The Red Pencil 
The Newsletter of Watauga County Retired School Personnel
Vol.XVII, No.4, March 2015
March Meeting
Noon, Thursday, March 19, 2015
Deerfield Methodist Church
Cost per meal is $10, check payable to
Watauga Unit, NCRSP
Program: Jennifer Warren will tell us briefly about WYN, the Western Youth Network, and the ways in which we can help mentor kids. Amber Bateman, creator and coordinator of Quiet Givers, will provide the latest information on QG and update us on the status of the Back2School Festival in which we participated last year.
We will also be รง voting for NEA delegates to the national convention.
Bring as much non-perishable food as you can manage for the Hunger Coalition. Especially needed right now are peanut butter, canned tuna or chicken, oatmeal and other breakfast cereals, and canned vegetables – except for green beans, which would appear to be plentiful at the moment. As always, boxes and cans of food are preferable to plastic bags that can split and spill.
Also, 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.
Special Meeting Announcements:
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.
{Stuff: Scattered throughout this issue of The Red Pencilis “stuff” that you didn’t know you needed to know. Look for interesting trivia marked with a #.}
Can you believe that three months have passed since our last meeting? I look forward to our March meeting knowing that spring warmth is just around the corner. It is difficult for me to believe that I have been retired for ten years. Retirement for me and for many of us would not have been possible without our NC State Teachers pension, but I have not seen many raises during the past ten years.
We are reminded by Janet Crowell, NC Treasurer, that when we hear the word ‘cola,’ we might think of a cold drink on a hot summer day, but as NC retirees, we should know that COLA stands for Cost of Living Adjustment. Our Treasurer states that even a small increase offers a "refreshing relief" and help with our monthly bills. She also noted in her latest update that she manages one of the most solid pension systems in the nation.
Crowell has recommended a 1% COLA to the legislators, which would be a monthly increase of $17.20 for a retiree with an annual pension of $20,650. Our State Treasury has benefited from the last three years of economic recovery and it is important that our legislators support Crowell's recommendation for a 1% COLA.
Another benefit we enjoy is the exemption of NC taxes from the Bailey Decisions which means that the North Carolina may not tax certain retirement benefits received by retirees of the State of North Carolina. Teachers/retirees must have five or more years of creditable service before August 12, 1989 to qualify. The last group of retirees eligible for these benefits will be retiring this year. We are appreciative to the RSP and active members who saw the injustice at the time and won in the courts our Bailey benefits. We also are thankful to the NCAE lobbyists who work on our behalf. In conclusion, I have listed four recommendations we must encourage our legislators to support to ensure our quality of life:
First; a COLA for Teachers in the State Employment Retirement System (TSERS) to stay even with the cost of living;
Second; protection for our State Health Plan with no decreases in benefits;
Third; support for the continuation of a Defined Benefitpension program and opposition to any movement toward a Defined Contribution plan;
Finally; maintainance of the State budget in 2015-2016 to sustain the Annual Required Contribution to the Teachers' & State Employees' Retirement System.
Let’s work towards these goals and continue to stand as gatekeepers of our retirement program.
Happy 2015,
Lee
State NCRSP Convention Meets in Raleigh
The state convention is March 17 and 18 in Raleigh. 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 17th, is $40 per person. Please call Dot for more information.
#Men can read smaller print than women can; women can hear better.
A special note to our callers from Margaret Sigmon: Pleasemark your calendars to begin phoning the names on your call list Monday, March 9. I need names by Saturday evening March 14 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.
265- 7254 cell
# Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair.
Each year, as you know, we give $1000 to a graduating senior who plans to become a teacher. Our March meeting is the last chance we will have this year to contribute to the scholarship fund, and we’re hoping you’ll bring all your loose change and maybe a check or two. Also, consider making a donation to the fund in honor or in memory of a colleague. 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.
At this meeting, we will have a $50 gift certificate to Stick Boy Bread Company which we will raffle off. Tickets are $5 each, or, as Janice Burns says, 5 for $25.
# 111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321
(Oh, where is Kate Peterson when we need her? She would have LOVED this one!)
Keep up with those volunteer hours!
Candace Hall has totaled our 2014 volunteer hours and found that as a unit, we donated 9212 hours! It’s important to understand that the number could have been SO MUCH higher if YOU had turned in your forms, too! Candace will be collecting your form for just January, February, and March at our meeting. Complete this form and bring it with you to be in the drawing for a treat. TO BE ELIGIBLE, ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS TURN IN A FORM; THE NUMBER OF HOURS YOU HAVE RECORDED DOESN’T MATTER.
NCRSP Community ParticipationVolunteer Hours 2015
Name ______________________ Unit Watauga County District 3
Category
|
Jan
|
Feb
|
Mar
|
Apr
|
May
|
Jun
|
Jul
|
Aug
|
Sep
|
Oct
|
Nov
|
Dec
|
Total
|
Education
|
x
|
x
|
x
|
x
|
x
|
x
|
x
|
x
|
x
| ||||
Other*
|
x
|
x
|
x
|
x
|
x
|
x
|
x
|
x
|
x
|
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.
# Half of all Americans live within 50 miles of their birthplace.
What’s New that You Need to Know:
❖ A recent issue of The Watauga Democrat featured an entire page on the late Jerry Burns, editor of The Blowing Rocket for 44 years, and a new exhibit at BRAHM based on Jerry’s life and photography. Front and center in the article is a picture of Jerry’s widow, our own Janice Burns. Congratulations, Janice, on a well-deserved tribute to one of our finest citizens.
❖ 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 264-8596or franklin160954@bellsouth.net.
# What do bulletproof vests, fire escapes, and windshield wipers have in common? They were all invented by women.
Time Marches On: You know you’re living in 2015 when:
1. You accidentally enter your PIN number on the microwave.
2. You haven’t played solitaire with real cards in years.
3. You pull up in your own driveway and use your cellphone to see if anyone is home to help you carry in the groceries.
4. Every commercial on TV has website at the bottom of the screen.
5. You think to yourself, “I’ll Google that” when you can’t remember your own zipcode.
6. You get up in the morning and check your email before getting your coffee.
7. You start tilting your head to smile. : )
8. You’re reading and nodding and laughing.
Watauga County NCRSP
451 Poplar Hill Dr.
Boone NC 28607
December Meeting
President’s Message
If you can stay behind after our meeting to help clear tables and clean the kitchen, you’ll be a Christmas angel for sure. Margaret works so hard to get the fellowship hall ready for us and Beth makes it look pretty. Doing a little KP is a great way to say thank you.
Book Nook: Need something wonderful and inspirational to read this winter? Try two wonderful books, Sue Monk Kidd’s The Invention of Wings, the true story of two sisters in Charleston in the 1800’s who were at the forefront of the women’s movement and the anti-slavery movement, and Daniel James Brown’s The Boys in the Boat, about a ragtag bunch of American kids who became a winning rowing team in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Both of these books are available on Kindle or in real, honest-to-goodness paper.
From the Western Youth Network, Candace Hall
What Food Banks Need Most – and Least
Watauga County NCRSP