2016 October Agenda

 STEVENS POINT AREA RETIRED TEACHERS’ ASSOCIATION (SPARTA) 

THE MEETING WILL BE AT THE SKY CLUB, PLOVER, WI 

Monday, Oct. 10, 2016 

AGENDA 

(Somewhat flexible…the best-laid plans of men and mice…….) 

Socialize @ 11:00; Lunch @11:45; Program @12:20; Business Meeting @ 12:50 

SPARTA OFFICERS 

President: Santha Bickford Co-Secretaries: Lauren Isberner, David Blado 

Vice/President Elect: VACANT Co-Treasurers: Jan Langton, Arvalea Crawford 

Immediate Past President: Joyce Chekouras 

Meeting Greeters: SPARTA Officers 

BUSINESS MEETING: 

Call to order; Pledge of Allegiance; Time of reflection; Guests and New Members Introductions; Drawing for door prize 

Consent Agenda/ Officers’ Reports: Minutes of previous meeting (automatically approved unless corrected); Treasurers’ report; Committee updates 

PROGRAM: Create Portage County: “New Life for Downtown” Presented by Greg Wright 

ONGOING: 

1. SPARTA Committees (opportunities) 

2. Book Sale update 

3. WREA Convention Report 

COMMITTEE REPORTS: Committee chairs: 

Legislative: Joyce Chekouras (handouts from convention) 

Social: Eileen Payne (No SPARTA trips are planned until spring. Lincoln Center has a trip to Green Lake for the Clauson Family Christmas show on Dec. 10. See Eileen or Santha for details.) 

Program: Santha Bickford (Programs are in the planning stage. They hope to be firmed up and announced at the November meeting!) 

Book: Nancy Kemmeter, Janeen Kwarciany (HELP is needed for the October Book Sale Oct. 19-22) 

Sunshine: Suzanne Fee, Mary Beth Anday 

Membership: Mary Ann Krems (The membership team is organizing for the year and will convene a meeting in October to set goals. WREA is offering suggestions that will be considered. New members are always welcome to join.) 

Audit: Eileen Payne, Arvy Crawford, Barb Clementi (Work completed for the year.) 

Retirement planning: Joyce Chekouras, Judy Zimmerman (It was decided that we will schedule a meeting for current employees contemplating retirement in fall of 2017.) 

Scholarship: Mary Ann Krems (Active in spring.) 

Health Care Advance Directives: Joan Gilles (A workshop to help you complete a Power of Attorney for Health Care will be held on Friday, Oct. 7, at the Lincoln Center. Register by calling 715 346 1401.) 

Volunteer Hours Recorder: Joyce Chekouras (Remember, volunteer hours are reported in September. It’s time to pick up your new log for the 2016-17 year.) 

Data: Jan Langton, Jack Allgaier 

Historical: Eileen Payne (Please check out the scrapbooks on your tables! Eileen and her predecessors have done a marvelous job of preserving the history of our organization and our members!) 

Health: Jerry Kasdorf submitted this article by Berkely Wellness: 

================ The Accident-Prone Personality? ============== 

Highway-safety experts rarely, if ever, use the word “accident”- they speak of “crashes” instead. That’s because “accident” implies a random event, out of human control, whereas a “crash” is something that can be predicted and avoided. Many “accidents” in the home (such as falls and burns) and workplace are also predictable and could be prevented if we simply thought about them differently and took precautions. 

Every year about thirty million Americans are injured seriously enough to end up in the emergency room-and many more simply go to their doctors or injuries or limp around untreated. Unintentional injuries are a leading cause of death and disability especially among the young as well as the very old. 

Personality or Circumstance 

We all know people who seem to have one accident after another. Is there such a thing as an “accident-prone” personality? This remains controversial. Some studies have found inks between accidents and certain traits-such as over-confidence, aggressiveness, chronic anger and lack of conscientiousness-but overall research has yielded inconsistent results. In any case, we all may become prone to injury because of factors such as the following: lack of sleep, alcohol, medications, poor health, emotional stress, distraction, poor “situational awareness”, and unsafe products and environments. 

Some Accident Insurance 

Take the obvious steps. Don’t drink and drive. Wear safety belts. Don’t phone and text while driving or walking. Fence in swimming pools. If you own a firearm, keep it locked up and unloaded. Try to get enough sleep. Read labels on medications to see if they can cause impairment or ask the pharmacist. Make your home fireproof, childproof, and fall proof. And so on. 

If you’ve been having more than your share of accidents, or a member of your family has, take that as a warning sign. If you’ve been under lots of stress, consider getting professional help. At a minimum, slow down, try to block out distractions, and be mindful of what you are doing. Know your limitations and follow safety rules, even for something as simple as climbing a ladder or slicing a bagel 

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New Business: 

1. EDUCATION WEEK/Individual School Initiative, Letters to the Editor 

2. Nominees for the AARP Community Service Award 

3. Grant Committee formation 

4. New ideas: A blog or website for our unit, tee shirts or other articles of clothing with our logo, others? 

Treasurer’s Report: September 2016 

For security reasons, financial details not listed on the website

Next Meeting: November 14, 2016 

November Program: “We Help War Victims” presented by Jim Harris 

REMEMBER: Call in your Nov. lunch reservations to Mary Ann Krems 715 344 2453 or email jmak@charter.net by noon on Thursday Nov. 10. Please let Mary Ann know if you have special dietary needs. If you plan to pay for your meal by check, please make it payable to the Sky Club for $15.00 to cover the cost of the meal and tip, plus the privilege of using the meeting room. 

Remember there will be a door prize: a free meal at the next meeting. 

T O U G H L O V E 

We have been padding our numbers of reservations for lunch to compensate for late callers or folks who drop in. If you arrive without a reservation, a meal may not be available! On the flip side, if you make a reservation and do not attend the meeting, you will need to pay the cost of your meal! Thanks for the understanding.