August 17 and 18, 1989, the Center staff will be located in the MVW cafeteria froin 11:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. to answer any questions you may have regarding the Center's activities. For 3rd shift employees, the Center staff will be on hand August 18 from 6 to 8 a.m.

All CWA represented employees not involved in the recent force reduction are eligible to register for the following four courses that will begin classes in September. The courses are:

Introduction to Computers Personal Financial Planning

Electronic Principles Basic Exam Preparation

At the same time employees may enroll in the Career Planning Program.

If unable to attend either Alliance Day sessions, you may get registration forms from the Center. All forms must be returned to the Center by August 25, 1989.

Transmission teamwork kicks off a new approach to selling in the '90s

"Sell solutions, not boxes"

A ccount team members responsible for selling Merrimack Valley's

products were told this by the Transmission Product Management team at the latest sales seminar.

Reed Harrison, director of Product Management - Transmission Systems in Andover, talked about the seminar. "The best sales force in the world can't sell the best products in the world unless they have all the information they need - when they need it," said Reed.

"Sales seminars, like this one, where account management, product management, Bell Laboratories, marketing and manufacturing people meet face-to-face, are an extremely effective way to exchange the information we all need to win customers and beat competitors in the marketplace.

" The best sales force in the world can't sell the best products in the world unless they have all the information they need - when they need it.

" "The seminar introduced a major

new strategy for selling transmission systems in the '90s - selling solutions to customers' problems, not

individual products. This approach is already used by some of our most successful sales people, and it closely matches our customers' needs."

Focusing on solutions rather than on products is a way for us to identify and think about our customers' problems, to see things from their perspective. For example, our customers lose revenues and some of their customers when they have a major network failure, caused perhaps by a fire in a central office, a flood or cable cut.

So our customers' problem is improving the reliability of their networks. We call our "solutions" to this problem Self-Healing Network Applications. By working closely with our customers, we can ftnd out what kind of network failures will cause them the biggest problems and then offer the best application of our products: which products installed where in their networks will provide the best and most economical protection.

MVW-built DACS, Digital Radio and FT Series G products are frequently used in Self Healing Network applications, but we start with the customers' problems and work towards selling a product -not the other way around .

Joe Ponti discusses why this is good for Merrimack Valley when the major manufacturing thrust is to produce products at either the plug, shelf, bay or system level.

A manager of transmission product planning at Andover, Joe says, "It's like building a cathedral. First you need to understand you're trying to build a large, long lasting, beautiful place. You build it one stone at a

" our customers lose

revenues and some of their customers when they have a major network failure.

" time following a carefully thought out and detailed architecture. Each piece must be of the highest quality and fit together unequivocally. Otherwise, you just have a pile of stones."

"And people don't want the stones," says Joe, "unless they're part of a cathedral."

This is what Merrimack Valley does - it builds DACS, Multiplex, Radio and Lightwave systems, one plug, one shelf and one bay at a time, but all within a plan which is our sales people's unique "solution" to a customer problem.

And the strategy works. Bob Bonomi, another Andover manager, points out that a project with New York Telephone based on solution selling has evolved to a sale of five DACS Ills, nine DACS IVs and ten FT Series G systems, totaling $9 million, with the potential for more. All of these products are manufactured at Merrimack Valley.

The week long seminar was considered a success - the account teams left with a clear enthusiasm to "sell solutions" in the '90s.

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· -

''Answering the call of those in need"

OFFICERS INSTALLED

New officers, directors and Life Member representatives of the Merrimack Valley

Works Chapter 78 of the Telephone Pioneers of America have assumed office, effective July 1.

The group was installed at the . chapter's annual planning meeting on Monday, June 19, at DiBurro's Restaurant in Ward Hill.

The new officers were given the oath by Dick Stahl of New Haven, Conn., Telephone Pioneers of America Association Vice President of Region 12, which is comprised of the six New England states. He also installed members of Chapter 78's Executive Board and Larry Farrell as the chapter's administrator.

Larry installed Life Member officers of the Hannah Duston and Robert Frost Clubs.

Installed by Dick were : Roland J. Dubois, chapter president ; Herb Dietrich, first vice president; Mel Clevesy, second vice president; Bill Wedge, past president; Jennie Jancewicz, Life Member representative ; Mary Sawyer, Life Member representative, and Terry Pilat, Past Life Member representative.

Also, the following members of the Executive Board : Eleanor Simmons, Ruth Kimball , Shirley Cyr, Ray Lynch, Dick DeVincentis, Dudley Farquahar, George Miller and Bob Danus.

The following were installed by Larry: . Hannah Duston Club - Judy Moerloos, president; Kay Laird, secretary; Edna Sierpina, Helen Koczat and Rose Cavallaro ; and

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Robert Frost Club - Jerre Holmes, president; Laura Durling, vice president; Dot Sawyer, secretary; Stan Jancewicz , Leo Pouliot and Dot Comeau, past president.

Not present but who were installed were : Linda Ciambella, vice president of the Robert Frost Club, and Dorothy Rennie-Todd , past president of the Robert Frost Club; and Larry Cogswell and Gene Pouliot, Life Members of the Hannah Duston Club.

Special recognition awards -statuettes of the Telephone Company's "spirit of service" symbol, Angus MacDonald - were presented to Bob Gablosky, Chapter 78 associate who designed Region 12's display which will be on national exhibit in Tennessee in September; and Bill Wedge, outgoing chapter president, and Dottie Hines, outgoing president of the chapter's Future Pioneers, for their outstanding leadership contributions.

Speakers included Marilyn Bouchard, executive director 6f the Daybreak Shelter for the homeless in

BIlL WEDGE, outgoing president of Telephone Pioneer Chapter 78 at Mvw, left, is presented a gift from Dick Stahl, Association Vice President of Region 12, at the chapter's annual planning meeting. In the rear, center, is Roly Dubois, new chapter president. At right, rear, is Herb Dietrich, newly-installed first vice president of the chapter.

Lawrence; Bill Wedge, and Roly Dubois. AI Dugan, manufacturing vice president of MVW, also spoke. He congratulated the Pioneers, both active and retired, for their work in helping the less fortunate and offered continued support to the chapter.

A program featuring "Kids On The Block" puppets was presented by members of the Anne Sullivan Center of Tewksbury, MA. The puppets represent handicapped people. Chapter 78 purchased the puppet, "Mandy Puccini," which represents a deaf person. It is the only puppet which requires two people to operate.

WALKERS COLLECT MANY $$

One hundred employees of AT&T's Merrimack Valley Works and Bell Labs

participated in the recent March of Dimes Walk-A-Thon .

The AT&T walkers gathered sponsor pledges totaling over $12,000 in the 17th annual march. The group was part of more than 800 Merrimack Valley residents who braved unseasonably chilly temperatures to walk the 12-mile course through Andover and Lawrence.

In all , the walk raised a total of $90,055, more than doubling last year's donations.

The Merrimack Valley walk was one of 16 conducted across Massachusetts, raising more than $500,000 for the March of Dimes .

The AT&T group was captained by Dottie Hines, UNIX training administrator for Bell Labs and chairperson of the Future Pioneers of the Merrimack Valley Works Chapter 78 of the Telephone Pioneers of America.

THA.NKS •••

B ill Wedge, immediate past president of Merrimack Valley Works Chapter 78 of the

Telephone Pioneers of America, has expressed his thanks to employees, retirees and volunteers for their sup­port and help during the past year.

"I have no doubt that this was the most successful year the chapter has ever had and as chapter president I want to express my sincere appreci­ation for what has been accomplished in the past year because of your efforts," he told his supporters.

He added that in the true "Spirit of Pioneering;' the chapter was able to answer the call of those in need. "Our efforts," he said , "went beyond the Merrimack Valley area and , with fellowship, loyalty and service, we were able to make a difference because we care."

Bill's term as president expired June 30. He has been succeeded as head of the chapter by Roly Dubois, who moved up from first vice president.

ROLY DUBOIS NEW CHAPTER HEAD

Roland (Roly) Dubois, process analyst in Equipment Stores at MVW, is the new

president of the Telephone Pioneers Chapter 78.

.. o '0 " Q.

>­... .. o :c .. Cl .Q o

ED

He assumed the presidency after serving as first vice president for a year. He was sworn into office at the chapter's planning meeting by Dick Stahl , Region 12 Association vice president of the Telephone Pioneers of America. The meeting was on Monday, June 19, at DiBurro's Restaurant in Ward Hill.

Roly succeeds Bill Wedge, who had been president for a year. Bill will remain as advisor on the chapter's Board of Directors.

Roly has been an AT&T employee for 29 years and a member of the Pioneer chapter 11 years. A resident of Plaistow, N. H ., he and his wife, Judy, have four children : Karen, Steven , John and Adam.

Roly is a former Pioneer Store committee chairman, having been active in starting the store 11 years ago. He is a member of the chapter's Special Field Games committee.

Succeeding Roly as first vice president is Herb Dietrich, manager, Transmission Software Center at MVW. The chapter's second vice president is Mel C1evesy, business systems specialist in Thin Film.

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'It's in the Dlail' "Neither rain, nor sLeet, nor snow, nor gLoom of night, will stay these couriers from the swift compLetion of their appointed rounds."

Y ou've probably heard that slogan before, but did you ever think of

how well it applies to the MVW mailroom?

Granted, the mail room employees don't have to worry about the elements or gloom of night, but there are situations that can prevent the mail from speedy delivery. "The biggest holdup with the mail is incomplete or incorrect addresses," says Sue Cummings, mail room coordinator. "These have to be looked up in our database, and that takes time."

Network Systems mail is sorted by department and Bell Labs by room number.

Nancy DiFillipo, mail room supervisor, is assisted by Sue and a staff of seven. Last year, this busy team processed over 16,000,000 pieces of mail. That breaks down to about 65,000 pieces of mail on an

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average day, more than some post offices handle.

The team is well organized to keep everything running smoothly. When the incoming mail arrives, everyone pitches in to hand sort it into the delivery wagons. Each mail carrier has their own route, and each route has its own personality. Mail carriers quickly learn the latest office gossip, along with how important it is to keep the mail circulating. A second, afternoon run is added to get our morning's inter-office mail to its destination fast, usually the same day. Mail to other AT&T locations is sent in bulk twice daily, and mail to our satellite locations is delivered by shuttle four times a day.

"Besides in-house mail , we offer all the services of a US Post Office, except for selling stamps*," says Nancy. "We can send certified mail,

registered mail, insured mail and express mail. We also offer fax service and zip code information."

The mail room hours are 7:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. Any special services should be brought down before 3:00 p.m. when the outgoing mail leaves.

So if you're waiting for a long overdue report, "It's in the mail," is definitely not a good excuse.

* (editor's note) Stamps may be purchased at MVW through the WEVailey Club.

MAILROOM personneL fiLL bins with the day's distributions. Upper 1st coLumn photo, Sue Cummings; above photos, Left, CaroLyn U)!socki, with Bill FitzgeraLd at rear; right photo, Janice Campagnone and Bill (hidden).

••• Send in By Bob Gablosky

.. . staff writer

These clowns didn't mind the heat. And they never gave another thought to the

fact they had taken the day off just to entertain "the kids."

But these "kids" were something special ... all were suffering various stages of cancer or leukemia.

This was an occasion the clowns wouldn't miss, even if it meant working hard, sweating in the hot sun and trying to make the kids laugh, or just smile, knowing many of them would not be there the next time they visit in September.

On this particular day, Wednesday, June 21, I accompanied a group of clowns from the Clown Troupe of Merrimack Valley Works Chapter 78 of the Telephone Pioneers of America on a day-long trip to the Camp Sunshine resort of Lake Sebago, Maine.

We left North Andover around 7:30 a.m. and returned just before 4 p.m. It was quite a day, considering it included four hours of traveling. We made the trip in a company van and station wagon.

The few hours we spent at the resort can only be described as "an experience." Some of the clowns find that such a visit is one of the most emotional activities in which they participate, mostly because they know they are entertaining terminally-ill children.

The reality of it comes suddenly when, moments after arriving, you see children wearing name badges and you are told these are the children with "medical problems." Many of them have no hair on their heads or on their arms and legs, and you learn they have undergone extensive chemotherapy treatments. You also are told many have only a

MAKING PIC1VRE BUTIONS for tenninally ill children at Camp Sunshine at Lake Sebago, Maine, are these clowns from Telephone Pioneer Chapter 78 of MVW Helping them are Mel Clevesy and

chapter Executive Board members.

short time to live while others are in "remission."

At a place like this, you don't ask questions. You look, and wonder, and believe in hope.

The campground management opens its facilities twice a year to these children and their parents, in June and in September. The Pioneer clowns make it a point to visit the resort at least one day on each of the sessions when the children are there.

The day we visited there were 200 children with their parents, guidance people, camp counselors and medical personnel, in addition to cooks, camp maintenance people and other support groups.

The clowns, with the help of several volunteers from AT&T's Merrimack Valley Works, make picture buttons for the children, create balloon figures for them, talk and joke with them, hug some of them , and do anything else a clown might do to make a sick child grin or laugh.

While taking pictures during the afternoon I was shocked into the reality of what this day was all about. A man approached me and told me he had been made aware of my affiliation with AT&T and its Public Relations department at North Andover. He asked, "Why don't you get this story out to the world

through AT&T's corporate publications?" He was referring to the dedication and hard work of the Pioneer clowns. He identified himself as a member of an AT&T organization outside of New England.

I asked him, "What brings you here (to Camp Sunshine)?" He replied, "My daughter has cancer."

He gave me his name and telephone number and offered to help in any way to get such a story published. He then left, disappearing in the crowd of campers.

The significance of a day at Camp Sunshine is never fully realized until the day is over and you begin to think of the "experience": the sick kids with smiling, happy faces, the kids with no hair, the healthy­looking teenagers wearing name badges, and the babes in arms who also are terminally ill.

But most of all you can't help remember the clowns who weathered the heat while wearing heavy makeup and colorful costumes, who never let up for one moment their effort to keep the children happy.

As an observer, I couldn't help but believe that this was the place to be for at least one day to share friendship, love and good feeling, if even for a brief moment. It made my life just a bit more meaningful.

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OVER 12 MILLION SAFE HOURS AT MVW

On June 7, representatives from the Massachusetts Safety Council visited

, Merrimack Valley to present the company with its group award.

The Council figures an incidence rate based on the amount of lost work hours due to on-the-job injuries. The national average is a rate of 2.5.

Merrimack Valley Works employees logged an impressive 12,872,571 hours during 1988 with an incidence rate of .512, well below the national average.

Tony Lazzaretti, manager of facilities and environmental engineer­ing, Works service, accepted the award, stating that, "This was a significant achievement for all employees and further proves a commitment to safety here at Merrimack Valley. This award was earned by each and every employee."

MEIUUMACK VAI.J,EY CLEARS THE AIR

Environmental experts at Merrimack Valley offered assistance to the city of

Haverhill in planning and executing a recent mock disaster intended to simulate a situation where the environment might be threatened by a serious chemical accident.

The ability of several local and state agencies to deal with environmental issues was put to the test. Participating in the drill were local fire, police, hospitals and volunteer "victims."

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The Merrimack Valley Works team, led by Dr. Gene Grillo, included Gail Twining, Ralph Collipi, Rich Grillo and Ann Venetta, who also served as judges.

Also, Dom Pallaria, Bob Goossens and Jim Burke of the Merrimack Valley Works Safety organization. Ed Dickinson and Frank George of the Public Relations organization were on hand to document the activities on film.

The exercise, which is rated by the Federal EPA, was declared one of the best drills of its kind in the country.

COMPONENT FACI"ORY PEOPLE ALL WINNERS

The component factory printed wiring board team led by Bill McLaughlin is the latest first

place team in the component factory safety and quality program. Since May of 1988 the PR department has been taking photos of the component teams at their monthly celebrations. It's about time we showed some of these winning people. Our apologies to anyone who blinked, made faces, turned around or otherwise missed being included in this issue's center collage. Eventually we'll be sure to find you!

MVW IS 50,OOOth CUSTOMER

Haven't you always wanted to walk into your favorite

store and have them announce that you are their millionth customer and then treat you like royalty?

Hewlett Packard, a major corporation and supplier of power supplies to Merrimack Valley, did just that to MVW employee Joe Messina, a senior engineer in the product and development engineering SAW devices group.

A phone call from HP's Merri­mack Valley representative John Nowosacki started the festivities with the announcement that Joe had just purchased their 50,000th power supply unit and that a celebration was in order. A group of HP executives then arrived at Merrimack Valley to give Joe the royal treatment

- but, no, they did not give him the keys to the store.

Joe is shown above, right, with John Masone, HP New England area sales manager.

Joe's special purchase will become part of one of Merrimack Valley's functional test sets used to ensure the top quality of our products. Who knows, perhaps it will test a product for our millionth customer!

NEED IDEAS FOR WINNING PHOTOS?

Please - don't forget the first MVW photo contest. Lots of employees have called, but few

have sent in photos. Everyone who enjoys snapping

pictures is eligible to enter (as long as you work at MVW). And you needn't travel to exotic far-away places (in fact, photos should be taken somewhere nearby, at least no farther than 100 miles away). A possible exception to this rule could be grandchildren or pets - but no Grand Canyon photos please.

Some callers were distressed that the public relations dept. would "own" their photos. Actually, the dept. wishes to have permission to use the photos, for the upcoming 1990 calendar and future PR projects.

So get those cameras snapping.

AT&T RUNNING TEAM WINS 'I'IIIBD STRAIGHT USCAA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

A T&T overpowered GE in DesMoines, Iowa, winning its third consecutive national

championship and the 6th in the last 8 years. AT&T enjoyed its largest margin of victory by winning 10 of the 20 events over General Electric, Pacific Telesis, and 14 other corporate teams.

The Merrimack Valley area was well represented with nine runners contributing to the victory. Local competitors were Sandy Cannon, Carol Chetson, George Dirago, Al Felenchak, Gary Johnson, George May, Cathy Petersen and Ernesto Riano of the Merrimack Valley Works, and Gary Martin of Andover.

Sandy and Carol earned gold medals for performances on winning relay teams, and Cathy was asked to carry the AT&T banner in the opening ceremonies.

MVW photographer Roger Culliford took the team photo shown on this issue's back cover.

AT&T will look to defend its title in Boulder, Colorado, in July, 1990.

Any AT&T employee with 6 months service is eligible to compete in the national championships provided they meet the qualifying standards in regional meets. The AT&T Merrimack Valley running team competes in several Boston area events throughout the year. Participation is open to active or retired employees of any age or ability. Contact Al Felenchak at x3297 or attsb!af for details.

ATs.T 1600 Osgood Street North Andover, MA 01845

AT&T WINS! Local members of AT&T's championship corporate running team pause on the steps of the Stevens-Coolidge House in North Andover. Top, left to right, Ernesto Riano, Carol Chetson, Gary Johnson; middle, George May, Al Felenchak, Sandy Cannon; bottom, Gary Martin, George Dirago. Runner Cathy Petersen unavailable for photo. Story on page 19.