December 2010 Update

Indiana Retired Teachers Association
• December 23-24 - Office closed
• December 30-31- Office closed

March 24, 2011 (Thursday)
AREA meeting Chops Steak and Seafood, 6421 Jefferson Blvd. Fort Wayne, IN

June 1, 2011 (Wednesday)
AREA meeting Lutheran Life Villages, 6701 Anthony Blvd. Fort Wayne, IN

Check out IRTA's new mascot - GIRTA, the bookworm

Need insurance quotes: contact Association Member Benefits Advisors 1-800-258-7041 or email www.amba.info

Travel and Tour Opportunities by Indiana Retired Teachers Association:
Contact Eugene Wease at 219-662-2867 or wpairagenes@att.net

• Texas: December 28, 2010 - New Year's
• Shades of Ireland: March 22, 2011
• Greece: April 12, 2011
• Rockies Highlights by Train: July 18, 2011
• Blue Danube River Cruise: September 26, 2011

Happy Holidays from your officers of AREA!

Are You a CASA?

December 4, 2010

Hello, again, my friends,

I know I just wrote to you, but after a recent conversation with Cindy Hiott, our state Community Service Chair, we decided to ask you for some help. We would like to find out how many retired teachers who are members of Indiana Retired Teachers Association are also serving as a CASA—a court appointed special advocate. We would like for you to survey your members in whatever way you choose, and to let us know the numbers who are a CASA. If they do not object, we would like to have their names also.

We understand that this can’t be done quickly and hope to collect the information over the next few months. Perhaps you can survey your members as you send out notices for the next meeting, at the meeting, or when you contact them to remind them of volunteer hours or attending the legislative luncheon on February 14.

This will help us in several ways. You may know that the Chief Justice of the Indiana Supreme Court supervises CASA. He is very interested in the program, and very supportive of our association’s partnership with CASA.

The information will help us in another way—in asking the legislature to recognize that we are still giving back to our communities. Every tool that we can utilize can help when we testify during the legislative session.

Finally, we have been recognized several different times by our affiliate, the National Retired Teachers Association, and this would give us information to prepare another application for a national award.

If you can help us with this project, please send the information that you gather to jgreen@retiredteachers.org. Cindy and I thank you for your effort on this project.

Sincerely,
Nancy Tolson, President
Cindy Hiott, Chair of Community Service Committee

Volunteer Hours

Members,

If you have not turned in your volunteer hours for 2010, please complete immediately.

Send information to:
Kate Ferguson
8324 Park State Drive
Fort Wayne, IN 46815
katef8881comcast.net
260-749-8881

Please break down your totals into youth hours and other hours. If you have many hours, please give Kate a brief note. We need all the volunteer hours to show state legislatures that retired teachers are giving back. We hope it will encourage them to give us a COLA.

In the column on the right there is a link to the Indiana Legislature. When I let you know that we need to notify legislators on educator's bills, please follow that link to get the information. It will take all members to help with a COLA or 13th check.

Please note my email has changed:

jeanne914@frontier.com

If you have not reported changes in your address or email, please do so at this time.

Thanks!
Jeanne Hertig, President of AREA

Thanksgiving Message

November, 2010
 
Dear Friends,
          First, I want to wish each of you a wonderful Thanksgiving.  I am thankful for your support and friendship, and I hope you know how much I appreciate all that you do for retired teachers and for our communities.  There are several things that I want to share with you.
          Number one: we will be moving our office from downtown to suburban Indianapolis.  The address is 2629 Waterfront Parkway East Drive, Suite 105.  It is off highway 136.
          This move means that we will be saving money on our monthly lease, will have more space, free parking, a better “break room” for our hard-working employees, and will be near the Clarion where we hold many of our meetings.  In fact, our board room in the new office will be big enough that we can meet there, saving even more money.  Larger meetings such as our Presidents Workshop can still be at the Clarion, but the office will be close by so that will help us prepare for those meetings.
          We hope you will feel free to stop in and visit when we get moved.  If all goes as planned, we will be settled in by early January.
          Number two:  We are preparing for whatever may come up in the legislative session beginning in January.  We feel it is not going to be a “snap,” but Andy Thomas is already hard at work with plans and contacts so that we will be ready for whatever happens.
          Number three:  I goofed when I asked people at the Fall Workshops to fill out the form that asked how much you gave locally to scholarships.  I forgot that there might be several from one local; therefore, the figures would not be accurate. So if your chapter gives any scholarships locally, would you please send the amount that you gave in the past year to the office.  When we add together what local chapters give and our state scholarships, it will give us one more way to show how much retired teachers are still giving back to our communities. 
          Please send your name, the name of the local chapter, and the amount of your local scholarship to jgreen@retiredteachers.org.   If your local has sent a contribution to the state scholarship fund, please list that also.  We can publicize this in the coming year.
          Again, my thanks for all your work and support, and may you have a beautiful holiday season.

Sincerely,
Nancy Tolson

From the AARP Web Letter, October 8, 2010

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Invitation to Join

AREA, the second largest local IRTA organization in Indiana invites you to join. There are over 2,400 retired educators in Allen County. It is important to show our strength by supporting the state, Indiana Retired Teachers Association (IRTA) and your local AREA. Your profession did not end when you retired! Volunteer hours help legislators realize how much retired educators give back to the state. Indiana reported over a million volunteer hours last year. Please let us know your volunteer hours for this year by December 1, 2010. Send to Kate Ferguson, 8324 Park State Dr. F.W. IN, 46815.

AREA makes a directory for members only which may be picked up at any meeting or will be mailed for an additional $2.00 mailing fee. Paid members will receive meeting reminders 3 or 4 times a year. The annual letter costs close to $1000.00 to mail. When information is sent by email, many email addresses are incorrect. If you want information you need to keep your information up to date. The cost of membership is $10.00 per year. Please refer to your checkbooks to see if you have already mailed in your dues for 2010-2011.

You can download and print a membership form by clicking HERE.