EARTA Elgin Area Retired Teachers Association / IRTA August / September 2017

Serving Retired Teachers of Districts 300, 301, 303, and U-46 w w w. e a r t a . o r g

The Jogger

Mark Your Calendar

Luncheon, Program, and General Meeting Friday, September 15, 2017

Elgin Country Club, 2575 Weld Rd., Elgin, IL 60124 (847-741-1716) 11:30 a. m. – SOCIAL HOUR 12:00 Noon - LUNCHEON

MENU

California Salad (no strawberries), warm assorted rolls, Roast Pork Loin, Whipped potatoes, Squash medley and Warm Apple Crisp ala mode. Coffee, Tea (hot or iced), Lemonade. Reservations are due by Wednesday, September 6th. Please make checks payable to EARTA for $25.00 per person (includes meal, tax, gratuity, and program). JUST FOR THIS LUNCHEON SEND YOUR PAYMENT TO: Adrienne Berna at 809 Deborah, Elgin, IL 60123. Her phone number is 847-742-5885. Hope to see you there.

EARTA Needs You!!! June Preucil is stepping down as our Website Chair. So, we are in need of someone to join the EARTA Board and take on June’s responsibilities. In a nutshell, this means staying in contact with the webmaster, sending updates to the webmaster after each of our five general membership meetings, and generally monitoring the website. June will help you get established.

MINUTES OF THE EARTA GENERAL MEETING

JUNE 16, 2017

EARTA LUNCHEON AND GENERAL MEETING

was held at the Elgin Country Club on June 16, 2017.

Social hour was at 11:30 and the luncheon was at

12:00. President, David Wedemeyer, welcomed

members and recognized guests Lorna Miller, Julie

Ball, Barbara Thompson, Jean Seyl, and Barry

Potrekin, fiancé of Shelly Singer. Also recognized

was the program violinist, Daniel Ziesemer and his

parents, Penny and Ben Ziesemer.

OFFICER REPORTS

President – David Wedemeyer reported that there is

a new TRS e-mail, website, and phone number. Please

contact David for more information. He announced

that there are volunteer opportunities at Delnor

Hospital. David reported that our Community

Participation will remain the Community Crisis

Center. At the next General Meeting in August 11th,

there will be an opportunity to contribute money to

the IRTA-PAC Basket Auction to be held at the IRTA

bi-annual Convention at the Crowne Plaza in

Springfield. Anyone interested in attending this

convention on October 30-31, is welcome to attend.

Please see David if interested. IRTA sent a thank you

for the contribution for a memorial for Kathy

Turnquist.

Recording Secretary- Kay Lincicome The minutes

from the April 16 General Meeting, as printed in the

Jogger, were accepted as corrected. The minutes are

on file.

Corresponding Secretary – Susan Frederitzi Please

contact Susan to send cards to any member that is ill

or has other health issues.

Treasurer – Jean Jederman reported that as of June

1st, there is $3,575.20 in the checking account, and

$8,727.45 in the savings account. The report is on file.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Social/Charity – Coral Reinert reported that on

June 11th, 46 people went on the tour to see Barbra &

Frank – The Concert That Never Was. After the show,

dinner was held at the Anvil Club. On June 12th, there

was a record number at the Supper Club held at

Hooper’s. On Monday, July 10th and August 8th, the

Supper Club will meet at Hooper’s at 5:30. On June

14th, the Epicurean Adventure went to the Riganato

Restaurant in Geneva. The next Epicurean Adventures

will on July 5th, at Aquaviva in Maple Park, and on

August 4th, at Fiores in Geneva. The September 25th

Epicurean Adventure will be announced later. The

guests meet at 6:00 and have individual checks. Please

contact Irene Wedemeyer or Karen Patterson for

reservations.

On November 2nd, there will be a tour to Drury Lane for

dinner and the show, 42nd Street. There are 33 people

signed up already, and there are tickets for 12 more

people. The cost for the tour is $89, which includes

dinner, show, transportation, and gratuities. Please

contact Coral if you are interested. All are welcomed to

these social events.

Legislation – Cliff Olson read his printed report,

Legislative report for EARTA General Meeting, of

which all attendees had a copy. He gave us up-dates on

the legislation going on in Springfield as well as

information on IRTA, pension information, and

problems that are happening in public education. Please

refer to the current Jogger for a copy of Cliff’s report.

Cliff reminds us to check the EARTA, IRTA, and TRS

websites for information. His report is on file.

Presentation of the EARTA Retired Teacher of the

Year Award

The award was given to Cindy Lange. She was

recognized for her involvement in many areas of the

community as well as involvement in EARTA. Cindy is

involved with the Citizens Watch and the Citizens

Police Academy, she does technology work at her

church, and is the president of her homeowners’

association where she lives in Elgin. She taught 4th

grade in district 303/St. Charles. She has a daughter

who is teaching in St. Charles. Her EARTA

involvement includes years as Chair of Community

Participation, including organizing the blood donations

when EARTA was part of that program. She is

currently coordinator for our Community Crisis Center

donation program. Most recently she has served on the

Pre-Retirement/New Member Committee. She has

stepped up to assist other Board members when needed.

David announced to Cindy that it was an honor to

congratulate her as the 2017 EARTA Retired Teacher

of the Year. She was presented a certificate of

recognition, a Teacher of the Year pin, roses, and a gift

card to Amazon.com. Cindy will represent EARTA at

the Convention in Springfield at the Teacher of the

Year Ceremony along with all the IRTA locals across

the state who will be recognized.

ANNOUNCEMENT Sandra Woolcott announced

that there is a Dinosaur Exhibit at the Gail Borden

Library. She can arrange a tour for a group if

interested.

NEW BUSINESS David announced that EARTA’s

next General Meeting will be on September 15th at

the Elgin Country Club.

ADJOURNMENT David adjourned the business

meeting at 1:25.

PROGRAM Shelly Singer introduced our program,

Daniel Ziesemer, violinist. Daniel has been playing

violin for 25 years and has a variety of venues. Daniel

presented classical songs as well as old favorites. He

graciously played us beautiful music during our

luncheon as well as after the business meeting. Some

of his music included titles such Hawaiian Wedding

Song, Von Tilser Medley, Liebeslide, Old Folks at

Home, Zapateado, and On Wings of Song. EARTA

members gave him a standing ovation.

Respectively submitted,

Kay Lincicome, Recording Secretary

************************************ EARTA'S Treasurer's Report

as of August 1, 2017

Checking Account - $ 2,254.41

Savings Account - $ 8,7296

************************************

LAST CHANCE – EARTA LIFE MEMBERSHIPs EARTA Life Memberships will no longer be offered after December 31, 2017. At the August EARTA Board meeting, we voted to eliminate the EARTA Life Membership. Your Board is a fiscally responsible group: we have calculated that the $250 EARTA Life Membership no longer covers expenses. If you are an annual EARTA member, and are thinking about an EARTA Life Membership, you need to purchase it before the end of the year.

IRTA – PAC Illinois Retired Teachers Association - Political Action Committee Reminder 1: IRTA was the first organization and the lead organization in filing and winning a lawsuit that protected your pension and health insurance benefits. Reminder 2: A heightened level of awareness and active monitoring of political forces in Springfield will be necessary to continue protecting your pension and benefits, at least for the foreseeable future. Reminder 3: IRTA-PAC is the political arm of our state organization that allows “our people” to get their feet in the door, to be in the room, to give our organization (and our members’ needs) political visibility. During the biannual IRTA Convention (October 30-31, 2017), there is a special push to get contributions to the IRTA-PAC. This important work on behalf of our members, retired Illinois public school teachers, must continue. September is our month to emphasize donating to IRTA-PAC. Our collection basket at the September Luncheon will be for IRTA-PAC. If you cannot attend the luncheon, you can mail a check to David Wedemeyer, as he will be taking all our contributions to the convention

The U-46 Educational Foundation hosted a Donor Appreciation Evening at the Planetarium on May 18, 2017. Peggy Hernandez showcased the history of the telescope and its connection to the Elgin Watch Factory, the development of the planetarium in the 1960s, and the current programs offered to U-46 students, grades K-6. She also presented the night sky of May 18 to the donors in two ways: how anyone living in the Elgin area would see it with and without light pollution. Afterwards, we trekked up to the observatory and saw the telescope used by the Elgin Watch Factory for setting time. The event concluded with information about the August 21, 2017 solar eclipse so as a parting gift, glasses for viewing the eclipse were distributed to the donors. Members of the U-46 Educational Foundation stated that they hoped this will be the first of many such events. There is also the possibility that the planetarium could be used for shows for adult groups such as EARTA. The contact person for planetarium events is Peggy Hernandez. Submitted by Michele Machowicz

EARTA Teacher of the Year

We would like to congratulate Cindy Lange, EARTA’s 2017 Teacher of the Year. Cindy taught 4th grade in St. Charles District 303 before her retirement. She lives in U-46, and has a daughter who teaches in District 300. If we could somehow get her connected with Burlington District 301, she would have a connection to all of our EARTA districts. Cindy is the President of her homeowners association. Some of her other community activities are Citizens Watch and Citizens Police Academy. Technology-geeky involvement in her church include projector set-up, running the sound system and online surveys. Cindy has been EARTA’s Community Participation Chair for many years. She coordinated our involvement in blood donations back when we did that. Currently she coordinates our Community Crisis Center donations. She also serves on our Pre-Retirement/New Member Committee. Like others on your EARTA Board, Cindy steps up to assist others in completing their tasks. Often these involve her techno-geeky skills. Recently she has been involved in helping with the Jogger, organizing old minutes and membership. Thanks for all you do Cindy. Congratulations.

VERY IMPORTANT: Please continue to let

Susan Frederitzi (Corresponding Secretary), know

when there is an illness or death among our

membership. Also, let Jean Jederman or

David Brown know about deaths.

On Saturday, June 10, Teachers' Retirement System changed its telephone numbers in order to improve service and reduce technology costs in the administration of the System. New TRS email addresses are already effective. New Telephone Numbers

On June 10, all toll-free TRS telephone numbers changed. Member Services toll-free number: 877-927-5877 (877-9-ASK-TRS) New Email Addresses

All TRS staff email addresses have changed from @trs.illinois.gov to @trsil.org. For example: New: members@trsil.org

New Website Address

New: https://www.trsil.org

COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION

Thank you for your contributions to the Crisis at the last luncheon. They were very appreciative of the donations. If you are involved in a group or know of a particular need for a certain organization, please contact me at clange50@sbcglobal or call me at 847-695-1822 to provide me with contact information. Cindy Lange

We will be looking for donations of: Plastic Bags: grocery, sandwich, quart and gallon zip lock Paper Products: toilet paper, paper towels, facial tissues Cleaning Products: toilet bowl cleaner, bleach, He powder laundry detergent Any of the other items listed in previous Joggers are always appreciated! The Community Crisis Center is a non-profit social service agency providing services to individuals & families in Kane and NW Suburban Cook Counties who are dealing with economic crisis, domestic violence or sexual assault. Contact 847-742-4088 for more information or visit www.crisiscenter.org

SOCIAL EVENTS:

Supper Club: We met on Monday, August 14th, at Hooper’s Bar and Grill at 5:30 p.m. Our next Supper Club will meet on Monday, September 9th, at Hooper’s at 5:30 p.m. Everyone is invited to attend and bring guests. Epicurean Adventure: Time for meeting is 6:00 p.m. Monday, September 25, 2017 – Bonefish Grill in Algonquin Thursday, October 12, 2017 – Saddle Room at the entrance to Cabelas in Hoffman Estates. Any questions, call Karen Patterson or Irene Wedemeyer Tour: The tour to the Paramount in Aurora to see “Barbra & Frank for the Concert That Never Was” on Sunday, June 11th was delightful. All enjoyed dinner at the Anvil Club after the show. Our next tour is scheduled for Thursday, November 2nd, to see 42nd Street at Drury Lane Oakbrook. The cost will be $89 and includes transportation, a delicious turkey dinner, show, and gratuities. Those members who signed up (35) when we were on the June 11th tour, please write your check to EARTA and send to Coral Reinert, 801 N. McLean Blvd, Unit 254, as soon as possible. (Eighteen of you have already paid!) I have a total of 45 tickets, so let me know if you’re interested as I will need to return any extra tickets after our September meeting. We will meet at the Country Inn Suites, 2270 Point Blvd., Elgin, IL, at 10:00 A.M., depart at 10:15 A.M., and return about 5:00 P.M. Any questions, call Coral at 847-742-4330.