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Committees
Political Advocacy
Our goals for 2011 were: (1) to continue to focus on health matters, especially as related to our members and seniors; (2) to monitor the elections; federal and provincial; and (3) public relations.
As part of initiative (1), we continued to monitor the LHIN monthly meetings and are following the Long Term Care issue closely.
With respect to the two elections (2), we prepared and submitted advertising in an effort to encourage participation in the process by our members and the public in general. In colaboration with the Niagara Health Coalition, we sponsored candidate nights for the Ontario provincial election (thanks to Marg, Charleen, Chereen & Sue for extra work on this).
Thanks to leadership from Bill Doyle, we have had entries in three successive Labour Day parades in Merritton, actively participated in Remembrance Day services in many of our communities and sponsored a marching children's band
( PK Hummingbird Marching Steel Band) in our district (3).
Thanks to Phylis Dowd for her service to this committee and RTO. Special thanks to Charleen for acting as secretary for our committee for many years. We would like to hear from other district members, especially recently retired, who may find our activities interesting and would like to join us. Fresh ideas and enthusiasm are always welcome. Contact any of our members for further information.
Members of the Committee: L. Rendall, Chair; Charleen Avedisian, secretary; Bill Doyle; Chereen Osborne; Marg Newby; Rick Kent; Sue Hotte; Joe McDonaldCONTACTING YOUR MP or MPP
When writing to a Member of Parliament or a Member of Provincial Parliament, it is important to remember to write ONLY to the member who represents your riding. Letters from outside that area are not considered.
Constituency office addresses and phone numbers can be found in the “Blue Pages” of your local telephone book.
WHO REPRESENTS YOU
Members of Parliament
ROB NICHOLSON.....................................Niagara Falls
DEAN ALLISON.........................................Niagara West-Glanbrook
RICK DYKSTRA.........................................St. Catharines
JOHN MALONEY........................................Welland
Members of Provincial Parliament
TIM HUDAK.................................................Erie-Lincoln
PETER KORMOS..........................................Niagara Center
KIM CRAITOR..............................................Niagara Falls
JIM BRADLEY...............................................St. Catharines
Suggestion: Keep your letter short and to the point.
Health Services
Joe Santone
In 2011, the local committee made recommendations to the provincial committee for improvement to the extended health care portion of the plan. The outcome will be published in late November. Recommendations are now being taken for improvement to the plan for 2013-14.
A very successful and informative District Health workshop was held June 12, 13 2011 with emphasis on Diabetes - the three main types, symptoms, risk factors and prevention.
An overview of the RTO health plan was given at the Scotia Center in Niagara Falls in early May.
Plans are underway for a possible Wellness Workshop for 2012-13.
Joe Santone
Pension Issues
Marion Woodcock
905-562-7935
mjwoodcock@cogeco.ca
Marion Woodcock
There is no current pension issues report.
Good Will
Margot Fraser
The District 14 Goodwill Committee has completed another busy year. Members are recognized by visiting, sending out greetings, condolences, celebrations as well as Christmas greetings to those members who are 90 years of age and over. Memorial donations are made in memory of deceased members to “Doctors Without Borders”. This non-profit organization provides emergency relief and medical help to areas of the world where a catastrophe occurs.
Members who turn 80 join the 80+ Club and are invited as our guests to the Annual Meeting in November.
Birthday cards are sent to members who turn 80, 85, and 90 and above. If any members were missed, we apologize. Thank you to members who provided feedback after receiving the cards. Members are asked to keep the Goodwill Committee informed when there are changes in their lives or news to share.
The Area Reps listed in each newsletter are the link between the members and the Executive. The success of the Committee would not be possible without the dedicated members who serve as Area Representatives. Since volunteers are always needed, should you have time to spare, kindly contact a member of the Executive.
Margot Fraser
Membership
Pat Davis
905-835-8056
(c) 905-329-8056
davispata@hotmail.com
Pat Davis
District 14 reached a milestone this year with us welcoming our 3000th member. We continue to grow and welcome retired educators and support staff to our organization.
On February 24, 2011, we hosted another Retirement Planning Workshop for 138 potential retirees. Those in attendance heard about the health plan that RTO offers as well as the exciting opportunities available when you retire. This workshop has been well attended and very informative for many years.
New retirees were invited, as guests, to the Farewell to the Bell luncheon that was held on Thursday, September 8th at Peninsula Lakes Golf Course. We celebrated the joys of retirement with forty-two new retirees and forty-three members. There was a delicious buffet and an opportunity to meet and be reacquainted with others from the educational sector.
At the Annual General Meeting in November, those in attendance will receive a booklet called “Family Documents” which will help our members organize their documents and personal and financial information.
District 14 is pleased to support our members and help them make retirement an enjoyable experience!
Pat Davis , Membership Chair.
Communications
Chereen Osborne
What a year this has been! We have more than our share of illness, computer glitches in Toronto and a letter carrier strike thrown in for good measure. I am proud to say we worked through the challenges and everything and everybody is on the mend. I want to acknowledge past service of a former member of the Communications Committee. After a quarter century of dedication to this organization John Shaw is retiring. John has delivered the newsletter to the DSBN mail room faithfully. He has hand addressed the newsletters to all members who join between publishing. He has also been of invaluable assistance with keeping track for new and deceased members both for the newsletter and the Goodwill Committee up to date with the changes. Thank you, John!
John Carruthers, our Webmaster, and I attended a workshop in Toronto centered on the topic of social media. We reviewed the software introduced last year along with its expanded use. Check out RTO/ERO on Twitter, Facebook and Flicker. We are not just on a website any more. Locally we are not ready for these extensions, but if there is someone looking for a job we would be glad to put you to work. John is keeping the website up to date and continues to work on the new site. Thank you.
We continue to work toward the goal of having as many newsletters delivered by email as possible. The people who receive their Grapevine by email can get the newsletter the same day it goes to the printer. Others have to wait at least a week to ten days for the printer and another week to three weeks before they get their copy in the mail. That made it difficult for every bit of news to be timely and relevant when we have a difference of up to a month before the first and last person receives their newsletter. I have been sending out the 800 plus email newsletters by myself. The last issue was sent out with the much appreciated help of Judy Meldrum and Linda McCormick. Many hands do make light work. Thank you. Remember, go to rtoero-district14.org any time to see the latest news or go into the archives to see what has transpired over the last year. Thank you.
Robert Halfyard keeps our data banks up to date. Each month there are many changes as new members join the organization, move or die. Robert is able to generate the lists of new and deceased members for the newsletter by computer. He assists the Goodwill committee by separating out the names and addresses for the “80+ club”, our “over ninety” members and, yes, even our “over one hundred” group. Robert and I continue to pursue corrections to our email lists. Robert provided the mailing lists to our publisher and the email list to me. If you are not receiving an email copy of the Grapevine please notify me of your email address by contacting Chereen Osborne at: chereen@cogeco.ca. Thank you.
Many people wait for the contributions of Mike Keenan to the newsletter. He adds such interesting travel items to each edition. We also are welcome to contributions from other members letting us know about their experiences and the organizations to which they belong.
This year a special thanks and a medal for bravery goes to our newsletter editor, Bonnie Bryan. Her courage and determination is a shining example of faith, hope and enthusiasm to say nothing of a dedication to RTO/ERO District 14 that goes way above the call of duty. To meet Bonnie is to know that you have met one very special person. Thank you.
Chereen OsborneEvents
Mary Hesser
Once again we have had a busy year!
In May, the Spring Luncheon was attended by 150 members and guests. Our guest speaker, Dorothy Seabourne challenged us with her decision to take up motorcycling as a mature adult. Later that month, a group attended the Royal Alexandra Theatre to see “Calendar Girls”. In June, an “Evening at the Races” with a buffet dinner was enjoyed by 30 of us. It was a first time departure from afternoon races. Also in June, a bus load enjoyed a Blue Jays game versus the Red Sox, and again on August 27, when we took part in the Provincial RTO Charity Game seeing the Jays play the Rays. In September, a group of 45 enjoyed “Camelot” at Stratford. Then in October, over 70 enjoyed “My Fair Lady”, the highlight of the year for the Shaw Festival according to press releases and so many seeking tickets. Unfortunately, for some of us, the day at Carmen's in December had to be cancelled because of poor ticket sales.
In the New Year, a Curling Funspiel is scheduled for January 20 at the Niagara Falls Curling Club. We are currently making decisions about the other programmes we will be offering for the rest of 2012. Please watch the Winter 2012 Grapevine for this information.
With our thanks to our many supporters!
Mary Hesser (Chair), Joyce Vidal, Mary Pos, Eileen Savage, Marilyn Ozog and Fred Sullivan.
Public Relations
Stan Connors
At the 2010 Annual Meeting, the Public Relations Committee was created through a Constitutional amendment with the objective: “To make RTO/ERO District 14 known to the public for services it provides to its members and to make members better known in their communities for the positive things they do for the public.” Over the last year, a plan to achieve this was created and presented to the Executive for their approval.
This plan includes using free access time on various media, like local cable and radio stations, to have our President publicize the activities of our Members locally and provincially. For example, the President could explain the new Provincial Charitable Foundation, and its sponsorship of the Geriatrics Chair at the University of Toronto. The second part of the plan is to use the daily, weekly, and specialty newspapers (like SNAP) to recognize the special achievements and work of our local members as appropriate, like: acknowledging our centenarian’s birthdays; highlighting the special volunteer projects run by our members and reporting on the business of our organization and committees (our participation in Remembrance Day Ceremonies, and the business conducted at our Annual General Meeting). The third part of the plan is to bring in more new members by advertising the events of education related organizations (like the Annual DSBN Reunion) in our Newsletter and on our Website; by advertising our events in other local newsletter like Church Bulletins; and by participating in more community events like the St. Catharines/Merriton Labour Day Parade.
As the coming year progresses, the Committee will evaluate and adjust this plan.
Stan Connors
RTO/ERO Travel
Travel Guild: www.travelguild.com, will continue to offer their travel options to RTO/ERO members until the spring of 2007.