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North Pinellas CountyRetired Educators Association

NEWSLETTER

Clearwater, Florida Vol. 43, Issue 1 Sept-Oct 2017

Coming up soon:

On Tuesday, September 12, we’ll

meet for a Welcome Back and sharing Summer Fun.We’ll also meet Liz Mooney, Marketing Coordinator,HEP/Helping People HelpThemselves. HEP provides a“Promise of Home,Enabling PositiveChange, EmpoweringResidents to ReclaimTheir Lives, Not YourAverage Shelter.” Lastspring, NPCREAparticipated in theMargaret PoppellLiteracy for LifeProject, and HEP wasthe recipient of our 228donated children’s books.

Our luncheon cost is $13, cash or check please.

Also bring items for Consulate Health Care, food forthe RCS Food Pantry, and a friend for us to meet.

We meet atClearwater Country Club

525 N. Betty Lane,Clearwater 33755N. Palmetto St.

Drew St.

Highland A

ve .

N. B

etty Lan e

Parking CountryClub

Parking

On Monday, October 9, District 6

members will meet at the north building of RegencyOaks off Sunset Point Road at 2751 Regency OaksBlvd, Clearwater, to plan events and objectives for our2017-18 year of retirement. Your check for $16 madeout to NPCREA and sent to Marie Grein at P.O. Box4248, Clearwater, FL 33758-4248, covers the cost ofthe workshop, inluding a large and varied continentalbreakfast and a full luncheon prepared by Regency Oakschefs.

This is an opportunity to meet up with other FREAmembers in our district. The morning begins with acontinental breakfast at 8:30 and then at 9:30 themeeting begins. This year there will be only one speakerand a very special breakout session. Officers will learnabout their roles, and you will have an opportunity to findout how FREA really works. For those who are notofficers or special chairpersons, there will be a funactivity. Regency Oaks is providing a scrumptious lunchwith all of the fixings. This year everything will be in onebuilding, so no one will have to walk across the RegencyOaks campus. As usual, there will be lots of table favorsto take away as well as door prizes. Mark yourcalendar for October 9 and send in your $16 check for awonderful day.

Our new FREA District 6 director, BrendaGuinn,will be leading this Workshop. Brenda moved toFlorida upon retiring from Fredericksburg, Virginia,Public Schools. In her 34 years in Special Education,She organized Exceptional Children’s Week inVirginiaand took children and families to meet with each Virginiagovernor from 1980 until her retirement. She served inmany positions for the Council for Exceptional Children,Association for Retarded Citizens, and Special Olympicsand was named “Teacher of the Year” for the State ofVirginia and “Special Education Teacher of the Year” forVirginia. She’s been retired and a member of SouthPinellas County REA for 9 years and lives in St.Petersburg with her husband and her dog, Buddy.

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From the President:

Bob Stephens

Please Don’t Forget:

RCS

Mark Your Calendars -

��Tuesday, September 12 at 11am, ClearwaterCountry Club, Welcome Back and SharingSummer Fun. Meet Liz Mooneyof HEP/Helping People Help Themselves.

��Friday, Sept. 22, 11 am. “Show Uner theStars” (celebrating the Autumnal Equinox),Fifth Aveunue Campus of St. PetersburgCollege, Free Admission, sponsored by SouthPinellas County REA

��Monday, October 9, District 6 meeting ofFREA, 8:30 am to 2:30 pm, Regency Oaks,2720 Regency Oaks Blvd, Clearwater (offSunset Point Road near Sylvan Abbey)

��No general meeting for NPCREA in October

��Tuesday, Nov. 14 at 11 am, ClearwaterCountry Club. Salute to Veterans plus MichaelKovacs, Financial Advisor, discussing newchanges to Long Term Care policies.

WELCOME BACK!!!! I hopeyou had an enjoyable summer andare ready to begin our 2017-2018year.

First, some “old business” fromthe past year. Congratulations to allour 2017 Country Fair Extravaganzawinners. The Country Fair was asuccess. Thank You for yourfinancial support. The Board of Directors are lookingforward to another successful Fair in May 2018. Am Iwishing my life away?

The state convention was also a “Hit.” Members ofNPCREA enjoyed the various programs and dinnersavailable. Please read about the Convention on page 3 ofthis newsletter and in the FREA Bulletin I hope you canattend the 2018 convention on May 23-25; details tofollow. Here I go again wishing my life away!

Now for the proposed upcoming events for 2017-2018. I have met with the Board of Directors, and we haveplanned an exciting year. We begin September 7 (notplanned by us but a reason to party). All members areinvited to Libby’s Birthday/Retirement Party. The party isfrom 1-4 pm at the state office on 9th Street N. St. Pete. Please RSVP to Anne at the state office. Libby is going toretire after 29 years with FREA. We are all going to missher, but as we know “retirement is fun.”

Our first meeting of the year will be on Tuesday,Sept.12, at 11am at Clearwater Country Club. We willshare our experiences of this summer. Plan to attend andbring a “retired educator.” We will have door prizes, Sharethe Wealth, and Val’s End of Summer Basket. Please bringbooks to share, food goods for RCS, and socks and t-shirtsfor Consulate Care of Safety Harbor.

I want to thank all of you for attending our two pre-school events: Retired Educators Do Not Have to Report toPre-School Planning luncheon at Grimaldi’s Pizzeria andRetired Educators Do Not Have to Report to the First Dayof School Breakfast at Tiffany’s. At these events youcontributed over 100 lbs. of school supplies to the PinellasEducation Foundation and the Mattie WilliamsNeighborhood Family Center.

I am looking forward to visiting with you on Tuesday,September 12.

Bob Stephens

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Thank you to the 2017Patrons of our Newsletter:

ANN BELL

JEANNETTE CRABBE

ANNE CRUM

PATRICIA DALTON

VIRGINIA DAVIS

JUANITA DEESON

MARIE GREIN

KAY KENNEDY

CAROLE POPE

RICHARD POPE

FLORENCE RENTON

ROBERT STEPHENS

VAL STEPHENS

PHYLLIS WALLS

HELEN WILCOX

FREA Convention Reportby Bob Stephens

Roger “The Don”Cuevas, President ofFREA, welcomed membersto the FREA stateconvention on Wednesday,May 24, 2017. After thebusiness meeting, Ms.Helen Shaw, Trustee ,District VI, conducted theMemorial Serviceremembering and honoringretired educators who havepassed away.

The afternoon meetingsfeatured Ash Williams, Executive Director and ChiefInvestment Officer of the Florida State Board ofAdministration. and Kristi Daniels, President of Thrive 9to 5 LLC. Ms. Daniels spoke to us on the subject of howto attract new members.

Mr. Williams spoke on the subject, Security of ourPension (FRS). His key point: As long as our legislatorsleave our pensions alone, our pensions (FRS) are verystrong. “If it’s not broke, don’t fix it!” But, as we haveseen in this year’s legislative session, our legislature isunpredictable. Therefore I encourage all members ofNPCREA to encourage their friends to become amember of NPCREA;there is strength innumbers.

Our District6 meetingintroduced us to our newDirector, Brenda Guinn. It was sad to say good-bye to Jane Lee, butBrenda has accepted thechallenge to continue thework of Ms. Lee. Immediately, Brendareached out for ideasfrom all 6 units. Pleasecontact Brenda if youhave specific ideas that would strengthen our Association.

On Wednesday we enjoyed an elegant evening offrivolity, mayhem and murder at the 1920’s Mystery

Dinner Theatre: Crime andPunishment. As you mayhave seen in the FREABulletin, members dressedin various outfits of the era. Clues of the murder led toAmanda’s Team, consistingof Val Stephens, Sue Frey,Marylou Kelley, Jane Lee,Bob Stephens, Jan Wallisand Brenda Guinn, solvingthe mystery.

Thursday night’sentertainment was highlighted

by the Rockin’ Rogelio’s Jug Band. We had a “HoeDown” with professional square dance performers, andour DJ played music for us to “line dance and squaredance” the night away.

Friday morning we had our final meeting. Mr. WilliamBoysinger, winner of the FREF Practicing EducatorGrant, “Showed Off” his elementary school’s work withrobots. What a program. We also heard the 5th GradeEssay winner, Volunteer of the Year, and other awards. Extravaganza winners of the $100 District prize includedDistrict VI winner, Val Stephens.

Closing comments were made by President Cuevasand they included telling us the site of the 2018 FREAState Convention. Next year’s state convention will be inMay at the Altamonte Springs Hilton. Hope you canattend. The expense is well worth the effort.

Brenda Guinn, District 6 Director

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August 1 - Lunch at Grimaldis PizzeriaWe Don’t Have to Go Back to Work for Pre-Planning

Joanne Lentino, School Board member, spoke of her plans forPinellas schools with our lunch group at Grimaldis

NPCREA members began arriving at 11 am atGrimaldis Pizzeria at Countryside Mall. Theybrought school supplies to donate to the in PinellasEducation Foundation. All enjoyed their freedomfrom having to report to school for pre-planning,and everyone enjoyed the delicious pizza andcalzone specials offered at Grimaldis. JoanneLentino of the Pinellas County School Board joinedus for lunch and was kind enough to answer ourquestions and share her vision for Pinellas CountySchools.

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August 10 - Breakfast at Tiffany’sWe Don’t Have to Go Back to School on Opening Day

Breakfast began at 8 a.m.at Tiffany’s Restaurant onU.S.19 in Palm Harbor.Breakfast began with freepastries on the tables and anendless pot of coffee beingpoured into our cups.

We left at 11 am,completely stuffed with thesumptuous breakfasts from thevaried menu at Tiffany’s.

Members donated bagsand bags of school supplies,which Bob and Val delivered tothe Mattie WilliamsNeighborhood Center in SafetyHarbor.

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DISTRIBUTING BOOKS TO CHILDREN(THE MARGARET POPPELL LITERACY PROJECT 2016-7) by Sue Frey

On March 23, 2017, NPCREA once againgenerously donated 228 books to the HomelessEmpowerment Program Learning Center on North BettyLane in Clearwater in honor of the FREA MargaretPoppell Literacy for Life Project. Thank you to all of themembers who donated money and books. We rock!!!

Children at HEP choose their reading books

Sue Frey (back row left) with some of the children and theirnewly chosen books.

Editor’s Note:

We received these photos and the article too late to includethem in last year’s April-May newsletter. Thank you Sue Frey,our NPCREA Volunteer of the Year, for collecting anddistributing 228 children’s books to the children at theHomeless Empowerment Project in Clearwater.

BRIDGE-A-RAMA ENDS YEAROn April 1, 28 bridge players attended the annual

end of the season Bridge-a-rama Luncheon atClearwater Country Club. The top three scorersreceived cash prizes: First prize went to Mayme Hodges,second prize to Anna Bangley,and third prize to BobSchneiter. We played cards, laughed, and had a deliciouslunch. Proceeds of Bridge-a-rama contributions aredonated to NPCREA.

The group will resume playing on the first Wednesday in October. If you are interested in joining the Bridge-A-Ramagroup, get in touch with Phyllis Walls. Phone number: 727-418-7025.

Erma Johnson, Jeanette Crabbe, Anna BangleyShirley Zuzack, Patsy Reeve, Bob Schneiter

Ginny Davis, Pat Bass, Mary Faust, Diane Johnson

Congratulations, first placewinner, Mayme Hodges!

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At our April and May Meetings:

May 9 - NPCREA’s Country Fair, a Success!

Thank you forparticipating in our 2017Country Fair. Your bidsin the Silent Auction andyour tickets for our BigRaffle helped raise over$450 towards ourscholarship programs.

Sue Frey wasannounced as ourVolunteer of the Year for2016-17.

Congratulations tothe following winners:

� Ed Baldwin - 3tickets to the May 20Tampa Bay Rays vsNew York Yankees

� Patricia Tiggett -$20

� Donna Lund -One round of golf for4 at the ClearwaterCountry Club

� Pat Dalton -Lunch/dinner for 4 atAnclote Brew inTarpon Springs at theSponge Docks

� Rosemarie Cerallo-O’Donnell - $25 giftcertificate, Grimaldi’s Pizzeria

� Emilie Carter - Gift certificate to an AMCTheater

� Faith Marie Enderle - $25 gift certificate,Grimaldi’s Pizzeria

� Rita Schmidt - Oil Change & Lube, Dick NorrisGMC

� Virginia Davis - Oil Change & Lube, DickNorris GMC

April 11 - A presentation by CathySalustri—Great Florida Road Trip. “US 98:Oysters, Mullet and Margaritas!”

Cathy Salustri, one of the editors of CreativeLoafing magazine in Tampa, spoke about driving Route98 through the Panhandle of Florida. Her formerteachers, Glenda Greenman and Marie Grein, enjoyedseeing the success of their former student. Several ofour members purchased copies of her book, “TheBackroads of Paradise.”

Lunch wasdelicious, grilled tilapia,corn casserole,coleslaw and greenbeans.

Marie Grein, ourtreasurer, announcedthat 42 scholarships arecurrently funded by theFREF at $1000 eachstudent per year.

Two members wonShare the Wealth; AnnBell won the EasterBasket.

Cathy Salustri, author and magazine editor, with her formerteacher, NPCREA member Glenda Greenman

Ann Bell shares information aboutgood health practices for seniors

Silent Auction Gift Tables

Sue Frey received a Certificate asNPCREA Volunteer of the Year

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Mary Burke60 Gibson St. #202Dorchester, MA 02122

Michael Ceraqolo-O’Donnell1340 Keene Rd. S.Clearwater, FL 33756

Joanne Cochran-Greenfield300 Exeter St.Oldsmar, FL 34677-3631

Glenda Greenman2470 Rhodesian Dr. #28Clearwater, FL 33763

Mary Louise Kelly2228 Swedish Dr., Apt. 36Clearwater, FL 33763-2741

Joanne Lentino7010 Boca Ciega Dr.St. Petersburg, FL 33706

Lora Mills5001 Orange Grove WayPalm Harbor, FL 34684-4032

Welcome, New Members of NPCREA!Please add these folks to your member directory:

Good news!NPCREA received a Unit of Excellence Awardfrom FREA, the only unit in District 6 to receivethe award, celebrating our reporting of volunteerhours and our collecting and donating activitiesthroughout the year. The award included a giftcard to Publix Supermarkets.

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Florida Retired Educators AsociationJuly 1, 2017 through June 30, 2018

Use this form to renew your memberrtship or to join North Pinellas County Retired Educators Associationand FREA

Please complete the entire application when mailing in dues. All information is confidential.

Mr.___ Mrs.___ Ms.___ Dr. ___ Other ____________

Your Name_______________________________________________________________________________

Mailing Address_______________________________________________________________

City ________________________ State _________ Zip__________ County ______________

Email (print in capital letters) ___________________________________________________

Telephone Number(s) __________________________________________________________

New Member_______________ Renewal _____________ Date Retired _________________________

Retired from County: __________________ Position at Retirement: _______________________________

Subject Area at Retirement:_____________________________________

NPCREA Dues $15FREA dues $35

TOTAL $50 Check Number _________________Optional Legislative Advocacy Donation? $ 4

$54Make check payable to NPCREA.

As you may know, Sue Frey is our Volunteerof the Year for 2017. District VI volunteer of theprevious year was Glenda Carpenter of theHernando County REA. Thanks to these twovolunteers and to you, a check representing over$9 million was displayed at the FREA Conventionin May. This check represents a value of over$24 an hour per volunteer that FREA has savedthe State of Florida.

Please keep count of your volunteer hours byfilling in the form to the right and giving it to AnnCrum at our monthly meetings. Please tell us inwhat capacity you volunteer.

VOLUNTEER SERVICESREPORT

Name:

Month:

Youth Adult

REA

Civic/Club

Hospital

Schools

Church

All Others

TOTAL ______ _____

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NPCREA newsletter is published five times each year: January, March, May, October andDecember by North Pinellas County Retired Educators Association, P.O. Box 4248, Clearwater, FL33758. Newsletter staff: Editor, Mary Blackmon, 727-348-0771. Assembly and mailing: BarbaraWatts and Florence Renton. Labels: FREA Office.

NPCREA OFFICERS FOR 2016-2018:PresidentBOB STEPHENS

CO-VICE-PRESIDENTSRICK & CAROLE POPE

TREASURERMARIE GREIN

RECORDING SEC.MARY BLACKMON

CORRESPONDING SEC.ANN CRUM

HISTORIANEMILIE CARTER

NORTH PINELLAS COUNTY

RETIRED EDUCATORS ASSOCIATION

P.O. BOX 4248CLEARWATER, FL 33758-4248