MIAMI COUNTY RETIRED TEACHERS ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER Affiliated with OHIO RETIRED TEACHERS ASSOCIATION APRIL 2011 President, Eileen Yaney; Vice President, Mary Drill; Secretary, Alice Fae Detert, Gail Laufer; Corresponding Secretary, Nancy McAlexander; Treasurer, Patricia Chavis; Past President, Dale Van Tine; Legislation, Bill Phillips; Membership, Barbara Miller; Informative and Protective, Joan and Tom Gibson; By-Laws and Standing Rules, Bill Phillips; Retirement Planning, Dale Van Tine; Chaplin, David Pinkerton, Dick Van Tine; Music, David Pinkerton, Dick Curtner, Pansy Wildman, Barbara Werth, Nancy Mack; Registration and Decoration, Joan Evans, Nancy Kirk, Mary Drill; Phone Committee, Alice Fae Detert; Community Service, Dick and Micki Curtner; Scholarship, Alice Fae Detert; Doris Trost, Nancy McAlexander, Eileen Yaney; Newsletter, Liz Van Tine; Historian, Billie Thomas; Webmasters, Eileen Yaney, Sue Coon.

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Eileen Yaney, President, Covington I hope you did not miss our February meeting, it provided very important information brought by ORTA Executive Director, Ann Hanning. Members were updated on pension proposals being presented at that time. Ann highly suggested contacting representatives telling them how much their decisions will effect our communities. Representative Richard Adams addressed the membership emphasizing a need for educators to stress that our pensions come from wise investments. If you are not a member of ORTA and receiving their Quarterly you are missing out on valuable information concerning retired teachers. Please consider joining today, we need their legislative support. I know you will want to attend the April Luncheon meeting on April 18, 2011 at 11:45 A.M. at the First Church of the Nazarene in Troy. STRS Ohio Executive Director, Michael Nehf plans to be our speaker. Future pension and health benefits are at stake. Bring another retired teacher to this meeting. Quote: “Keep your face always toward the sunshine and shadows will fall behind you.” Walt Whitman

UPCOMING MEETINGS All Meetings are held at the First Church of the Nazarene, Troy, Ohio. Monday, April 18, 2011, 11:45 A.M. – STRS Ohio Executive Director, Michael Nehf, Program Chair, Bill Phillips. Monday, June 20, 2011, 6:00 P.M. – Scholarship Awards Night, Alice Fae Detert, Program Chair. Monday, August 15, 2011, 10:00 A.M. –Deloris Uhllmann, ORTA Webmaster Monday, October 17, 2011, 11:45 A.M. – Memorial Service Monday, December 12, 2011, 11:45 A.M. -- TBA If you have any specific questions or concerns for Michael Nehf, STRS Ohio Executive Director, please call (937-836-5741) or email ([email protected]) Liz Van Tine so Mr. Nehf can be contacted in advance of the April Meeting. RESERVATION CHANGES Due to the fact that it is difficult to determine how many meals to order for the luncheons, the Planning Committee decided to institute a new policy. As of the April Luncheon Meeting, anyone who does not have a reservation by sending it with a check or by calling or emailing it by the Thursday prior to the luncheon will be charged $14.00 at the door instead of the $12.00. You are always welcome to attend the meeting but it very important to have your reservation in in advance. We want to have enough food ordered but we do not want to pay for extra meals when we try to anticipate folks who might show up without a reservation and we do not want to run short on food either. We are trying to serve the membership and still be good stewards of the Association’s money. Thank you for understanding the difficulty we have faced in the past. THANK YOU Liz Van Tine 1

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Miami County Retired Teachers Association, ORTA, and members of the Montgomery County Retired Teachers Association for the wonderful tribute that was paid to Dale. Dale and I have enjoyed our association with all three groups. A special thanks to Richard Adams for the Ohio General Assembly Proclamation. We will continue to attend meetings and work for Miami County Retired Teachers. Thank you.

SECRETARY’S REPORT Gail Laufer Miami County Retired Teachers Association met on February 21. 2011, at the Church of the Nazarene for lunch which was catered by Arnold’s Canteen of Troy. The meeting was jam packed as we did not meet in December due to the weather. Outgoing president, Dale Van Tine called the meeting to order. The pledge to the flag was led by Mary Drill. Bill Phillips, ORTA Western Area Vice President, introduced guests: Ann Hanning, ORTA Executive Director; ORTA President, Karen Butt; Judy Durst, ORTA Administrative Assistant; ORTA District III Director, Darlene Ruzicka; Montgomery County Retired Teachers Association Members, Nazarean Mayes and Dave Leedy (MCRTA Past President); Richard Adams, Representative, 79th Ohio District and member of MCRTA. Music was provided by Pansy Wildman and Barbara Werth. The singing of America the Beautiful was led by Nancy Mack. The Invocation was given by David Pinkerton. Following the lunch, Bill Phillips asked for nominations for officers from the floor. Hearing none, the proposed slate of officers was declared elected. Motion: David Pinkerton, second, Kay Myers, Motion carried. The following officers were installed by Karen Butt, ORTA President: President, Eileen Yaney; Vice President, Mary Drill; Co-Secretaries, Alice Fae Detert, Gail Laufer; Treasurer, Patricia Chavis; Corresponding Secretary, Nancy McAlexander; Immediate Past President, Dale Van Tine. In appreciation of his many years of service to ORTA and MCRTA, retiring president, Dale Van Tine was presented with a proclamation by Richard Adams from the Ohio House of Representatives, and joined by Ann Hanning, Karen Butt, and Bill Phillips in recognizing his exemplary service to the organization. Liz Van Tine was also recognized for her contribution in faithfully editing the newsletter. They were presented flowers and a gift card from the group in appreciation of their efforts. Eileen ended the presentation with a quote:”People are not the best because they work hard; people work hard because they are the best.” Eileen opened the general meeting by welcoming members and quests (there were no first time guests) and thanking officers and committee chairs for their willingness to serve. Secretary’s report was approved. Motion by Barbara Miller, second by Bill Miller. Motion carried. Treasurer’s report was given by Patricia Chavis: checking account $2227.26; savings $3618.75. Motion to accept by Karen Smeal, second by Kay Caudy. Motion carried. Membership chair, Barbara Miller, reported 131 members. She also thanked Alice Fae Detert and the phone committee for making the calls to encourage members to pay dues in a timely manner which boosted membership numbers. In other business, Paul Papanek stated that there is a member in need of a wheel chair. Also, he related the long time member, Henrietta Mungle, has died. President Eileen Yaney announced that a decision had been made at the January Planning Meeting concerning reservations for lunch in order to get a more accurate count for meals ordered from the caterer. Beginning in April, reservation will be needed by Thursday, before the Monday meeting. They are to be sent to Nancy Kirk. Those people who have not made reservations by Thursday may still attend, but will pay an extra $2.00 for lunch. Members were asked how many would be in favor of receiving newsletters by email. A show of hands indicated that many were in favor. November, December birthdays: Doris Trost, Myrna Yoder, Mary Jane Schidecker, and Carol Pinkerton. January-February birthdays: Kay Caudy, Barbara Miller, Vickie Scott, Julie Gregory, David Pinkerton, and Richard Adams. Eileen Yaney introduced the speaker, Ann Hanning, ORTA Executive Director, who brought us up-to-date on what is going on in ORTA. Some main points were: (1) There are efforts being made to clean up the database of information from STRS. This will eliminate duplicates and give a more accurate number of retirees. (2) STRS Board is now at full strength (11 members). (3) Few petitions have been taken out for officers to run. (4) House requires that ORTA meet 30 year funding period in order to maintain solvency. In order to meet this requirement and guarantee pensions for future retirees certain areas will be looked at: add 3% to contributions beginning in 2011 with an additional 1% optional. Now at 10%, 2011 – 11%; 2012 – 12%; 2013 – 13%; 2014 – 14% (optional). No additional contributions from employer – now at 14%. Raise retired age to 60. Raise number of years of service. 2

Reduce COLA to 2%. This would benefit the system the most dollarwise. Increase the benefit calculation from average of 3 highest years to last 5. She provided a handout to all present for further study of this complex issue and announced that members could go to the website: www.orta.org. A question/answer session followed. Representative Richard Adams (District 79) stated that there must be changes due to the 8.4 billion dollar budget shortfall for the state. (1) He plans to introduce legislation to require performance audits or departments to see how well they are managed. (20 Look at balancing budget by: (a) looking at how well state government is managed; (b) updating economic forecasts 00 growth may increase by 1 million; (c) looking at each budget item line-by-line – where can we cut? (3) State has a financial partnership with schools that needs to be based on amount of money it has and what’s good for kids. (4) Look at funding of Medicaid – state spends .39 of each dollar for Medicaid and .38 of each dollar for education (all education). (5) Look at the department of development – make Ohio supportive of free enterprise. Bring companies in to compliment companies already here. ORTA District III Director, Darlene Ruzicka, stated the STRS and ORTA are looking at what kind of reform they could live with. They have done their homework. We have to give up something in order to stay solvent. Members were urged to listen to the testimony of Executive Director of STRS, Mike Nehf (www.STRSoh.org). It is our duty to become informed and contact representatives. Darlene provided a folder for each member to take home with information about the proposed changes and ways to contact representatives. Meeting was adjourned with singing of God Bless America led by Nancy Mack with Pansy Wildman at the piano. Greeters were: Mary Drill, Nancy McAlexander, Patricia Chavis, Gail Laufer. Next regular meeting, April 21. Next Planning Meeting, July 18.

WEBSITE Eileen Yaney and Sue Coon, Webmasters Newsletters are posted on the website along with other information of interest. To go directly to our webpage type in the address bar http://www.miamicountryrta.hostcentric.com OR to see all county WebPages type http://www.orta.org. First click on ORTA Chapter Webpages, then Miami county, then Miami County Website.

BOOK SCHOLARSHIP Alice Fae Detert Thank you to all who gave generously to the Scholarship Fund on February 21. The Fund total is $568.45. We have only the April meeting to reach our goal of $1000 to be able to award four $250 Book Scholarships at our June Meeting. If you missed the February meeting and you would like to help. I will accept checks made payable to MCRTA and sent to: Alice Fae Deter, 164 Kiser Drive, Tipp City, OH 45371

THANK YOU Alice Fae Detert Barbara Miller Membership Chair, has acknowledged the help of the Phone Chain to increase our membership. It takes all of us working together to get things accomplished. Thank you Barbara and Karen Smeal for the hours you spend collecting dues, tracking and accurately recording MCRTA and ORTA dues, writing receipts and communicating the status. Your help is greatly appreciated. Thank you, Phone Chain callers, most of whom have been callers since the Phone Chain was established. Some callers are unable to attend our meetings, but are willing to help our organization in this way. Your help through the years has been greatly appreciated for meeting updates, cancellations and especially with membership calls. Those present callers are: Joyce Anderson, Nancy Beard, Carol Beelick, Micki Curtner, Mary Davis, Marilyn Dearth, Mary Drill, Joan Evans, Beverly Helsinger, Jo Hermes, Gwen Karr, Nancy Mack, Kay Myers, Linda Parke, Linda Roth, Judy Sheldon, Marilyn Sim, Karen Smeal, and Betty Straker. IN MEMORIAM Henrietta Mungle, MCRTA member Melba McMaken, MCRTA member 3

EMAIL ADDRESSES Liz Van Tine If you are interested in receiving your newsletter via email, you can send me your email addresses. I need to get at least 50 email addresses to make it worthwhile to do. The last time I asked for email addresses to receive the newsletter, I only had 10 people respond to the request. Send to Liz Van Tine, [email protected].

MEMBERSHIP – We Need You! Barbara Miller, Membership Chair ORTA dues are now $30.00. All MCRTA and ORTA memberships end December 31 regardless of when you paid your dues. I am still collecting money for the 2011 if you have not paid them yet. Please mail your membership money to me or see me at the February meeting: 6644 Roberta Drive, Tipp City, OH 45371 Phone – 937-667-1563.

MCRTA AND ORTA MEMBERSHIP NAME___________________________________________________________________ ADDRESS________________________________________________________________ EMAIL___________________________________________________________________ TELEPHONE_____________________________________________________________ ______ MCRTA – Annual Dues $10.00 _____ MCRTA – Lifetime Dues $100.00 ______ ORTA – Annual Dues $30.00 ______ ORTA – Lifetime Membership Dues $500.00 Total __________ Make check payable to MCRTA for total amount. MCRTA will send payment to ORTA. Send to: Barbara Miller, 6644 Roberta Dr., Tipp City, Ohio 45371 New Retiree or Member Information Name _____________________________________________________________ Address _____________________________________________________________ Phone # ____________________________________________________________ Send this information to Barbara Miller.

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MIAMI COUNTY RETIRED TEACHERS ASSOCIATION April 18, 2011 LUNCHEON DATE: TIME: LOCATION: MENU: COST: PROGRAM:

Monday, April 18, 2011 11:45 A.M. First Church of the Nazarene, Barnhart Road, 1/2 mile west of I-75 (exit 73) @ Route 55, Troy, Ohio (Look for the water tower) Turkey and Dressing, Mashed Potatoes and Gravy, Green Beans, Tossed Salad and Dressing, Fruit Pies, Coffee, Ice Tea, Lemonade $12.00 includes gratuity (Jerry’s Catering) $14.00 at the door without a reservation Speaker: Michael Nehf, STRS Ohio Executive Director

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Return reservation form to: Nancy Kirk, 1900 N. St. Rt. 589, Casstown, Ohio 45312, 937-339-7859 Deadline for reservations Thursday, April 14, 2011. Make checks payable to MCRTA. ______ Yes, I will attend the MCRTA Luncheon Meeting on Monday, April 18, 2011. I have enclosed $____________ for ________reservation(s). Name ____________________________________________________________________ Guest(s) Name _____________________________________________________________ Is this your first meeting? ____________________________________________________ ____ March and April Birthdays If you cannot attend the luncheon, feel free to attend the program. Please keep us informed of any deceased member of Miami County Education Community. Deceased __________________________________________________________________________ Questions or Concerns for Michael Nehf, STRS Ohio Executive Director

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