INDEPENDENCE, Ohio, June 7 — Calvin L. Groose was reelected by acclamation to his second term as Chairman of the Missouri State Legislative Board at its quadrennial meeting in Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri, May 15-17, 2022.
Brother Groose is a Union Pacific locomotive engineer and member of BLET Division 609 in Jefferson City, Mo. He has held continuous membership in the Brotherhood since January 1, 2000. Brother Groose was first elected Chairman at the Board’s 2018 quadrennial meeting, and prior to that was elected to serve on the Board’s Executive Committee in 2010 and 2014.
Also elected by acclamation at the 2022 quadrennial meeting were: 1st Vice Chairman Tim L. Morgan, Division 86 (Moberly, Mo.); 2nd Vice Chairman Mike A. McGill, Division 42 (St. Louis, Mo.); Secretary-Treasurer Brian J. Young, Division 48 (St. Louis, Mo.); and Alternate Secretary-Treasurer Bill D. Honeycutt, Division 285 (Thayer, Mo.).
Elected by acclamation to serve as Trustees were: Ron W. Brewer, Division 152 (Kansas City, Mo.); Jeff M. Rechtermann, Division 75 (Kansas City, Mo.); and Jerry L Phillippi Jr., Division 491 (Kansas City, Mo.). Elected by acclamation to the Executive Board were: Steven C. Gillett, Division 107 (St. Joseph, Mo.); and Jeff M. Gassen, Division 502 (Kansas City, Mo.).
Representing the BLET National Division at the meeting and addressing the delegates were: National President Dennis Pierce; Vice President and National Legislative Representative Vince Verna; Director of Legislative and Regulatory Affairs Eric Gabaldon; and Director of Political Affairs Brendan Sullivan.
“I congratulate Brother Calvin Groose and all officers of the Missouri State Legislative Board,” President Pierce said. “I also thank them for their dedicated service to the BLET and all union members in the hard-working state of Missouri.”
Also addressing the delegates were: Shane Hubbard, Indiana State Legislative Board Chairman and Chairman of the BLET’s National Association of State Legislative Board Chairmen; Rachel Pharris, National Vice President of the BLET Auxiliary; and Jake Hummel, President of the Missouri AFL-CIO. Hummel spent more than a decade in the Missouri State House of Representatives and State Senate and helped to overturn Right-to-Work laws. Additional BLET special guests included: Kansas State Legislative Board Chairman Brandon Nunnenkamp and Wisconsin State Legislative Board Chairman Chuck Schulz.
Brother Groose hired out with the Missouri Pacific Railroad as a brakeman in 1980 in Osawatomie, Kansas. He worked several locations around the Kansas City District before landing back home near Jefferson City, Missouri. He entered engine service in 1995 with the Union Pacific in Jefferson City, where he has spent the remainder of his railroad career.
The Missouri State Legislative Board represents more than 2,100 active and retired BLET members in 21 different Divisions.