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People & parties

Retired policemen gather for reunion

By JENNIFER STEWART
Published February 27, 2005

NEW PORT RICHEY - Talk about history.

John Nagy, John Dean and Phil Foran, all of New Port Richey, worked together at the New York Police Department's 114th Precinct in Queens in the 1950s.

In the late '50s, Kenny Grant of Hudson and Kenny Bamrick of the Villages near Ocala were partners there.

And Ed Wright of Spring Hill and Arty Lyons of Port Charlotte were sworn in as cops 49 years ago this past week.

The list goes on and on among the 30 men who attended the precinct's eighth annual reunion at Niko's Place Restaurant on Friday.

The men, many now long retired, appeared in their element as they made wisecracks about one another and laughed about the past.

"They're telling old war stories. . . . They're talking about a collar they made 20 years ago," reunion organizer Bill Jewtraw, of Port Richey, joked.

"It brings back old memories," Foran, 86, said.

After the men ate lunch, Queens-area news, such as the closing of several Catholic schools in the area, was discussed, as were those who worked for the 114th who died.

"He also locked up my brother-in-law," someone yelled after one of the names of departed was read.

John Nagy's son, Sgt. Jim Nagy of the Pasco County Sheriff's Department, joined the men for lunch. They're men he's heard about all his life, who, perhaps, helped steer him toward a career in law enforcement.

When you grow up hearing the stories, you can't help but be intrigued by the profession, Jim said.

The elder Nagy is membership director of the Suncoast Chapter of the 10-13 Club, an national/international fraternal organization for cops.

The national group is named after the radio code that indicates an officer is in trouble and needs help.

When 10-13 is heard, Jewtraw said, "You drop everything. You go, no matter what you're doing."

[Last modified February 27, 2005, 00:31:32]