By Steve Browne
Valley City Times-Record

    When the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (NARFE) was founded in 1921 federal employees had no retirement plan.
    Since then NARFE has lobbied, first to get the federal government to establish retirement annuities, and then to extend and protect them against attempts to divert funds away from them when the federal budget gets tight.
    “When there's pressure on the federal budget, they look for ways to cut programs and one of them is retiree benefits,” said Chuck Timanus, director of public relations for NARFE.
    NARFE held its 35th annual state convention May 8 and 9 at the AmericInn Motel in Valley City where members heard reports on the progress of projects NARFE supports.
    One of the projects NARFE supports is Alzheimer's research.
    “Alzheimer's is a big concern among people in our age group,” Timanus said. “Many of us have encountered it in a spouse or our parents. NARFE has raised more than $7 million for Alzheimer's research.”