The Red Pencil Newsletter of Watauga County Retired School Personnel
Vol.XIII, No.2 October 2010 ntn1066@hotmail.com
October Meeting
When: Thursday, October 21, NOON, $10, check made payable to Watauga County NCRSP
Where: Deerfield Methodist Church
Why: To learn from a presentation by Nima Burns of the office of the NC Attorney General. Ms. Burns will be making a power point presentation on identity theft, fraud, and scams. NOTE that this presentation will take approximately 45 minutes, with time for questions and comments. The topic is extremely important to all of us; therefore, please arrange your schedule for the day to give you enough time to participate.
With: staples and canned goods for the Hunger Coalition (powdered milk, peanut butter, soup), medicine bottles, and plastic bags. Add old cell phones to be donated to the battered women’s shelter.
all the lovely, noisy, loose change you’ve been collecting for the
Scholarship Fund
all the lovely, quiet, folding money you can manage for a one-time special donation
If your caller has not reached you by October 16, phone Margaret Sigmon, 264-2036, to make your reservation.
ON YOUR CALENDAR:ü October 24. The administration at Watauga High School has offered us a private tour of the new facility at 1P on Sunday, October 24. No one else will be in the building and we will not be hurried through. Imagine – school with no bells, no crush of students in the halls, no rush to get from here to there, no lessons to plan or papers to grade – just “school.” The facility is quite large, but it has three elevators to help us get around and we will take everything slowly. The tour will begin promptly at 1 and we can stay until 3, although that isn’t required. Please be at the front door at 1 so that we can set off together.
ü December 16. That’s our Christmas meeting. Billy Ralph promises much music.
ü December 31: That’s the due date for reporting your volunteer hours to Eula Mae Fox. Mail to Eula Mae Fox, 199 Watauga Dr., Boone NC 28607 if you aren’t planning to attend the December meeting. We REALLY, REALLY need to have at least 50% of our members reporting their hours.
Is Your Car Registered in North Carolina?On Dec. 1, 2009, a new law went into effect that requires the state’s name across the bottom of the plate as well as the year and month stickers on a license plate to be fully visible. They can no longer be partially covered by a license frame.
After Nov. 30, 2010, vehicle owners can be cited for committing an infraction and fined $100 for the violation. Do yourself a huge favor right this minute and look at your license plate. You may have to do without that gorgeous ASU Alumni frame, but you’ll save $100!
President’s MessageThe time has come to say goodbye to Indian summer and hello to jackets and sweaters. Appalachian flags are waving from many of our houses as we exhibit our loyalty to our favorite local institute of higher education. The leaves are changing, the nights are cooler, and our gardens are settling themselves for a long winter’s nap.
When I was in junior high in Hickory, I remember traveling the mountain in February and arrived at the coldest, iciest place I had ever been. It still is the coldest, iciest place I have ever been. One of the things that warms my heart, however, is just the thought of being with the members of our unit of NCRSP. Each of you contributes to the uniqueness of our group. Nowhere could I find more talent and cooperation than with this group of education retirees.
Your board, and particularly your vice president, Billy Ralph Winkler, have been busy making plans, and I am pleased to tell you that our programs this year will be informative and entertaining. Meeting dates are on the front of your calendars and I hope that you will make sure nothing else on your schedule interferes with them.
I hope to see all your smiling faces Oct. 21st. May you be protected and blessed until then.
La Verne Franklin Need to know what’s going on? Look for meeting announcements in local papers and check out our blogspot at http://wcrsp.blogspot.com/ for the latest news!
What Do You Love?Guest contributor, Bobbie Austin
What I Love – the sky Sky is the canvas on which God paints in ever-changing hues – black to mauve to many shades of blue.
Streaks of pink and yellow introduce a golden dawn.
The sun bursts up over the mountain, bathing the foggy meadow with its warming rays.
Clouds move across the sky – soft, gray clouds shrouding the treetops, faint, feathery clouds drifting slowly, small, puffy clouds scudding swiftly, dark thunderclouds towering ominously.
Contrails from jets form straight white lines, but frisky breezes aloft break them into streaks and swirls.
Thunderstorms darken the sky, making a contrasting background for bright flashes of lightning that zig-zag toward earth with loud claps of thunder.
A rainbow follows the storm, shimmering in a high arc above the trees, seeming to touch earth on the horizon.
The sun sinks down to back-light the clouds with silver linings.
Sunset lights up the sky with dazzling, fiery hues of orange, pink, and gold.
Twilight comes, a magical time of peaceful serenity as the sky turns purple and the first stars peek down.
Night turns the sky to black velvet with a scattering of twinkling diamonds on it.
The full moon rises, its cool white light softly caressing the earth.
The infinite imagination of the Great Painter of the sky may convey a mood that is serene and soothing or mysterious and menacing, but it is always awe-inspiring.
Terrific Gift IdeaDo you keep your cell phone in your handbag or in your pocket and then fumble to retrieve it when it rings? The solution to safekeeping for your phone is a phone trapper, a rubberized mat that will stick almost anywhere you put it AND hold your cell phone, keys, or even a pen. You may have seen these magical little wonders at Radio Shack for $12, but we have some with the NCRSP cardinal on them for $10 each. They’ll make wonderful stocking stuffers at Christmas or thank-you gifts for friends, colleagues, children, grandchildren, and more!
Welcome to the following new retirees who joined the Watauga Unit of NCRSP at our August breakfast: Sharon Brooks, Pinkie Bumgarner, Karen Crotts, Linda Hall, Teresa Lentz, Linda Mauldin, Louise Osborne, and Rose Anna Wade. We’re blessed to have a large number of retirees this year and we hope that we will have more to welcome as new members after our October meeting. If you know any of the new retirees, please give them a personal invitation to attend our next meeting.
In the photo below, some of our newest members.
A Non-fundraiser FundraiserWe could organize a bake sale, we could wear skimpy outfits and have a carwash, we could gather our household junk and concoct a yard sale, or we could just avoid all that extraneous effort, skip straight to the point, and contribute to an operating fund for our unit. The absolute simple truth is that we go a little bit more in the financial hole every year. We always have enough to support our scholarship program, but money for necessary incidentals is virtually non-existent. For example, did you know that your officers personally provide our door prizes? They buy them or buy the materials to make them with their own money, not chapter funds. Printed materials you receive come from the hands – and handbags – of your officers, who pay for paper and ink themselves. Did you receive a folder last year to keep up with helpful emergency information? An officer bought it. Did your state-supplied calendar have a sticker on the front with the dates of our 2010-2011 meetings? An officer bought it. And printed it. And paid for the ink. We have been truly fortunate to have Linda Harwood’s expertise and kindness in lending us decorations for our tables and using flowers from her garden, because we certainly couldn’t afford to purchase them.
So, we’re going to pass the plate at the October meeting and we’re going to ask you to be generous. Please.
We will vote on approval of this budget at the October meeting.
Watauga Unit of NCRSP Proposed Budget for 2010 - 2011
Income
Local dues based on 90 members @ $8.00 = 720.00
Local dues based on 40 members @ $10.00 = 400.00
Total income 1120.00 Other estimated income 400.00 Total income 1520.00
Expenses
Newsletter printing (5 @ $90.00) 450.00
Other Printing $25.00
Postage for newsletter (5 @ $70.00)350.00
Other postage & supplies $75.00
Total printing, postage,supplies $900.00
Officers’ expenses State Convention 300.00
Workshops, etc. 50.00
Total Officers’ expenses 350.00
Miscellaneous (Memorials, gifts, TLC) 200.00
Committee Expenses 70.00
Total Expenses 1520.00
Winter’s Coming!, being a list of suggestions for preparing yourself, some serious and some not so.
Round up and wash the afghans that have been hanging unused on the backs of chairs all summer.
Inventory the winter clothes – who needs what, what can go to the Humane Society after enough Januarys with you, what doesn’t fit any more….
Check out the pre-season sales on the above.
Make a list of seeds to purchase for your spring garden. Lay out the garden plan.
Make sure your car anti-freeze is good.
Check your windows and doors for gaps and leaks and make a quick trip to a hardware/home supply store for insulation.
Freeze apples for baking, hamburger for cooking, and soups and stews and casseroles.
Remember to drain outdoor hoses and insulate faucets.
Have a professional check your heating system, clean out your gutters, and replace missing roof shingles.
Know where your snow shovel is.
Have extra pet food in the house in case you’re snowbound.
If you’re a sewer, knitter, quilter, crocheter, or woodworker, arrange a few long-term projects to give yourself something to do on dreary afternoons – or make a pile of books to read.
Make sure you have candles and fresh batteries in advance of power outages. Replace batteries in carbon monoxide and smoke detectors. Check on your fire extinguishers.
Insure that you have a supply of cold and flu treatments, cough remedies, and prescription medicines in the house.
Stock the cupboard with dried essentials, including milk and instant oatmeal.
The Importance of Membership If you have not renewed your membership in the Watauga Unit of NCRSP for this year, you will find the amount of your dues in the upper right corner of the mailing label on this newsletter. Your Horace Mann Accidental Death Insurance policy will end on October 31 if you do not renew your membership by that time.
If you are newly retired and have not joined yet, please make your decision now to join this vital organization. You need us, and we need you, too! In fact, we need every retired educator to be on our membership roster in order to strengthen our position as advocates for retaining and improving benefits for all retired school personnel in this state. Together, we have strength.
You can pay your dues at our October meeting or mail them to Dot Barker, 451 Poplar Hill Dr., Boone, NC 28607. If you are a new retiree, your dues are $106 and can be paid by check or you can join by Payroll Deduction and your dues will be deducted from your retirement check and will be spread out over the year. Both forms will be available at the meeting. If you have questions, please call Dot at 264-3521 or Barbara or Roland Moy at 264-8811.
