60 chit chat - retired teachers of ontario district 38 lambton

Summer/Fall 2019 Edition # 60

CHIT CHAT Lambton District 38 www.rtolambton.on.ca

President’s Message Bert Phills

Fall Executive Meetings

October 8 November 12 All meetings are held at the OSSTF office on Ube Drive. The meetings begin at 9:30 am.

Dates for your calendar

On the inside

Be a Volunteer!............. page 2 Staying Connected……………. page 2 Member Profiles……………… .. page 3 Columbia Store…………………… page 4 Goodwill Committee Report …………………………………………..…. page 4 Membership Committee Report………………………..…………. page 4 Pension and Retirement Concerns Report…………………………………… page 5 District PAC Report………… page 5 Birthday Greetings…………… page 6 In Memoriam…………………………page 7 Beware of the Scam………… page 7 Day Trips Update………………. page 7 Local District Executive….. page 8 Social Registration Form… page 8

A special Welcome to all new Retirees!

Greetings!! I trust that you are enjoying another wonderful Fall wherever you are and that this past summer was enjoyable for you and your family. This Fall also brings about another Federal election. RTO/ERO is collaborating with a network of national organizations representing more than 2 million seniors and their families, in preparation for the federal election. RTO/ERO will be highlighting the following issues: • national senior’s strategy • retirement income security • pharmacare We are always looking for members to join our executive. We still have a few spots open. Why not join us at one of our executive meetings to meet everyone and see if it is a good fit for you. The dates for our fall meetings are listed in this newsletter. You could also contact any member of the executive for more information. The executive is listed on the last page of this newsletter.

We will be holding our annual AGM and Christmas dinner this December. I encourage all of you to attend. I can guarantee you good food and even better company!

Annual AGM and Christmas Dinner

December 10

This event starts at 11 am. It is held at the Best Western Plus Guildwood Inn.


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If you are not receiving RTO Lambton e-bulletins, please send your e-mail address to [email protected]

Staying Connected

Have you moved? Do you have a new mailing address? Have you changed your name, your phone number or your email address? Please update your information with the provincial office of RTO. The contact information is below:

The Retired Teachers of Ontario

Membership Database Administrator

18 Spadina Road, Suite 300

Toronto, Ontario M5R2S7

Phone: 1-416-962-9463 or 1-800-361-9888

or email: [email protected]

Summer/Fall 2019 Issue # 60

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Elie Bergeron, was born in Moonbeam, Ontario. He was one of five sons in a family of eight children. His dad was a carpenter. Elie moved to Kapuskasing, a one industry town, to

work in the paper mill along with two of his brothers. At the time the mill made Kleenex and newsprint for the New York Times. Even before the mill was plagued by a strike and a major accident involving loss of lives, Elie had moved south with his wife and children. They felt they would find more opportunities and a better climate. He says, “My kids are grateful.” After the move to this banana belt, Elie worked as a carpenter for a number of years in Michigan before finishing his career in Sarnia. His late wife, Jeanne, taught in the north and will be remembered by colleagues who taught at St. Thomas Aquinas and Bright’s Grove. Jeanne and Elie enjoyed more than seventy years of marriage and Elie has the greetings from the Queen and Prime Minister Trudeau to prove it. They raised four children, two daughters and two sons. Three granddaughters and a grandson live in Ontario and twin grandsons live in Michigan. One granddaughter is a French teacher like her grandmother. Elie has shared his talents over the years with the Knights of Columbus which he joined in 1951. He attends mass regularly. Today, he enjoys visits with his family and friends, and musical performances at Vision Rest Home where he resides. Elie is a joyful guy with a great sense of humour. He is a “people” person and a wonderful storyteller. His stories are illustrated with a roomful of photos. Best Wishes, Elie!

Emily Gaborko was born in the Inwood. She attended Shiloh, Shiloh United Church and Petrolia High School. There was no bus service. Parents had to hire

a taxi to take them to school. Emily recalls that the bus was known to stall and the kids would jump out and push it. After high school Emily attended Toronto Teachers College. Through the years she took some University of Windsor courses and also took her primary specialist. Her practice teaching supervisor was Jean Swan who in later years was an RTO member. Emily’s first school was Weidman school where Jean had also taught. Another of Emily’s rural schools was SS 17 Enniskillen. Emily recalls some of her principals; Brian Boucher, Bob Hext and Mark Gorth. Besides rural schools she taught at St. Philips, Centennial, Queen Elizabeth Petrolia and South Plympton. She even taught adults in Petrolia’s Fairbank House. Most were trying to complete their grade eight perhaps for improved job opportunities. This teaching assignment was rewarding because for the most part students were interested in learning except for the challenging days when some of the men had been “out the night before!” When she retired she had taught for twenty-seven years. Emily has spent countless hours doing church work including seasonal decorating, making turkey pies, recruiting kitchen volunteers, ushering and teaching Sunday School. Her advice is, “Make sure you have grandchildren . They keep you young.” Baking, studying math, playing games and visiting are fun with grandchildren. She has three daughters and four grandchildren.


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· THIS INVITATION· PHOTO I.D.· PROOF OF AFFILIATION

business card | membership card or badgecompany email signature | pay stub

uniform piece | other form of affiliation

Retired Teachers of Ontario - District 38 Members (Lambton)

VALID FOR YOU + 4 GUESTS

OCT. 25 - NOV. 17, 2019

Questions? Please email: [email protected]

LONDON, ON N6N 0A21425 MAX BROSE DRIVE

PHONE: 519-644-4900

MON - FRI: 10A - 7PSAT: 10A - 6PSUN: 11A - 5P

*Check website for extended hours

Retired Teachers of Ontario - District 38 Members (Lambton)

VALID FOR YOU + 4 GUESTS

OCT. 25 - NOV. 17, 2019

Questions? Please email: [email protected]

LONDON, ON N6N 0A21425 MAX BROSE DRIVE

PHONE: 519-644-4900

MON - FRI: 10A - 7PSAT: 10A - 6P SUN: 11A - 5P

*Check website for extended hours

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Goodwill Committee

About sixty-five RTO and RWTO members over the age of ninety and members who are residents of care facilities which serve meals were contacted in June with visits and small gifts. Gift cards were mailed to another seven members who live some distance from Lambton. Our thanks to all the volunteers who did the visiting. Those volunteers were Marianne Nichols, Heather Crawford, Linda Smith, Kathy Bandla, Sharon Higgins, Domenica Rastin, Pat Laplante, Joanne McRae, John Morrison, Gail Gilroy, Marie McNally, JoAnne Marshall, Judy Stubbs, Rick and Phyllis Clements, and Bernie and Audrey Hendrickson. Again, in 2019 these visits and gifts were a joint project with the Retired Women Teachers of Sarnia Lambton. Please keep RTO in mind for poinsettia deliveries on the first Monday in December, DECEMBER 2, 2019. Twelve volunteers will be needed. To volunteer please contact Gail Gilroy (519-869-8694 or [email protected]), Audrey Hendrickson (519-541-1747 or [email protected]). Also, contact one of the Goodwill Committee members whenever you hear of something happening to one of our members or their families. e.g. change of address to a nursing home or someone confined to home, milestone anniversaries, marriages, people in the news, illnesses, births, deaths or a shut-in needing a pick-me-up visit. Contacts besides Audrey and Gail are: Kathy Bandla (519-337-8682 or [email protected]) ; Pat Poland (519-869-4909 or [email protected]) and Joan McPhedran (519-336-4913 or [email protected]).

Our Business cards are available at all General Meetings. Check our website at www.rtolambton.on.ca for pictures and interviews.

Membership Our First Friday Brunch on September 6th was a success. We had the largest turnout to date with 62 people in attendance. Thanks to the 43 Executive and RTO members who were there to celebrate and welcome the 19 new retirees. Check out the pictures on our District website at www.rtolambton.on.ca. The current privacy act continues to make it difficult to obtain names and contact information for new retirees. We need your help. If you know of anyone in the education sector retiring or planning to retire within the next five years, let us know. Please forward more than a name. Contact information like a personal email address and/or phone number are critical. Our next RPW will be held on Wednesday, April 1, 2020 at the Best Western Guildwood. Please spread the word.


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District PAC Report

Rick Victor In anticipation of the upcoming election, I arranged and chaired a regional meeting of PAC chairs to discuss what we could do to have our issues considered by the candidates. The following are the notes for that meeting:

1. Meetings with the candidates should be arranged even though some incumbents will have no desire to meet with RTO/ERO. A process needs to be in place to ensure that candidates in overlapping district boundaries are not contacted by more than one district requesting a meeting.

2. Districts need press kits provided provincially to ensure consistent messaging throughout the province when promoting the issues important to our members and seniors in general. Materials need to be provided ASAP so that district activities can begin early in September.

3. Our members need to be informed that advanced polls will only be held during the Thanksgiving weekend.

4. Using funds to just advertise “Get out and Vote” was not seen as an effective way promote our issues.

5. Lawn signs need to be provided provincially with a way to insert the District’s name.

The notes were shared with the RTO board and with the PAC provincial committee. Materials and a request that all districts attempt to arrange face-to-face meetings with the candidates will be sent out in the first week of September.

Pension and Retirement Concerns Rosanne Orcutt

In April of 2019 the 9 Directors of RTO in Toronto disbanded this committee. They decided that the mandate of the PRCC can easily be met by the Political Action Committee and the Membership Committee. We will maintain the local committee. Our local committee continues to monitor Canada wide pension news. We are pleased that Federal Bill C27 is still sitting dormant and that our members were part of putting it on hold.

That proposed legislation from 2016 allows employers under federal jurisdiction to convert defined-benefit pension plans to target-benefit plans, which essentially means dumping safe pension plans for risky ones. Still worse, the bill makes it possible to convert pension plans on a retroactive basis. The corrosive effect that this would have on the security of retirement income would negate any real savings for Canadian society as a whole.

A recent study found that defined-benefit pension plans are good for the economy because benefits paid out are returned to the economy in the form of spending and tax revenues, generating growth and jobs. Retirees with defined-benefit pension plans are also less likely to have to count on the government’s Guaranteed Income Supplement. Moreover, income security in retirement is associated with better health outcomes, which reduces pressure on the healthcare system.


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! Birthday Greetings February Albert Vandenheuvel Mary Lou Bilton Earle Kilner Robert McLellan Doreen Steele Gail Mathers Loretto Cameron Donald Stoakley Patrick Heisler Ivan Brooks Robert Volland Denise Raiche Glenda Welsh Lois Ohara Dolores Murray Patricia Charpentier Douglas Barber Shirley Caraher Howard Maw J Farlow Wilfred Spivey Elisabeth Bakker Frances McLean

March Murray McAllister Donna Jones Marilyn Denomy Alma Marie Brown Joan Jackson Marilyn Toutant Shirley Holmes Gail Mathers John Schertzer Warner French Karen Duchene John Stewart Betty Fitchett Douglas Dew Sherrill Hext Ivan Ford Barbara White Anne Wilton Helen McGuire Lorne Hunter Jean Irvine Eleanor Vargo Donna McQuillin Pauline Bourassa Germaine Lepage

April David Courtney Annie Small Frances Harper Donald Sawyer Marjorie McKay James Kaempf Emmy Wassenaar William Metcalfe Marilyn Garrett Lois Marley Mary Williamson Janice Baker M Forgues Wanda James Eleanor Forsyth Dorothy Acton Shirley McMillan Mary Edgar Virginia Hunt John Walker Margaret Kuenzig

May Janet Allan Robert McCarthy James McVicar Phyllis Sutherland Joshua Lipszyc Modris Zandbergs Marjorie Drouillard James Hazzard Elnora G Hunt Edward Fluter Esther Tebbens Wilfrid Chapple Margaret McPhail George Allan Mary Chaput Kendall Dennis John Laudenbach Mary Gardiner Patricia Baldwin Barbara Connop Eula Evans William McCall Doris McArthur Barbara Sheppard Joan MacDonald

June Barry Howson Elaine M White Aletha Whitbourn Major Phillips Ernest Armitage James Capes George Bice June Rooney Ruth Kernohan Kenneth Gurr Donald Hutcheson Wayne Walker Kenneth Eyre Shirley Perriam Neil Campbell Rosemary Pudner Von Parking Edmund Tighe Allan McKay Wilmer McLinchey Helena Hudac-Irwin Doreen Cassin Phyllis Crich Margaret Nicolai Joyce Tisdale June Bannister Helen Mutton

July Mary Knowles Alexander Callan William Welch Norma Kingstone Patrick Sheridan James Vasey Joan Wilson Diana Lampman Alexia Gladdy Barbara Shaw Shirley Hawrelak Eugene Nishimura Derek Brazier Elizabeth Virgin James Cassin Bonnie Lester Reta Griffin Charlotte Rutledge Ramona Kinchsular Eva Dalrymple Mark Gorth

August Helen Heisler Lloyd Eyre Fred Moss John Clarke Eilene Patterson James Brough Wilma Love John Beaton Albert Braekevelt Barbara Feaver Nadine Dell James McArthur Joseph Matz Barbara Porter T Loosemore Audrey Wagner Alice Stevenson Wilfred Pole Shirley Seller Al McLean Julius Szabo Vera Johnson Evelyn Ball


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In Memoriam

We mourn the loss of several of our members and we offer our sincerest sympathy to family and friends. We know that treasured memories will help to ease the pain in time.

Betty Greening George Holbrook Glenn Lecour Ella Norton Priscilla Harkins Jean Irvine Shirley Caraher Sam Kheir Eleanor Ritchie Glenn Goff Pauline Levey Karen Pluard Doris Elliott Patricia Jay Mary Jane McArthur Mary Lindsey Lorraine Erikson Edward St. Pierre

Beware of the scam!

Scams come in all shapes and sizes. Senior citizens are now the biggest target for fraud. The 4 main types of fraud targeting seniors are Prize Scams, Emergency Scams, Services Scams and Romance Scams. You can protect yourself by remembering the following.

Things that you should not do:

• Do not provide personal information, bank accounts or computer passwords and never give out your Social Security numberover the phone to anyone you do not know.

• Never give out family member names to an unknown caller

• Never cash cheques or send an unknown person money for any reason.

• Inform someone else about the phone call

Some signs that the phone call is a scam:

• The person pretending to be a relative will say they are hurt so they don’t sound like themselves.

• They will ask that you not to tell anyone about the financial request.

• They will ask for gift cards or I-Tune cards. • They will stress the money is needed

immediately and that they don’t have the money themselves.

• Microsoft will not conduct proactive outbound calls for computer repair.

• Legitimate lottery companies will never demand money before releasing funds.

RTO Day Trip Cancellations Unfortunately, the day trips to Brigadoon and the One of a Kind Craft Show were cancelled due to the fact that participant sign up did not meet the minimum number of 35 participants from the Sarnia, London and Woodstock Districts. Merit Travel must obtain this number at least 60-75 days prior to the departure date to accommodate the bus company's scheduling of their bus fleet.


Your 2019 – 2020 Local Executive President Benefits/Foundation Newsletter

Bert Phills [email protected]

1st Vice-President

Holger Peters [email protected]

2nd Vice-President Bill Yates [email protected] Past President Public Relations Chair

Bill Davidson [email protected]

Secretary Michele Vilcsak [email protected] Treasurer Jane Stevenson [email protected]

Committee Chairs Membership Sandra Marshall

Linda Quinn-Kennefick [email protected] [email protected]

Goodwill Audrey Hendrickson Gail Gilroy

[email protected] [email protected]

Pension Retirement

Roseanne Orcutt [email protected]

Personal Development vacant Webmaster Peter Laychak [email protected] STO vacant Social Ann Hines [email protected] Political Advocacy Rick Victor [email protected] Archivist vacant

Other Executive members Anne Pearce Joan McPhedran Kathy Bandla Pat Poland

Social Registration Form

Note: Make cheques payable to RTO/ERO District 38. (Send cheques by December 6, 2019)

Name: __________________________ Telephone: ______________________________

Guest(s): ________________________________________________________________ Christmas Holiday Dinner and AGM December 10, 2019

11:00 am Social 11:45 am Meeting 12:30 pm Dinner Best Western Plus Guildwood Inn

___ tickets @ $25 each Detach and send form to:

Ann Pearce, 879 Bond Street, Sarnia Ontario, N7S 2E7.

60 chit chat - retired teachers of ontario district 38 lambton

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