THE PULSE

CalSTRS website: https://calrta.org New Div. 8 website: CalRTADiv08@gmail.com

President Linda Carbajal 608 Portsmouth St. Bakersfield, CA, 93311 (661) 665-0371 Treasurer Denice Mettle 2608 5th St. Bakersfield, CA, 93304 (661-323-0210 Editor Marsha Parr 10205 Alyssum Ct., Bakersfield, CA, 93311 (661) 663-9306 Volunteers Laticia Ibarra 5616 Silver Crossing St. Bakers. CA, 93313 (661) 412-7019

Membership Helen Collins 4005 Adidas Ave. Bakersfield, CA, 93313 (661) 303-3044

Volume XXXXI, Issue 3 Your Partner in Pension Protection

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE —Linda Carbajal, President

I have to admit, I haven’t done a whole lot in my house during this 8-month Covid-19 Pandemic. I have friends who’ve posted on Facebook about the projects they’ve done since March: lots of baking, trying new recipes, cleaning out closets, cleaning out cupboards, painting rooms in the house. You get the idea. Well, not me! I’ve kept myself “entertained” by catching up on old TV shows and movies, PBS, etc., reading tons of books on my Kindle (due to a little osteoarthritis in my hands, I had to give up the books), and calling all out of state friends and family. I’ve perfected the art of NOT doing any kind of work!! LOL ! Several weeks ago, while looking for something deep in my cupboards, I came across a very old and weath-ered photo of my paternal grandpa. I was surprised to find it because I could have sworn I had given it to my cousin, Fred! Fred looks so much like our grandpa, that I thought he should have it. Put a soft fedora hat on Fred, trim his mustache, and he’s the spitting image of grandpa. I took the photo, along with one of my pater-nal grandma, Mama Kika, to one of our big-box stores and they did a fine job of restoring both photos. I had the photos duplicated, enough for my siblings and most of my cousins. After several days of looking at the photos sitting side by side on my dining room table, I started thinking of all the memorable events that have occurred in my rather large family. My grandparents immigrated from Mexico and all of my aunts and uncles were born in the U.S. In fact, dad was born at Kern General Hospital (now called Kern Medical Center), as was I. Yep, I am a 2nd generation Bakersfieldian! The pandemic has isolated so many of us from our family and friends. Finding my grandpa’s photo has sur-rounded me with so many wonderful memories of family who’ve passed away and those who are currently in my life. The photo has triggered so many laugh-filled conversations with some of my cousins. Although Thanksgiving will be small this year, I will feel so blessed. No matter how you celebrate this Thanksgiving, I hope that, you, too, will be able to smile remembering memories of your family. May you have a safe and blessed Thanksgiving. May this letter cause you to have great conversations with friends and family. STAY SAFE HAPPY THANKSGIVING STAY HEALTHY

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CalRTA Kern County - Division 8 Your Partner in Pension Protection Board of Directors Meeting Minutes

Zoom Meeting October 13, 2020

The meeting was called to order by President Linda Carbajal at 1:40 PM.

Present: Linda Carbajal, Karen Linder, Jan Peacock, Judith O’Brien, Julie Bedford, Anna Poggi, Jim Nors-worthy, Lori Hughes, Barbara Lovell, Pam Baugher, Marsha Parr, Irene Heath, Marcie Saiz, Denice Mettle, Kris Eastridge, Jim Mahoney, and Ramona Gia. Thanks to Irene Wetzel for setting up the meeting. 1. Secretary Ramona Gia presented the minutes of the Board meeting of August 18, 2020. Pam Baugh-er moved to accept the minutes as presented, Anna Poggi seconded, all agreed. 2. Treasurer Denice Mettle presented the Treasurer’s report for acceptance and audit. Jim Mahoney moved to accept and file the report, Judith O’Brien seconded, motion passed. 3. First Vice President Jim Norsworthy had no report. 4. Second Vice President Helen Collins was absent. 5. GRC Division 8 Chair Pam Baugher discussed the ongoing project to repeal WEP/GPO. She asks us to continue contacting our representatives to support the repeal. GRC Area VI Chair Barbara Lovell report-ed we need more Congressional supporters. Both agreed there will be no action taken until after the elections. They asked us to continue to pay attention to legislative alerts, vote, and get our ballots to a safe official drop box. 6. Committee reports: A. Scholarship Assoc. President Jan Peacock said all recipients have received scholarship checks. B. Classroom Grant Chair Kris Eastridge said New Teacher Grant applications went out on Sept. 25th. The grants go up to $300 each. Jan.15 is the deadline and she has already received four applications. C. PULSE Editor Marsha Parr said she is looking for a new editor for the PULSE. She will continue to pub-lish the newsletter and asks that anyone having materials important to our division members to please send them to her ASAP. D. Volunteer Hours Chair Latitia Ibarra was not present. Linda spoke to her and Latitia is asking members to continue to send in volunteer hours. Remember to include your name when you submit hours. If you sent hours to her by phone and did not give your name, call to check. Send hours from March 2020 to the present. E. Directory Chair Judith O'Brien has back issues of the PULSE and new directories. She will have them available when we resume our division meetings. We are down to 996 members. If you are working on re-cruiting new members, give them a copy of the PULSE. Judith has them. F. State President Jim Mahoney reported that state officials are working on the repeal of WEP/GPO. Pay at-tention to legislative alerts. He commended our organization for its commitment to community needs and ide-als. CalRTA gives away about $800,000 a year. He stressed the need to recruit new members. He will be working on building membership committees to do that. G. Division Meeting Chair Marci Saiz reported she will be recruiting helpers at our next general meeting. 7. Unfinished Business: By-laws Chair Irene Heath reported the subcommittee tabled by-laws chang-es until the resumption of general meetings. The group will meet to discuss how and when to present the changes to the division as a whole. 8. New Business: Treasurer Denice Mettle reported that our Pennies for Pines project contributions have been less this year. Each year we donate to Sequoia National Forest and the Kern River Corridor for res-toration and preservation. She asked that we allocate an additional $400 from our general funds plus the $600 already collected this year. Denice moved that we give $400 from the general fund to add to the $600 already collected. She will send checks for $500 each to the two organizations. Anna Poggi seconded the motion and all agreed. 9. Announcements and Reminders The next Board Meeting: Tentative Zoom meeting will be on Tuesday, November 10, 2020 at 1:30 PM Meeting was adjourned at 2:53. ---Ramona Gia, Secretary

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APPLICATION TO JOIN CalRTA Dues deduction $5.50 per month or $66 a year. (Life membership is no longer an op-tion) Dues deduction ____ ($5.50 per month from your STRS warrant) I authorize the State Teachers' Retirement system (STRS) to deduct my CalRTA dues. Should the amount of dues be adjusted, as deemed necessary by CalRTA, I authorize that the adjusted deductions shall continue unless I notify the CalRTA business office in writing to the contrary. To terminate dues deduction, I agree to make my request in writing to the CalRTA office. Other options: Cash $66 a year______ Social Security #_____________________ Telephone ( )_________________ Name______________________________ Retired from ______________________ Address____________________________ City_____________________ State______ Zip_______ Signature ___________________________________ Mail to: Helen Collins, 4005 Adidas Ave. Bakersfield, CA 93313

IMPORTANT DATES IN NOVEMBER November 1st - All Saints Day November 1st/2nd –Dia de los Muertos November 2nd –All Souls Day November 3rd –Election Day, VOTE! November 9th –World Freedom Day November 11th –Veterans’ Day THANK YOU! November 13th - World Kindness Day November 17th - World Peace Day November 26th - Thanksgiving Day November 27th - Black Friday November 29th - Advent Begins

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AS SEEN IN THE BAKERSFIELD CALIFORNIAN

—Submitted by Gil Gia, Historian

KHSA, Lynx Seek Donations for Homeless Students

The Kern High School District is partnering with Lynx, a local non-profit organization, for a Necessities Drive-Thru-Drop-Off Drive this week-end. According to a news release from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. The non-profit’s purpose is to link homeless students and students facing hardships enrolled in KHSD with clothing, school supplies, hygiene items and food to improve their quality of life. KHSD said that Lynx works closely with school site administrators, counselors and teachers to identify students in need of support, and that identified students can develop a “wish list” that Lynx strives to fulfill. Here’s a list of items needed: New male and female undergarments Teen girls’ clothing and shoes (new or gently

used) Teen boys’ clothing and shoes (new or gently

used) Hygiene items: body wash, deodorant, shampoo

and conditioner, sanitary items, and toothpaste. School supplies: back-packs, filler paper, ink

pens, pencils, highlighters and Sharpies Sleeping bags, twin-size air mattress Non-perishable food items: peanut butter, gran-

ola bars, instant oatmeal, protein shakes, canned items, pasta and sauce.

A tax-deductible receipt is available. For infor-mation, contact Lynx at 525-0940 or KHSDLynx@gmail.com. (Ed. Note: There was no date on the article, so I am imagining that the Saturday mentioned above may have already passed. If you would like to donate, you should probably call or email.)

CALIFORNIA RETIRED TEACHERS’ ASSOCIATION, KERN DIVISION

TAX-FREE DONATION FORM

Your tax-deductible gift may be made for New Teacher Grants by writing a check made payable to KCSOS ED.SERVICES FOUNDATION (write CalRTA New Teacher Grants on memo line) and send to Kris Eastridge, 2121 22nd Street, Bakersfield, CA 93301. NAME____________________________________________ ADDRESS____________________________ CITY_______________________STATE____ZIP_________ My gift of $________is Undesignated;__ On the occasion of: __ In memory of:__/In honor of: __ NAME__________________________________________ Please make my gift known to: Name_______________________________________ Address_______________________________________ **If this donation is for the SCHOLARSHIP ASSOCIA-TION “DOLLARS FOR SCHOLARS” please make checks payable to KDRT SCHOLARSHIP ASSOCIATION and send to: WALT BURROWS, 3412 Elm St., Bakersfield, CA 93301. **************************************************

JUST A THOUGHT —Marsha Parr, Ed.

As I was working on formatting the PULSE, I started thinking. Our temple did a “Fill the Foyer” event for the holiday of Sukkot (a harvest holiday). People brought non-perishables, even cases of food like mac and cheese, and ramen. These were taken to BC, since it is closest to Temple Beth El, and we know there is a lot of food insecurity on the east side of town. You may remember that KCalRTA members were bringing in non-perishables to our monthly meetings, and alternating the donations between BC and Cal State. Since we are not meeting currently, we have not been donating to these 2 venues. You might want to consider asking your churches to Fill the Foyer, so that hungry people will have more to eat during the pandemic. Or if you can’t do that, maybe you might take or send some food items to Cal State or BC, because they are still doing their food bank work. Ask a friend to help!

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Are You Ready for Some Relief????

—Pam Baugher, Legislative Liaison

Picture it – Wednesday, November 4, 2020, voting is over!!!!! While the results may not be known yet, there are reasons to smile. Your phone will be quieter. You should not be called for dona-tions, surveys, or requests to support or oppose a candidate or issue. Your mailbox will not be over-flowing with campaign materials. Your television watching will not be overloaded with political com-mercials. No more vote for or against those propo-sitions. No more attack ads against candidates. No more vote for me. Although the election results may or may not be what wanted when you voted, you can cele-brate in doing your civic duty. You have the right to vote, but also the responsibility. Seniors turn out in high numbers every election cycle. Whether you voted in person or by mail, you should be proud of that. So, sit back, relax, enjoy the quiet and the few-er trips to your recycle bin. ******************************************

DIRECTORY CHANGES —Judith O’Brien, Chair

PHONE HANLEY DAVID 661-333-3203 EMAIL ALDERETE JUANITA janieal@outlook.com COLLINS HELEN hcollins2@gmail.com NEW MEMBERS DE SHANE PATRICIA 8605 CHAUMONT CT BAKERSFIELD CA 93311-1502 661-664-0966 MEYER FRANK NELSON 12814 SHALLOW WATER CT BAKERSFIELD CA 93312-6501 661-333-3662 ADDRESSES JACOBUS PATRICIA 5902 PARK PLACE DR BAKERSFIELD CA 93306-7670 LONDON JULIE 123 W SPRINGVIEW DR SARATOGA SPRINGS UT 84045-5103

New Teacher Grants —Kris Eastridge, Chair

This Thanksgiving, I’m thankful for all of our teachers who are working so hard to meet their stu-dents’ needs virtually and especially to all of our new teachers beginning their career in this unusual manner. We’d like to honor as many requests as possible for CalRTA New Teacher Grants. You can help by making a donation with the form included in this newsletter. During the past month the fol-lowing donations have been made for new teacher grants. Thank you for your generosity! Name: In Honor/Memory of: Lori Hughes Her grandson’s 13th birthday

TREASURER’S REPORT —Denice Mettle/Julie Bedford

Beginning Balance $16, 897.80 (10/1/2020) Receipts $ 1, 755.93 Disbursements. $ 838.35 Ending Balance (10/26/2020) $17,805.38

In Memoriam November

—Judith O’Brienn, Chair

Marsha Funk

Estelle B. Lester Barbara C. Romley

Contact Judith for new directories.

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A TEACHER’S THANKSGIVING STORY (A Teacher Told Her Students to Draw What They Were Thankful for. This Was One Student’s Response) As this teacher learned, some of the most moving lessons are taught by students. When Mrs. Klein told her first graders to draw a picture of something for which they were thankful, she thought how little these chil-dren, who lived in a deteriorating neighborhood, actually had to be thankful for. She knew that most of the class would draw pictures of turkeys or of bountifully laden Thanksgiving tables. That was what they believed was expected of them. What took Mrs. Klein aback was Douglas’s picture. Douglas was so forlorn and likely to be found close in her shadow as they went outside for recess. Douglas’s drawing was simply this: A hand, obviously, but whose hand? The class was captivated by his image. “I think it must be the hand of God that brings us food,” said one student. “A farmer,” said another, “because they grow the turkeys.” “It looks more like a policeman, and they protect us.” “I think,” said Lavinia, who was always so serious, “that it is supposed to be all the hands that help us, but Douglas could only draw one of them.” Mrs. Klein had almost forgotten Douglas in her pleasure at finding the class so responsive. When she had the others at work on another project, she bent over his desk and asked whose hand it was. Douglas mumbled, “It’s yours, Teacher.” Then Mrs. Klein recalled that she had taken Douglas by the hand from time to time; she often did that with the children. But that it should have meant so much to Douglas …Perhaps, she reflected, this was her Thanksgiving, and everybody’s Thanksgiving—not the material things given unto us, but the small ways that we give something to others. (From Readers’ Digest)

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When did Thanksgiving Really Become Thanksgiving (Excerpt from a longer article by John Amble, director of the Modern War Institute) Thanksgiving Day did not become an annually observed national celebration until 1863, when Abraham Lincoln issued his own proclamation. Like its predecessors, this too was written in the contempo-rary context of a conflict that threatened the very viability of the United States as a sovereign, unified nation, “in the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity.” So today, while we enjoy our Thanksgiving traditions, we should take note of the ways in which the wars that we have fought have shaped our nation not only politically, but culturally and as a society, as well. We do not celebrate thanksgiving, but Thanksgiving. We celebrate it annually, as a nation, a unifying tradition that would not exist in such a form were it not for our collectively shared experiences of the conflicts that define our history. As such, there is perhaps no better day on which to reflect on the enormously important impact of our nation’s wars — past, present, and future. The full text of Lincoln’s 1863 proclamation is included below.

By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation

The year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and health-ful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added which are of so extraordinary a nature that they can not fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever-watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign states to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been main-tained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere, except in the theater of military conflict, while that theater has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national de-fense have not arrested the plow, the shuttle, or the ship; the ax has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege, and the battlefield, and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom. No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless re-membered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowl-edged, as with one heart and one voice, by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in for-eign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the as-criptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become wid-ows, orphans. mourners, or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the divine purposes, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity, and union. In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the city of Washington, this 3d day of October, A. D. 1863, and of the Independence of the United States the eighty-eighth. John Amble is the editorial director of the Modern War Institute. The entire article may be found at https://warontherocks.com/2016/11/thanksgiving-an-american-holiday-forged-in-war-2/

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MAKE RESERVATIONS Help us avoid the confusion of needing to set up

more tables at the last minute by making a reserva-tion. We want you to come! And we want to be

ready to seat everyone! CANCEL RESERVATION

You may cancel your reservation up until 9 a.m. on the day of the luncheon.

Verla Phillips 871-2559 Donna Warneke 587-0287 Mary Lou Lee 396-1331

Cost of lunch is $15.00. A reservation made is a

commitment to pay!

CALIFORNIA RETIRED TEACHERS KERN DIVISION P.O. BOX 6275 BAKERSFIELD, CA 93386-6275

YMANAGEMENT AT HODEL’S

HODELS HAS REQUESTED THAT OUR MEMBERS DO NOT ARRIVE FOR LUNCH BEFORE 10:30. IT INTERFERES WITH THE SET-UP OF THE ROOM. PLEASE&THANKS!

Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Permit No. 133 Bakersfield,

Kern County –Division 8

November, 2020

BECAUSE OF THE COVID 19 PANDEM-IC, WE HAVE NOT SCHEDULED ANY DIVISION MEETINGS AS OF YET. THE BOARD CONTINUES TO MEET ON ZOOM, AND WILL DETERMINE WHEN IT IS SAFE FOR ALL OF US TO RESUME OUR GATHERINGS AT HODELS. THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE.