January, 2016

    The new years come so often now for me, that I can hardly pay much attention to them.  While 2015 was interesting and eventful, it was also speedy.  I guess life really picks up speed when going downhill.  Seriously though, I have given this some thought.  I have come to the conclusion that the phenomenon is probably due to the fact that at my age, very little seems new.  I don't mean that in a jaded or discouraged way.  After all, how many times can I watch a presidential race and not feel that I have seen it all before.  Of course, I have to admit that this time around the whole thing seems a little more crass and rude.  It was one thing to make fun of a candidate wearing an ill-fitting helmet and sitting in a tank or appearing on an aircraft carrier in a flight jacket announcing the end of a war which went on for years afterward.  But now, it is in-your-face ugliness, with a shot of racism, religious intolerance, and misogynism  spelled out before cheering audiences.

    Speaking of repetition, the Florida Legislature comes back into session next week.  We have been forewarned that our FRS will once again be under attack.  I hope you have written, emailed, or called Representatives Boyd and Steube as well as Senator Galvano about the pension fund and its strengths.  Yes, this is a repeat of all the other years, but we must keep our interests known.  The staffs count the letters and messages about issues.  Remember, we are known as a group that because of our ages and our educations, people who vote. We can't afford to lose this one.  Perhaps with the redistricting there will be a more representative body next time.

    If you are interested in attending the Big Cat Habitat experience on Thursday, Feb. 25, you will need to let Minnie Lee Jones know.  Admission is $15 for adults, and it is open from 2 until 4.  Minnie Lee has been offering us some very interesting events lately.  I know those of us who visited the Selby Gardens Christmas Event really enjoyed it.  Dinner at Der Dutchman was fun too.  We were all seated at a long table and we were served family style with mounds of mashed potatoes, veggies, beef and gravy and fried chicken to die for.  And pie, glorious pie.

    Jan. 18 is the last day to sign up for the FREA cruise.  Several of our members are going.  Ask David and Carolyn Brown for more information.

    Our December meeting was very festive.  Many of us came in our holiday finery as you can see from the enclosed pictures.  Everyone was as a cheerful and noisy as only a group of Neverland educators can be.  You know that we all suffer secretly from Peter Pan syndrome due to our years of living with children.  No Scrooges here.  The Keytones Quartet were handsome in their red, shiny vests and they sang carols well too.  We had our own chance to sing when they were gone, and we sounded great.  I still think we need an MCREA chorus.  Just think of the publicity we could get for our organization. 

   

    I hope to see you on Thursday, Jan. 21, at 11:00 a.m.  Sherry Emigh, Literary Council of Manatee County will speak on "Manatee Reads".  If you have not heard from your caller in the week preceding the meeting, Jan. 11-17, please call Sue Roe at 792-4786 or Mary Ann Jensen at 756-7603.

Happy New Year,
Ellen

December 2015

    I have been trying to no avail to download some pictures that Deborah Thomas took of the MCREA Nov. meeting.  So, I am sorry folks, but I will be sure to have my camera on hand on Thursday, the 17th, to get enough to make up for this time.

   I understand that the Nov. meeting was well attended as usual and that the speaker, Melissa Porter of the Manatee County History Fair, was interesting.  Unfortunately, I could not attend since Chet, the dog, the three cats and I had all been put out of our house so that poisonous gas could be pumped in to kill the  termites.  What an ordeal that was. 

    Luckily, Chet's niece Karen in Cortez had an empty cottage that we were able to hide in until it was over. If you ever need to have your house done, enlist some aid.  It's amazing how much stuff you must either bag up in special doubled bags and seal with duct tape or carry off to another location.  Then there are all the medicines and other toiletries which also must be moved away from the danger area.  I made a resolution to go through cupboards and throw things away.  I am no longer going to buy all the bogo staff at the grocery store.  I seemed to have two boxes of everything.  And little bits of this and that will no longer be relegated to the freezer.  I'm just tossing them.  Never mind those starving children in China that my mother used to tell me about.  What they don't know won't hurt them.

    Thanks to your generosity, I have many books to grade and to take to FELT for the Christmas holiday distribution.  I think we do not have enough for every child on the list who receives a backpack of food, but there are so many needing help now.  We should be able to cover about half of them and then if you continue to bring books in, we can get the other half at the last distribution in June.  I pray that all those children will have their nutrition needs met during the break.  Hungry adults is bad, but hungry children is unbearable. 

    Please remember to donate to the MCREA Scholarship Fund.  We try to give at least two scholarships each year to high school seniors who are planning careers in education.  Unlike FREF Scholarships, we do not hold them to it, but often they do continue in education as they planned to in the beginning.  FREF, of course, gives a lot more and continues throughout the recipient's undergraduate years.  Remember, we decided a few years ago to ask for donations for MCREA Scholarship rather than try to sell each other things as we had been doing.  All those sweets weren't good for us anyway.  Diana Buell is our Scholarship Chair this year.  She will be happy to take your checks.

    We are still gathering items like small toiletries for nursing homes.  After our December meeting, Joan Sackett and Judi Ussery will collect them all and see that they are taken to the nursing homes.  Socks and cardigan sweaters are also much appreciated.  Food, medicines, perfumes, make-up, and large bulky items cannot be used.

    I just heard from Ron Schneider's wife that he is ill and in the hospital.  I know we will all be hoping for his quick recovery.

   I am looking forward to seeing you at Renaissance on 9th, 11:00 a.m., Thursday, Dec. 17.  If it's cool, we can don those holiday outfits that we used to wear for our kids -- ugly Christmas sweaters are encouraged.  I don't think they are ugly anyway.  But it is trendy to say that.
    If you haven't heard from your caller by the 13th, call Mary Ann Jensen at 756-7603 or Susan Roe, 792-4786.

     Ellen

November 3, 2015

Here is the large group that visited Port Manatee in October.  They found the tour, which Minnie Lee Jones booked for MCREA, to be informative and fun.  I know that many of us are planning to attend her next extravaganza at Selby Gardens.  If you haven't signed up yet, there were a few empty slots remaining -- not for long, I think.

    Here we are in November and there is no sign of fall yet.  Sweaty little children did their trick or treating in hot little costumes on Halloween night.  I planted my earth boxes while cussing at the mosquitoes and the sweat that ran down my nose as I worked.  The local weather predictors on t.v. are beside themselves with boredom.  Not only did we miss a hurricane this year, which although miserable for the rest of us, is their chance at center stage. Now we are not getting those cold fronts that they love to show marching through the South, into Florida, and often stopping at the Hillsborough County line. You can read the frustration on their sleek little faces as they launch into the "same ole, same ole". 

    Please remember the children's books which we are collecting for FELT.  In December, at the last distribution of food before the Christmas break, the volunteers like to include a book and extra food.  We are the only suppliers of books, so we need to come up with many of them.  Please search your boxes which you brought home from school when you couldn't bear to leave all of your great teaching stuff behind.  Also, the Central Library has books for sale very cheaply, and the best place of all,  the
Good Will Book Store at Tara is a treasure chest of books for kids and for you if you haven't check it out.  The books are in good shape, are cataloged, and are inexpensive.  I bought three at Publix the other day from a "3 for $10" bin.  This will be our last meeting before the break and I will have to get them all graded for distribution .  Make my work as difficult as you can by donating a lot of books.

    Other on-going collections are empty shoe boxes for Meals of Wheels.  Each Christmas, the volunteer drivers take a shoebox filled with goodies to each of the people on their routes.  Meals of Wheels is collecting the boxes which they will wrap, or you may wrap if you like, cover separate, combs, razors, toiletries, socks, and other small things that would cheer a shut-in.  Christmas wrapping paper would also be appreciated.

    Also, there is the Manatee County Food Bank which is especially active during the holidays.  Canned and dried food are needed.

     Of course, not everyone can do all of these.  Just do what you can (of peas, of corn, of beans?)

    Retired Educators Day has been proclaimed by Governor Rick Scott to be celebrated on Sunday, Nov. 15.  If you would like to inform your clergy person of the date and have it announced in church or temple that day, it would be a good thing for our image as a productive body.  I have sent the proclamation to the newspapers.

    Remember that the November meeting will be on Wednesday, Nov. 18.  Renaissance on 9th has another large event on Thursday.  Melissa Porter, the Education and Volunteer Coordinator of the Manatee County History Fair, will be our speaker.  We have donated to this group for many years.  It gives the students incentives to learn about the history of the county, state, and nation.  With so much emphasis on testing of the basics, the fair presents an opportunity for some creative learning.

    Our annual Halloween party was a blast as usual.  Thank you, extroverted ones, for dressing up and adding your creativity

 to the celebration, especially the big Richard Chicken who inspired the chef and staff so much that they prepared him a special dinner of corn which was served with a flourish by the chef himself.  Bingo by Sandy Stephenson was a hit as usual, and the prizes were great. 

  If you do not hear from your caller in the week before the meeting, please call Sue Roe, 792-4786 to make a reservation.

  See you soon,
  Ellen

10/05/2015

    I think the unreasonable and dictatorial behavior of the SCF Board of Trustees in doing away with faculty's continuing contracts and cutting the pay and adding hours to the staff's contracts is an object lesson for us all.  Most of us are retired from the Manatee County Schools, but I had experience in both MCC ( as it was then known) and the Manatee School System.  When I was hired at the college, I was surprised to discover that faculty and staff relied on the administration to set wages and benefits.  The only representation they had was an elected faculty senate who would troop over to the president's office in the springtime and listen while he told them what he would do for them the next year.  I think the staff did not even have that.  Hiring was individual in that the applicant was offered a salary which could be discussed, but most did not know that, so they accepted what they were offered.  Often, in the same department, teaching the same load, with the same credentials, salaries were all over the map.  Now faculty and staff is being told that they no longer will have the protections of continuing contracts, that salaries will be decided by the ability of the instructor, that applicants must name the salary which they will take, and staff will lose pay and work more hours.  And there is nothing they can do about it.  This is called "running the schools like a business". 

    I think the situation at SCF should give us impetus to support FREA, the organization which protects our retirement and our benefits.  It should also give us a deeper respect for MEA and the FEA which protected us when we were still working.  We must be mindful of those who are entering the profession and help them realize the same benefits we did.  Writing letters, emailing, and calling our legislators can help, not just us, but them as well.

    Okay, end of harangue and on to more pleasant things in MCREA.

     We had a wonderful turn-out for our first meeting.  Elaine Graham spoke about Take Stock in Children and told us about her experiences mentoring students at Southeast High School.  She has seen some from 9th grade through college.  She urged us to join her in mentoring a student one day a week. Call her if you are interested.  756-1470

    Diana Buell, Chair of the Volunteer Services Committee, visited the Salvation Army Men's Homeless Shelter and found a great need for our help.  The men come there to sleep, eat, and shower.  They need small individual sizes of shampoo, bar soap, razors, toothbrushes, shaving cream, deodorant.  Clean, used towels and washcloths are also needed.  The family homeless shelter there needs the same things in addition to diapers, baby wipes, kids and women's socks, pillow cases, and twin size sheets.  Please bring these items to the meeting and Diana will see that they get to the Army.

    We are also still collecting books for Feeding Empty Little Tummies.  This is the program which fills backpacks on Fridays with food for needy kids to take home for the weekends.  The books which we donate are distributed at Christmas and in June as an addition to the backpacks.  Books should be new or clean used ones for grades K-6.

    Another of our outreach projects is collecting food for the Manatee County Food Bank.  You can bring a can or two and deposit it with us.  Renaissance on 9th is a depository for that food. 

    Dr. Moira Hendricks, Director of YMCA Reads is asking for our help with tutoring.  Please call her at 941-798-9622, ext. 408, if you would like to find out more about volunteering there.

    Our meeting on October 15 should be an interesting one.  The speaker will be Rick Bowes, FREA State Field Director, who will speak about FREA Health and Retirement Benefits.  And then the event we all love, Sandra Stephenson will run her Halloween Bingo game.  Please bring 20 quarters to play with.  They will be a donation from you to the MCREA Scholarship Fund.  Then there is the costume parade and prizes for the best, the most beautiful, the scariest, the....  Please come in costume and get into the holiday.

    As always, if you do not hear from your caller by Friday, Oct. 9, please call Mary Ann Jensen to make a reservation,  756-7603.   

    See you soon,
    Ellen

September 8, 2015

    Like a bear in the springtime, or a cat in the fall, it is time to shake off the long sleep of summer and get back into action.  Hobo is not anxious return to the merry go round of meetings, luncheons, money raising, and volunteering.  Are you? Emerging from our summer dens to test the temperature, most of us are not excited about staying out there. It would be nice if September really was the month of cooler days which many of us enjoyed as children. 


   My daughter used to tell me that she could detect fall in the air this month.  She was a native who was more sensitive to slight changes in the atmosphere.  I heard a weather man on television say that September 12 is the statistically correct point in time when the temperature and the humidity begin their slow fall, day by day, sometimes warming a little and then cooling a little, as the month progresses into October.  So I am waiting for the 12th and looking forward to those days that follow.

    Polly Bostick and Tommy Thompson both left us this summer.  We will miss them at meetings.  Tommy was always there helping Ron Schneider at the check-in table.  Before Polly got sick she ran around selling 50-50 tickets during the meetings.  Both of them were excellent teachers at Sugg Middle School for many years.  Polly taught math and Tommy taught social studies.  We have sent checks in their memories to the FREA foundation which supports state scholarships for teachers.

    Our annual reception for newly retired educators garnered some members at the event and more have promised to attend the September meeting and join then.  Here are some pictures from the Meet and Greet. Many members showed up to help welcome the newcomers and to prepare the snacks and drinks.  Thank you all.

    Membership checks must be in by the end of September to assure your name is included in the MCREA Handbook.  You can bring your check for $55, which covers your MCREA membership and your FREA membership, to our September 17 meeting, or you can mail it to Ron Schneider, Treasurer, 3802 Chinaberry Rd., Bradenton, FL 34208. 

    Minnie Lee Jones has produced a great schedule of events for us this year.  She will have information for you at the first meeting.  The first event is a trip to Port Manatee.

    The annual District 7 FREA Workshop will be held on Oct. 6, at Der Dutchman Restaurant in Sarasota.  All members are welcome to attend and learn more about the work of FREA as well as meet other members of District 7.  For more information, come to the September 17 meeting or contact President Sue Roe at 792-4786.

  Deborah Thomas is once again chairing the FREA 5th Grade Writing Contest.  She will be sending information about the contest to elementary school principals and teachers soon.  If you would like to help her with the project, please call her at 752-6895.

    The FREA Convention this year will be held aboard a Royal Caribbean cruise ship.  For more information and to make a reservation, go to the FREA website.  www.frea.org.  If you haven't been looking at the website regularly, you will find it very informative and fun to read.

    Mary Ann Jensen and her calling committee will be getting in touch with you soon to make reservations for lunch ($15) at Renaissance on 9th, on Sept. 17.  If there is a slip-up and you are not called, please call Mary Ann before Monday, Sept.14.  Our first speaker is Elaine Graham, a member of MCREA, who will talk about Take Stock in Children, "The Power of Mentoring". 

    Suzanne Willever has volunteered to greet members and lead devotions this year.  If you would like to serve on her committee, please call her at 750-8783.  Deena Thomas will chair the Information/Protective Services Committee.  Please call her at 371-3404 to help.

    Our long serving Treasurer, Ron Schneider, is looking forward to his retirement from the MCREA Board.  If you are interested in giving Ron a reprieve from his duties, please call him or Susan Roe.  This is a position which can be eased into as an assistant treasurer in order to learn the job from Ron.  Actually, we are not dealing with vast sums of money here and anyone who handles a household budget is well prepared to take over. 

    I am looking forward to seeing you soon,
    Ellen

May 25, 20015 Wrapup for the year

     We had ninety members present for our May luncheon and meeting, a good number considering that many of us have left for cooler climes.  Our speaker was Christine
Nelson who gave us information on identity theft and ways to combat it.  If you would like more information on how to protect yourself you may call her at 941-376-0615 or email her at chris.protectid@yahoo.com .  She was accompanied by Detective Adrian Meridan of the Bradenton Police Department who is a fraud and identity theft investigator.  Both stressed the need for everyone to be aware of the huge growth in fraud and identity theft along with the growth of the public's use of technology like the internet and cell phones.

   

 The tables were beautifully decorated for our "picnic" with beach toys and florals.  The fried chicken, baked beans, potato salad, and cookies were perfect for the theme and they tasted good too.

  
   Our MCREA Scholarship winners attended.  Here are Danielle Duida and her mother and Nola Berish with Scholarship Chair, Pat Griffin.

Danielle also won an FREA Scholarship, a really big deal, since the grant gets larger each year that she is in college and is still in education, keeping good grades.

 
 
 
 
 






 Danielle, Pat, and Nola

A highlight of the meeting was the installation of new officers for 2015-17.
Deborah Thomas performed the installation ceremony.  Patricia Edwards stood in for Nancy Erwin, Secretary, who could not attend.

 

Our New MCREA Officers

Ron Schneider, Acting Treasurer

Elaine Waldron, Membership Chair

Phyllis Omilak, First Vice President

Susan Roe, President

Judy Shostrom, Past President

Parliamentarian, Fay Murphy (not pictured)

 

 

    The Board selected September 3 for our new retiree reception which we are now naming " The New Retiree Meet and Greet".  It will be held at the Central Library at 10:30 and you are invited to attend with someone interested in joining MCREA. (All retirees do not join the first year of their freedom.)  Our first general meeting will be on September 13.  If there should be a change in meeting place, you will be informed.

 

    Ron Schneider is listed as "acting treasurer" because his term in office has finished, but he has agreed to carry on until a new treasurer is found.  Please consider taking over for Ron if you would like to do more for MCREA. 

 

    Have a great summer,

    Ellen



 

May, 2015

    May already?  Does it seem to you that time is going by faster and faster with each day we get older?  Remember when we couldn't wait to be through high school, then to graduate from college, and at last get on with our lives away from parental control?  It seemed to take forever to grow up.

    If you are like me the next phase was a bit quicker paced, a blur of work, raising children, keeping a home going, and paying bills.  There was some fun and some satisfaction in there too, of course.  But there were days when the school day seemed to drag, especially before a holiday.

    Then finally, the big day which we had dreamed about arrived-- retirement.  We collected our stuff and our last paycheck and went home to a quiet house with days of leisure stretching out before us.  That didn't last long.  Soon the responsibilities grew as we took on new tasks and tried to keep in shape with visits to the gym, traveled, or visited the multitude of special doctors that come along with the aging process.

    And time went nuts!  It flies along at break neck speed while we try to keep up the pace.  Is it a new dimension we have entered?  A kind of string theory jump into another space?  Or is it just that it takes longer to get things done when we have to think more than we used to about our next move.  I do that.  I don't just leap into action anymore. I consider the pros and cons of an action.  Sometimes a new situation occurs before I have dealt with the one I am still considering.  What's the hurry, I say as I trundle along trying to keep up. 

    But here we are in May already and I wasn't ready for the hot summer.  I haven't planned anything at all except to read all the new books that I have downloaded onto my Kindle.  Maybe that is enough for now.  I'll think about it later.

    You did it!  I sorted 209 lovely children's books by grade level and delivered them to FELT last week.  Now when those children receive their last back packs of the school year, 209 of them will also have a nice book to read as well.  It makes me sad to think that some of them who really depend on that food in those back packs will not be getting it all summer, but there are other programs which will be available that perhaps will fill in the gaps.  Please start gathering books for next year's distributions. 

    Have you seen the MCREA logo items?  Trophy and Sports World will put our logo on mugs and tee shirts when we drop in and order one.  You can even bring your own tee shirt if you have style you like.  We also have some car decals available which you can purchase at the May meeting. 

    David Brown is collecting items to sell at the FREA Conference.  He needs things worth $25 or more for the Dollars for Scholars store at the conference.  Other sales of smaller items are needed for the Country Store.  Home made goods like jams and jellies go well, also, gently used items like purses, music boxes, and other things which may be cluttering up your spaces.  All profits go the FREA Scholarship Fund.

    We will be installing our new officers at the May meeting.  The position of Treasurer is still open.  If you would like to support MCREA by taking on this position, please let Deborah Thomas know.  I think you would enjoy being a member of the Board of MCREA.  We do have fun and the work is divided up among us.  Ron Schneider has graciously volunteered to continue his duties until a new person is found.  It is important to know that this job does not require a lot of expertise in finance, since we do not have a lot of money to manage.  Alas!

    I hope to see you on Thursday, May 21, at Renaissance on 9th.  Remember to arrive around 11 for a quick check in and an opportunity to visit with your friends.  The theme of this meeting is "Summer".  We will be served picnic fare.  I will vouch for the picnic food at Renaissance.  The potato salad is outstanding.  Our program will be on Identity Theft presented by Christine Nelson.

As usual, call me or Judy Shostrom if you do not hear from your caller by the 16th.
Ellen