45th Annual Representative Assembly

Barbara Berdine and Kay Horn represented Fulton county Retired Teachers at the 45th annual representative assembly in Indianapolis on Wednesday, May 19, 2010. The invocation and pledge to the flag was led by president-elect Robert Kraft.

President, Nancy Tolson, called the meeting to order and gave greetings and remarks. This was the 60th anniversary of the Indiana Retired Teachers Association. The regular membership in Indiana Retired Teachers Association as of April 15, 2010 is 20,340. This represents an increase of 764 members over last year. Fulton County as part of area 3 along with Cass, Clinton, Grant, Howard, Miami, Tipton, Wabash, and White counties was recognized as having an 18.4% increase in associate memberships.

Andy Thomas Executive Director of IRTA presented an Outstanding Representative plaque to State Representative David L. Niezgodski, the author of HB 1205 and an Outstanding Legislator plaque to State Senator Phil Boots for his work on HB 1205.

A touching tribute for those teachers who had passed away this past year was given by Marjorie Crews, Franklin, IN.

The report of the Legislative committee commended the work of President Tolson and Executive Director Andy Thomas for their hard work in the State House during the 2010 short session. House Bill 1205 passed and was signed by the governor. Retired teachers who retired on or before December 1, 2009 will receive a 13th check or COLA.

Two bills that contained amendments that were not in the best interest of retired teachers were passed without the amendments because of diligence by the Indiana Retired Teachers Association. SB 309 passed without Amendment 9 which would have increased the unfunded liability of the 1996 Fund of the Teachers’ Retirement Fund. This bill would have capped the contribution rate from school corporations by at least $17.3 million, which was intended to help fund the TRF.

The SB 30 passed WITHOUT Amendment 1. That would have made PUBLIC the name and monthly pension amount of all retired teachers in Indiana.

Various committee reports were given and elections followed.

Indiana’s 92 counties are divided into eight districts. There were 8 $3,000 scholarships awarded; one to each of the districts in Indiana. Fulton County is in District 3 with Elaine Brown of Walton as the area director. The scholarship recipient from district 3 was Kellie Marie Boucher, Van Buren.

Kay Horn accepted an Outstanding Website Award for Fulton County. Webmaster is Tom Kelly.

The Community Service Volunteer hours recorded for Area 3 and Fulton County was 117,703. Individually, Fulton county retired teachers volunteered 6,860 hours. This year there was over 1,000,000 hours reported with 1,119,459 reported hours with each hour having a rate of $20.85 an hour which has a value of over $23.3 million dollars contributed to the state of Indiana. Receiving Honorable Mention Awards from Fulton County was Karmin Reeves and Phyllis Whitmore.

Eight Clock awards were given by Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield. John Eley from Clinton County received the award for area 3.

The luncheon speaker was Dr. Ellen Miller, the executive director of the University of Indianapolis Center for Aging and Community. She holds the University’s DeHaan Endowed Chair in Gerontology. She has been with the Center since its inception in 2001, taking on her current role in 2005.

As CEO, Miller works to advance the Center’s role as educator, consultant, convener and collaborator on issues important to older adults. The Center focuses on establishing effective partnerships between the community and academia, using the expertise of the University to assist with and drive initiatives and research that will solve real world problems and improve the quality of life for older adults. Miller has also led the Center to a prominent role in gerontology education and training, and has established partnerships with local, state and national aging network organizations.

Miller, whose professional background is in physical therapy and gerontology, holds a professorship in the Krannert School of Physical Therapy. She has expertise in gerontology and motor control and has presented and published her research findings for national and international audiences.

There is a blog that you can see at www.allthingsaging.blogspot.com

There is also an informative DVD that shows a more in depth look at aging and how each age group perceives the aging process.

The meeting was adjourned.