CARSPA met for their monthly meeting 9:30 a.m. Monday, Nov. 19 at the Osceola Senior Center following social time at 9 a.m. Hostess Jeri Lytton provided doughnuts. The change in the meeting date due to Veterans Day holiday resulted in only 5 members present.
Guest presenter was Barry Mateer. He talked about his Japan Teaching Experience. He graduated from Clarke high school, went to State College of Iowa which became UNI, and then joined the Peace Corp which led him to becoming an university teacher in Tokyo, doing Peace Corp work in Nepal, and teaching English as a second language. Japan has National Health Insurance, and he thought Japan’s Public Transportation system was wonderful. He did comment that tall people learned to duck through their doorways, as most doorways were shorter in Japan than in the U.S. After being in Japan for 29 years and retiring, he returned to Osceola and is currently teaching English Language Learners at SWCC. Clarke County has 14 percent Hispanic population and Osceola has 20 percent Hispanic. He has directed the Pretest for those wanting to complete the HSET (formerly GED). The five tests include social studies, math, science, writing, and reading. There is no speech testing included.
President Linda Foland opened the business meeting with a reading.
Minutes from the Oct. 8 meeting were read by Venita Escher. The Treasurer’s report was given by Sharon Cameron. The minutes and treasurer’s reports were approved.
Bills were presented and paid for the program books and for mailing programs to honorary members.
Linda Foland will be having a planning meeting for an appropriate use of the memorial money.
Venita Escher shared information on available benefits to IRSPA (Iowa Retired School Personnel Association) members and from the Sep. 11 meeting in Creston where Iowa State Treasurer Michael Fitzgerald assured current retirees that their IPERS benefits are safe.
The next District 4 meeting will be Thursday, May 9, 2019 in Creston.
The next IRSPA state meeting will be Oct. 2-3, 2019, in Denison, Iowa. IRSPA board members will meet on Oct. 1 prior to the state meeting.
Venita Escher distributed the new program books to any members who had not received them at the October meeting. She also asked members to make a few changes in the books.
AARP has 370,000 members and a staff of only five. They depend on volunteers.
Dawn Rogers resigned as the IRSPA Newsletter Editor.
Linda Foland shared a summary of the IRSPA State Meeting in Iowa City which Linda and Venita Escher attended in October. There were two tours available, one of which included a tour of the Hawkeyes Hall of Fame, the three floors of athletic trophies, special suites for the university president and those who paid for inside club seats to view games with food and beverages, and a view across the field from the Children’s hospital. Also available was a tour of the Big Grove Brewery, the new Hancher Auditorium &Voxman Music Building, and the 11-story Hilton Garden Inn with a rooftop restaurant and view of Iowa City.
At the Clarion, a buffet dinner was held for all attendees, followed by excellent after dinner entertainment and education by four musicians from the U of I music department’s Steel Drum Ensemble. The musicians performed many numbers and explained how the steel drums work. After the steel drums performance was completed, attendees were invited to come up front and investigate the steel drums and their construction.
On Thursday Oct. 4, there were vendors available for books, Pamper Chef products, Thirty-One brand bags, AMBA Information, and Delta Dental. Four educational sessions were available. Phil Tetzloff gave the IPERS report. IPERS has 123,000 retirees, averaging 22 years of service, and the average retirement payment is $1,400. IPERS is 82% funded, which is better than most retirement systems across the U.S.
CARSPA reported to IRSPA Supportive Services directors Jay and Sandy Thede a total of 6,184 volunteer hours from the last year. Calculated at a rate of $24.69 per hour, Clarke’s CARSPA was credited with $152,682.96 volunteer value.
Linda Foland received a certificate for being the IRSPA State Historian from 2005-2018.
The next meeting will be March 11, 2019, after a winter break. The scheduled speaker is Joe Hynek. He will discuss the development of KSOI 91.9 FM Murray Radio Station from 1997 to now. Anyone who has worked in education is invited to attend.
Linda Foland closed the meeting with an article “From the Mouths” from the “Our Iowa Magazine. The meeting adjoured at 11 a.m.