Darcy, NC Teacher of the Year, visits the President Obama
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
Darcy Grimes is the featured speaker at the March Luncheon
Darcy, NC Teacher of the Year, visits the President Obama
March 2014 Red Pencil
The Red Pencil 
The Newsletter of Watauga County Retired School Personnel
Vol.XVI, No.4, March 2014
March Meeting
Noon, Thursday, March 20, 2014
Deerfield Methodist Church
Cost per meal is $10, check payable to
Watauga Unit, NCRSP
Program: 
Darcy Grimes, 2012 North Carolina Teacher of the Year, member of faculty at Bethel Elementary School
At this meeting, we will be voting for delegates to the national NEA Convention in Denver CO in late June/early July. We will have ballots for you.
We will also be voting on the slate of officers for our next biennium. You will receive an email before the meeting about that vote.
Bring as much non-perishable food as you can manage for the Hunger Coalition. Powdered milk, cans of soup, oatmeal and pasta products, canned fruit and vegetables, ANYTHING non-perishable, will be acceptable. Remember those plastic bags, if you have a supply of them to spare. And Box Tops for Education. And individual servings of food such as crackers or fruit or mac and cheese for the backpacks our county’s hungry children take home over the weekends.
And lovely, noisy loose change for our scholarship fund. AND, AND, AND some extra dollars for our raffle. The generous folk at Belk are giving us a large basket filled with goodies worth far, far more than the money you’ll pay for tickets, which, as usual, are $1 each and 6 for $5, all to benefit the Scholarship Fund.
Very important note: If your caller has not phoned you by the 15st of March, call your caller if you plan to attend. If you change your mind at the last minute about attending, call Margaret Sigmon at 264-2036 immediately and come ahead!
AND remember: After our lunch, you will be able to purchase a second meal to take home for $5. As good as George’s food is, imagine how much you’ll enjoy sharing with a friend or spouse or having your own dinner already prepared! Let one of your officers know as quickly as you can at the meeting so that your meal will be ready for you to take home.
I don't know about the rest of you, but for me, January and February of 2014 are suddenly a memory and the arrival of March was almost a surprise - a welcome surprise, certainly, but one for which I was not entirely prepared.
You may have read in the PANORAMA that this year, the state convention of the NCRSP is being held in Hickory, March 18 through 19, in the Hickory Metro Convention Center. Even though that is only weeks away, I hope that many of you will choose to attend. I intend to drive down each day rather than stay overnight.
In addition to the normal business of the organization, several interesting special sessions will feature information on identity theft, grassroots organizing and updates on our retirement system and health plans.
We will be allowed to send up to 13 delegates. If you are interested, call or email either Dot Barker or me and we will make preparations to get you registered.
You may even want to arrange to attend some sessions of the NCAE Convention, which follows ours and is March 20 through 22. For the first time, NCRSP members will have full voting privileges with NCAE.
Our March meeting will be filled with good information and good fellowship. I’ll see you there!
State NCRSP Convention Meets in our Own Backyard
We’re used to traveling to Raleigh or Durham or even Greensboro and Winston-Salem for our state convention, but this year, the meeting is barely an hour away – in Hickory. The deadline for registration is past for the March 18-19 meeting, but we’ve been told that it has been extended just for us. Our chapter will pay your $10 registration if you wish to attend both days or only one. If you wish to attend, please notify Dot Barker at 264-3621 as quickly as possible. The convention banquet, held on Tuesday evening, the 18th, is $35 per person.
A special note to our callers from Margaret Sigmon: Please mark your calendars to begin phoning the names on your call list Monday, March10. I need names by Saturday evening March 15 so that I can phone George early Monday morning. He has to put in an order for food so that he will have possession of it by Wednesday.
You have been a great group of callers this year. I appreciate your promptness in getting your lists to me so that I can let George know on schedule.
264-2036
265- 7254 cell
In response to a change in state law, which eliminates many exemptions, deductions, and tax credits, the North Carolina Department of Revenue is requiring that retirees complete and submit a new Withholding Certificate for Pension form. BUT, this tax law change does not affect retirees in the Bailey Class. No action is required. Quoting from the Bailey ruling, "all North Carolina State, Local Government and Federal retirees, having five or more years of creditable service toward retirement as of August 12, 1989," are in the Bailey Class. If you have questions, Dot Barker will have answers for us all at the March meeting.
In Memoriam
The Watauga Unit of NCRSP extends its sympathy to the families and friends of Anne Van Noppen Millsaps, Frank Randall, and Agnes Shipley. In their memory, we have made contributions to the Watauga Unit Scholarship Fund.
Since we are halfway through the 2013-2014 year, we need to concentrate on our Scholarship Fund. Many of us who pay our dues by Electronic Fund Transfer and therefore do not pay with cash sometimes forget to make a contribution to the Scholarship Fund. Also, those of us who pay dues by mail sometimes forget this important fund. The Scholarship Fund must come from donations only; we cannot use dues money. We need to meet our goal of $1000 by May to be able to fund our scholarship given each year to a graduating senior at Watauga High School. We appreciate the contributions that those of you who attend the meetings make in the little cans on the tables. The unit also puts $25 in the Scholarship Fund in memory of each member who dies during the year. Please consider making a donation to this fund, especially if you have not given this year. If you will not be attending the March meeting, you may mail this donation to Dot Barker, Treasurer, 451 Poplar Hill Drive, Boone, NC 28607.
Keep up with those volunteer hours!
Post in a prominent spot and check regularly. We recommend a calendar on which your record activities. Circle them if they qualify as volunteer time.
NCRSP Community Participation Volunteer Hours 2014
Name ______________________ Unit Watauga County District 3
Category
|
Jan
|
Feb
|
Mar
|
Apr
|
May
|
Jun
|
Jul
|
Aug
|
Sep
|
Oct
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Nov
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Dec
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Total
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Education
| |||||||||||||
Other*
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Total Hours in All Categories ________
* Please note that activities for which you are paid (honoraria/stipends) and activities performed in caring for grandchildren, elderly parents, or other family members DO NOT COUNT toward your volunteer hours.
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Where’s My NCRSP Membership Card?
Ginger Sermons, district treasurer, wants us to know that our membership cards do not expire. Only new members receive new cards.
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What’s New that You Need to Know:
v The State NCRSP Convention is happening in Hickory, March 18 and 19. Let Dot Barker know ASAP if you plan to attend.
v We care about each other and want to show it. If you know of an NCRSP member who is ill or needs a kind word – or someone who has a happy event to share, please let LaVerne Franklin know at 264-8696 or franklin160954@bellsouth.net
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