CLUB: Livingston County Retired Teachers Association

Members of the Livingston County Retired Teachers’ Association gathered at the Elks Club in Pontiac for their first meeting of the year on Tuesday, April 16. A buffet breakfast preceded the meeting.

A moment of silence was held for those LCRTA members who had passed away since the October meeting. The members recognized were: Roger Coventry, Elaine Young, Laura Bruer, Russell Munch, Dorothy Attig, Patricia Johnson, Joanne Mullen, Larry Exton, Eileen Weller and John Reis.

Students from Odell Grade School, under the direction of Sandy Erickson, presented some highlights from their recent musical entitled “On with the Show.” In addition to the group numbers, Glorianna Birkett, Ashlyn Heddins and Emma Reichardt sang solos.

During the business meeting led by President Marjorie Ehrhardt, Bob Walters was elected to serve as co-vice president for the remainder of the year. The budget was presented and passed.

In addition, the proposed revisions to the LCRTA Constitution and by-laws were presented for consideration and will be voted on at the June meeting. The standing rules were also available, but do not require action from the members. They were approved by the unit board.

Committee reports were given by Alberta Kinate, Membership Chair, and Don Gibb, Legislative Chair. It was also announced that the new yearbook and directories for the 2019 year were ready and could be picked up after the meeting. Those remaining would be delivered or mailed to the members not present.

Navana Ahrends, IRTA Area 1 Region 7 Director, made her official visit to the unit. She highlighted some things that were currently happening with the IRTA that members should be aware of.

The most important thing was to vote for the endorsed candidate for TRS Annuitant, Doug Strand. All members and others who receive a pension from TRS should have received a ballot either by email or postal mail on April 1. The voting period started April 1 and ends May 1 at 10:00 a.m. It is very important that IRTA be represented on the TRS Board.

Other items included a reminder that the Excellence in Education Active Teacher Grant Application is due by June 1. Any public school teacher in pre-k through 12 are eligible to apply. Information concerning this and the application is available on the IRTA website: irtaonline.org.

Also, the Area 1 Leadership Training Sessions will be held June 18 and 19. The training session for June 18 will be at IVCC in La Salle/Peru. The one on June 19 will be at the Holiday Inn in Moline/Rock Island.

The cost for registration is $15.

President Ehrhardt then introduced the State Vice President of IRTA, John Flaharty, who was in attendance to introduce the endorsed candidate for TRS Annuitant, Doug Strand. Flaharty explained how and why Doug was chosen from among nine candidates interviewed for the position to represent IRTA on the TRS Board. He was chosen by unanimous vote by the committee. One of the candidates who was not chosen, Cinda Klickna, has chosen to launch her own campaign for the position. That is why there are two candidates on the ballot. IRTA feels it is important that the person on the TRS Board representing IRTA should be in full agreement as to the purposes and philosophies of IRTA, which deal with teacher retirement issues, including pensions and health care issues.

Strand told a little of his background and why he is qualified for this role. He is a resident of East Moline and a member of the Blackhawk Unit of IRTA. He worked for a time with an accounting firm in Chicago; taught business and consumer economics at United Township High School; is serving on the East Moline police pension board; and is currently serving on the Black Hawk College board of trustees. He feels strongly about the position of the IRTA and would welcome the opportunity to represent the organization of the TRS Board.

The last speaker for the day was Lori Fairfield, who is a representative of the Association Member Benefits Advisors (AMBA). She presented a Powerpoint explaining the philosophy of AMBA and how it works with IRTA to provide benefits to members that are not provided by regular insurance companies. Fairfield particularly mentioned some of the newer benefits programs being offered, including: long-term care; cancer/heart/stroke; home healthcare; annuity care and the Medical Air Services Association (MASA) which deals with emergency assistance to members. They even offer pet insurance. All benefits offered by AMBA are reviewed and endorsed by IRTA.

The drawing for the 50/50 raffle was won by Shari VanHoveln. The money from the raffle goes into the scholarship fund. Door prizes were won by Marge Lucht, Karen Kehoe and Faye Exton.

The next meeting for the LCRTA will be held Thursday, June 20, at Indian Creek Country Club in Fairbury.