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NYSRTA
WERTA Board Pesident: Sally Valenti |
Fall Luncheon Please join us for our Fall Luncheon at Carlyle on the Green, Black Course, Bethpage State Park Menu Starters: Entrée Choice of: Dessert: Please send reservations (include your name and name of guest) and entrée choice with checks for $30 per person payable to WERTA to: Candy Misner, 694 Seaman Avenue, Baldwin N.Y.11510 by November 2, 2011. Directions: Northern Parkway Eastbound Exit 36A or Westbound 37A to Rte. 135, Seaford-Oyster Bay Expressway south to Exit 8 – Powell Ave. Turn left off Exit Ramp. Proceed to Traffic Circle – 2nd Right, follow signs to Clubhouse - CARLYLE on the Green is located in the clubhouse. OR LIE to Exit 44 South – Rte. 135, Seaford-Oyster Bay Expressway south to Exit 8 – Powell Ave. Turn left off Exit Ramp. Proceed to Traffic Circle – 2nd Right, follow signs to Clubhouse - CARLYLE on the Green is located in the clubhouse. OR Southern State Parkway to Exit 31 North – Bethpage State Parkway. Continue to the end, past Exit B4. Follow signs to Clubhouse - CARLYLE on the Green is located in the clubhouse. From the President We have successfully completed our second year since the merging of NNRTA, SNRTA and WSRTA. Our current board has agreed to begin a second term in office in November. We have been holding our executive meetings at the Lindenhurst Library and we would like to thank Helen Brion for scheduling our meetings. In June we met at Guy Anthony's Restaurant in North Merrick and awarded multiple scholarships to students from various Suffolk County high schools.They attended with their parents and were most gracious receiving their awards. We had a surprise visit from long time member of NNRTA, Joe Ferrara. Joe now resides in Buffalo, but was visiting on the island. Our next luncheon meeting will be held in November after many of us have attended the 6lst Convention of NYSRTA in October at Honor's Haven in Ellenville, New York. We will be sharing our memories of - Long Island is..... which is the theme of this year’s meeting. A Final Thought: Don t forget to lift your eyes away from the keyboard once in a while so you'll see how blue the sky is. Don't forget to put away the cell phone and spend some time with paintbrush or guitar. Don't forget to seek the blessing of silence among the noise in the world. And remember always that the secret of success is how happily you climb, not how high. Convention Update The Steering Committee has been meeting faithfully every month since April 2010. There were many responsibilities attached to our Hosting of the Convention, and these were handled very well by members of the Committee. Table decorations, Goodie Bags, Signature Gift, Raffle Baskets, Long Island Flat Map- These are all in readiness. The Program for the Convention has been completed, as has the schedule for greeters, those helping with registration, selling raffles, fifty-fifty, etc… The attire for the Greeters and the Committee will carry out the theme of Long Island Is… Sally Valenti and I are most grateful to our Steering Committee: Mary Armbruster, Fred Conway, Lesley Conway. Agnes Dansereau, Vivian Ellis, Angelo Grande, Kathryn Grande, Anna May Hoffman, Sheila Jones, Manny Kuehnel, Dee McKinnon, Candy Misner, James Moeller, Mary Ella Moeller, JoAnne Powell, Leigh Powell, Lucretia Ruppel, Lois Thornberg, Edith Whitaker, Marjorie Williams, Alicia Winowsky. We thank them for their input, cooperation and enthusiasm. Working together, we hope to have planned a successful Convention. WERTA Calendar 2011 - 2012 October 2011
November 2011
January 2012
February 2012
March 2012
April 2012
May 2012
June 2012
September 2012
October 2012
Scholarship News Scholarship News In the past, WERTA has awarded scholarships to graduating seniors who plan to pursue a career in education. This year we gave eight awards of $500 each because we had a memorial fund from WSRTA we needed to use as part of our merger. The recipients were: Kathryn Del Prete, Amanda Garchitorena, Angelica Franzino, Brian Fennell, Marisol Blanco, James Murphy, Christopher Wenz, and Stephanie Pennetti.
The future of this award is dependent on donations. If you have already sent a donation, we want to Thank You for your support and generosity. Donations can be made at any time during the year- as a memorial, to honor someone, to celebrate a special occasion, or simply as a generous gesture. By-Laws Committee Report NYSRTA passed changes in its Bylaws in October 2010. In order to conform, LIZRTA will be voting on changing its Bylaws at its Annual Meeting September 28, 2011. If they pass, WERTA will vote on changing its Bylaws to comply at its November Annual Meeting. At the same time WERTA will be voting to change its own Bylaws regarding specifically stating November is our Annual Meeting, and duties of the Nominating Committee being more specific. The changes that will be voted on are: Article III Membership: Section l. Add "and specific non-educators" Section 2. a. Add "Associate" b. add" Associate membership is open to non-educators who work in, or are retired from an educational institution. Associate members must indicate an interest in promoting the objectives of the Association. Associate members, by paying annual dues, shall be entitled to all privileges of membership except the right to vote and/or to hold office at the area level. Article VIII Committees and Duties l. Nominations - Insert Annual after the word November Section l. Standing Committee Eliminate H and I - Replace with: H. The Legislative Action Committee Section 2. H. The Legislative Action Committee shall: a. further legislation for the benefit of active and retired teachers: b. work with other organizations of retirees to further legislation for the benefit of all retirees; c. keep the membership informed of current legislation and concerns I. Reletter the remainder. ARTICLE IX Elections Section 2. Eliminate after 'sent out' then add 'for election at the June meeting and installation at the November Annual Meeting. NYSRTA has proposed five Propositions this year to be voted on at the NYSRTA Annual Meeting in October. At the NYRTA Resolutions Committee Meeting in July, the committee did not accept any of those offered for presentation to the membership in October. You will get these reports at the WERTA Meeting in November. Legislative Action Report NYSRTAThe Legislative Action Committee has had an exciting new year. The passage of Proposition A by our membership created a new challenge for us. We are now responsible for both federal and state legislation. In order to create a more effective committee I appointed Jack Leasure as the Sub-Chair for State Legislation and Dick Bushnell as the Sub-Chair for Federal Legislation. It has been a year in transition but I think we have made great progress. As you all know both our state and federal governments have frozen or cut their budgets. We hope that the future will provide us with a better opportunity to get approval for our agenda items. With the approval by the Executive Board of our State and Federal Agendas, we were off to a great start and with the help of the zone chairs great progress has been made. Here is a list of the zone chairs: CZ - Thomas Parsnick , CWZ – Jack Leasure , EZ - Janice Mullins, LIZ – Kathryn Grande, NCZ - Richard Bushnell , NEZ - Robert La Fontaine,NZ - Anne Audet, SEZ - Doris Blank , SZ Mary Johnson and WZ – Judith A. Klug. UPDATE ON STATE LEGISLATION - The state legislation session of 2011 has come to a close. As you all are probably aware the state budget was passed early but many programs were cut. Very little in the way of legislation was passed, especially bills involving money. Our local advocates were out in the field visiting their local legislators. The good news is that our pension fund is in good shape and the possibility of a constitutional convention in the near future is remote. UPDATE OF FEDERAL LEGISLATION – With the state the state legislative session behind us we now can concentrate on our Federal Legislative Agenda. As with our state government the federal government has their own budget problems. Our local advocates have started going out to visit their federal representatives. They will present our federal agenda to their representatives. This is the first time in the history of NYSTRA that we have a federal campaign card. Our Federal Agenda was also adopted by the National Retired Teachers’ Association (AARP) at their April meeting in Washington, DC. In better financial times we hope to have a greater success in presenting our state and federal agendas. WERTA Member Honored WERTA’s Vice-President and this year’s Convention Co-chairman, Evelyn Paola, was awarded the Lewis Avenue Alumni Legacy Award, from St. John’s University, on Sunday October 2, 2011 the D’Angelo Center. This award is presented to alumni to honor them for their outstanding service to St. John’s University and the community-at-large. We are all proud of Evelyn, and send her our congratulations. Well done, Evelyn! Membership News A BIG ”Thanks” to those members that responded to the neon green 2011-2012 membership card, by up-dating their information and paying dues. If you are an annual member, please respond ASAP if you have not done so already. Speaking of membership, many of us have been Life members for several years. I myself have enjoyed the convenience of Life membership for close to twenty five years. Unfortunately, the period of support from NYSRTA is only ten years, so NYSRTA stopped giving back to our area years ago. Some Life members have been giving an annual donation to WERTA, which is much appreciated. WERTA carries three hundred twelve Life and ninety nine Honorary Members. At present there are only approximately one hundred fourteen Annual Members paying dues. Life members please consider a donation according to your means. If you are unable to contribute we understand, but we do thank those members that have been generous in the past. We are all looking forward to seeing you at our WERTA Luncheon Meeting November 9. 2011. Remember: In unity there is STRENGTH! |
