History

The Bi-State Chapter was organized in 1985 from a need to provide a technical forum and a pleasant social environment to exchange ideas for ASHRAE members in the counties surrounding White Plains, N.Y. The New York City, Northern New Jersey and Connecticut Chapters were all considered too far to travel to meetings in New York City, Central New Jersey and Hartford.

The initial chartering meeting was held in the offices of Wolff & Munier, Inc. on February 2, 1985, during which Charles J. Procell was elected President of the steering committee for the chartering purposes. He had successfully chartered a chapter in Rockford, Illinois, in 1972.

A membership meeting was held on March 5,1985 in the White Plains Hotel, where 40 ASHRAE members signed the charter petition. At this meeting, the name Bi-State was suggested as an invitation to our Connecticut members. The late Thomas S. Brown was present at the meeting. He was the Director and Regional Chairman of Region I. Tom was instrumental in the chartering process after conversations during 1984 with Charlie Procell. In a March 11, 1985 letter to Charlie, Tom stated, "Without doubt, this Chapter will become one of the outstanding Chapters in Region I. I wish you and all the people who have worked to make this a reality, my congratulations and thanks."

Following the March meeting, a letter was sent to the New York City Chapter requesting that they relinquish the counties of Putnam & Westchester in New York and Fairfield County in Connecticut to the Bi-State Chapter. Similar letters were sent to the Connecticut and Northern New Jersey Chapters for the relinquishment of Orange and Rockland Counties, and Dutchess County, respectively. All three Chapter Presidents responded quickly in the affirmative.

The April meeting included a field trip to the General Foods Headquarters, and the speaker at the May meeting was Mayor of the City of White Plains and Engineer, Alfred Del Vecchio, P.E. Thus, a tradition of high quality program for the monthly meetings was initiated. The formal "Petition to Society" was submitted following the April meeting. The charter was received in record time and was issued on June 4, 1985 at a meeting at the White Plains Hotel were ASHRAE President Bob MacDonald presented the charter to Chapter President Charlie Procell. The list of Presidents and President-Elects are enumerated below:

Initially, the chapter was holding technical seminars on energy conservation and heating/cooling load calculations, etc. After one year of operation Perry Cuomo received the CRS award in membership in 1986 and the following year Hank Munier received the award for the most improved chapter in 1987. Awards were also given to Bob Gironda for the technical affairs and the Region Award of Merit was given to Charles Procell. For 1988-1989 terms the chapter received the first PAOE award. Two of our charter members, Paul Bourquin (June 10,1990) and Charles J. Procell (January25, 1992) have been elected Fellows of ASHRAE. Art Breuer, P.E. and Robert Roston, P.E. received awards for membership and research promotion, respectively, on June 10, 1990.

Initial meetings were held at the White Plains Hotel and then changed to New York Polytechnic Institute, and then Tino's on Saw Mill River Road, the Marriott Hotel on Route 119, the Cabin Restaurant in Valhalla and now is held at the Casa Rina Restaurant in Thornwood, N.Y. The food is better at the same cost and the separate room provides a better environment for the tech sessions and the main program.

We would be remiss in not mentioning William Timm and James Zonino that lifted the chapter to new heights at the time of their service as President. James Zonino's dedication to Bi-State ASHRAE will be remembered by all of us for a long time. He attended a meeting at the Tarrytown Hilton to confirm arrangements for the year's CRC 2001 one week before he passed away with cancer. During this time of renewal, Joseph Ting, former Director and Regional Chair - Region I, joined the chapter and spearheaded the CRC 2001 as General Chair with the "TOPS", Technical, Operations, Planning and Social subcommittees. The CRC was a great success that featured the "first paperless CRC" in Region I and a trade show, technical seminars, and technical tours of the Sheet Metal Workers Training Facility in Brewster, NY, sponsored by SMACNA. As a result of this activity the chapter raised $20,000 for a scholarship fund.

We continued to hold meetings in at Casa Rina throughout the mid 2000's and early 2010's. We have had various project tours as well, and begun offering Professional Development Hours for the presentations to help with continuing educational requirements for professional licensing.

In the early 2000's we also began our Annual Golf Outing at the Links at Union Vale, NY which we continue to this day. This outing is the major source of funding for our scholarships, donations, and chapter operations.

We hosted the 2014 Chapter Regional Conference at the Tarrytown Doubletree Hotel.It was well received and well organized thanks to the efforts of Michael Circosta and Cliff Konitz.Sadly, we lost Cliff in 2022 and his presence is missed till this day in the chapter operations.

The 2020's brought with it the challenge of Covid and remote meetings.We were able to capitalize on the emerging Zoom and Teams meeting technologies which help maintain contact with our members and provide technical information.Our in person events including our Golf Outing were tabled.

We emerged from the remote era and began meetings at various venues throughout the region, with an additional focus on Young Engineersin ASHRAE.Our monthly BOG meetings have shifted to ZOOM calls to make the best of our volunteer's time.As with anything else we embrace the challenges put forth and come up with solutions to persevere.

We have all made a conscious decision to make a career in the HVAC Industry over the next 20-30 years. Why not take an active role in being part of the pleasant, friendly and educational environment at a monthly Bi-State ASHRAE meeting in centrally located Thornwood. Who knows you might find a pearl of wisdom or meet a new friend.