August 10th, St. John's United Church of Christ
Welcome/Call to Order:
President Eileen McNally welcomed 49 members that included 4 guests.
Church Minister Rev. Mark Katrick then also welcomed us to the church today.
The theme for this month was "Think Positively!" Eileen again reminded all to NOT take your friends loved ones for granted, be thankful and be positive in all your situations in life.
The church group then served lunch.
Program:
First, Eileen introduced the 3 teachers who were our first $200 Grant Recipients for "starting up" your classroom! Jessica Jensen, Caitlin Skeese, and Joanna Mawhorr were introduced and thanked us and shared what they did with the funds for their classroom.
Next, Kelly Barone from STRS spoke to update us on topics of interest, specifically changes in Health care issues for Medicare and Non Medicare retired teachers. In order to continue health care benefits for Ohio retired teachers, unfortunately costs will go up, and some parts of the program will be phased out/discontinued. She reminded us that sometime in the future, health care would no longer be offered as part of STRS benefits.
Treasurer's Report:
Treasurer Debby Shelly reports: Checking Account: $1,486.79 Savings: $1,144.39 CD: $4,750.18 Scholarship: $6,839.27
*$109 was collected at April meeting for the Dog Pound/Animal Shelter.
*Today we collected $58 for food pantry/plus personal care items
*$151 in donations towards Scholarships! Great Job everyone!
Secretary's Report:
Members are encouraged to look at the minutes at each table, and after each meeting on our website. Any corrections/changes/additions, please contact Linda Leffel or Eileen McNally.
Reminder that Linda will also be taking over the Courtesy/Care & Concern job of sending out cards to those needing lifted up by LCRTA. Please add names/addresses if you have them to our notebook displayed at meetings OR call/email Linda between meeting for those in need.
Community Affairs/Volunteering:
David Greene again reminded us about getting in any volunteer hours to him...we are vital to our community and should be recognized for our volunteering.
David has been very involved with the local "Freedom School" this summer, and shared that for those interested, there will be a ending picnic at Moundbuilders Park on August 27th.
another community film on Immigration will be shown at the Glassblowers Workers Hall on Hudson Ave. Thursday, Sept. 22, at 7 PM.
Membership:
Jean talked about the problems we are unfortunately still having getting our Luncheon Reservations in and on time, and again reminded all that many of our venues are shopping /preparing for our Wednesday lunch the weekend before. We want to be sure we have enough food for everyone, so we can't have too many additions.
*Please note: From this point on, if you call in a reservation past the deadline, you will be put on a "waiting list", until we can talk with the venue and see how many extras they can serve.
New Business/Other Announcements of Importance:
Next year's lunch venues:
Reserving venues for future luncheons has been a real challenge, and Eileen and others have spent a lot of hours on this. Eileen presented to membership that we now go to our Aging Center's Heritage Hall on East Main Street for ALL our luncheons except for February (still going to Stacey's as we can cancel due to weather at the last moment). Creative Catering seemed to be the best bet, charging $13 all-inclusive, for a hot meal with dessert, etc. Following hearing all facts, Eileen called for a vote, and it passed in favor of going to Heritage Hall for next year.
C-Tec is developing a program where they will have "Mock Interviews" for their students prior to having them go out into the workforce, and are asking for volunteers to help conduct the interview with these students. The interviews will be done on March 13-17, 2017, and help on any of those days would be appreciated. More on this event will be sent out to us soon.
Sandy Holcombe has offered to take over the duties of our "In Memoriam" December presentation, to honor any members who have passed away during the year.
Our next meeting is Wednesday, October 12th, 12 Noon, at Utica United Methodist Church.
Our program will be Marilyn Stocker sharing about her "Suitcase Theatre" group.
Pantry donations will be Laundry items
Respectfully submitted,
Linda Leffel
LCRTA Secretary