Fort Worth Retired School
Employees Association
AMESSAGEFROM OUR PRESIDENT
Hi, I am Linda Washington. This has been a great year and I am so happy to be the 2015-2016 FWRSEA president of this local unit.
Our theme this year is: Tomorrow and Beyond. In keeping with our theme, we began the year with submitting our newsletter on line. Thishas been a great benefit for us and has allowed us to reach more members quicker and easier; members have expressed gratitude as they received their newsletter via email. Those who did not have an email address, continue to receive theirs’via U. S. mail.
We are proud to showcase a summary of thegreat programs that were presented throughout the year. A huge thank you to our Program Chair, Myrtis Parker.
MEMBERSHIP MATTERS
The 2015-16 Fort Worth RSEA membership drive focused on the 3 Rs – Retain, Regain and Recruit.
Beginning July 1, 2015 TRTA reported that FWRSEA had 438 paid members; on January 30, 2016 TRTA reported FWRSEA had 741 paid members – a membership increase of 69%! We definitely went “Beyond” what we had hoped for.
We are extremely proud of all the effort our current members made to encourage past members to reconnect with our organization and to recruit new members to join. Congratulations Dr. Barbara Hryekewicz, 2015-16 First Vice-President, you did a wonderful job!!
PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS
AUGUST-At our first Executive Board meeting we had over 30 members in attendance. We began with a great breakfast; then went to work. We set our yearly goals, went over the handbook,set the budget, introduced the new committee chairs and discussed their responsibilities. Then, eachcommittee chairman then shared what their plans were for the year.
Breakfast and our 1st Executive Board meeting at
Ole’South Pancake House
SEPTEMBER- Our “Come and Go”-Info-Fairwas awesome!This meeting enabled each chairman to highlight and showcase what their committee entailed. We also had members of various insurance companies ranging from medical care to long term care represented. Members from EECU gave out calendars and discussed financial plans and options; while TRTA give out information of how we can get “the most bang for our bucks” as retirees. Door prizes were given and food was served. We had 19 new members jointhis day and 3 former members returned back to us.
We were off to a great start.
Mother and son retirees enjoying refreshments
Members of EECU
Dr. Barbara Hryekewicz at the Membership table
Velma Jones sharing our Legislative Updates
October-What’s the Scoop on State Affairs.Where is our 13th Check?
This month’s meetingwelcomed 2 of our Texas Senators, Sen Craig Estes-(R)-(Dist. 30), who served on the Senate Committee for the State Affairs and Sen. Konni Burton (R) from (District 10). Also joining us was Vicki Truitt, from V. Truitt Consultant LLC. and Jack Teddlie, the district Legislative Chairman. Mr. Teddlie served as our moderator.Many questions were asked and answered to clear our minds on why Senate Bill 1833 and Senate Bill 1991 went nowhere in the 84th Legislative Session as well as concerns about the “13th check”. This meeting was very well attended.
NOVEMBER–In honor of Veteran’s Day, we were proud to have as our Guest, veteran, journalist and author-Mr. Tim Madigan. He shared his experiences as well as gave insight on how the war, specifically WW II, affected many soldiers. They had common problems; specifically being long-term psychological or (PTSD) conditions that had to be looked at and addressed. This was the bases for his book, “Every Common Sight”.
Every Common Sight.
DECEMBER-“The Most Wonderful Time of the Year”. Do you have a favorite version of “The Night Before Christmas”?There are as many as 15 different versions. We came together to celebrate the holiday season with our own version titled, the “School Employees’ Night Before Christmas.” We had funreading several different versions aloud with different pronunciations and even reading one in Spanish as we laughed together while eating sweets, sipping on punch, receiving door prizesand showcasing our favorite Christmas attire.
December ended with us highlighting the Children’s Book Project. Charlotte Drones, 2nd VP reported a big success for this project for this year. She and her committee collected 3,306 books and several members donated$1,000. We delivered the books to several selected elementary schools for grades Pre-K-The Union Gospel Mission. It was a lot of work, but also a lot of fun.Students had an opportunity to select a book of their choice to take home and read to familymembers as they build their own home library.
Velda, Brenda and Linda
2nd VP Charlotte Drones
Librarian and Asst. Principal Lewis
JANUARY-Reminded us when we used to have SHOW AND TELL. This was the theme for January. As long time professionals, we have learned many new cool ideas or “tricks” of all kinds. This month weshared “Eloise tips” that will help each of us with many “shortcuts” that help make things easy for us with simple house hold chores and day to day activities. Examples- knowing an easy way to change pillow cases without a shake down and tussle. One of Mary Russell’s was how to eliminate static cling in the dryer. These ideas were very beneficial to everyone there.
FEBRUARY –We brought in a special guest speaker. He is not just new to the neighborhood, he is new to FWISD. The FWRSEA was excited to be able to have the new FWISD superintendent, Dr. Kent Scribnercome participate in our monthly meeting as he shared his goals for our beloved FWISD while we shared the major role we play in FWISD as retirees.
MARCH-Book Review. Our Annual book review meeting benefited our Don Rhoten Scholarship Foundation. It was held on Friday, March 18, 2016 at 10:30 a.m. and was very well attended.
Dr. Rose Mary Rumbley reviewed
Tinseltown
By William J. Mann
MARCH continued with Myrtis Parker, 3rd VP and our Program Chair ending this month’s theme with us singing an old time favorite in school; “ B-I-N-G-O, B-I-N-G-O, B-I-N-G-O, and Bingo was his name O”. You guessed it! We played several games of B-I N-G-O. This was so much fun as we sat on the edge of our seats, anticipating who would be shouting “BINGO” first and win the great prizes and gift cards awaiting for someone to claim them. Members had lots of fun with each other, other colleagues, and every day friends. As the members received their prizes, and got their refreshments, they took time to tell jokes to make each other laugh as we cleared our card and prepared for the next game to begin. This was really a fun meeting.
UPCOMING EVENTS:
APRIL-Looking at Our Health.This month we will have Mrs. Belinda York from The Sunflower Health Food Shoppe. She will not only emphasize to us the importance of eating a healthy diet daily, but will also inform usonhow leading a healthier lifethrough the use of natural foods, supplements and vitamins could help prolong our lives. Some of the other topics she will discuss will be:
*The scientific data of over 800 herbs, and supplements and their uses, side effects, interactions and dosing;
*Which herbs, supplements or vitamins will help with things like headaches and back pain.
*Taking a look at comprehensive data of the nutrient depletions which occur when taking specific prescription drugs.
MAY-“Marvelous May”. This month we will gather together atThe Woman’s Club of Fort Worthfor our annual luncheonto say good-bye for the year and install our new officers for 52016-2017. Everyone is encouraged to attend.
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FWRSEA also believes inGIVING BACK TO THE COMMUNITY
We always want to highlight and share what we didthis year for our community.
Jane Sisolak, Chair for Community and Volunteer Services did a wonderful job making sure that we supplied goods for a variety of organizations and institutions.
September –Nov. Assisted with the Book Drive Project collecting money and books to be given out in December to several of our Fort Worth Schools
December-In addition to giving out books to several Elementary schools, we also collected diapers & wipes for SafeHaven Women’s Shelter
January- We collected toothbrushes and toothpaste for the Lena Pope Home
February-We collected stuffed animals for Cook Children’s Hospital
March-We collected deodorants, soaps, shampoo, conditioners for the Presbyterian Night Shelter
April-We will be collecting crayons and coloring books for the Ronald McDonald House
We have enjoyed giving to these organizations and look forward to next year.
FT. Worth RSEA Says:
We send out a huge thank you to all of our officers, chairpersons and members, who make up our local unit. They worked hard to ensure our unit is one of the best in Tarrant County!
2015-2016Executive Board Members
President-Linda Washington
First Vice President-Dr. Barbara Hryekewicz
Second Vice President-Charlotte Drones
Third Vice President-Myrtis Parker
Secretary-Virginia Harvey
Treasurer-Herschel Wright-June-2011-Dec. 2015
Russel Livingston-Dec. 2015-Feb. 2016
Velda Stewart-Feb. 2016-July 2016
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ENDING THE YEAR and MOVING FORWARD
The Fort Worth Retired School Employees’ Association facilitated entertaining, engaging, educational, and informative, meetings for the purpose of continued enlightenment of our membership.
Through this endeavor our membership was increased substantially, all of our programs were well attended, and we had a great year.
As we look ahead into 2016-2017, we will continue to work on building our membership and providing a variety of programs to meet the needs of our members.