The Gallia County Chapter of the Retired Teacher’s Association met June 11, 2009 at the Nazarene Family Life Center.
The ladies of the church served a delicious baked steak dinner. Grace was given by Henry Dillon and we recited the Pledge
of Allegiance. President Barb Shelton rang the school bell to open the meeting. She welcomed “first timer”
Josie Bapst, members and guests. In attendance were Edna Hansen ORTA state President, also present was past state president
Jean Mills, a Gallia County native. Scholarship winners and their families were also guests. Because of the closing of the
eastbound lane of the Route 35 bypass several folks (including me) were late because of congested traffic. Traffic was rerouted
through town, it is a reminder we should be thankful for the by-pass.
The first order of business after thanking the
cooks was the presentation of scholarships for 2009. Scholarship chair Wanda Willis explained that one criterion is that the
applicant plans to become a teacher. Wanda noted that the committee greatly enjoys reading the applications in part because
so many of the students want to enter the teaching profession because they
have been inspired by a teacher. We are proud to support these young people in furthering their education. Wanda and
Nancy Hood presented $350 checks to:
• Tim Huffman of Gallia Academy who plans to
attend The Ohio State University with majors in education and music.
• Amanda Mullins of River
Valley who will be attending OSU
• Amber Miller of South Gallia who plans to attend URG
John Milhoan introduced Edna Hansen the speaker for the day. She gave an informative presentation regarding ORTA and the
many state level activities in which they are involved. Our state organization is looking out for us and is always trying
to make the lives of retired teachers better.
Treasurer Henry Dillon informed us the scholarship fund will
be depleted by next year. Scholarships are funded by interest from a bequest from Katherine Williams. This will no longer
be possible because of the low interest rates. Barb Shelton will look at Katherine’s will to check for any stipulations
against dipping into the principal if necessary. In the meantime we will be asking if members would like to contribute to
the scholarship fund during the coming year or possibly do a fundraiser.
The cost of mailing the newsletter
was discussed. It was suggested we might ask members if they minded getting their newsletter at the meetings. Another suggestion
was that some might prefer to read their newsletter on the website.
Marlene asked if the group wants to continue
the website. It will come up for renewal in August; the cost is around $100. It was suggested that if folks like the website
they might be willing to donate toward the cost. Jean Cassidy made the motion to continue the website with a second by Janet
Wetherholt. Motion passed.
Henry Dillon gave the treasurer’s report (as of May 31):
•
Checking: $1111.12
•
Local life savings: 99.22
•
Scholarship savings: 86.24
• Local Life CD:
10,497.41
• Scholarship CD’s:
22,017.32
Henry asked for permission to move money from the Local Life CD to Local Life savings. It was moved and
seconded to give Henry this permission. Motion passed. Part of the reason we are having cash problems is that we have so many
life members there is very little money coming in. It was suggested that some of the life members may be willing to donate
to the treasury. An area where we are losing money is when people make a reservation and do not show up, we still have to
pay for the meal. If you make a reservation you are supposed to
send money for the cost of your meal, but not everybody does this. At this meeting alone we had 8 folks who made reservations
and did not show up, this cost us $80.
NEXT MEETING: August 13 @ noon;
Presbyterian Church
Speaker: Rushie McCallister, Underground RR
Memorial service by Marlene Hoffman
Meeting adjourned at 2:15 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Marlene Hoffman, Secretary
