Who We Are
Heartland Council
On this page:
Welcome
                                     
  Dan Katze Region VP             Gil Mothershed Pres.                Stephen Miller Pres.
        New Outlook                            New Frontier                         Heartland Council
We continue to face many challenges as New Outlook Pioneers, but our spirit is strong.  You may recall that prior to March 2001, we were sponsored by Lucent and Avaya and were known throughout the Pioneers' Association as Lucent Pioneers and Avaya Pioneers.  The companies collected dues from Regular members and allowed us to operate many Pioneer stores.  When Lucent and Avaya  stopped supporting Pioneering, the Chapter leaders decided to carry on without corporate sponsorship and the financial support that came with sponsorship.  We, the New Outlook Pioneers, are committed to continuing our focus on community service even though we must continually seek funding to do so.

Last year was a challenging  year for our many chapters, councils, and clubs around the country for the New Outlook Region.  The New Outlook Pioneers maintained a steadfast focus on what is important to the community and to the corporations.  Through projects like Global Day of Caring, Special Olympics and Sports Jamborees, teaching JA classes, distributing and reading "A Book About Me" books to kindergartners, map painting on school playgrounds, partnering with Habitat for Humanity and disaster/emergency relief where needed, we showed once again where our priorities - and our hearts - lie.

We are proud of our achievements we made last year, but you can rest assured we will continue to strengthen and improve in the year ahead.  In the coming year we will be actively recruiting new members and working hard to increase the level of participation among existing Pioneers.  We're looking for new ways to support the business, its people and the communities where we live and work.
Formation of the Association

An organization called the Telephone Pioneers of America was founded on November 2, 1911, at a meeting in Boston.  Attending were 244 members, over half of the total enrollment, and they set down the basic tenets of their society.  It was at this meeting that the keystones of fellowship, loyalty and service were set down and the constitution was adopted.  Membership was reserved for employees having 21 years of service in the telephone industry.  Their major goals were to perpetuate the ideals and traditions of the industry and promote the fellowships that were formed as a natural result of their teamwork.  

The second phase of development of the Telephone Pioneers of America started in 1921.  Members wanted to have local activities other than just the annual Association meetings.  Groups of Pioneers petitioned the Association executive committee for permission to organize chapters.  The first twelve chapters were chartered on July 7, 1922.  Great gains in membership resulted in the formation of the chapters.

Another step forward was the creation of the General Assembly.  This was to be the legislative body for the whole Association and composed of chapter delegates and Association officers.  Thus the voting privileges on general matters were given to official representatives of the entire membership.

And so the Association was destined to become the world's largest industry-related volunteer organization in the world based upon the values of loyalty, fellowship and service.  Today the members total nearly 750,000 in the United States and Canada.

The Pioneer credo of Fellowship, Loyalty and Service reaches out beyond the business relationship, beyond Association membership, into the communities where Pioneers live and work.  In giving of itself to others, the Pioneer Association has received much in strength and in respect.

Pioneer leaders rendered a milestone decision at the 2002 Annual Meeting when they voted on October 5 to change the name of the organization to TelecomPioneers.

The name change was proposed to better align Pioneers with the high-technology direction of sponsor companies and to strengthen the organization’s appeal to potential new members. The new name is effective immediately.
The First 12 Chapters
At the April 14, 1922 meeting of the executive committee they approved the "Rules and Regulations" containing the provisions to establish chapters.  When the EC met again on 7-7-22 application for 12 chapters had been received and prepared for final approval.  The first 12 chapters were:
1.   Theodore N. Vail  Chapter #1   Illinois Bell. Tel. Co.
2.   N.C. Kingsbury Chapter #2  Ohio Bell Tel. Co.
3.   Kilgour  Chapter #3  Cincinnati & Suburban Bell Tel. Co.
4.   Wisconsin  Chapter #4    Wisconsin Tel.Co
5.   Bronx-Westchester Empire  Chapter #5  New York Tel. Co.
6.   Liberty Bell   Chapter #6  Bell Tel. of Pennsylvania
7.   Leonard H. Kinnard               Chapter #7 Bell. Te. of Pennsylvania
8.   Frederick H. Reid Chapter #8 Mountain States Tel. & Tel. Co.
9.   Morris F. Tyler Chapter #9  Southern New England Tel. Co.
10. Wolverine                      Chapter #10  Michigan Bell Tel. Co.
11. George F. Durant                  Chapter #11 Southwestern Bell Tel. Co.
12. H.G. McCully                       Chapter #12 New Jersey Bell Tel. Co.

Eight more chapters were approved before the end of 1922 by the Executive Committee.  The Casper E. Yost Chapter of Northwestern Bell Tel. Co. was approved on 9-12-22.  Then when the Western Electric plant open in Omaha, NE in 1957 the Goetz council was established under the Yost chapter to represent the WE Pioneers.  On July 1, 1978 the Goetz council received its charter to become Cornhusker Chapter #92.  In 1984 WE became AT&T Technologies and then in 1996 was spun-off to become Lucent Technologies.  At that time Cornhusker Chapter #92 became Heartland Council under the Lucent chapter New Frontier #137 of Region 18.  Today the eight chapters of Lucent's former region 18  are an independent un-sponsored region named New Outlook, as Lucent Technologies, Avaya and Agere no longer sponsor the Pioneers at the corporate level.    
                                                        
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The Pioneer Triangle

The Pioneer triangle was designed by Henry Pope.  Then in the 1940's the words Fellowship, Loyalty and service became attached to the three sides.  In 1959 the triangle was registered with the United States Patent Office as a membership mark.

Its three sides are intended to symbolize the three principal objectives of the Telephone Pioneers: Fellowship, Loyalty and Service.   Fellowship comes first and is the foundation upon which loyalty and service rest. Loyalty, represented by the left side, marks the relationship of our members to each other, no less than to the industry they serve. Service, signified by the right side of the emblem, is an outgrowth of both fellowship and loyalty and has become an integral part of the Pioneer program as well as the motto of our business.

The number on the bell at the center of the insignia is that assigned by the U.S. Patent Office to Alexander Graham  Bell's patent on the fundamental principle of the electric speaking telephone.  The dates of 1875 and 1911 commemorate June 2, 1875, when Bell verified his theory of the electronic transmission of speech; the second date, 1922, the organization of the Telephone Pioneers of America.
TelecomPioneers Region 18

The New Outlook Pioneers are an independent Pioneer group comprised of the employees and retirees of Lucent Technologies, Avaya Communication, and Agere. The New Outlook Pioneers are no longer supported by the companies at the corporate level. The 8 chapter areas are shown below.