History

The Bluebills, named after the first airplane that Boeing built, was established in 1994 as a group of Boeing retiree volunteers. According to historical records provided by Bob Lambert and Richard and Norma Vaughn, “The time proved to be right. There was a pressing need. In 1995 there was the Golden Handshake” and many Boeing employees were soon to be retirees. There was a vast pool of proven and motivated talent coming available to improve their community …Retirees need to remain relevant in their new lives. Retirees, once the travel bug had been satisfied, had to have reasons to get out of bed and turn off the TV.

Initially it was the Heritage Seattle chapter, with Sno-King Everett chapter added in 1995, and Olympic Peninsula (Jefferson, Clallam, Kitsap counties) chapter added in 1998. In 2003 there were 1500 members in addition to scores of others who had not made a formal connection, making it the company’s largest and most active volunteer organization.  Then, in the 2017 time period, Boeing realigned their engagement with retiree organizations, wished the Bluebills well, and discontinued their formal support. Thus, only the Heritage and rebranded Oly chapter, which became the “Peninsula Support Organization Bluebills” and established itself as a 501 (c)3 Non-Profit, remained.