Watauga County Retired School Personnel: December 2017

The Red Pencil NCRSP Seal (circle for color printers)

Newsletter of Watauga Unit, NC Retired School Personnel

Vol.XVIII, No. 3 December 2017____________________________________steelebecky58@gmail.com

December Meeting

Noon, Thursday, December 14, 2017

Deerfield Methodist Church

Cost per meal is $10, payable to Watauga Unit, NCRSP

Program: The December program will be an ensemble of the WHS Orchestra, led by Will Selle, who is in his 10th year at WHS. He’s originally from Brevard, where Dr. Scott Elliott was his principal in middle school. Dr. Elliott will speak briefly following the music, primarily to answer any questions or concerns our members might have. Please join us for some delightful seasonal music and to get an update on Watauga County Schools from the superintendent.

If you don’t RSVP via email or receive a call from one

of our volunteer callers, please call

Becky Steele at 828-295-3045 before 8 PM on Friday, December 8,

or email her at steelebecky58@gmail.com.

To bring: - as much non-perishable food as you can for the Health & Hunger Coalition. Powdered milk, soup, oatmeal, pasta products, canned fruit, peanut butter, and vegetables, ANYthing non-perishable will be acceptable. Please remember that boxes of staples are preferable to plastic bags because they’re less destructible. Did you know that more than 400 children receive food on Fridays to feed themselves during the weekend? PLEASE help.

- medicine bottles, Box Tops for Education

- all your loose change. We want our scholarship program to continue, and for that to happen, we

need all those lovely, noisy nickels and dimes and quarters.

If you have time, please plan to stay for just a few minutes after the meeting

to help clean our meeting space.

President’s Message

Greetings!

It’s that time of year again when we think of our friends and loved ones, and of all our many blessings. We all hope that we have touched lives in some way, and helped make life better for the less fortunate.

As we anticipate our December 14^th meeting, we look forward to continuing our tradition of having holiday music, this year played by an ensemble of the Watauga High School orchestra, directed by Will Selle. Celebrating with our own students is always a treat! In addition, Dr. Scott Elliott, Superintendent of Watauga County Schools, plans to give us a brief update on the status of our schools.

Coming up in May 2018 is our officer election, an event that occurs every 2 years. While Jane Rogers will be our president, we are looking for a vice-president. Send in your recommendations or your self-nomination, to me or to any of our officers. Our treasurer, Linda Seamster, and our Red Pencil editor, Becky Steele, have agreed to continue on in their positions, as have several of the committee chairs. We will need a Community Participation chair to replace Candace Hall, who has served our unit so well over the years.

My gratitude to each of you for who you are and for all that you do to help others. Best wishes to you and your families for a safe Christmas season and a productive and healthy 2018!

Wishing you peace and joy,

Mary Linda Dooley

Be sure to check out our website: wcrsp.blogspot.com

Treasurer’s Report

Treasurer’s Report for Watauga Unit of NCRSP

As of 16 November 2017

Shares Account $ 32.73

Money Market $ 3274.21

Checking Account

Beginning Balance $5820.77

Income: Expenses:

Interest (Sept) $ 1.38 Checking Account Fee (Sept) $ 1.00

DEP. Scholarship Donation (1) $ 10.00 Ck#1095 USPO: Transmittal Form $ 2.96

DEP. 4th quarter dues $ 113.23 Ck#1096 Precision Printing: RP $ 44.19

DEP. Lunch Collected: August $ 360.00 Ck#1097 USPO: RP Postage $ 24.50

DEP. Scholarship Donations $ 208.39 Ck#1098 DUMC: Venue $ 30.00

Ck#1099 BBQ: Food $ 175.00

Interest (Oct) $ 1.09 Checking Account Fee (Oct) $ 1.00

Ck#1100 S. Kader: Membership Comm. $ 20.51

Interest (Nov) $ 1.28 Checking Account Fee (Nov) $ 1.00

Total Income: $ 695.37 Total Expenses: $ 300.16

Ending Balance $6215.98

Dedicated Amounts included in Ending Balance:

Grant Funds: Committees $1614.22-20.51 Balance $1593.71

Scholarship Funds $1466.24+218.39 Balance $1684.63

Grant Funds: Avery $324.57-17.76 Balance $ 306.81

Approved by Executive Board

Linda Seamster

Watauga Unit Treasurer

Membership News

Welcome New Members!

The Membership Committee continues to recruit new members to NCRSP, and thanks everyone who has already helped to recruit new members since the end of last school year.

If you know of any other retiree who may be interested in joining NCRSP, please invite them to come to our next meeting.

You can contact me, Saralyn Kader, at saralynkader@gmail.com, or call 295-9414 and I'll send them information.

Heartline - News from our NCRSP

Family

Ask Nanci Tolbert Nance where she’s been lately and she’ll tell you all about a chilly week in New York. While she was there, she attended four plays, visited the 9/11 Museum and the One World Trade Observatory, window-shopped in the Christmas markets in Bryant Park and Grand Central Station and the farmers’ market in Union Square, and walked about 4 miles a day!

The 2017 recipient of our recognition for outstanding community volunteer, Mary Hazel Mast, celebrates the Big 9-0 on the 17th of December. Congratulations, Mary!

Becky Steele’s daughter, Ashlyn (a teacher at Hardin Park), married Dusty Yates in mid-October at the gazebo in Broyhill Park in Blowing Rock.

Dot Barker’s youngest grandson, Turner Trivette, will graduate from ASU on December 16, with a degree in construction management.

Candace Hall enjoyed a trip to Portland, OR, to visit her son and family over Thanksgiving.

Joyce Alexander is back in Greenwood and looking forward to seeing everyone

when she returns in the spring.

Brenda Reese just returned from a tour of New York City. This is the first time she has seen it decorated for Christmas! “It didn't disappoint!” she said.

Looking for a unique and simple way to make a difference to education? Go to www.donorschoose.org (that’s org, not com), a site where teachers across the nation can post the needs they have in their own classroom. Donate a little or a lot. Donate in honor or in memory of a colleague, your kids’ teachers, or even one of your own mentors in education. Click through your choices, select one close to your heart, and remember how you felt when you provided your own books, pencils, bulletin board materials, videos, recordings, and on and on and on.

IRS Warns of Christmas Email Phishing Scams

As we enter the holiday season, please be ever vigilant not to have your holidays ruined by falling victim to phishing scams that seem to become even more prevalent this time of year.

“With the approach of the holidays and the 2018 filing season, the IRS, state tax agencies and the nation’s tax industry are urging Americans to be on the lookout for new, sophisticated email phishing scams that could endanger their personal information and next year’s tax refund.”

To read the full article, and to get tips on how not to fall for the scams, go to:

http://www.cpapracticeadvisor.com/news/12383681/irs-warns-of-christmas-email-phishing-scams

Each December we include a seasonal recipe or two for your enjoyment. This year’s recipes come to us courtesy of Bill Watterson.

Quick Cherry Crisp Cobbler

1 large can of crushed pineapple with juice 1 box of yellow or white cake mix [dry]

2 cans of cherry pie filling 1 stick of margarine or butter [melted]

Procedure:

Spray a 9” x 13” pan with Pam. Pour pineapple with juice into pan. Spread cherries and filling over pineapple. Sprinkle dry cake mix over fruit. Drizzle margarine over cake mix. Bake at 300 degrees for 1 ½ hours, checking periodically.

BARBECUED TUNA

1 tbsp. vinegar 1/2 tsp. chili powder

1 tbsp. brown sugar Dash of dried onions

1 tbsp. mustard 1/2 cup tomato sauce

1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce 1 can of drained tuna

Procedure:

Mix all ingredients except tuna well and heat in a sauce pan! Mix heated ingredients into drained, chopped up tuna and serve on buns as sandwiches. Tastes like pork barbecue!

On the Light Side ~ The Optimist

Little Susie had been born with a sunny disposition, and was the most optimistic kid anybody had ever seen.

She loved people and animals, and no matter what happened, she always saw the bright side.

She was also an artistic girl. So one Christmas, her parents got her a big bag of clay for making pottery. They put it on the back porch next to a bag of horse manure for the garden.

On Christmas Eve, dad wrapped the presents. It was a little dark on the porch, and as you may have guessed, he wrapped the manure by mistake, instead of the pottery clay.

On Christmas morning, Susie was excited to see what Santa had brought her. When she finally got to unwrap her big present, her parents watched with anticipation to see how much she liked her clay.

When Susie opened the package, and then the bag inside containing several pounds of stinky horse manure, the parents were aghast.

But before they could apologize, Susie said, “Oh boy! I got a pony!

NCRSP Volunteer Hours

The total number of hours volunteered for the 2017 year, as of October, is 2369.5 There are 542 hours spent in education, which is below where we were at this point last year, and 1827.5 hours considered “other.” Remember that the time you spend in a meeting for WCRSP can be counted in the "other" category. That means that you can add 2 hours to your time in December for being at the meeting. For those of you attending the December meeting but not turning in a volunteer form, I will count your attendance with a volunteer time of 2 hours.

Also, please remember that any preparation time for teaching, as well as the actual teaching time, can be counted as education, whether it is for Sunday School, music, voice, gardening, or arts and crafts, etc.

The hours for 2017 need to be turned in to me by January 10, 2018. At that time I will be

sending the totals and member with the highest volunteer hours on to the regional chair. Once again, you may call or email me with those hours. Many thanks for all you're doing as volunteers in our community!

On another note, many thanks to those who brought books for Santa’s Toy Box. They will make great additions to the gifts given to children this year.

Candace Hall