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ORTA Minutes
June 2008
The June meeting of the Gallia County Retired
Teachers Association was held June 12, 2008 at the First Presbyterian Church. The tables were decorated in a red, white and
blue theme. Lois Carter, President, opened the meeting with a humorous reading "Senior Dress Code". She welcomed
Ray Troxtell, the President of ORTA and his wife Emily. Other guests in attendance were scholarship winners Kayla Johnson,
Terri Clagg, Alexandria West and their families. Lois also welcomed first time attendee Jack Russell.
A delicious chicken salad luncheon was prepared and served by the ladies of the Presbyterian
Church. While some were still finishing dessert the winners of the Katherine Williams scholarships were brought to the front
and each was presented with a check for $350. Each recipient said a few words about where they will be attending college and
a bit about their plans for the future.
John Milhoan introduced
the speaker for the day Ray Troxtell, state ORTA President. Mr. Troxtell had a distinguished career in the military as well
as serving as a principal for 24 years. He is currently a retirement planner. His presentation was informative and brought
us up to date on many happenings at the state level. HB 315 was allowed to die in committee and is currently on "hold".
A combination of politics, term limits, the state of the economy, etc. has eroded legislative support for this very important
bill. HB 315 will have a positive effect on retiree health care if it is ever passed. He stated the bill is not dead and will
be re-introduced when a more favorable political climate emerges.
He
stressed the need for good communication and how important it is to keep up to date if we are to attract new and younger members.
He also stressed the importance of investing in the future and mentioned that awarding scholarships to deserving young people
such as those awarded by our chapter today is a good example of this. He reminded us that enthusiasm by members cannot be
over stated. As retirees it is important we continue to be contributing members of society by giving back to our country and
our communities.
Other items mentioned were:
- Health care rates will be announced in
August
- STRS is working on a dues deduction process for ORTA dues
-
STRS director Damon Asbury retired
- New STRS director to be named June 18-20th
- Website development seminar to be held in July
- Importance of leadership development
Mr. Troxtell had a Q&A session after his presentation.
Volunteer chairperson Karen Cornell reminded us to be keeping track
of volunteer hours. Lois read correspondence regarding the web site seminar to be held on July 28 and July 31 at the ORTA
building in Columbus. Marlene Hoffman volunteered to attend this workshop. It was suggested we get someone else to attend
the workshop with Marlene. Sympathy cards were signed for the families of John Allison, Lois Sheets, Edith Thomas and Henry
Sheets.
The raffle for this meeting was three hanging baskets
and two containers of Blackberry Jam from North Carolina. The winners were: Jackie Knight, Irene Clark, Therill Clagg, Louise
Greenlee and Gail Belville. The raffle brought in $109, which will be used to defray the cost of mailing the newsletter. Jimmy
Steele asked for others to think about what they might have to contribute for future raffles. We thank Jimmy for all his work
on this project.
NEXT MEETING: August 14 Senior Resource Center
Program: Health Fair
Respectfully
submitted,
Marlene Hoffman, Secretary
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