MINUTES Until May 2018

MAREA Minutes

MAREA MEETING MINUTES 5/21/18

The May MAREA meeting was held at the Country Aire in Stratford on the above date.  The meeting was called to order by President Ruby Pinter and was opened with the Pledge of Allegiance.  There were 28 members, guest Sally Lucas, along with three foreign exchange students as guests.

Correspondence:  A thank you note from St. Vincent DePaul Food Pantry was read.

Committee Reports

The secretary’s report was approved with one correction.  The brat fry is scheduled for June 20, not June 27.  The treasurer’s report was approved as printed.

Education: The 5^th round of Education Grant monies will be used to invite current new teachers who received “The First Days of School” book to either the June or August meeting.  An invitation letter to those teachers was introduced by Carol Ballerstein.  These invitations will be mailed or hand delivered to those teachers.

Foundation:  The foundation box was passed.

Pension:  No report

Legislative:  No report

Sunshine and Shadows:  With the passing of former member Martha Pomainville, a $25 donation will be given in her name to the WREA.

Scholarship:  Two winners were selected.  Carol Subera presented one to Carly Elmhorst, Colby High School.  Kathleen Hasenohrl will present the second in the immediate future.

New Business:  President Pinter and Carol Subera both gave recaps of the District III Convention which was held in Eau Claire.

President Pinter announced that MAREA received a facsimile of a check in the sum of $185,240.98 which represents the dollar value of the volunteer work done by MAREA members last year.

Post cards were distributed to be sent to retirees who have been MAREA members to encourage them to become active.

Vivian Kramer was granted Emeritus Membership.

The nominating committee announced that Cynthia Loos has agreed to the President Elect position.  The treasurer’s position is still open.

Continuing Business:

Members were asked to vote on whether or not to have a field trip in July.  Not enough interest.

The State Convention will be held in Stevens Point September 24-26.  Members were asked to sign up for greeting and usher duties.  WREA wants us to invite current teachers to Colin Hanson’s talk on Monday evening.  Due to cost of meal ($25), it was suggested our group help offset the cost for those teachers to attend.  Motion by Kathleen Hasenohrl to allow up to $10 for each teacher, with the condition that said teachers pre-register.  Seconded by Mark Lacke.  Motion Carried

Carol Ballerstein, Carol Subera, and Kathleen Hasenohrel will provide baskets for convention drawings.

Food pantry items today were split between Circle of Joy in Edgar and Soup or Socks in Marshfield.

Speakers for June will be Bryce and Maxine Luchterhand on their trip to Viet Nam.

The meeting was adjourned and three foreign exchange students from Spencer High School were introduced.  Two students were from Denmark and one from Germany.  The students gave short talks on their families, their schools, their countries.  A question and answer period followed.

Respectfully submitted by Dorothy Halle, Secretary

April 16, 2018 meeting cancelled because of a snowstorm

MAREA MEETING MINUTES 3/19/18

The March MAREA meeting was held at the Country Aire in Stratford on 3/19/18.  The meeting was called to order by President Ruby Pinter and was opened with the Pledge of Allegiance.  There were 30 members and two guests present.

Correspondence:  Thank you notes were read from the Stratford Food Pantry, scholarship winner Kyra Handrick, and Carol Kain.

The secretary’s report was approved as printed.  The treasurer’s report was approved as printed.

Committee Reports:

Education:  The 5^th round of Educational Grants is available.  Carol Ballerstein presented the idea of using the money for lunches for first year teachers who received the “The First Days of School” book last fall.  These teachers would be invited to the June or August meeting.  This would enable members to hear current issues facing first year teachers.  Motion from Carol Subera to use the grant this way, seconded by JoAnn Runge.  Motion carried.

Foundation:  The foundation box was passed.

Community Action:  Since there was no February meeting, items collected 3/19 would be divided between St. Vincent DePaul and the Colby Food Pantry.

Pension:  Both the core and variable are up.  News on increases should be released in April.

Sunshine and Shadows:  Welcome back was given to Dorothy Halle and Marlene Broeske.  Shadows:  Joan Zoellner and Dick Halle surgeries, the passing of Joe Kain.

Scholarship:  Application forms are out for next year.

New Business:  The brat fry is scheduled for June 27.

The District III Convention is scheduled for May 2 in Eau Claire.

The State WREA Convention is scheduled for September 24-26 in Stevens Point.

February and March birthdays were recognized. 

Members eligible for Emeritus and Honorary status were given forms for completion

The MAREA Volunteer of the Year was awarded to Ruby Thomas.

Continuing Business:

The nominating committee of Carol Ballerstein, Carol Subera and Ruby Pinter are working on nominees for president elect and treasurer.

The meeting was adjourned and speakers Larry and Ann Scheckel were introduced.

Larry gave a very entertaining and interesting talk on growing up on a farm and attending a one room school house.

Respectfully submitted by Dorothy Halle, Secretary

Meeting in February cancelled because of the weather.

The January 15 meeting of MAREA (Marshfield Area Retired Educators') was called to order by President Ruby Pinter, followed by Pledge to the Flag, approval of December meeting minutes.Treasurer's report was placed on file.

Emeritas and honor MAREA members list will be reviewed. A thank you letter from scholarship recipient Val Licciardi, Stratford  was read.

Trina Tiffany, membership chair stated dues notices were sent and directories sent as needed.

Doreen Schultz handed out the Community Action Food Pantry delivery list.

Dorothy Dietsche circulated the WREA Foundation donation box.

President Pinter noted a need for nominating committee for election of treasurer and president-elect.Pledge cards for recruiting new members were distributed. Jan. birthday song was sung.

Pinter and Carol Ballerstein will attend the Jan. 17 State Convention planning meeting Jan. 17.Todays food pantry donations will go to Stratford Food Pantry with Carol Ballerstein delivering.

February meeting program will be Bill and Linda Bauer, speaking on their trip to Cuba.

Meeting adjourned followed by speaker James Washburn, author of three books. Washburn's teaching career included Elco, Mosinee, and Edgar. Washburn spoke on social justice fueled by love.  He stated that each of us has a unique path in the journey of life and we must listen to the teacher within to be open to learn who we are. He stated that the accumulation of possessions as a goal can confuse the mind but the heart knows better in understanding self and others.

DECEMBER 18, 2017 MAREA MINUTES

The December meeting of MAREA was called to order by President Ruby Pinter, followed by the Pledge to the flag.  Meeting entertainment by Crossroad Harmony, a local quartet featuring female barbershop style music was enjoyed by the membership.

Lois Glinski was welcomed as a guest. Secretary's report was approved and treasurer's report placed on file. Drawings for prize winners was held with profits going towards the cost of health care envelopes.

Trina Tiffany distributed the new directory which is also  available on line.  Members signed up to deliver food pantry donations in 2018.  President Pinter noted that ten Christmas cards were sent to members unable to attend meetings.  Bruce Stevens gave a pension update and member volunteer hours were recorded.

In New business, Pinter reported on the meeting she, Ballerstein and Hasenohrl attended regarding planning for the Sept. 2018 State Meeting.  Another meeting will take place Jan.17 in Stevens Point.  MAREA members will serve as greeters, ushers and basket donation contributors.  The Dec. birthday song was sung for members.  Dorothy Dietsche delivered today's donations to Kings Pantry in Spencer.  Meeting adjourned.

Respectfully submitted,

Carol Ballerstein in absence of Dorothy Halle

MAREA MEETING MINUTES November 20, 2017

The November MAREA meeting was held at Country Aire, in Stratford, on Nov. 20, 2017.  The meeting was called to order by President Ruby Pinter and opened with the Pledge of Allegiance.  There were 27 members, guest speaker and Edie Smazal present.

Secretary's report was approved and treasurer's report approved and filed as printed.  

President Pinter read thank you notes from Mavis Wood at the death of her husband, John, also from St. Vincent de Paul and the Marge Gorke family.  Doreen Schultz noted letters from Athens Circle of Joy and Trinity Food Pantry, Unity.

Committee Reports:

Trina Tiffany circulated membership list for accuracy before printing the directory.

Bruce Stevens gave a pension update and reminder to read the Red Apple Express for more information.

Diane Ritzinger and Carol Ballerstein reminded members to collect school supplies for distribution in Jan. 2018 in support of a WREA statewide program.  Members will deliver these donated items to their respective schools.

Dorothy Dietsche passed the Foundation donation box, noting that $318.55 was collected last year.

Ruby Pinter reported that member Dorothy Halle has broken her leg.  Violet Wilson, former teacher in Athens and Marshfield has died.

New Business:

Invitation from Annaliece Rynes, WREA, to co-host the 2018 State Convention in Stevens Point on Sept. 24-26, 2018.  Assistance is needed and planning meeting will be held Dec. 1, 2017. 

It was decided not to have an ornament exchange, however members are invited to bring an ornament that will go to the Spencer Food Pantry.

Volunteer opportunity at Youth Net after school program was noted.

Five Minute Spotlight was given by Eileen Keller, who showed several of her rugs and embroidered items.

American Education Week Nov. 13-17 had PSA on the local radio station in honor of all school employees and parents.

Drawings for quilt and other prizes will be held at the December meeting.

Birthday song was sung for members.  Today's donations will go to Soup or Socks, Marshfield, and Dec. donations will go to the Spencer Food Pantry.

Mavis Wood spoke about husband, John's death at home.

Meeting was adjourned to hear speaker Rikki Starich , Big Brothers, Big Sisters Organization, introduced by Ruby Thomas.

Respectfully submitted, 

Carol Ballerstein in Dorothy Halle's absence

MAREA MEETING MINUTES 10/16/17
The October MAREA meeting was held at the Country Aire in Stratford on October 16, 2017. The meeting was called to order by President Ruby Pinter and was opened with the Pledge of Allegiance.
There were 37 members and 1 guest speaker present.
The secretary’s report was approved with the following corrections: the name of the quilter was Sue Legner, not Mary Legner and the state report for volunteer hours was due September 30. The treasurer’s report was approved as printed.
Committee Reports:
Membership – Trina Tiffany reminded members to pay their dues and also stated that the membership directory would be made available at the November meeting.
Health – Kathleen Hasenohrl is the new health chair. An influenza fact sheet was distributed to
members.
Education – Carol Ballerstein referred to Joyce Lohr to read a thank you note from one of the Marathon
City new teachers who received one of “The First Days of School” books. President Ruby Pinter
reminded members that American Education week is Nov. 15-17.
Sunshine and Shadows – Two shadows – Herb Weber and Margaret Gorke passed away. 
Broeske was instructed to send monetary memorials to the WREA Foundation in their name. Janet Wiemann had surgery.
Volunteer Hours – New sheets were distributed by Karen Winkler for tallying volunteer hours. Last year,
40 MAREA members donated a total of 8033 volunteer hours which were worth $181,144.15.
New Business :
Dorothy Halle was installed as Secretary.
Dorothy Dietsche and Barb Viegut were recognized for having perfect attendance for the previous year.
Sue Zabran has asked for people to proofread brochures. Her number was distributed for those
interested.
The WREA State Convention for 2018 will be held in Stevens Point. The District Meeting will be held in Eau Claire. The Challenge Award for next year will focus on elementary students.
A motion was made and seconded to pay mileage of $50 to Doreen Schultz for driving to the state
convention. The motion carried.
Carol Ballerstein and Doreen Schultz gave reports on the state convention. Carol gave a synopsis of the talk given by the teacher of the year and also on the state of education. Doreen spoke on the fight for public education.
Mary Denk thanked members who gave donations for the December drawings.
Happy birthday was sung for the October birthday members.
Donations for October went to Circle of Joy in Athens. Next month the donations will go to Soup or Socks in Marshfield.
The meeting was adjourned . Kathleen Hasenohrl introduced Jeanne Tucker, AARP, who gave a very informative talk on various forms of fraud and things we need to watch for.
Speaker for November will be a representative from Big Brothers, Big Sisters.

Respectfully Submitted, Dorothy Halle, Secretary

MAREA MEETING MINUTES 9/18/17

The September MAREA meeting was held at the Country Aire in Stratford on September 18, 2017.  The meeting was called to order by President Ruby Pinter and was opened with the Pledge of Allegiance.  There were 33 members and 2 guests present.  Guests were Laura Drendel and Don Hasenohrl.

The secretary’s report was approved with the following corrections:the name of the quilter who donated the quilt is Mary Legner, not Mary Wagner.  The delegate to the state convention is Carol Ballerstein, not Carol Ely.  The treasurer’s report was approved as printed.

Committee Reports:

Membership – Trina Tiffany distributed membership envelopes to those who needed to pay their dues.

Education – Carol Ballerstein stated that 32 books entitled “The First Days of School” were distributed to new teachers.  Articles have been sent to local newspapers.

Community Action – Doreen Schultz thanked members for continuing to donate. Donations for this month went to the Unity Food Pantry, donations next month will go to the Athens Food Pantry. 

Legislation – nothing to report

Pension – Bruce Stevens indicated that even though the core and variable are up there may not be much of an increase in pensions due to the “evening out” factor.

Foundation – The foundation box was passed by Dorothy Dietsche.  Funds which have been collected will be turned over at the state convention in October.

Sunshine and Shadows – No shadows.  Sunshine – Ruby contacted Mary Luchterhand and stated that while Mary does not drive her car anymore, she does drive her four wheeler around her farm! 

Volunteer Hours – Members need to keep their hours updated.  The state report is due Sept.

New Business:

Shari Stangl nominated Dorothy Halle for secretary.  Mary Denk seconded the nomination and Kathleen Hasenohrl moved that a unanimous ballot be cast for her election.  All yea, one nay.

The donated quilt, a table runner also donated by Sue Legner and a gift certificate from Country Aire were on display.  Members can give a donation and a name will be drawn for each item at the December meeting.

Volunteer opportunity – help is needed to do taxes.  Other areas of volunteering are also available for this project.  Members are encouraged to call Julie Hastreiter (715-305-2235) for more information.

“Great Things Are Happening Here” – The Everett Roehl/Marshfield Public Library is holding an event to showcase various organizations, etc., in the city.  Ruby Pinter stated she would set up a display for MAREA and asked for help.  The event is being held November 5.

Health Issues Chair – Jackie Behringer has resigned from this position and a replacement is needed.

A hard copy of the directory was passed for additions or corrections.

Next month the program will be given by Jeannie Tucker, AARP Rep speaking. “Fraud WatchNetwork” is the title of her presentation.

Members were asked to sign up to be greeters, treaters, and spot lighters.

The Five Minute Spotlight was on Annette McCabe.  Annette gave information on herself, her family and her educational career.

The meeting was adjourned.

The program for the day was given by Melissa Kampmann and Aric Burch from Ruder Ware in Wausau.  The program was very informational.  Planning Giving, Lifetime Giving, Etc., was presented by Melissa. Aric gave information on trusts and how to protect your assets. 

Respectfully Submitted by Dorothy Halle, Secretary

MAREA MEETING MINUTES 8/21/17

The August MAREA meeting was held at the Country Aire in Stratford on August 21, 2017.  The meeting was called to order by President Ruby Pinter and was opened with the Pledge of Allegiance.  There were 33 members present.

The secretary’s report was approved as printed.  The treasurer’s report was approved as printed.

Correspondence – A thank you note was read from scholarship winner Valerie Licciardi from Stratford. 

Committee Reports:

Membership – Carol Ely distributed membership envelopes for renewal of both state and local dues.  Members were asked to please have their dues paid by the October meeting in order for the treasurer to get the reports finished and filed.

Education – Carol Ballerstein thanked those members who distributed “The First Days of School” book to the new teachers in their districts.  More books will be ordered as more are needed.  Mrs. Ballerstein stated that the balance in the educational grant fund shows $6 but the next grant for $100 has not yet been received.  New teachers just out of college numbers range from as high as 10 to none in districts represented in MAREA.  Discussion was held on purchasing school supplies for January distribution.  More discussion will follow on this topic.

Community Action – Doreen Schultz thanked members for continuing to bring food for the local pantries and for contributing cash if not bringing food items.    Donations for this month went to the Stratford Food Pantry, with the September donations going to the Unity food pantry.

Pension – Bruce Stevens reported that both the core and variable are up at this time.  He also noted that public schools are beginning the year without funding.  Charter school numbers have dropped during the last year.

Sunshine and Shadows – Janet Campbell passed away and a $25 donation to the Foundation will be sent from MAREA in her name.

Members are encouraged to continue giving to the scholarship fund.   The money in the fund at this time contains funds which will be sent to the two individuals who received scholarships in January after they have completed their first semester of college.

Volunteer Hours – Karen Winkler asked members to be sure to enter their hours as she will be compiling her report in September. 

New Business: 

Dorothy Halle gave a report on the executive meeting held in July. 

Mary Denk announced that former member Sue Legner is donating a quilt which will be used to purchase health envelopes for members.  Donations for the quilt will be received and a drawing will be held in December.  If members want to donate baskets, etc., to be used as donations they are encouraged to do so.

Emergency health envelopes were distributed to those members who needed them.  More will be made available. Programs for next year will be announced soon.

State reports are due September 30.  Officers need to meet after the September meeting to sign the reports.

Volunteer of the year will be decided after the September meeting.

Delegates are needed to attend the State WREA Convention in October at Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.  Doreen Schultz and Carol Ballerstein volunteered.  One additional member is needed.

Happy Birthday was sung for the July and August birthday members.

Mary Jarvis speaking on Public School Financing was introduced.  Mary gave a very informational talk on the different kinds of schools, how schools are funded, and voucher schools.

The meeting was adjourned.

Respectfully Submitted by Dorothy Halle, Secretary.

MAREA

EXECUTIVE MEETING JULY 24, 2017

An Executive Meeting of MAREA was held at the Belvedere Supper Club, Highway 97, Marshfield WI on

July 24, 2017. The following officers, current committee chairs, and members present were:

Ruby Pinter, President Mary Denk, Past President and Blog Manager

Marlene Broeske, Treasurer Dorothy Dietsche, Foundation Liaison

Dorothy Halle, Secretary Carol Ballerstein, Public Relations

Doreen Schultz, Community Action Trina Tiffany, Member

Diane Ritzinger, Educational Issues Ruby Thomas, Vice President

Current Initiatives : Discussion was held in regard to continuing the five minute spotlight program, treats

for meetings and greeters for meetings. After a brief discussion it was decided to continue all three.

Committees : A Membership Chair is needed for 2017. Membership initiatives were discussed.

Finances : All finances are in order.

Programs for 2017-18 : There are still a few spots to fill for programs. A list will be forthcoming when all

is complete. A field trip in July, 2018, has been tentatively planned. More information will follow.

State Reports are due in September and the following information is needed: volunteer hours, favorite

program for 2016-17, and favorite community service project for 2016-17.

Further Discussion :

Emergency Health Envelopes will be ordered.

Literacy Garden Fund – it was decided that the MAREA Group would not contribute to the

Marshfield Middle School Literacy Garden fund as a group. Due to the fact that MAREA

members are not only from Marshfield but from many other adjoining areas, it was decided that

because this would only benefit students from Marshfield the group would not be involved.

Members from Marshfield are encouraged to fundraise or contribute as individuals if they want.

Respectfully Submitted by Dorothy Halle, Secretary

                                                                         MAREA MEETING MINUTES 6/19/17

The June MAREA meeting was held at the Country Aire in Stratford on June 19, 2017.  The meeting was called to order by President Ruby Pinter and was opened with the Pledge of Allegiance.  There were 33 members present.

The program for the day was presented by Kristine Hafferman, music teacher at the Edgar Public Schools and some of her students.  She and her students gave a very entertaining story, song, and dance presentation.  Mrs. Hafferman and her students received the WREA Challenge Award last year.

The secretary’s report was approved as printed.  The treasurer’s report was approved as printed.

Correspondence – Thank you notes were read from Annaliece Rynes for the memorial given for her mother, Carol Subera thanking the MAREA members who helped with the District III Meeting and from Kyra Handrick scholarship winner from Marathon City.

Valerie Licciardi from Stratford was the second scholarship winner.

Committee Reports:

Membership – nothing

Education/Public Relations – Carol Ballerstein has applied for a fourth education grant.   Discussion was held on the distribution of incentives for new teachers using the grant. 

Community Action – Doreen Schultz encouraged continued donations for food pantry items.  Donations this month went to St. Vincent DePaul in Marshfield, Kathleen Hasenohrl would deliver them.

Legislative – Bruce Stevens encouraged all members to read the Red Apple Express sent out by the WREA. 

Pension – Bruce Stevens reported that both the core and variable are up.

New Business:

The new District III Director is Ruth Wood from River Falls, WI. 

Volunteer of the Year Award was given to Romelle Bymers from Marshfield.

The brat fry was very successful, raising $917.30.  President Pinter thanked the many members who donated time for this event.

Programs for next year were discussed.  More work is needed to firm the roster.

The Five Minute Spotlight was on Cindee Loos.  Cindee gave a very interesting talk about her family and her career.  Having taught in Milwaukee and Loyal, she also did administrative work in Thorp.
 

Happy Birthday was sung for the June birthday members.

There will be no July meeting.  There will be an executive committee meeting July 24 at 11 am at the Belvidere Supper Club near Marshfield.

The meeting was adjourned.

Respectfully Submitted by Dorothy Halle, Secretary

  MAREA MEETING MINUTES 5/15/17

The May MAREA meeting was held at the Country Aire in Stratford on May 15, 2017.  The meeting was called to order by President Ruby Pinter and was opened with the Pledge of Allegiance.  There were 30 members and guests Judy Howard and Edie Smazal present.

The secretary’s report was approved as printed.  The treasurer’s report was approved as printed.

Correspondence – thank you notes were received from the Edgar Food Pantry, from the Monroe County REA for our hosting of the District III Meeting, and from Althea Stanley who received a gift from the drawing at the District III Meeting.

Committee Reports:

Membership – Nothing

Education/Public Relations – Carol Ballerstein led a discussion about purchasing books entitled TheFirstDays of School to be distributed to new teachers next year – this would be using 4^th grant money.  Motion by Ballerstein, seconded by Hasenohrl to purchase 20 copies of the book.  Motion Carried.

Community Action – Doreen Schultz encouraged members to continue to be generous with donations as food pantries are in need.  Collections today went to Soup or Socks, next month to St. Vincent’s, both in Marshfield.

Pension – Bruce Stevens indicated that the core and variable are slightly above benchmarks.

Scholarships – Two scholarships will be presented this month. 

The foundation box was passed.

Sunshine and Shadows – President Pinter announced that Donna Pauls passed away.  Donna was part of the office staff of the WREA.  A motion by Ballerstein, seconded by Stangl was made to send a $25 donation to the scholarship fund in memory of Donna.  Motion Carried.

New Business:

Carol Subera gave a brief follow-up of the District III Meeting. 

President Pinter showed a facsimile of a check in the amount of $158,684.35 which represents 7,037 volunteer hours from our members.  Romelle Bymers is the MAREA volunteer of the year.

Carol Ballerstein gave a brief talk about the changes which are being discussed as part of Governor Walker’s Educational Agenda.

Diane Ritzinger spoke on the State Initiative of collecting school supplies.  It was decided that the left-over funds from the previous grants would go toward purchasing school supplies which would be distributed to schools in January of next year. 

Continuing Business:

Joan Zoellner spoke about the brat fry to be held on June 1 and 2.

Members were reminded to meet after the meeting today to discuss programs for next year.

Happy Birthday was sung to the May birthday members.

Carol Subera was presented with a gift as a thank you for being District III Director for the past 6 years.

The meeting was adjourned and members enjoyed a talk from Claire Romanek about habitats, etc., of Bluebirds.

Respectfully Submitted by Dorothy Halle, Secretary

MAREA MEETING MINUTES 4/17/17

The April MAREA meeting was held at the Country Aire in Stratford on April 17, 2017. The meeting was

called to order by President Ruby Pinter and was opened with the Pledge of Allegiance. There were 31

members, two speakers and two chaperones present.

The secretary’s report was approved as printed. The treasurer’s report was approved as printed.

Correspondence – a thank you letter from St. Vincent DePaul was read and a brochure about a literacy garden at the Marshfield Middle School was shared.

Committee Reports :

Membership – Carol Ely asked that if any member wanted brochures about MAREA for retirees they

should see her.

Education/Public Relations – Carol Ballerstein read over the proposals for the use of a possible fourth

grant. After discussion, members voted to use possible fourth grant funds for encouragement gifts,

letters, etc., for first year teachers.

Community Action – April food items collected will go to the Colby Food Pantry, May items will go to

Soup or Socks in Marshfield.

Scholarship – Applications will be in soon and a committee will review them.

Pension – Core at 3.5 and variable at 5.7

Sunshine – Eileen Keller will be showing her rugs at the 2017 Clark County Spring into the Arts Program.

April 22, 23, the Sweet Adeline’s will be presenting a concert at the KC Hall in Marshfield on April 22, a

May 7 Concert by the Clark County Choraliers will be held in Greenwood.

Shadows / Sunshine - Cindy Loos and Joyce Lohr are recovering from surgery.

New Business:

A nominating committee for MAREA secretary will be headed by Shari Stangl.

Volunteer of the Year – Romelle Bymers is the Volunteer of the Year.

Continuing Business:

The District III Meeting will be held April 20 at the Country Aire Supper Club.

After the May, 2017 MAREA meeting, the executive committee will meet to discuss ideas for programs

for the 2017/18 year.

Brat Fry – An update from Joan Zoellner for the brat fry was given. More information will be given at the

May meeting.

Happy Birthday was sung for the April birthday of member Richard Halle.

The meeting was adjourned and members heard speakers Ychen Hua from China and Jordan Veigl from

Germany speak. The students are attending Marshfield High School and Spencer High respectively.

Respectfully Submitted by Dorothy Halle, Secretary

                                                      MAREA MEETING MINUTES 3/20/17

The March MAREA meeting was held at the Country Aire in Stratford on March 20, 2017.  The meeting was called to order by President Ruby Pinter and was opened with the Pledge of Allegiance.  There were 32 members present.

The secretary’s report was approved as printed.  The treasurer’s report was approved as printed.

Committee Reports:

Legislative – Barry Brubaker asked members to be sure to attend the April 20 District III Meeting which will be held at the Country Aire. Legislative/WREA/Pension issues will be presented.

Education/Public Relations – Carol Ballerstein will write a fourth grant and needs member input on grant usage.  Mrs. Ballerstein presented several ideas of her own but would welcome more ideas.

Volunteer Hours – Karen Winkler reminded members to enter their volunteer hours every month.

Pension – Bruce Stevens reported the core at 1.9 and the variable at 4.028.  Mr. Stevens reminded members to be sure to vote in the upcoming election.

Foundation – Dorothy Dietsche passed the donation box for the WREA Foundation.  The money collected is used for teacher grants, school programs and community outreach.

Community Action – Doreen Schultz thanked people for bringing food and or donating money each month for a local food pantry.  March items will be delivered to the Colby food pantry, April to Edgar. Scholarship– Applications are due April 15, and winners will be chosen by the committee that week.

Sunshine and Shadows– Shadows: Jerry DeSmet, Vickie LaVenture and Cindy Loos have some health issues and are recovering.  Sunshine:  Members Grace Dietel and Eileen Keller are going to be part of the Clark County Spring Arts Tour.

New Business:

Election:  Members were asked to contact Ruby Pinter if they were interested in being secretary for the next two years.

Brat Fry – Joan Zoellner passed a sheet for volunteers to work at the brat fry scheduled for June 1 and 2.

May Meeting – The program committee will meet after the May meeting to work on programs for the upcoming year.  Ideas from members are encouraged.

Continuing Business:

Carol Subera reported on the District III Meeting to be held April 20.  Members were reminded that early bird registration is open at this time.

The state WREA convention will be held in Eau Claire, WI, in 2018.

 Members may contact Kathleen Hasenohrl for an updated copy of the bylaws.

Happy Birthday was sung for the March birthday of member, Mark Lacke.

The April MAREA meeting will feature foreign exchange students from Spencer and Colby.

The meeting was adjourned and members heard Doug Seubert speak about dementia. The Marshfield Area Purple Angels is a non-profit organization raising awareness about forms of dementia, which Mr. Seubert has started in the Marshfield Area.  www.marshfieldpurpleangels.org is a link for this organization.

Respectfully Submitted by Dorothy Halle, Secretary

MAREA MEETING MINUTES 2/20/17

The February MAREA meeting was held at the Country Aire in Stratford on February 20, 2017.  The meeting was called to order by President Ruby Pinter and was opened with the Pledge of Allegiance.  There were 33 members and 1 guest present.

The secretary’s report was approved as printed.  The treasurer’s report was approved as printed.

Correspondence:  Carol Ely read a thank you note from students from Athens.  The note, along with a photo was sent as a thank you to the Athens members who used grant money, along with donations from other Athens members, for character bracelets for the students. 

Darlene Parkinson reminded members to be aware of the YES scam.

President Pinter reminded members that two members from our district are needed for the WREA Legislative Committee and the WREA Nominating Committee, and a new District III Director is also needed.

Committee Reports:

Membership- The membership list is complete and if anyone needs one they should contact Carol Ely.

Public Relations – Carol Ballerstein will come up with some ideas for use of the next round of grant money.

Community Action – Doreen Schultz thanked members for bringing items or donating cash for the food pantry.  This month the items will go to St. Vincent’s in Marshfield.  Next month the donations will go to the Colby Food Pantry.

Health – None

Volunteer Hours – Karen Winkler stressed the importance of members recording their hours every month.

Pension - Bruce Stevens indicated that the new payout would begin in May.  At this time the core looks like 1.3 to 1.9 and the variable 4.0 to 8.0.  More information will be coming within the next few months.

Members were reminded to vote on February 21.

Scholarship - applications are due April 15.

Sunshine and Shadows – Karen Winkler and Eileen Keller were welcomed back after recovering from health issues.

New Business:  Joan Zoellner spoke about the brat fry set for June 1 and 2.  A signup sheet will be available at the March meeting.

Revisionsof the bylaws was presented by President Pinter.  After the changes were read a vote was taken and with unanimous vote the new bylaws were approved.

District III Meeting – Carol Subera asked members to sign up to help at the District III meeting which will be held at the Country Aire on April 20.  Registration for the meeting is due by April 10.  Items for door prizes are needed.

Happy Birthday was sung for the February birthday members. 

The meeting was adjourned and members enjoyed a talk by Sallie Wylie.  Sallie gave an informational presentation about her bicycling all over the world.

Respectfully Submitted by Dorothy Halle, Secretary

                     MAREA Meeting Minutes 1/16, 2017

The January MAREA meeting was held at the Country Aire in Stratford on January 16, 2017.  The meeting was called to order by President Ruby Pinter and was opened with the Pledge of Allegiance.  There were 29 members present.

The secretary’s report was approved as printed.  The treasurer’s report was approved as presented.

Correspondence:  A Christmas card from the WREA staff was received.

Public Education:  $100 has been received from WREA as an education grant for schools in our MAREA area to be used for kids “caught being good”.  A member may write an application for a portion of that grant money.

Scholarship:  Each of our 2016 scholarship recipients have received the $500 scholarship money. They are Macey Staab, Marshfield High School and Rachel Lemke, Mosinee High School. The 2017 scholarship applications will go in the mail to the ten schools represented by our members.

Community Action:  Unity Food Pantry has been added to the list of food pantries that we donate to.

Legislative:  None

Membership:  None

New Business:  Carol Subera reported that statewide membership in WREA is up from 8,593 on January 16, 2016 to 10,075 on January 16 of 2017.   Membership lapses are down.

Carol Subera reported that the District III meeting will be held at Country Aire in Stratford on April 20, 2017.  Among the speakers will be Michael Williamson, Executive Director of SWIB, Diane Wilcenski, Executive Director of WREA, and Annaliece Rynes, assistant to the Executive Director.  The registration for this meeting goes to Mary Denk with checks made out to MAREA.

The revision of the MAREA by-laws by the committee of Ruby Thomas, Kathleen Hasenohrl, and Joan Zoellner was reported on by Ruby Thomas.  Possible changes in bylaws were explained.

Continuing Business:  Changes to the MAREA bylaws will be voted on at the next meeting.

The February meeting will be on February 20, 2017.  The speaker will be James (Pep) Washburn.  His presentation is based on his book: Touching Spirit: Letter of Minominike.

The meeting was adjourned and members enjoyed a talk by Josiah Groth on Foot Reflexology.

Respectfully Submitted by Karen Stevens, Acting Secretary

                                                              MAREA MEETING MINUTES 12/19, 2016

The December MAREA meeting was held at the Country Aire in Stratford on December 19, 2016.  The meeting was called to order by President Ruby Pinter and was opened with the Pledge of Allegiance.  There were 19 members present.

The secretary’s report was approved as printed.  The treasurer’s report was approved as presented.

Correspondence:  A thank you note from St. Vincent De Paul was received for the November food donations.

Public Education:  Carol Ballerstein reported that there would be a fourth grant available.   Carol will write the grant but would like members to be thinking of how it should be used. 

Sunshine and Shadows:  Karen Winkler is recovering from a health problem.

Scholarship:  The two students who received the last scholarships will receive their money as soon as their grades are received.  

Discussion was held on whether our association should continue to consider students applying for scholarships from Mosinee since we have no members in our group who are retirees of that city.  After discussion, it was decided that we would drop Mosinee and add Loyal since we now have retiree members from Loyal.

Volunteer Hours:   Members are reminded to enter their hours in the binder at the greeters table.

Community Action:  Food items collected today will go to Kings Pantry in Spencer.   Unless a change is made, the January items will go to the Stratford Food Pantry.

Legislative:  None

Membership:  Members are reminded to contact their district administrators to get the names of retirees from last year.

New Business:  Christmas cards were sent to honorary members.  Discussion was held on the description of honorary, emeritus, and sentinel members.  More information will be coming on this.

Members were reminded to read the Red Apple Express which is sent via email from the state WREA office.

Continuing Business:  MAREA by-laws will be reviewed by the committee and discussion at the next meeting will be held.

Happy Birthday was sung for those members with December birthdays.

The Januaryprogram will be on Foot Reflexology by Josiah Groth.

The meeting was adjourned and members enjoyed various games with the Christmas theme.  Many prizes were received by all.

Respectfully Submitted by Dorothy Halle, Secretary                                                    

     MAREA MEETING MINUTES 11/21/2016

The November MAREA meeting was held at the Country Aire in Stratford on November 21, 2016.  The meeting was called to order by President Ruby Pinter and was opened with the Pledge of Allegiance.  There were 32 members and one guest, Donald Hasenohrl, in attendance.

The secretary’s report was approved as printed.  The treasurer’s report was approved as presented.

Correspondence:  Thank you notes were received from Kirk Rodman of the Highground, staff of The Circle of Joy in Athens, and staff of the Stratford Elementary School.

Public Education:  Carol Ballerstein gave a recap on using grant money for elementary incentives and asked members to be thinking about usage for grant money if there is a round four.

Sunshine and Shadows:  President Pinter noted that Eileen Keller of Dorchester was celebrating a 90^th birthday.

Scholarship:  President Pinter mentioned that the two girls who received MAREA scholarships last year would receive $500 checks upon receipt of semester 1 grade transcripts.

Volunteer Hours:  Karen Winkler asked members to try to remember to have their volunteer hours calculated upon arrival at each meeting.  A binder will be available with a page for each member where hours can be entered. 

Community Action:  Carol Ely asked members to sign up to deliver food items to the various food pantries for the coming year.  Food collected in December will be delivered to King’s Pantry, Spencer.

Legislative:  None

Membership:  Carol Ely distributed paper copies of the membership directory.                                                           

Members were asked to volunteer to contact the superintendent in their school district for a list of retirees for the past year. 

Pension:  Bruce Stevens gave a report on where the core and variable stood as of the above date.

WREA Foundation:  Dorothy Dietsche passed the donation box.  Foundation funds are used for teacher grants, innovative school programs, and community outreach.

New Business:   Installation of Ruby Thomas, President-Elect was held.                                                                                         

  A list of programs for the coming year was presented.                                                                                                                   

  President Pinter asked for volunteers to look over the MAREA by-laws.  Kathleen Hasenohrl, Ruby Thomas, and Joan Zoellner volunteered.

Members were reminded to check out the blog - Marshfieldarearea.blogspot.com.  Thank you Mary Denk and Carol Ely for doing a great job of keeping the blog up to date.

President Pinter asked members to sign up if they were interested in being greeters, bring treats, or do a five minute spotlight.

Continuing Business:   Carol Ballerstein gave a recap of programs from the state convention.                            

Five minute spotlight:  Harry Toufar of Spencer was introduced.  Harry gave a brief talk on his career of 39 years in the Spencer School District.  Harry, although “retired”, is now the substitute coordinator for the Spencer School District and is also doing substitute teaching.

Happy Birthday was sung for those members with November birthdays.

The December program will be the Christmas party.

The meeting was adjourned and Donald Hasenohrl, State Representative from 1974-2001 gave a very interesting talk entitled Legislative Perspectives.  Mr. Hasenohrl gave some very interesting insights into how the political machine operatesand how he feels things may happen in the future.                                                                         Respectfully submitted by Dorothy Halle, Secretary

                

  MAREA MEETING MINUTES 10/17/16

The October MAREA meeting was held at the Country Aire in Stratford on October 17, 2016.  The meeting was called to order by President Kathleen Hasenohrl and was opened with the Pledge of Allegiance.  There were 31 members and one guest in attendance. 

Installation of officers for the ensuing year was held.  Ruby Pinter was installed as President, Marlene Broekse as Treasurer.  Ruby Thomas was not present but will be installed as President-Elect at another meeting. 

The secretary’s report was approved.  The treasurer’s report was approved.

Correspondence:  Thank you notes were received from Pittsville Elementary School, the Colby Food Pantry and WREA Convention organizers.

Public Education:  Carol Ballerstein reminded members to use grant money for incentive baskets and that there will probably be a round four for another grant.

Sunshine and Shadows:  A card was sent to Eileen Keller as she is going through treatment.

Scholarship:  The fund is doing well

Volunteer Hours:  Karen Winkler asked members if they felt there was a better way to record volunteer hours than what has been done.  After discussion the decision to keep the sheets in a binder and then pass the binder every month for members to enter their hours was made.  Those members who want to keep their sheets at home for recording may do so.  Members were reminded how important it is to keep a good record of their hours.

Community Action:  Food for October went to the Athens Food Pantry.  November collection will go to Soup or Socks in Marshfield.

Membership:  Members were reminded to pay their dues if not having done so.

Pension:  The pension as of 10/17/16 was up in both core and variable.

New Business:  Overviews of the recent state WREA Convention in Wisconsin Rapids were given by Doreen Schultz, Mary Denk and Kathleen Hasenohrl.

Happy Birthday was sung for those with October birthdays.

The November program will be Don Hasenohrl, Political Reflections.

The meeting was adjourned and Diane Wilcenski, WREA Executive Director gave a very informative talk about various topics related to WREA issues.

Respectfully Submitted by Dorothy Halle, Secretary

                                                

MAREA MEETING MINUTES     9/19/16

The September MAREA meeting was held at the Country Aire in Stratford on September 19, 2016.  The meeting was called to order by President Kathleen Hasenohrl and was opened with the Pledge of Allegiance.  There were 29 members and 1 guest present.

The secretary’s report was corrected for the misspelling of Bruce Stevens’s name, then approved.  The treasurer’s report was approved as presented.  Checkbook balance $4,785.52 of which $169.45 was for community action/$344.50 for foundation/$1,603.70 for scholarship/$92.11 for education/$2,575.76 for MAREA balance.

Correspondence:  President Hasenohrl had three issues which were going to be voted on at the WREA Convention in Wisconsin Rapids and asked for member input on how to vote.  MAREA members agreed that all unit officers do have to be members of WREA.  Officers can be removed after due notice and a hearing.  All unit by-laws should go along with WREA by-laws.

Committee Reports:

Public Education – Carol Ballerstein reported that the third grant application has been sent.  Members were reminded that the grant would be used for rewards in elementary schools.  Members were also asked to contribute items/ideas toward these rewards.

Sunshine and Shadows – Ruby Pinter    No sunshine or shadows to report

Scholarship – Ruby Pinter- Current winners will receive their money after first semester of this year.  Discussion was held on whether all past recipients have actually gone into education – all have.

Volunteer Hours – Karen Winkler – Karen asked that all members turn in their volunteer sheets.  More discussion on collection of data will be needed at a future meeting.  The data for the past year will be submitted by Sept 30.

Community Action – Shari Stangl  - There will no longer be a drawing for donation of food pantry items.  The food collected for September went to the Colby food pantry.  Food collected in October will go to the Athens food pantry.

Pension- Bruce Stevens – the core is at 7.6 and the variable at 7.2.

Membership- Mary Denk in the absence of Carol Ely – members who had not paid their dues in August were asked to pay them at the meeting.  The funds need to be sent in by the end of September.

Foundation by Dorothy Dietsche – the scholarship box will be passed every other month for donations.

Old Business:  Members were reminded of the State Convention in Wisconsin Rapids on September 26, 27, and 28.  The Athens members presented two gift baskets for door prizes. 

Members were asked to vote on their favorite program and favorite project for the year.

New Business: 

With a motion by Doreen Schultz, seconded by Shari Stangl, a unanimous vote elected Ruby Thomas as President-Elect and Marlene Broeske as Treasurer for the ensuing year.

Five Minutes Spotlight:  Trina Tiffany was the spotlight guest.  Trina is currently teaching early childhood at Mid-State Technical College after a series of occupations beginning with Pediatric Occupational Therapy, running an early childhood program on the Marshall Islands, and running Bright Horizons Childcare Center in Marshfield.

Happy Birthday was sung for the September birthday members.

The October program - Guest speaker will be Diane Wilcenski of WREA

The meeting adjourned and Kirk Rodman from the High Ground spoke.  Mr. Rodman gave a very interesting talk about the High Ground and told how and why each of the various displays developed. 

Submitted by Dorothy Halle, Secretary

                  

   MAREA MEETING MINUTES – AUGUST 15, 2016 

The August MAREA meeting was held at the Country Aire in Stratford on August 15, 2016.  The meeting was called to order by President Kathleen Hasenohrl and was opened with the Pledge of Allegiance.  There were 30 members and 2 guests present. 

The secretary’s report was approved as presented.  The treasurer’s report was approved as presented.  Checkbook total $3,500.02.  Community Action - $160.45, Foundation $344.50, Scholarship $1,403.70, Education Grant $92.11. MAREA balance $1,499.26. 

Correspondence:  A thinking of you card was sent to WREA Secretary Annaliece Rynes .  Annaliece was involved in an accident this summer.  

The Marshfield Public Library staff is looking for displays for community day and for help in moving to the new library.  Ribbon cutting for the Roehl Public Library will be September 6, 2016. 

MAREA received notification that Diane Wilcenski will be new Executive Director of WREA. 

Committee Reports: 

Sunshine and Shadows – Ruby Pinter expressed sympathy to Ann Teska on the loss of her mother-in-law. 

Volunteer Hours – Karen Winkler reminded members of the importance of bringing their volunteer hour sheets to the September meeting. 

Legislative – None 

Membership – Carol Ely asked all members to pay their dues ASAP. 

Pension – Bruce Stevenson indicated that the core was 4.4 and the variable at 2.3.  The numbers are going up at this time.   Bruce asked members to watch for a WREA Survey which will be on line between September 6 and 28th. 

Public Education – Diane Ritzinger reported that the next $100 grant will be used to reinforce good behavior of elementary students.  Schools will be given a basket of small items which teachers can use for this purpose.  On each item will be a note which will indicate it comes from retired educators.  Community Action – by Shari Stangl – the drawing for the day went to Kathleen Hasenohrl.  Food items collected for the day went to the Stratford Food Pantry 

Committee Members for next year are as follows:  Ruby Pinter, Scholarship and Sunshine and Shadows/ Doreen Schultz, Volunteer Hours/Carol Ely, Membership/Bruce Stevenson, Pension/Public Education, Diane Ritzinger and Carol Ballerstein/Shari Stangl Community Action/ Carol Ballerstein, Public Relations and Correspondent/Mary Denk, Blog/Jackie Belanger, Health Issues

Old Business:  None 

New Business:  Members were asked to indicate whether or not they would be attending the State WREA Convention in Wisconsin Rapids.  Delegates from MAREA are Ruby Pinter/Mary Denk.   

State Reports are due in September and members will be asked to vote on their favorite program and project from the past year.  The voting will be done in September. 

Ruby Thomas has agreed to be President-Elect for the next year.  

Happy Birthday was sung for the July and August birthday members.  

The September program will be Kirk Rodman, “High Ground” 

 The meeting was adjourned and President Hasenohrl introduced the speaker for the day, Mandy Wright.  Mandy gave a very informative talk on “Public School Financing”.  Mandy gave us important information of how state money is divided among public schools, charter schools, and voucher schools.   

     Submitted by Dorothy Halle, Secretary

                                                                     

                                                                                             MAREA 

                                                                      EXECUTIVE MEETING JUNE 28, 2016 

An Executive Meeting of MAREA was held at the Belvedere Supper Club, Highway 97, Marshfield, WI. on June 28, 2016.  The following officers and current committee chairs present were:  

Kathleen Hasenohrl, PresidentMary Denk, Past President and Blog Manager 

Ruby Pinter, President-ElectCarol Ely, Membership 

Marlene Broeske, TreasurerDorothy Dietsche, WREA Foundation Liaison 

Dorothy Halle, SecretaryKaren Winkler, Volunteer Hours 

Guest:  Jessica Hasenohrl 

State Convention:  A brief discussion was held in regard to the State WREA Convention to be held in Wisconsin Rapids on September 27 and 28.    MAREA members will be asked to volunteer to work the registration table at the August, 2016 meeting. 

Delegates to the State Convention will be Ruby Pinter and Kathleen Hasenohrl, with Carol Ballerstein and Mary Denk being the alternates. 

State Reports are due in September.  President Hasenohrl will complete these reports.  Information needed:  favorite program for 2015-16 year, favorite Community Service project for the 2015-16 year.  The Unit 3 Year Membership Plan will be submitted as completed in 2015, with some minor wording changes. 

Committees:  A Community Action Project Chair is needed for 2016-17. 

Current Initiatives:  Discussion was held in regard to continuing greeters at the MAREA meetings, treats, drawings of small items as part of the community action program, and whether we should continue the five minute spotlight.  It was tentatively decided that we would continue having greeters, treats, continue the five minute spotlight and would ask members at the August meeting how they felt about the drawing. 

Financial Review:  The unused money in the educational grant fund would normally be put in the general budget but it was decided to hold that money and add it to the third grant if awarded. 

All other programs seem to be funded appropriately. 

Membership:  Carol Ely asked for help in identifying individuals who are members of WREA, but not MAREA.  She asked if she should continue to send those members information on MAREA.  Members present were able to identify most people she was concerned about and she will continue to send information to them.   

Carol will update the E-mail directory and also print hard copies for those individuals who want one.  

Dues envelopes will be ready for the August meeting. 

It was decided that MAREA would not hold a retirement seminar this year. 

Nominations for officers:  No solutions on this issue 

Programs for 2016-17:  Two spots are still tentative.  A list will be forthcoming when all is complete. 

Submitted by Dorothy Halle, Secretary

    MAREA MEETING MINUTES – JUNE 20, 2016 

The June MAREA meeting was held at the Country Aire in Stratford on June 20, 2016.  The meeting was called to order by President Kathleen Hasenohrl and was opened with the Pledge of allegiance.  There were 31 members and 3 guests present.  Welcomed guests were Sue and Harry Toufar, and Janis Cole.   

The secretary’s report was approved as presented.  The treasurer’s report was approved as presented.  Checkbook total $2,814.47.  Community Action - $185.45, Foundation $344.50, Scholarship $628.15, Education Grant $115.11, MAREA balance $1,541.26. 

Correspondence:  President Hasenohrl received a list of items St. Vincent DePaul was in need of for future donations.   

Committee Reports: 

Sunshine and Shadows by Ruby Pinter - announced were the names of the two scholarship recipients.  They were Rachel Lemke of Mosinee – going into special education/Macey Staab of Marshfield – going into Family and Consumer Education.  Macey’s name was submitted at the state level for possible selection of a state scholarship.  Macey was a very viable contender but was not a recipient at the state. 

Shadows – Mary Lindow of Marshfield passed away – Mary had been a MAREA member for many years. 

Public Education – Carol Ballerstein will write the third initiative grant.  She asked for input on what the group would like to use the grant for.  After discussion the group voted to apply for money to use at the elementary level for individual incentives for students.    

Community Action by Shari Stangl – the drawing for the day went to Elaine Haas.  Food items collected went to St. Vincent De Paul in Marshfield.   

Membership – Members were reminded to invite new retirees to the August meeting.  President Hasenohrl stated that Mandy Wright will speak about public school financing at that meeting. 

Carol Subera announced that the next District III Meeting will be held at the Country Aire in Stratford on April 20, 2017.  Carol reminded members that this was her last term at the district level and she encouraged other members to become involved. 

Old Business: 

Joan Zoellner reported that the brat fry made $775.55.  Joan thanked all of the volunteers for their work.  Joan was also thanked for her work in setting up the successful event. 

New Business: 

Dorothy Halle gave a brief talk about the State Convention scheduled for September 27 and 28 in Wisconsin Rapids.  Members are needed to volunteer to work at the registration table.   

A president elect is still needed for MAREA. 

 Happy Birthday was sung for the June birthday member. 

The August program will be Mandy Wright speaking on school finance. 

The meeting was adjourned and President Hasenohrl introduced Mary and Bob Albrecht who spoke on their trips to Egypt and West Africa working on the “Farmer to Farmer” program.  May and Bob gave a very informative and entertaining talk on their work and their various travels. 

MAREA MEETING MINUTES – MAY 16, 2016 

The May MAREA meeting was held at the Country Aire in Stratfod on May 16, 2016.  The meeting was called to order by President Kathleen Hasenohrl and was opened with the Pledge of Allegiance.  There were 38 members present.  The secretary’s report was approved with one correction – the spelling of Christine Haferman was changed to Kristine Haferman.  The treasurer’s report was approved as presented.  Checkbook total $2,728.97.  Community Action - $164.45. Foundation $236.50, Scholarship $628.15, Education $125.11, MAREA balance of $1,574.76. 

Correspondence:  Thank you notes from the WREA for volunteer hours and from Colby Food Pantry 

Committee Reports: 

Sunshine and Shadows by Ruby Pinter – None 

Scholarship by Ruby Pinter – two scholarships will be awarded this spring at the respective schools of Mosinee and Marshfield.  Names will be announced later. 

Public Education:  Carol Ballerstein reported that her committee will submit application for 3rd grant. Those educators who are working in schools and wish to use grant money should see M. Broeske, Treasurer. 

Volunteer Hours – Karen Winkler reminded members to keep track of hours and turn in sheets by August.  President Hasenohrl presented a check from WREA representing the value of volunteer hours in the amount of $76,657.22.  This amount represents 3,518 volunteer hours from the MAREA Unit. 

Community Action – The drawing winner today was Dorothy Dietsche.  Food collected today will go to SOS in Marshfield.  The June collection will go to St. Vincent DePaul in Marshfield. 

Membership:  President Hasenohrl stated she had some pamphlets from the District III Meeting on membership ideas. 

Foundation:  Dorothy Dietsche passed the donation box. 

Old Business: 

Joan Zoellner passed the sign-up sheet around for help at the brat fry. 

Members were asked to sign-up to procure names of retirees for this year from their districts. 

Members were reminded of State Convention dates of September 27 and 28 at Wisconsin Rapids. 

New Business: 

The Program Committee to meet after today’s meeting. 

Marlene Broeske will serve another term as Treasurer.  A President Elect is still needed for next year. 

Highlights of the District III Meeting were given by various members who attended.  Carol Subera was thanked for her organization of the meeting and Carol Ballerstein was thanked for her participation on the panel. 

Joyce Lohr gave a brief talk on behalf of the Marathon County Historical Society, inviting people to a meeting on May 23, 6 pm at the Edgar Library. 

Happy Birthday was sung to the May birthday members. 

The June program will be “Farmer to Farmer – Egypt and West Africa+” 

The meeting was adjourned and President Hasenohrl introduced Jan Rasmussen, owner of JJ’s Bakery in Marshfield.  Jan gave a very entertaining talk on her various occupations and how she ended up being in the bakery business.  Noting that school was not her thing but was successful through on-the-job learning. 

                                         
 MAREA MEETING MINUTES – APRIL 18, 2016 

The April MAREA meeting was held at the country Aire in Stratford on April 18, 2016.  The meeting was called to order by President Kathleen Hasenohrl and was opened with the Pledge of Allegiance.  There were 43 members and 4 guest speakers present.  Trina Tiffany, new member from Athens was welcomed.   

The secretary’s report was approved as printed.  The treasurer’s report was approved as presented.  The total in the checkbook is $2,765.86.  Of that amount, $628.15 belongs to the Scholarship Fund, $124.45 to the Community Action Fund, $236.50 to the Foundation Fund, $183.00 to the Education Grant Fund, and the MAREA balance of $1,593.76. 

Correspondence:  A thank you note from St. Vincent DePaul was read for the donation from last month.   President Hasenohrl also mentioned that she had been notified that Dave Bennett, Executive Director of WREA has retired due to ill health and that Diane Wilcenski has been appointed as Interim Executive Director. 

Committee Reports: 

Sunshine and Shadows: Ruby Pinter read a thank you note from the family of Myrtle Prestebak. 

Scholarship:  Ruby Pinter reported that two $500 scholarships will be awarded this spring.  One student is from Marshfield and one from Mosinee.  The names will be announced during their school award programs. 

Public Education:  Carol Ballerstein reminded members who were working in schools as volunteers to be using the education grant funds.  Members who wanted to do this should contact Treasurer Marlene Broeske. 

Volunteer Hours:  The volunteer sheet was passed. 

Community Action:  The winner of the drawing was Karen Winkler.  Circle of Joy Food Pantry in Edgar is the recipient of food collected today.  Next month the food will go to Soup and Socks in Marshfield. 

Membership:  Carol Ely asked that current members contact retirees that they know for future members of MAREA.  

Old Business:  Joan Zoellner asked people to sign up to work at the brat fry which will be held at Festival Foods in Marshfield on June 2 and 3. 

New Business:  President Hasenohrl asked members to volunteer to contact the human resource department in their district to get the names of new retirees. 

Members were reminded of the District III Convention in Black River Falls on May 10.  The classroom of Kristine Hafferman in Edgar is one of the recipients of the Challenge Award. 

The committee working on the State Convention will meet in May 24. 

Members were asked to be thinking of programs that would be interesting for next year.  The program committee will be meeting in May to begin working on the program list. 

Five Minute Spotlight:  Doreen Schultz from Athens, WI, gave a short talk about her teaching career.  Doreen was a fourth grade teacher in the Marathon School District.  Doreen spoke about enjoying her teaching career but was really enjoying retirement.  She spoke briefly about her children, one of which is doing non-profit work, one in the media field, and one doing organic farming on the family farm.  She also spends a lot of time with her three grandchildren. 

Happy Birthday was sung to the April birthday member. 

The May meeting will be held on May 16, with the program titled “Eyes to Donuts”.   

The meeting was adjourned and Ruby Pinter introduced four AFS foreign exchange students who are attending Marshfield High School.  Sebastian Soerensen of Denmark, Cynthia Dummermuth of Switzerland, Arnon Meemongkol of Thailand, and Wujin Shi of China were introduced, one at a time.   Each of the students gave a talk about their homeland, their families, their educational experiences both at home and here in the US.  A brief question and answer period followed.  

                                                 MAREA MEETING MINUTES – MARCH 21, 2016 

The March MAREA meeting was held at the Country Aire in Stratford on March 21, 2016.  The meeting was called to order by President Elect Ruby Pinter and was opened with the Pledge of Allegiance.  There were 32 members present, along with 1 guest, Trina Tiffany of Athens. 

The secretary’s report was approved as printed.  The treasurer’s report was approved as presented.  The total in the checkbook is $2,739.36.  Of that amount, $628.15 belongs to the Scholarship Fund, $127.45 to the Community Action Fund, $182.00 to the Foundation Fund, $183.00 to the Education Grant Fund, and the MAREA balance of $1,618.76.  

Committee Reports: 

Sunshine and Shadows:  Myrtle Prestebak of Dorchester passed away. 

Volunteer Hours:  Members were reminded to keep track of their hours on their sheets, more sheets are available if needed.   

Community Action:  The winner of the drawing was Dorothy Dietsche.  Food collected today will go to the Colby Food Pantry.  The April collection will go to the Edgar Food Pantry.  

Scholarship Report:  Shari Stangl reported that there were 21 applications for next year’s scholarships.  There will be two $500 scholarships awarded in late spring.  The highest winner will have his/her name entered in the program for a state scholarship. 

Foundation by Dorothy Dietsche:  The foundation donation box was passed. 

Public Education:  Carol Ballerstein stated that her committee will be working on an application for the third $100 grant and if anyone had any ideas on what they would like to see in the application they should see her. 

Legislation:  Barry Brubaker gave a short presentation on the various referendums – which did not pass, and which are still pending.  He encouraged people to speak up about the funding process for charter schools.   Mr. Brubaker also noted that the Core Retirement Fund is -2.5 and the Variable is -6.2 at this time.  Hopefully the stock market will change and there will be more growth.   

New Business:   President Elect Ruby Pinter asked for volunteers for the nominating committee for next year’s President Elect.  Ruby asked that someone please see her after the meeting if interested since no-one volunteered when asked.   

Joan Zoellner reported that the brat fry will be June 2 and 3 at Festival Foods in Marshfield.  A sign-up sheet was passed. 

President Elect Ruby Pinter reported on the survey results which members were asked to complete.  Items suggested were:  extending personal invitations to new retirees and/or past retirees; encourage more support staff to become members; hosting more current event programs such as political figures;  encourage members to mix up the seating at meetings to meet new people; offer a program about WREA benefits. 

Members were reminded of the District III meeting in Black River Falls on Tuesday, May 10. 

The Clark County Spring Art Tour was mentioned.  One of our members, Grace Dietel is part of the tour which runs April 23 and April 24.  Brochures with maps were available. 

Richard Halle gave a report on the State Convention to be held in Wisconsin Rapids, September 27 and 28.  Preliminary plans are in place for a mosaic of speakers, a cranberry tour, a big band comprised of retired educators.  Members were asked to contribute items toward two door prizes for the event. 

Five Minute Spotlight:  Ruby Thomas of Marshfield Wi., gave a five minute talk on her walk into and through education.  Ruby was a member of a large farm family.  She graduated from UW Stevens Point, taught elementary education in Stevens Point, taught reading in Marshfield, and eventually taught art in the Spencer School District – grades K-12.   

Happy Birthday was sung to the March birthday member. 

The April meeting will be held on April 18, three exchange students from area schools will be on the program.   

The meeting was adjourned and Carol Ballerstein gave a talk on “Humor in the Classroom”.   Carol talked about the importance of laughter in our lives and how it gives a positive feel.  Anecdotes and quotes from her former students were given.  Members were encouraged to tell humorous quotes from their teaching experience.   

Respectfully Submitted by Dorothy Halle, Secretary

MAREA MEETING MINUTES – FEBRUARY 15, 2016

              The February MAREA meeting was held at the Country Aire in Stratford on February 15, 2016.   The meeting was called to order by President Kathleen Hasenohrl and was opened with the Pledge of Allegiance.  There were 33 members present, along with 2 guests.

              The secretary’s report was approved as printed.  The treasurer’s report was approved as presented.  The total in the checkbook is $2742.46.  Of that amount, $603.15 belongs to the Scholarship Fund, $128.45 to the Community Action Project, $144.00 to the Foundation Fund, $183.00 Education Grant Fund, and the MAREA balance of $1,683.86.

              Correspondence received by President Hasenohrl was the Leadership Newsletter and we were all reminded to vote in the Primary on February 16.

              Carol Subera presented the MAREA Volunteer of the Year Award to Kathleen Hasenohrl.  Congratulations Kathleen!

Committee Reports:

Sunshine and Shadows by Ruby Pinter:Ruby read several excerpts about Vivian Kramer and her outstanding achievements in community work.  Vivian received an Outstanding Achievement Award from the Abbotsford Chamber of Commerce.   A note from Mary Lindow’s caregiver was read.  Marge Witt passed away and $25 will be sent to the foundation in her memory.

Volunteer Hours by Carol Subera:  Members were reminded to keep track of their hours on the tracking sheets received at January’s meeting.  Those members not present at that meeting were given the appropriate sheets. 

Community Action by Shari Stangl:  Cheryl Eckert received the drawing for the day.  Food collected today will go to St. Vincent de Paul in Marshfield.  Next month’s food will go to Community Pantry in Colby.  Joan Zoellner spoke about the upcoming brat fry dates of June 2 and 3.  Joan will be asking for volunteers within the next few months. 

Scholarship Report by Ruby Pinter:  The two scholarships for this year have been awarded and there are two applicants at this time for next year’s scholarships.

Public Education:  No news

Membership:  No news

Foundation by Dorothy Dietsche:  The foundation donation box was passed.

New Business:  President Hasenohrl asked members to complete the membership survey if they have not yet done so.   Three or four people were needed from the MAREA Unit to help with planning for the State Convention to be held at the Mead Inn in Wisconsin Rapids on September 27 and 28.  Ruby Thomas, Jerome Sjostrom, Richard Halle and Dorothy Halle volunteered.

Happy Birthday was sung to the February birthday members.

The March meeting will be held on March 21, with the program being presented by Carol Ballerstein.  Carol will speak on “Humor in the Classroom”.

The meeting was adjourned and Rev. Janet Wolfe gave a talk on her involvement in the Martin Luther King March.  Rev. Wolfe gave an interesting talk on what she actually did and had many interesting books which she referenced.  She has been working with other people who were with her at the time on a timeline of events.  Rev. Wolfeshowed us a book which was autographed by Martin Luther King.

 MAREA MEETING MINUTES – JANUARY 18, 2016

 The January MAREA meeting was held at the Country Aire in Stratford on January 18, 2016. The meeting was called to order by President Kathleen Hasenohrl and was opened with the Pledge of Allegiance. There were 31 members present.

The secretary’s report was approved as printed.

The treasurer’s report was approved as presented. The total in the checkbook is $2,789.46. Of that amount, $50.45 belongs to the Community Action Project, $144.00 to the Foundation Fund, $603.15 to the Scholarship Fund, $183.00 to the Education Grant Fund, and the MAREA balance of $1,808.86.

 Committee Reports:

Sunshine and Shadows by Shari Stangl in the absence of Ruby Pinter: Ruby sent cards to Eileen Keller and Mary Luchterhand. Shari also shared some excerpts from the obituary of Margaret Leonard. A sympathy card was sent to the family of Andy Ruzeck. Member Mike Young has had several heart procedures.

 Community Action by Shari Stangl: Barb Viegut won the prize drawing for the day. Food collected today will go to the Stratford Food Pantry. February food collection will go to St. Vincent de Paul in Marshfield. Joan Zoellner spoke in regard to brat fry fundraisers. The sign-up date is February and Joan will sign up – she asked members what their preference of months and days were. If at all possible, Joan will sign up for the months of June/July with days of Thursdays and Fridays.

Scholarship Report: Marissa Niggin and Mikayla Brandenberg both received their $500 scholarship checks from MAREA as the 2015 winners. Applications for the 2016 scholarships are due March 7 and the forms are out to the schools.

 Public Education by Carol Ballerstein: MAREA received $100 in the second application for grant initiative money. An application for the third round of another $100 is due in September.

Volunteer Hours by Karen Winkler: The chart currently being used was passed. Karen also presented an individual volunteer sheet which is now being requested for reporting. After some discussion, it was decided that each individual would keep their own log at home to track their hours, etc., turning the sheet in at the August meeting. Individuals are now being asked to track their categories of service, broken down by month, and hours. Those individuals who did not want to keep their log sheets at home could give them to Karen and she will bring them to the monthly meetings for those individuals.

Health Issues: Exercise booklets were made available to those who wanted them.

Membership: No news

Legislative Issues by Barry Brubaker: As an aside to the discussion about tracking volunteer hours, Barry mentioned he worked with his local Lions Club and they were doing vision screening for 3 and 4 year olds, stating this was a great way to do volunteer work and with his sheet at home he felt it would be easier to track his time. Barry gave a short report on the “crazy stock market” and how it may affect our pensions. As of now, the core is at -.6 and the variable at -2.9. He also stated his concern over Senate Bill 355 which restricts local school districts from running referendums for consecutive years, taking local control away from districts. Those with concerns were encouraged to contact their state senators to voice their opinions.

New Business: President Hasenohrl prepared a membership survey and asked everyone to fill it out.

State Committees by Carol Subera: Carol thanked Barry Brubaker for serving at the state level. She also encouraged anyone else interested in serving at the state level to step forward. May 10, 2016 is the District Meeting at Black River Falls.

 Happy Birthday was sung to the January birthday member.

The February meeting will be on February 15, with the program being presented by Janet Wolfe on Martin Luther King Day.

The meeting was adjourned and Mr. Norb Salamonski, local Pharmacist gave a talk on over-the-counter supplement usage. Members were encouraged to read labels and educate themselves on what they are taking. Mr. Salamonski highly encouraged everyone to ask their pharmacist about what they are taking or what “their neighbor told them to take” before using over-the-counter drugs.

Respectfully submitted by: Dorothy Halle, Secretary

MAREA MEETING MINUTES – DECEMBER 21, 2015 

The December MAREA meeting was held at the Country Aire in Stratford on December 21, 2015.  The meeting was called to order by President Kathleen Hasenohrl and was opened with the Pledge of Allegiance.  There were 34 members present.   

The secretary’s report was approved as printed.  The treasurer’s report was approved as presented.  The total in the checkbook is $3,881.65.   Of that amount, $50.45 belongs to the Community Action Project, $144.00 to the Foundation Fund, $1,603.15 to the Scholarship Fund, $83.00 to the Education Grant Fund, and the MAREA balance of $2001.05. 

Committee Reports: 

Sunshine and Shadows by Ruby Pinter:  Ruby sent Christmas cards to the shut-ins, noted that Karen Stevens had a knee replacement but was doing well, noted that Andrew Ruzeck had passed away. Ruby also noted that she had sent letters to the two scholarship winners reminding them to send in their schedules, etc., so the scholarship money could be awarded. 

Public Education and PR by Carol Ballerstein:   The second application for grant initiative money resulted in the MAREA Unit receiving $100. Carol Ballerstein made the presentation to President Hasenohrl.   The sum of $100 will be added to the existing fund and members who volunteer in schools are encouraged to use these funds for teachers/classrooms as they need it.  Suggested sums for each use is between $10-15.  Members who do this are encouraged to take photos when doing the presentations for possible future publication.   Carol and Diane will work on a grant application for the third round of grant money.  
The Athens teachers in the group made fruit baskets for each Athens school for Education Week.  They received an “A+” in the form of a thank you note from the Athens teachers. 

Community Action by Shari Stangl:  Dorothy Dietsche won the prize drawing for the day.   Food collected today will go to the Stratford Food Pantry.  January food collection will also go to the Stratford Food Pantry. 

Health Issues: Jackie Behringer stated that she would continue to look for more booklets on exercises for seniors and would share them with the group as she finds them. 

A basket was passed for tips for the kitchen workers for our monthly meetings. 

Happy Birthday was sung for the December birthdays. 

New Business:  Barb Viegut was presented with a gift in recognition of her perfect attendance at MAREA meetings between the dates of October, 2014 thru September, 2015. 

The January, 2016 meeting will be held on January 18, with the program being presented by Norb Salamonski, Pharmacist.  Mr. Salamonski will talk about the risks and benefits of over the counter drugs.   

The meeting was adjourned.  Members were then encouraged to talk about each of their most favorite/memorable Christmases.  Christmas carols were sung under the direction of Annette McCabe. 

Respectfully submitted by:  Dorothy Halle, Secretary 

MAREA MEETING MINUTES – NOVEMBER 16, 2015

 The November MAREA meeting was held at the Country Aire in Stratford on November 16, 2015. The meeting was called to order by President Kathleen Hasenohrl and was opened with the Pledge of Allegiance. There were 33 people present, including new member Janet Wiemann, and guest Bruce Luchterhand.

 The secretary’s report was approved as printed. The treasurer’s report was approved as presented. The total in the checkbook is $3,666.96. Of that amount, $74.45 belongs to the Community Action Project, $57.00 to the Foundation Fund, $1,603.15 to the Scholarship Fund, $83.00 in the Education Grant Fund, and the MAREA balance of $1,849.36.

Committee Reports:

Sunshine and Shadows by Ruby Pinter: Ruby will be sending Christmas cards to the shut-ins. Volunteer Chart was passed. Food collected today will go to Soup or Socks in Marshfield. Dec. donations will go to the Stratford Pantry.

Public Education and PR by Carol Ballerstein: The application for the $100 grant in now in the second round. If the grant is received it will be spent on items for public schools. Motion by Anne Teska, seconded by Joan Zoellner to add the current balance of $83 from last year’s grant to the new $100 grant if said grant is received by the MAREA Association. Motion carried by an aye vote.

Comm. Action by Shari Stangl – money is low in the donation envelope. Dick Halle won the prize drawing.

Health Issues: books on exercises from Jackie Behringer were available on the front table.

Membership: Carol Ely distributed hard copies of the MAREA membership directory.

 Legislative Issues: none

 Foundation: Dorothy Dietsche passed the donation box, she would be doing that every-other-month.

New Business:

Anne Teska reported that she attended the Fall Convention. She reported that the state budget for education is not good for public schools. Wisconsin is below the average for pupil spending. There is current lobbying going on to allow people other than educators to enter the retirement system; to allow non WRS employees to join; to change employee funding for post employee benefits; to raise the retirement age for educators; and, to change the averaging of the highest years from three to five years. President Hasenohrl encouraged all who receive emails regarding contacting their legislators from the WREA to please do so.

 Scholarship Update by Ruby Pinter – Last year’s scholarship recipients will be sent a Christmas card reminding them that they need to send in their 1st semester grades and their future schedules so the scholarship money can be sent to them. Education Week:

Diane Ritzinger encouraged everyone to reach out to a current or former educator and thank them for their dedication to education.

Five minute spotlight was on Dorothy Halle. Dorothy told antidotes about her elementary education and how she began working as support staff, working for 35 years for the Marshfield School District.

Happy Birthday was sung for the November birthday. The next MAREA meeting will be held on December 21, 2015, with the program being Grown Men Goofing Off – a jazz group.

Members are also asked to bring a Christmas ornament or decoration they are no longer using as an exchange. Items not claimed by members will be donated to the food pantry recipient of December.

The meeting was adjourned and Guest Speaker Rick Lohr was introduced. Mr. Lohr gave a very interesting talk about polio. His sister contracted polio at a very young age and he described her journey as she went through the iron lung stage, and then on to actually living a very fulfilling life. He and his wife journeyed to India with the Rotary to help immunize hundreds of children. The information he gave us was that Nigeria, Pakistan, and Afghanistan are the countries which still report polio cases.

Respectfully submitted by: Dorothy Halle, Secretary

MAREA MEETING MINUTES – OCTOBER 19, 2015 

The October meeting of the Marshfield Area Retired Education Association was held at the Country Aire in Stratford on October 19, 2015.  The meeting was called to order by President Kathleen Hasenohrl and was opened with the Pledge of Allegiance.  There were 38 members present.  New MAREA member at this meeting was Doreen Schultz, returning member Martha Pomainville, and guest Darlene Parkinson. 

The secretary’s report was approved as printed.  The treasurer’s report was approved as presented.  The total in the checkbook is $3,092.96.  Of that amount, $103.45 belongs to the Community Action Project, $57.00 to the Foundation Fund, $1,413.15 for the Scholarship Fund, $83.00 in the Education Grant Fund, and the MAREA balance of $1,436.36. 

Committee Reports were as follows:                                                                                                      Sunshine and Shadows by Ruby Pinter:  no news.  Scholarship report by Ruby Pinter:  there will be two scholarships presented at the end of the first semester.   

The Volunteer Chart was passed.  President Hasenohrl stated that the state now wants to know what organizations people volunteer for.  More information on how this will be collected will follow at a future meeting.  

Shari Stangl reported that the Food Collection from today would go to the Circle of Joy Pantry in Edgar. Dorothy Halle won the prize drawing.   November donations will go to Soup and Socks of Marshfield.  A signup sheet was passed around for volunteers to deliver collected food for 2016. 

Barry Brubaker reported that as of September, the core retirement fund was at -2.4 and the variable fund at -6.2.   Mr. Brubaker also indicated that there are two new bills which are being presented one of which would make the early retirement age for educators 57, not 55; the other changing the averaging of the highest years from three to five years.  

Jackie Behringer gave a short talk on her class called Strong Bones for Strong Women.  She also indicated that she would order some free booklets which she uses for her class to be available at our next meeting.  

New Business: 

 Ann Teska and Kathleen Hasenhorl attended the September WREA Convention.  President Hasenhorl reported that the changes which were on the table (self-nomination and changing from a delegate assembly to a general assembly), were put on hold and a committee was formed to discuss these issues.  The committee will report back and a vote will be taken next year. President Hasenhorl asked that if anyone was interested in being on this committee they should contact her.  Other discussion was held on growing membership for the WREA.  President Hasenhorl handed out the agendas for the remainder of the year, along with a list of the programs.  She indicated that perhaps all current members might share these with possible new members.  

Mrs. Hasenhorl introduced Darlene Parkinson who is taking over the Ambassador program for Carol Ballerstein.  Ms. Parkinson encouraged all of us to be ambassadors for the WREA encouraging us to bring friends to the organization.   

Carol Ely handed out a list of possible members/ex-members and asked that if anyone knew any of these people that they please contact them about possibly joining the local organization or at least maybe just the WREA.   

Installation of two new officers was held.  Ruby Pinter was installed as Vice President and Dorothy Halle as Secretary.  Karen Stevens was presented a gift for her work as out-going secretary.  

Carol Subra reported that there are 16 WEA districts in the state and of the 16, three had all of their paperwork in for the year.  One of them being the Marshfield chapter.  A thank you to 

President Hasenhorl and her committee!  Carol Subra also reported that the State WREA finances were in good order.

 The District Meeting will be held May 10 in Black River Falls. 

Happy Birthday was sung to those members sharing an October birthday.  

The next MAREA meeting will be November 16, with Rick Lohr presenting “Polio, My Journey”. 

The meeting was adjourned and Guest Speaker Barbara Bolton was introduced.  Ms. Bolton gave a very interesting presentation on “Human Trafficking”.  A slide presentation was made on various statistics in regard to what types of trafficking is going on, the ages, sexual orientation, locations with heavy activity, etc.  Regardless of what we might like to think, this activity goes on in our area.  Ms. Bolton asked that we share this information and encouraged us to report anything that we may think of as suspicious in regard to this growing problem.  The more we talk about it, the more aware people are of what we should watch for in our communities.   

Respectfully submitted by:  Dorothy Halle Secretary

MAREA MEETING MINUTES-September 21, 2015

The September meeting of the Marshfield Area Retired Educators Association was held at Country Aire in Stratford on September 21, 2015.  The meeting was called to order by president, Kathleen Hasenohrl, with the Pledge of Allegiance. There were 42 members present. New MAREA members at this meeting were Pat Anderson, Linda Dosch, Cynthia Loos and Ruby Thomas.

The secretary’s report was approved as printed. The treasure’s report was approved as presented.  The total in the checkbook is $3028.66.   Of that amount $123.45 belongs to the Community Action Project, $237.70 to the Foundation Fund, and $1388.15 to the Scholarship Fund. There is $83.00 for an Education Grant.  The MAREA balance is $1196.36.

Committee Reports were as Follows:

Bruce Stevens reported on the state pension that the Core Fund is at -0.6% and the Variable Fund is at  -2.9%.   Volunteer Hour record sheets were passed.  Shari Stangl reported for the Community Action Committee that today’s donations will go to Community United Pantry in Colby. Mary Denk won the prize drawing.  October donations will go to Circle of Joy Pantry in Edgar.  Carol Ely reminded members that MAREA and WREA dues should be paid to the treasurer, Marlene Broeske, by October 5, 2015. 

New Business:

Ann Teska and Kathleen Hasenohrl will be the MAREA delegates to the state WREA convention. Election of new officers was held.  Dorothy Holly was elected Secretary and Ruby Pinter was elected President-Elect.  Thank you to both of them.  The 5 minute spotlight was on Joan Zoellner.  A fond remembrance of her childhood was walking to grade school past a Marshfield railroad depot and the roundhouse and watching the action there.  Joan graduated from Columbus High School in Marshfield, then from UWSP with a degree in primary education.  She taught 2^nd grade at Washington School in Marshfield for 35 years.

Happy Birthday was sung to several members with September birthdays. The next MAREA meeting will be October 19, 2015. The speaker for that meeting will be on Human Trafficking.

The meeting was adjourned.  The speaker for the September meeting was Chris Preisler, WI Investment Board Specialist, speaking about the work that goes on at the SWIB.

Respectfully submitted,

Karen Stevens, Secretary

August 17, 2015

The August meeting of the Marshfield Area Retired Educators’ Association was held at Country Aire in Stratford on August 17, 2015.  There were 28 members present.  The meeting was called to order by president, Kathleen Hasenohrl, and opened with the Pledge of Allegiance.  Guests were Pat Anderson, Linda Dosch, and Jessica Sweda.  Jessica was nominated by Elaine Haas as a teacher who is making a difference in the lives of students today.

The secretary’s report was approved as printed.  The treasurer’s report was approved as presented.  The total in the checkbook is $2135.11.  Of that, $107.45 belongs to the Community Action Fund, $237.70 is in a fund for WREA Foundation, and $721.93 belongs to the local scholarship fund. 

Carol Ballerstein reported on the second round of the WREA SPOTLIGHT ON PUBLIC EDUCATION, funded by the WREA Foundation.  She and Diane Ritzinger have worked on a proposal that would involve members to go into the classroom to volunteer as long and as often as desired.  She gave several ideas of how members could support the working teachers.  The $100 grant would then be divided among those volunteers to use in the classroom or for the teacher as they desired.  After some discussion, it was agreed to have Carol apply for this $100 grant.

Committee reports were as follows:

Shari Stangl reported that the donations today will go to St. Vincent’s Food Pantry in Marshfield.  The winner of the drawing was Karen Winkler.  Next month’s donations will go to CUP in Colby.  Members were reminded that the pantries are looking for personal care items as well as food.  Ruby Pinter reported on Sunshine and Shadows.  Carol Ely handed out membership forms for members to pay dues.  Pat Tietyenexplained to the group what the Health Issues Committee did when it was active.  Jackie Behringer volunteered to head that committee.  Volunteer hours were recorded.

Joan Zoellner reported on another successful brat fry with money going to the scholarship fund.  After expenses, we made $404.12 plus $92.10 in donations and $30 deposit return.

The happy birthday song was sung for members with August birthdays.

Anne Teska announced that Dorothy Halle has agreed to take the secretary position.  We are still looking for a president-elect and members were urged by President Kathleen to seriously think about taking that position.

The State WREA fall convention will be held in Manitowoc on September 29-30.  Kathleen Hasenohrl and Anne Teska will be delegates.  Mary Denk and Carol Ely with be alternates.

The 5 minute spotlight was on Kathleen Hasenohrl.  She graduated with a nursing degree from St. Joseph’s School of Nursing.  She taught nursing assistants to be surgical aides, and enjoyed the teaching.  So she got her bachelor’s degree at Milton and later got her Masters’ degree in adult education at Stout.   She finished her career teaching at Mid-State Technical College for 29 years.   She taught health sciences and started the surgical technician program.  She was the Associate Dean for the Health Careers Division.

Our next meeting is September 21 at Country Aire and the speaker will be Chris Preisler, State of WI Investment Board Specialist.  All retired educators, administrators, and other school personnel are invited to attend.  There will be a meeting of officers and committee chairs after the meeting.

The meeting was adjourned to hear Stacey Springbob, local author from Spencer.  She will soon graduate from UW Stout with a degree in journalism.  She has written a book entitled, What I’ve Learned From Never Having a Boyfriend. It is written for teenagers and young adults.  She started writing it when she was a freshman in college and has since published it.  She told the story of the steps she had to go through to write, beginning with living her life and dreaming.  A lot of time is spent pre-writing, the rough draft, revising, peer reading, revising again and again, and finally, publishing.  She hopes to continue writing, possibly screen writing. 

MAREA MEETING MINUTES-June 15, 2015

The June meeting of the Marshfield Area Retired Educators Association was held at Country Aire in Stratford on June 15, 2015.  The meeting was called to order by president, Kathleen Hasenohrland opened with the Pledge of Allegiance. There were 36 members present.  Guests were Kristi Schwalbach, 4^th grade teacher at Lincoln Elementary School in Marshfield and Dave Carroll Band Director at Marshfield High School.  Both have been nominated by MAREA members as teachers who are making a difference in the lives of students today.

The secretary’s report was approved as corrected. The treasure’s report was approved as presented by Marlene Broeske.  The total in the checkbook is $2242.01  Of that amount $157.45 belongs to the Community Action Project, $187.70 to the Foundation Fund, and $721.93 to the Scholarship Fund, and $100 from the Education grant.  With the balance brought forward of $2304.01 and income of $80 and Expenses of $142.00 the ending balance is $2242.01.

Committee Reports were as Follows:

Bruce Stevens Reported on the state pension that the Core Fund is at 3.8% and the Variable Fund is at 4.7%.   Volunteer Hour records were passed.  Shari Stangl reported for the Community Action Committee that today’s donations will go to Stratford Food Pantry. Cheryl Eckert won the prize drawing.   August donations will go to St. Vincent’s Pantry in Marshfield. The Brat Fry scholarship fundraiser will be held August 13-14.  Members are encouraged to sign up to work if they haven’t already done so.

New Business:

Barb Sinz gave the member 5-minute spotlight.  She grew up near Menomonie and taught in Edgar.  She always enjoyed school.  It was her 7^th grade teacher and high school biology teacher that influenced her decision to become a teacher.

Ruby Pinter announced that one of the MAREA scholarships has been presented to McKayla Brandenburg of Mosinee.  She will attend Northwestern University in St. Paul and will be a future teacher. A thank you was read from Marissa Nigon who received a MAREA scholarship.  She will be attending UW Wood County and then UWSP to become a teacher.

If there are others currently teaching who received a letter of encouragement from one of our members they are invited to attend the August meeting to be recognized and their meal will be paid.

Happy Birthday was sung to several members with June and July birthdays. The state WREA Convention will be held September 29^th and 30^th, 2015 at the Holiday Inn, Manitowoc.

The next MAREA meeting will be August 17. The speaker for that meeting will be a local author Stacey Springbob.

The meeting was adjourned.  The speaker for the June meeting was Representative Robert Kulp.

Respectfully Submitted,

Karen Stevens, Secretary

MAREA MEETING MINUTES-May 18, 2015

The May meeting of the Marshfield Area Retired Educators Association was held at Country Aire in Stratford on May18, 2015.  The meeting was called to order by president, Kathleen Hasenohrl opened with the Pledge of Allegiance. There were 34 members present.

The secretary’s report was approved as printed. The treasure’s report was approved as amended and presented by Marlene Broeske.  The total in the checkbook is $2304.01.  Of that amount $178.45 belongs to the Community Action Project, $186.70 to the Foundation Fund, and $721.93 to the Scholarship Fund, and $100 from the Education grant.  The MAREA balance is $1116.93.

Committee Reports were as Follows:

Bruce Stevens Reported on the state pension that the Core Fund is at 3.8% and the Variable Fund is at 4.1%.   Volunteer Hour records were passed.  Shari Stangl reported for the Community Action Committee that today’s donations will go to Soup or Socks in Marshfield.  June donations will go to the Stratford Food Pantry. The Foundation Box was passed for the last time this year.  The Brat Fry scholarship fundraiser will be held August 13-14.

Ruby Pinter announced that one of the scholarships has been presented to Marissa Niggin of Marathon who will be a future teacher.

District meeting reports were given by Carol Ballerstein and Ruby Pinter. They passed along the information that Dave Bennett has reported that the ETF pension remains strong.  Michael Williamson, the director at SWIB reported that SWIB employs 160 staff and diversification has been part of the reason for its success.  At the meeting in Sparta MAREA received a facsimile of a check for $122,198.32 representing 5,608 volunteer hours reported by members in the last year of MAREA meetings. This represents the worth of volunteer hours donated to our communities by MAREA members.

Those currently teaching who received a letter of encouragement from one of our members have been invited to a June or August meeting to be recognized and their meals will be paid.

New Business:

Happy Birthday was sung to several members with May birthdays. Anne Teske and Mary Denk are serving on the nominating committee for a secretary and President elect.  The program committee will meet at the end of today’s meeting.  The state WREA Convention will be held September 29^th and 30^th, 2015 at the Holiday Inn, Manitowoc.

The next MAREA meeting will be June 15.  The speaker for that meeting will be Representative Bob Kulp.

The meeting was adjourned.  The program was given by Amy Wiza of Stevens Point speaking about the Wisconsin/Nicaragua Partnership.

Respectfully Submitted,

Karen Stevens, Secretary

MAREA MEETING MINUTES – April 20, 2015

The April meeting of the Marshfield Area Retired Educators’ Association was held at Country Aire in Stratford on April 20, 2015.  The meeting was called to order by president, Kathleen Hasenohrl, and opened with the Pledge of Allegiance.  Guests were Wayne and Sharon Ledin and Dick Kingston.

The secretary’s report was approved after a correction which changed the place of food donations to Circle of Joy, Athens.  The treasurer’s report was put on hold because of an error in question and a full 6 month report will be given at the next meeting.

Carol Ballerstein reported that MAREA received a check for $100 from TheWREA Foundation for recognizing currently employed teachers as part of the Public Education Outreach Initiatives.  Those teachers who received a letter of encouragement from one of our members were invited to a June or August meeting to be recognized and their meals will be paid.

Carol also told members that she will end her term as co-director of District III because of added responsibilities after being elected to the Stratford School Board.  She will remain as MAREA publicity chair.

Ruby Pinter read a thank you letter from Mary Nelson’s daughter, thanking MAREA for sending $25 in memory of her mother to WREA Foundation.  She also reported that she sent cards to Herb Weber, Eileen Keller, and Bruce Stevens, and visited Joe Kain in Three Oaks.

Ruby announced that the two scholarship recipients for 2015 have been chosen and will be announced at the next meeting.  They were chosen from 18 applications from 7 of the 10 schools represented by MAREA members.

Volunteer hours were recorded for this month.  Joanne Runge presented Joan Zoellner a certificate and pin for being selected MAREA 2014 Volunteer of the Year.

 The winner of the Community Action drawing was Barb Viegut.  This month’s donations will go to Circle of Joy in Athens.  Next month’s donations will go to Soup or Socks, Marshfield.

Carol Ely, membership chair, reported that her committee has made a folder for new members which includes a directory, the MAREA brochure, several WREA brochures and an envelope with dues information.

The 5 minute spotlight was on Joyce Lohr, from Marathon.  She told of a long teaching career beginning in Iowa, and ending in Wausau.  She and her husband are very busy traveling to India and other places to help to eradicate polio.

President Kathy appointed a nominating committee to look for a President-Elect and secretary.She also asked members to consider being on the program planning committee, which will meet after the May meeting.  She asked members to please bring along ideas for programs for next year.

The District III Spring Meeting will be held in Sparta on May 12, and members are encouraged to attend.

Next month’s program will feature Any Wiza, Wisconsin/Nicaragua Partnership

The meeting was adjourned to hear the two foreign exchange students speak.  The two young men were Alexander Pittion from France and EmanueleCazzaniga from Italy.  The both attend Marshfield High School.  They told about their families, countries, cities, schools, and their ambitions for the future.  We asked them about the differences they found in the school system and they said that the teachers here in Marshfield care more about the students than their teachers back home.

Respectfully submitted,  Ruby Pinter, acting secretary

MAREA MEETING MINUTES-March 16, 2015

The March meeting of the Marshfield Area Retired Educators Association was held at Country Aire in Stratford on March 16, 2015.  The meeting was called to order by Acting President Ruby Pinter and opened with the Pledge of Allegiance. There were 29 members present.

The secretary’s report was approved as printed. The treasure’s report was approved as printed by Marlene Broeske.  The total in the checkbook is $3106 91.  Of that amount $218.45 belongs to the Community Action Project. $101.70 to the Foundation Fund, and $771.93 to the Scholarship Fund.  The MAREA balance is $2014.83.

Committee Reports were as Follows:

Sunshine and Shadows reports were that Herb Weber is back at Stoney River after being hospitalized and Mary Nelson has passed on.  A $25.00 donation will be made to the Foundation Fund in memory of Mary Nelson.  Bruce Stevens Reported that the Core Fund is at 2.6% and the Variable Trust Fund is at 3.5%.  

Members were reminded they can get the WREA Red Apple Express online if they already do not.  

Volunteer Hour records were passed.  Shari Stangl reported for the Community Action Committee that today’s food donations will go to King’s Pantry in Spencer and will be delivered by Dorothy Dietsche.  Pat Tietyen won the prize drawing.  Next month’s donations will go to Circle of Joy in Athens  and will be delivered by Cheryl Eckert, Diane Ritzinger, Mary Denk, and Carol Ely

  Carol Ely reminded members that the membership directory may be printed online and offered printed copies to anyone who may not be able to print one.  The Foundation box was passed.

New Business:

The Five Minute spotlight was given by Linda Christianson.  Linda grew up in Bruce, WI and has good memories of growing up in a small town with her grandmother nearby.  School was always an important part of her life.  Linda attributes encouragement from teachers and a guidance counselor, who arranged for scholarships and grants, for her becoming a teacher.Linda taught at St. John’s Catholic and at Edgar Public Schools for a total of 25 years. 

There were no members present with March birthdays.  The MAREA President-Elect position remains open and may be a shared position.  Members are encouraged to consider it. 

The District meeting will be held in Sparta on May 12.  

The Scholarship fundraiser brat-fry will be August 13 and 14 at Festival Foods;

The next MAREA meeting will be April 20.  The speakers for that meeting will be foreign exchange students Alex Pittion of France and EmanueleCazzaniga of Italy.  Both attend Marshfield High School.

The meeting was adjourned.  The program followed with the program speaker being Cheryl Hartl of Soup or Socks in Marshfield speaking about “Food Pantry Needs.”

Respectfully Submitted,

Karen Stevens, Secretary

MAREA MEETING MINUTES-February 16, 2015

The February meeting of the Marshfield Area Retired Educators Association was held at Country Aire in Stratford on February 16, 2015.  The meeting was called to order by Acting President Ruby Pinter and opened with the Pledge of Allegiance. There were 23 members present.

The secretary’s report was approved as printed. The treasure’s report was given by Marlene Broeske.  The total in the checkbook is $3161.41.  Of that amount $189.45 belongs to the Community Action Project. $101.70 to the Foundation Fund, and $771.93 to the Scholarship Fund.  The MAREA balance is $2098.83.

Committee Reports were as Follows:

Carol Ballerstein reported for the Education Committee. There are some local nomination letters for the Public Education Initiative that have been sent. Bruce Stevens reported on the WRS pension. At the end of January the Core Funds were up 0.1 and the Variable Funds were up 2.2. Members recorded their volunteer hours.  Ruby Pinter reported for the Sunshine and Shadows Committee that Joe Cain has not been well.  Shari Stangl reported for the Community Action Committee that today’s food donations will go to Community United Pantry in Colby and will be delivered by Elaine, Carol, and Joann. The prize drawings were won by Joan Zoellner and Barb Viegut.  The March food donations will go to King’s Pantry in Spencer and will be delivered by Dorothy Dietche.  A vote was taken and passed that the membership committee will email directories to members unless someone would like a hard copysent in the regular mail.

New Business:

Correspondence was received from member Mary Nelson who is now living in Verona.  Happy Birthday was sung to those having February birthdays.  The Five –Minute spotlight was given by Ruby Pinter.  Ruby was born near Bloomer and attended a one-room country school.  She always wanted to be a teacher.  Ruby fell in love with sewing and with teaching Home Ec which she taught in Abbotsford for 20 years.  

Members were encouraged to volunteer to assist with a “Walk to School” day at a school they have a connection with.  

The Scholarship fundraiser brat-fry will be August 13 and 14 at Festival Foods.

MAREA is still in need of a President-Elect.

The next MAREA meeting will be March 16.  The speaker for that meeting will be Cheryl Hartl of Soup or Socks in Marshfield speaking about “Food Pantry Needs”.

The meeting was adjourned.  

The program followed with speaker Andrea Yenter of the Wisconsin Lion’s Camp. Andrea spoke about the services the camp provides for deaf, blind, diabetic, and mildly cognitive deficient people.  About 1300 people attend the Wisconsin Lion’s Camp each summer.

Respectfully submitted,

Karen Stevens, Secretary

MAREA MEETING MINUTES-January 19, 2015

The January meeting of the Marshfield Area Retired Educators Association was held at Country Aire in Stratford on January 19, 2015.  The meeting was called to order by President Kathleen Hasenohrl and opened with the Pledge of Allegiance. There were 21 members present.

The secretary’s report was approved as printed. The treasure’s report was given by Marlene Broeske.  The total in the checkbook is $2362.64.  Of that amount $196.45 belongs to the Community Action Project. $101.70 to the Foundation Fund, and $771.93 to the Scholarship Fund.  The MAREA balance is $1292.56.

Committee Reports were as Follows:

Carol Ballerstein reported for the Education Committee. There are some local nominations for the Public Education Initiative. Bruce Stevens reported on the WRS pension.  At the end of December the Core Funds were up 5.7 and the Variable Funds were up 7.3. The May 1, 2015 adjustment increase for the Core Funds will be between 2.8-3.2 and the increase for the Variable Funds will be between 0.0-3.0.  Members recorded their volunteer hours.  

Ruby Pinter reported for the Sunshine and Shadows Committee.  Eileen Keller has been hospitalized.  

Shari Stangl reported for the Community Action Committee.  Today’s food donations will go to St. Vincent’s Food Pantry and they will be delivered by Joan Zoellner. The prize drawing was won by Myrtle Prestebak.  The February food donations will go to the Community United Pantry in Colby and will be delivered by Elaine, Carol, and Joann. 

Carol Ely prepared and passed out the membership directories.

New Business:

A MAREA membership packet will be developed by Kathleen Hasenohrl, Carol Ely, Mary Denk, and Cheryl Eckert. 

Correspondence was received from our scholarship recipients giving an update on their college education.

Happy Birthday was sung to those having a birthday in January.

This month’s member spotlight was given by Mavis Wood who told about her ancestors coming from Germany, settling in the area, and some becoming educators.

Nancy Cramer, AMBA District Manager passed out brochures and explained member benefits available to MAREA members.

MAREA is still in need of a President-Elect.

The next MAREA meeting will be February 16.  The speaker for that meeting will be Andrea Yenter from the Wisconsin Lion’s Camp organization.

The meeting was adjourned.  The program followed with Bob and Mary Albrecht speaking about the Farmer to Farmer Program.

Respectfully submitted,

Karen Stevens, Secretary

MAREA MEETING MINUTES-December 15, 2014

The December meeting of the Marshfield Area Retired Educators Association was held at Country Aire in Stratford on December 15, 2014.  The meeting was called to order by President Kathleen Hasenohrl, and was opened with the Pledge of Allegiance. There were 35 members present.

The secretary’s report was approved as printed. The treasure’s report was given by Marlene Broeske.  The total in the checkbook is $3258.69.  Of that amount $167.45 belongs to the Community Action Project. $101.70 to the Foundation Fund, and $1,701.93 to the Scholarship Fund.  The MAREA balance is $1287.61.

Committee Reports were as Follows: Bruce Stevens reported on the WRS pension that at the end of November the Core Funds were at 8.4 and the Variable Funds were at 6.7.  Members recorded their volunteer hours.  Karen Winkler will total them and turn them into the state organization.  The volunteer of the year will be chosen. Ruby Pinter reported for the Sunshine and Shadows Committee that she has sent Christmas Cards to members who have been unable to attend meetings.  Shari Stangl reported for the Community Action Committee that she is sending a $50.00 donation to the Stratford Food pantry along with today’s food donations.  They will be delivered by Carol Ballerstein.  Eileen Keller won the prize drawing.  The January food donations will go to St Vincent DePaul in Marshfield and will be delivered by Joan Zoellner.

New Business:

It was announced that Habitat for Humanity is looking for applications for the next home project. If anyone knows of any candidates they should apply.

Happy Birthday was sung to those having a birthday in December.

This month’s member spotlight was given by Marlene Broeske.  Marlene grew up on a dairy farm near Chile, WI. Her family was Amish type farmers doing much of the work by hand.  This motivated her to want to do better for herself.  She worked hard to get a college degree and became a successful math teacher.  She still volunteers to tutor students in math.

Carol Ballerstein reported on a WREA “Public Education Initiative”.  WREA members are encouraged to nominate teachers still working in the classroom, praising them for doing more with less.  A copy of the letter will be sent to the teacher’s administrator. Carol will apply for the grant and the $100 grant will go to the winning recipient.

The next MAREA meeting will be January 19.  The speakers for that meeting will be Bob and Mary Albrecht who will be telling about the Farmer to Farmer Program in other countries.

Thank you to Dick and Dorothy Halle for table decorations and treats.  A Christmas decoration exchange was held.

The meeting was adjourned.  The program followed with  musical entertainment provided by Peter and Sue Weinschenk.

Respectfully Submitted,

Karen Stevens, Secretary

MAREA MEETING MINUTES-November17, 2014

The November meeting of the Marshfield Area Retired Educators Association was held at Country Aire in Stratford on November 17, 2014.  The meeting was called to order by President  Kathleen Hasenohrland and opened with the Pledge of Allegiance. There were 28 members present.

The secretary’s report was approved as printed. The treasure’s report will be updated at the December meeting.

Committee Reports were as Follows: Bruce Stevens reported on the WRS pension that at the end of October the Core Funds were at 5.7 and the Variable Funds were at 6.3.  Members recorded their volunteer hours.  Diane Ritzinger reported for the Education Committee that the G.I. Bill passed in 1944 allowed veterans to get assistance with their college education including many who went on to become teachers following service in WWII.  Those present were encouraged to show appreciation for past educators in recognition of National Education Week.  Members signed up to deliver donated food to food pantries in 2015.  The WREA Foundation basket was passed and will be forwarded to the state project.

November food donations went to Soup or Socks and were delivered by Jenny Groen and Linda Merkel.  The December Food Pantry donations will go to the Stratford Food Pantry and will be delivered by Carol Ballerstein.

New Business:

Happy Birthday was sung to those having a birthday in November.

This month’s member spotlight was given by Jerome Sjostrom.  Jerome was a  teacher in Athens for 32 years and 17 years as Driver’s Ed teacher in Edgar.  Following his retirement he has been active with the Athens Fair Board and has been making French cookies for family and friends.

The December program will feature the music of Peter and Sue Weinschenk.  Members are asked to bring a Christmas decoration for exchange or for donation.

MAREA members are reminded that if the Marshfield Public Schools are cancelled due to weather the MAREA meeting for that day will be cancelled and will not be rescheduled.

MAREA is still in need of a volunteer to be President Elect.

The meeting was adjourned.  The program was given by Clarence Decker telling of his memories of WWII.  He was a member of the 1^st Division serving in the Mediterranean under General Patton.

Respectfully Submitted, Karen Stevens, Secretary

MAREA MEETING MINUTES – October 20, 2014

The October meeting of the Marshfield Area Retired Educators Association was held at Country Aire in Stratford on October 20, 2014.  The meeting was called to order by President Mary Denk and opened with the Pledge of Allegiance.  There were 33 members present.

The secretary’s report was approved as printed.  The treasurer’s report was given by Pat Tietyen.  There is $3008.24 in checking.  Of that amount, $137.45 belongs to the Community Action Fund and $1521.93 to the local scholarship fund.  The Foundation balance is $0.  The MAREA balance is $1348.86.  A thank you gift was given to Pat for her four years of serve.

Interesting facts shared – Almost 5000 people have viewed the blog. Yearly attendance numbers were read and three members – Kathy Rauen, Dorothy Dietsche, and Joan Zellner had perfect attendance this year.

Kathleen Hasenohrl and Marlene Broeski were sworn in as president and treasurer, respectfully.  Kathleen then took over the meeting.

Committee reports were as follows – Pension Fund – Elaine Haas – at the end of September the core was at 4.8% and the variable at 4.7%.  Sunshine/Shadow/Scholarship – Myrtle Prestebak is now back in her home.   Volunteer Hours – a sheet was passed around to update each members hours.  Community Action – There will no longer be a drawing at each meeting for a free lunch instead the drawing will be for a wrapped item in the basket.  Members can bring any item they would like to donate to the basket.  It should be wrapped or in a paper bag.  The items must not have been used and preferably no food items.  Membership Report – Carol Ely – Two new members were added the membership.  Members were reminded to get their dues in to Marlene and upon arrival at the meetings members should check off their names for attendance.  A sign-up sheet was passed around for volunteers to work at the check-in table as greeters at each meeting.

Correspondence – The Marshfield Public Library is looking for community group booths at their Oct 26 informational day from 1-4.  There was no interest in doing this.

New Business:  5 Minute Spotlight – Pat Tietyen was originally from Illinois.  She has taught in Illinois, EauClaire, Stevens Point and finished her career  with 27 years in Marshfield.  She has taught every elementary grade except 1^st and 6^th.  She has been retired for 13 years and enjoys traveling and attending classes through the LIFE Program.  She eagerly awaits the arrival of her 1^st great-grandchild.

            Happy Birthday was sung to those having a birthday in October.

            Carol Subera handed out information about the changes in member benefits .  The benefits are now through AMBA.  There have been a few  changes in some of the benefits.  AAA benefits will only be available to those who are already receiving them.  A new membership campaign will be held.  The district meeting will be held in Sparta on May 12.  The State Convention will be in Manitowoc on Sept. 29-30.  Carol Ballenstein shared some interesting figures with the group about how WI school compare with the other states, the voucher program , and the pension.  The missions of the WREA is to protect the pension fund and to help support working teachers.

            The October Food Pantry will go the Circle of Joy in Edgar and to be delivered by Kathy Rauen and Barb Sinz.  The November food pantry items will go to the Soup and Socks in Marshfield and will be delivered by Jenny Groen and Linda Merkel.

            Kathleen passed around a sign-up sheet for table favors at the meetings.  Elaine Haas has agreed to look for a president—elect.  There are options of the term of office or in working as a co-president.

The next meeting will be November 17 with Clarence Decker talking about his World War II experiences.

Meeting adjourned at 11:05,. The program speakers were Carol Subera and Carol Ballerstein who led the group in a game of – “How well do you know your WREA”.

Respectfully submitted

Romelle Bymers

Acting Secretary

 September 15, 2014 Minutes

The September meeting of the Marshfield Area Retired Educators Association was held at Country Aire in Stratford on September 15, 2014.  The meeting was called to order by President-elect Kathleen Hasenohrland opened with the Pledge of Allegiance. There were 33 members present.

The secretary’s report was approved as printed. The treasure’s report was given by Pat Tietyen.  There is $1261.78 in checking.   Of that amount, $159.45 belongs to the Community Action Fund and $694.67 to the local scholarship fund, and the Foundation balance was $000.00.   The MAREA balance is $407.66. The report will be filed for audit.

Committee Reports were as Follows: Bruce Stevens reported on the WRS pension that at the end of August the Core Funds were at 7.3 and the Variable Funds were at 7.8.  Members recorded their volunteer hours.  Ruby Pinter for the Sunshine and Shadows Committee reported MAREA member Myrtle Prestebak is receiving treatment at Memorial Rehab Center in Medford.

September donations went to the Community Unity Pantry and were delivered by Vickie La Venture, Carol Subera, Elaine Haas, and Joanne Runge.  The October Food Pantry donations will go to the Circle of Joy in Edgar.  Delivery will be by Kathy Rauen and Barb Sinz.

Ruby Pinter reported that because of the successful Brat Fry, MAREA will be able to award two scholarships this year.

New Business:

Happy Birthday was sung to those having a birthday in September.

Sue Legner gave a 5 minute summary of her teaching career in Edgar and of her retirement activities including travel and quilting projects which she showed to the group..

Members voted by using paper ballots to Change the By-laws for increasing the MAREA dues from $10 to $15.  The vote was 30 – 1. 

Pat Tietyen passed out envelopes for members to return to her with payment of dues or to bring to the next months meeting.

Anne Teska asked for discussion and made a motion to discontinue the free lunch at MAREA meetings allowing the money to be used for scholarships.  Bruce Stevens seconded the motion, and a voice vote approved the change.  Mary Luchterhand made a motion to continue the free lunch citing. 

The increase in dues may allow it.  The motion was seconded by Joann Runge.  The motion was defeated by a voice vote.

Joan Zoellner reported that the Brat Fry profits were $426,81.  Customer donations for scholarships came to $78.25 making a total of $505.06 toward this years scholarships.

The State Fall Meeting will be attended by Ruby Pinter, Carol Ballerstein, and Carol Subra.  The District Director Presentation will be by Carol Ballerstein and Carol Subra.

The meeting was adjourned.  The program “The Amazing Monarch Butterfly” was presented by Kathy McGrath a retired kindergarten teacher from Port Edwards.

Respectfully Submitted, Karen Stevens, Secretary

August 18, 2014



The August meeting of the Marshfield Area Retired Educators Association was held at Country Aire in Stratford on August 18, 2014. The meeting was called to order by President Mary Denk and opened with the Pledge of Allegiance. There were 29 members present.

The secretary’s report was approved as printed. The treasure’s reports were given by Pat Tietyen. There was no meeting in July. The June report was of $1618.90 in checking. Of that amount, $190.45 belonged to the Community Action Fund and $694.67 to the local scholarship fund, and the Foundation balance was $242.05. The MAREA balance is $491.73. The August report showed a total of $1610.40 in checking. Of that amount$190.45 belongs to the Community Action Fund and $694.67 to the local scholarship fund and the Foundation balance was $242.05. The MAREA balance is $483.23. These reports will be filed for audit.

Committee Reports were as Follows: Members recorded their volunteer hours. Ruby Pinter for the Sunshine and Shadows committee has sent sympathy cards to the families of Richard Holly and Romelle Bymers. Shari Stangl read a note of thanks from the Stratford Food Pantry for food and donations given by the group.

Ruby Pinter will take this months food pantry donations to St. Vincent’s Food Pantry in Marshfield. September donations will go to the Community Unity Pantry and will be delivered by Vickie La Venture, Carol Subera, Elaine Haas, and Joanne Runge.

Barry Brubaker gave a short history of his teaching career including how teachers he had in his life have helped him throughout his career and to become the person he is today.

Kathleen Hasenohrl gave a report on the executive meeting held at the end of June. It was mentioned that the group decided a speaker should not be promoting a product of their own unless it was an author who may have books in their vehicle if they wish. MAREA is still in need ofaneducationchair,andavicepresidentforthegroup. Thewineandcheesegatheringfor new members will not be held this year. Members want to continue the five-minute spotlight on teaching careers. There were thoughts mentioned that rather than the free meal to a MAREA member coming out of the treasury, it could be taken from the donations given by MAREA members.

The first written notice was given and a motion was made by Richard Holly and seconded by Bruce Stevens to raise the local dues from $10.00 to $15.00. There will be a ballot on this at the next meeting.

The State WREA meeting will be in Madison September 23-24. Ruby Pinter and Barry Brubaker will be our local delegates. The theme will be “Moving WREA Forward”.

Happy Birthday was sung to those having summer birthdays.

MAREA will sponsor a brat fry at Festival Foods on September 11 & 12. Members are signing up to fill the spaces as workers. Proceeds will go to MAREA scholarships for this next year.

The September meeting will be at Countryaire on September 15, 2014. Kathy McGrath will be the speaker on “The Amazing Monarch Butterfly”.

The meeting was adjourned and the speaker was Jeff Pertl, DPI Policy Iniative Advisor, on Vouchers and Other Factors Impacting Public Education

                                                             June 30, 2014
Executive Meeting

Minutes from meeting

Present: Mary Denk, Ruby Pinter, Karen Stevens, Pat Tietyen, Carol Ballerstein, Kathleen Hasenohrl, Carol Ely, Karen Winkler

State Report—Meeting Criteria: Variety of Speakers; discussion of whether speakers should be promoting a product/service. Decision was made (as per by laws) that authors would be allowed to have their books available for purchase after the meeting.

Standing Committees—Larry Perrodin, Pension chair, is discontinuing as chairperson.             Suggestions were made for possible replacements.

            Chairperson for Educational issues may be needed

           

Wine, Cheese, & All That Retirement, August 25 at 10:00 Suggestions: Invite speaker from WREA to tell about the benefits of being a member; charge members $5, perspective members free; Have members call perspective members and offer to pick them up for the meeting.; have copies of WREA News available to give to prospective members. Get newsletters from WREA or ask members to save latest copy to give prospective members.

Ideas for 2014-2015—Decision to continue 5 Minute Member Spotlight; Discussion about having greeters, decision to continue; suggestion that a spreadsheet be used for  members to check off their names at each meeting. Decision that speakers will be given a check for $25 in a Thank You card (Cards donated by Carol B).

Local Dues--- Because of the low balance in the MAREA checking account, decision was made to consider the following:

            --Discontinue providing free meals for guests except for speakers.

            --Free meal from Community Action drawing will be paid out of Community Action fund.

            --Propose to membership that a dues increase from $10 to $12 or $15 is necessary.

            --Make envelopes for dues, leaving MAREA fee blank until after membership votes.

Budget proposals

     Secretary-----$50     President-----$100     General Fund (Gifts, Speakers, Meals)---$501

     Membership--$40   Treasurer---$35 (stamps, checks, envelopes)

Directory

            Include years of membership and status of membership: regular/associate/honored

          May 19, 2014 

The May meeting of the Marshfield Area Retired Educators Association was held at Country Aire in Stratford.  The meeting was called to order by President Mary Denk and opened with the Pledge of Allegiance. There were 33 members present.

The secretary’s report was approved as printed. The treasure’s report was given by Pat Tietyen.  There is $1581.40 in checking.   Of that amount, $143.45 belongs to the Community Action Fund and $744.67 to the local scholarship fund, and the Foundation balance is $201.05.  The MAREA balance is $492.23   This report will be filed for audit.

Members recorded their volunteer hours.  Volunteer hours coordinator, Karen Winkler, reported that 6,366 hours equaling a worth of $138,715.14 have been reported during the last year.

The Foundation Box was passed.

Ruby Pinter reported that a scholarship of $500 is being given to Ashley Hartl of Stratford.

Myrtle Prestebak presented a short history of her teaching career.  Teaching eight grades in a one room was very different.  There was no water, so it had to be carried from a neighbor. A basement under the school was dug by the WPA.  Then a cook volunteered to prepare lunches  so the students would have a hot lunch at school.  A furnace was put in the basement where Myrtle built a fire every day.  Myrtle taught a total of 32 years.

The MAREA volunteer of the year is Carol Subera. She received an award at the spring district meeting.

Nominating committee of Elaine Haas, Kathleen Hasenhorl, and Pat Tietyen are seeking a member for the office of Vice President  for the next term in MAREA.

A program committee of Carol Ballerstein and Annette McCabe will select presenters for next year. 

Annette McCabe delivered May food pantry donations to Soup & Socks in Marshfield. Annette also won the community action drawing for a complimentary meal.  June food pantry donations will go to the Stratford Food Pantry and will be delivered by Carol Ballerstein

The next MAREA meeting will be on June 16, 2014.     Members will meet at the office of Stratford Homes.  There will be a tour followed by a picnic lunch at Country Aire.

The meeting was adjourned.

A program was presented by Carla Soczka on “Funeral Planning and Long Term Care”.

Respectfully Submitted,

Karen Stevens, Secretary

April 21, 2014

The April meeting of the Marshfield Area Retired Educators’ Association was held at Country Aire in Stratford.  The meeting was called to order by President Mary Denk and opened with the Pledge of Allegiance. There were 36 members present.

The secretary’s report was approved as printed. The treasure’s report was given by Pat Tietyen.  There is $1578.90 in checking.   Of that amount, $193.45 belongs to the Community Action Fund and $744.67 to the local scholarship fund, and the Foundation balance is $156.05.  The MAREA balance is $484.73   The report will be filed for audit.

The volunteer hours  records were passed and signed.

The Foundation Box was passed.

Ruby Pinter reported that there were 15 applications for MAREA scholarships.  Two scholarships will be awarded this year.

John Wood presented an interesting talk about his years spent in education, both learning and teaching from elementary school to high school and to college level.  He and his wife have traveled extensively since retiring, visiting many parts of the world including 18 elder hostels and several Christian missionary trips.

The MAREA volunteer of the year is Carol Subera.  Her award  and pin  were presented to her.

Elaine Haas, Kathleen Hasenhorl, and Pat Tietyen were appointed to seek volunteers to fill the Vice President and Treasure positions for the next term in MAREA.

A program committee of Carol Ballerstein and Annette McCabe will select presenters for next year. 

Members were reminded of the WREA district meeting to be held at Country Aire in Stratford on May 6.

Carol Ely and Mary Denk delivered April food pantry donations to Circle of Joy Pantry in Athens.  May donations will go to Soup & Socks in Marshfield and will be delivered by Annette McCabe. Elaine Haas won the community action drawing for a complimentary meal.

The May meeting will be on May 19, 2014 at Country Aire.  The program will be presented by Carla Soczka “Funeral Planning and Long-Term Care”   The June 16 meeting will be a tour of Stratford Homes followed by a picnic lunch at Country Aire.

The meeting was adjourned

A program was presented by Angelo Viola from Italy and Katrina Wang from China.  They are both foreign exchange students attending Stratford High School

Respectfully Submitted,

Karen Stevens, Secretary

                                              March 17, 2014

The March meeting of the Marshfield Area Retired Educators’ Association was held at Country Aire in Stratford.  The meeting was called to order by President Mary Denk and opened with the Pledge of Allegiance. There were 32 members present.  Bev and George Adams and Eileen Keller are new members.  

The secretary’s report was approved as printed. The treasure’s report was given by Pat Tietyen.  There is $1543.66 in checking.   Of that amount, $148.95 belongs to the Community Action Fund and $744.67 to the local scholarship fund, and the Foundation balance is $61.00 The MAREA balance is $689.04.   The report will be filed for audit.

The volunteer hours records were passed and signed.

The Foundation Box was passed.

Dorothy Dietsche will deliver food pantry donations to King’s Pantry in Spencer.  April donations will go to the Circle of Joy Pantry and will be delivered by Mary Denk and Carol Ely.  

Grace Dietel- Ensign won the community action drawing for a complimentary meal.

The member spotlight was on Grace Dietel-Ensign.  After marrying and having children she finished her highs school education by correspondence course and went on to become a teacher finishing her degree by taking night classes and going to summer school.  She taught for 25 years.

MAREA members will have a brat fry on September 11-12 to raise money for scholarships for college students that will be presented by MAREA.

Happy Birthday was sung to Mark Lacke, the only member present to have a March birthday.

Members voted 30-1 to plan the June meeting outing for a tour of Stratford Homes.

Members were reminded that MAREA will be hosting the WREA District Meeting on Tuesday May 6, 2014 at Country Aire.  Members are needed to help and anyone willing to make a theme basket to use for door prizes should let Carol Ballerstein know.

The April meeting will be on April 21, 2014 at Country Aire. The program will be presented by Stratford Foreign Exchange Students arranged by Carol Ballerstein.

The meeting was adjourned.   A program was presented by Alan Haney, Emeritus Professor of Forestry, at UW Stevens Point.  He spoke on climate changes that are a result of global warming.  

February 17, 2014

            The February meeting of the Marshfield Area Retired Educators’ Association was held at the Country Aire and called to order by president, Mary Denk.  The meeting opened with the Pledge of Allegiance.  There were 16 members present on a snowy day.

            Valentine bookmarks and other prizes were made for members by Sue Grosskreutz.

            The secretary’s report was approved as printed.

            Ruby Pinter reported on Sunshine and Shadows.  She sent get well cards to Myrtle Prestebak and Vivian Kramer.  She received cards from Myrtle Pflanzer and Mary Nelson. 

            The $500 scholarship money was sent to the 2013 winner, Sawyer Ladick.  A thank you from him was read.  Applications for the 2014 scholarship have been sent to all the schools.

            A discussion was held concerning having a brat fry this spring to raise money for a scholarship.  Shari Stangl volunteered to sign up at Festival Foods.  Ruby Pinter moved to try for the second week in June or the second week in September if possible.  Sue Grosskreutz seconded the motion and it passed.

            Volunteer hours were recorded.

            Dorothy Dietsche was the winner of the Community Action drawing for a free meal.  Next month’s donations will be taken to King’s Pantry in Spencer with Dorothy Dietsche delivering. 

            The Member Spotlight was on Mark Lacke.  He talked about his involvement in the Make A Wish Foundation.  Because families are in such turmoil when they find out a child has cancer, he said his job is to calm them down and concentrate on talking to the child to find out who he wants to be, who he would like to meet, and what he would want for a wish. There is a follow up Family Wish Party to announce the wish, and the Foundation makes it happen.  Going to a Disney attraction is a popular wish. He talked about a “Give the Kids the World Village” that is separate from Disney World that is set up for handicapped kids.  There, they can swim in a heated pool, have ice cream at all hours, and there is medical staff on hand at all times.

            The birthday song was sung for members having January and February birthdays.  They were Carol Ballerstein, Kathy Rauen, and Margaret Kraus.

            President Mary is looking for ideas for a field trip for our June meeting.  Members who have ideas should email her soon.

            Carol Ballerstein reminded members that MAREA will be hosting the WREA District Meeting on Tuesday, May 6, 2014 at Country Aire, beginning with registration at 8:30 a.m.  Help will be needed.  Anyone that would like to make a theme basket to use for door prizes should  let her know. 

            The March meeting will be held Monday, March 17, and Alan Haney, UW Stevens Point Emeritus Professor of Forestry, will speak on global warming.

            The meeting was adjourned to hear Heather Jones, Resource Manager for the Marshfield Office of the Aging and Disability Resource Center of Central Wisconsin.  She is the one who is the first point of contact for anyone having questions or needing help.  She would provide information on services to help make informed decisions.  Resources offered include help with disability benefits, elderly nutrition programs, healthy living programs and classes, caregiver assistance, senior home safety programs, and more.  They have a loan closet where you can borrow walkers, bath stools, etc.  A new program is called LATCH, and matches up people looking for locals who are available to contact and hire for short term help.  Questions in the Marshfield area should be directed to 888-486-9545.

Respectfully submitted,

Ruby Pinter, acting secretary

January 20, 2014

The January meeting of the Marshfield Area Retired Educators’ Association was held at Country Aire in Stratford.  The meeting was called to order by President Eleck  Kathleen Hasenohrl and opened with the Pledge of Allegiance. There were 50 present including several guests.   

The secretary’s report was approved as printed.

Treasure’s report was given by Joan Zoellner.  There is $2115.86 in checking.   Of that  amount, $148.95  belongs to the Community Action Fund and $1244.67 to the local scholarship fund, and the Foundation balance is $61.00 The MAREA balance is $661.24.   The report will be filed for audit.

WREA Foundation-The Foundation Box was passed around.

Community Action-Joan Zoellnerl will deliver food pantry donations to St. Vincent’s Food Pantry in Marshfield.  February donations will go to the Community United Pantry in Colby and will be delivered by Kathy Schwock.  

Jerry DeSmet won the community action drawing for a complimentary meal.

Announcements:

The next meeting will be on February 17, 2014 at Country Aire.  The program will be presented by Heather Jones of the Department of Aging and Disability Resources.

The meeting was adjourned.   A program was presented by Linda and Bill Baur about their trip to Antarctica. 

MAREA Meeting Minutes

December 16, 2013

           

            The December meeting of the Marshfield Area Retired Educators’ Association was held at Country Aire and was called to order by president, Mary Denk.  The meeting opened with the Pledge of Allegiance and singing of Jingle Bells.  There were 42 members present.

            The secretary’s report was approved after one correction.  It should have read  “Mavis Wood made a trip to Lithuania last summer where she worked for 3 weeks at an English immersion camp for teenagers.  The year before she visited an orphanage in Peru.”

            Pat Tietyen gave the treasurer’s report.  The total in checking is $ $2115.86.   Of that, $152.95 belongs to Community Action, $1244.67 belongs to the MAREA scholarship fund, and there is $61 in the WREA Foundation fund.  The MAREA balance is $783.34

            Larry Perrodin reported on the pension.  He said that at the end of November, the Core Fund is up 12.4%.  The variable fund is up 26.2%.  December is down, so we will have to wait and see.  Things have been going well, and hopefully will stay stable.

            Ruby Pinter reported that she had sent get well cards to Rosalind Kramer and Myrtle Pflanzer.  She also sent Christmas cards to honorary and emeritus members.  A card was received from Margaret Leonard.

            Karen Winkler reported on the volunteer hours.  For the year, 2013, 67 MAREA members volunteered a total of 6366 hours.

            Directories were handed out.

            The winner of the Community Action drawing for a free meal was Kathy Bushman.  This month’s donations will go to the Stratford Food Pantry, with Pat Tietyen delivering.  Next month, donations will go to St. Vincent’s Food Pantry in Marshfield, with Joan Zoellner delivering.

            The birthday song was sung for Mavis Wood, Joyce Lohr, and Wendy Heckendorf, who have December birthdays.

            The spotlight for the month was on Mary Denk.  She said she started teaching at age 19, and ended up teaching at Edgar for 30 years.  Her expertise was teaching reading.  One of the things she always wanted to do was write a children’s book.  That dream was fulfilled when she had a book published recently titled “Anna’s Million Dollar Cow”.  It was illustrated by Mary Felten.  She had copies for us to purchase.  The book has global implications because it references a bridge to China – that of “sister cities/rural areas” created by the dairy industry in Wisconsin, linked to Chinese dairying efforts. 

            Mary read a Christmas story for  a “right – left” game and each member ended up with a Christmas gift.

            The meeting was adjourned to hear singer/guitar player, Phil John, and his partner who entertained the group with a variety of songs – some old, some Christmas, some that we could dance to.

Respectfully submitted,

Ruby Pinter, acting secretary

MAREA Meeting Minutes

November 18, 2013

The November meeting of the Marshfield Area Retired Educators' Association was held at Country Aire in Stratford.  The meeting was called to order by President Mary Denk at 10 a.m. and opened with the singing of America the Beautiful and reciting the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag.  41 members were in attendance.

The secretary’s report was approved as printed.

Treasurer’s report was given by Pat Tietyen.  There is $2165.06 in checking.  Of that amount, $106.95 belongs to the Community Action Fund and $1244.67 to the local scholarship fund.  The MAREA balance is $813.44.  The report will be filled for audit.

Committee Reports:

Pension-Bruce Stevens reported that on Nov. 1 the CORE fund was up 11.4% and the VARIABLE was up 23.5%.

Education Issues-Karen Thompson made a poster and wrote a “Letter to the Editor” for National Education Week.

Sunshine/Shadows-Ruby Pinter reported that she sent sympathy cards to Joanne Brusky for the death of her mother and to Dorothy Dietche for the death of her brother.

WREA Foundation-The Foundation Box was passed around.

Volunteer Hours were recorded.

Community Action-Kathleen Hasenohrl will deliver food pantry donations to Soup and Socks in Marshfield.  December donations will go to Stratford Food Pantry.  Dorothy Halle won the Community Action drawing for a complimentary meal.

New Business:

The group learned about MAREA member Mavis Wood as she told about beginning her teaching career in a one room school.  She and her husband raised eight children, and have traveled extensively since retirement.  This past summer Mavis was in Lithuania for an English Immersion Summer Camp for teenagers.  A year ago she visited an orphanage in Peru. 

Report on Regional Leadership Meeting-Mary Denk talked about how important it is to grow the membership of the WREA and MAREA.

Other Business:

Happy Birthday was sung to Jerry DeSmet who has a November birthday.  Joyce Lohr announced that the two Wausau Middle Schools won Challenge Award Grants.  They will use the money to acquaint middle school students with Northcentral Technical College and the UW Extension College both in Wausau, encouraging them to plan on continuing their education.

Announcements:

The next meeting will be the Christmas party on December 16 at Country Aire.  Entertainment will be provided by Phil John.  The meeting was adjourned.  Linda Soltis-Schroeder, Volunteer Coordinator, presented the program about the American Red Cross.  She encouraged MAREA members who are interested to sign up for the training.

Submitted by Karen Stevens, Secretary

OCTOBER 21, 2013

            The October meeting of the Marshfield Area Retired Educators’ Association was held at Country Aire in Stratford.  The meeting was called to order by president, Mary Denk, and opened with the Pledge of Allegiance.  There were 41 members present.  Guest was Dave Bennett, Executive Director of WREA.

            The secretary’s report was approved as read.  The treasurer’s report was given by Pat Tietyen and approved for audit.  The total in the checkbook is $2088.64.  Of that, $73.95 belongs to Community Action, and $1219.67 belongs to the Scholarship Fund.  The MAREA balance is $795.02.

            Joan Zoellner moved to cast a unanimous ballot for Karen Stevens as secretary for the years 2013-2015, and Carol Ballerstein seconded the motion.  The motion passed.  Karen was then installed by president, Mary Denk.

            Ruby Pinter was thanked and given a gift for her service as secretary.

            Volunteer hours were recorded.

            Community Action chair, Shari Stangl, passed around a sign up sheet for persons to deliver donated items for the coming year.  The winner of the drawing for a free meal was Carol Subera.

            The spotlight for October shone on Mary Luchterhand, a 30 year member of MAREA.  She spoke of her teaching career, which spanned 37 years, beginning in a rural school for 6 years.  She went to night school to get her bachelor’s and master’s degrees.  She started Head Start in Milladore and later opened an Early Childhood classroom at Grant Elementary, where she finished her career.  After retirement in 1986, she helped organize a literacy group in Colby, where she is still teaching.

            The birthday song was sung for members having October birthdays.

            Karen Thompson, Education Committee chair, handed out posters to put in schools for National Education Week, November 18-22.  She is also sending letters to newspapers and asked members to do the same.

            Joan Zoellner reported a profit of $448.67 from the brat fry held in September.  This will be put toward the scholarship fund.

            Ruby Pinter gave an update on the scholarship.  $500 will be sent to Sawyer Ladick, Pittsville, at the beginning of his second semester of college at Eau Claire.  The remainder of the money in the fund will go toward next year’s scholarship. 

            Carol Subera entertained the group with a right-left activity to celebrate MAREA’s 40^th birthday.  During the activity, Carol gave a history of the organization beginning in 1973 in Marshfield as MARTA, and included all the changes that have taken place over the years. 

            The meeting was adjourned to hear the speaker, Dave Bennett, Executive Director of WREA.  He said that he has learned that we have a tremendous opportunity to grow membership.  We have to find a way to make WREA more attractive to retirees, and to get the word out that we represent all educators.  We need to support public education and talk up the great things that are happening.  We should be working with schools and other organizations to get our name out.  We need to work harder to strengthen the legislative component by being in contact with our senators and representatives.  He said that WREA is doing a good job of protecting the pension.

Respectfully submitted,

Ruby Pinter, secretary

MAREA MEETING MINUTES

SEPTEMBER 16, 2013

            The September meeting of the Marshfield Area Retired Educators’ Association was called to order by president, Mary Denk.  There were 41 members present.  The meeting opened with the Pledge of Allegiance.  Guests were Cheryl Eckert, Medford, Debbie Kelley, Athens, and Kathy Rauen, Edgar.

            The secretary’s report was approved as read.  The treasurer’s report was given by Pat Tietyen and was approved for audit.  The total in the checkbook is $2376.87.  Of that amount, $78.95 belongs to Community Action, and $631 belongs to the Scholarship Fund.  The MAREA balance is $1666.92.  State dues that were paid locally will be sent to the state office.

            Ruby Pinter reported that she sent a get well card to Sue Grosskreutz.  She also said that the scholarship will be given to Sawyer Ladick, Pittsville,  at the completion of his first semester of work at U.W. Eau Claire.  Any money given to the scholarship fund will be toward next year’s scholarship.  The brat fry profits will also go toward the scholarship.

            Joan Zoellner said she needs more help for the brat fry and passed around a sign up sheet.

            Larry Perrodin reported on the pension.  On September 1, the core fund was up 5%, which equates to a 3% increase.  The variable fund was up 13%, which equates to an 8% increase.  He said we need to be vigilant and let our representatives know that they should not allow anyone to tamper with our pension.

            Volunteer hours were recorded.

            The Community Action drawing for a free meal was won by Jenny Groen.  This month’s donations will be delivered to the CUP Pantry in Colby by Elaine Haas and Carol Subera, along with a $50 donation.  Next month, donations will go to the King’s Pantry in Spencer, with Dorothy Dietsche delivering.

            Carol Subera reported that those teachers retiring after July, 2013 will have to wait 75 days to return to work in a school system in order to receive their pension. She also said that there was some confusion about the date when the increase in dues would take place.  The state director has informed her that this year’s dues will be at the increased rate of $50, no matter when they are paid. The state needs money.

            MAREA brochures and Emergency Health Envelopes were handed out to anyone who did not have one.

            President Mary asked for a volunteer to set up a display at the Marshfield Library.

            The birthday song was sung for those members having September birthdays.  They were

Jenny Groen, Dorothy Halle, Kathleen Hasenohrl, Debbie Kelley, Anne Teska, and Pat Tietgen.

            Next month’s meeting will be October 21, at 10:00 a.m.  Featured speaker will be Dave Bennett, WREA Executive Director.

            The meeting was adjourned to hear the speaker, Mary Griepentrog, accompanied by her husband Al.  She gave a very interesting talk about their seven week mission trip to the Congo in Africa.   It opened our eyes to the living conditions and hardships in that country.  The pictures helped us to understand what they were doing while they were there, and the help that they provided.  Mary worked in a lab in the hospital and Al helped keep the tractors in working condition and helped with outside work. The pictures of the children were delightful, and she said they followed them everywhere.  It was interesting to see the homes made of mud intertwined with branches and twigs, the unusual foods they had to eat, and how hard the women had to work, carrying things on their heads with the babies strapped to their backs.

Respectfully submitted,

Ruby Pinter, MAREA Secretary

MAREA MEETING MINUTES

AUGUST 19, 2013

The August meeting of the Marshfield Area Retired Educators’ Association was called to order by president, Mary Denk, and opened with the Pledge of Allegiance.  Guests included Joyce Lohr and Marlene Broeske.

The secretary’s report was approved as read.  The treasurer’s report was approved for audit.  Pat Tietyen reported that the total in the checkbook is $1211.05.  Of that amount, $78.95 belongs to Community Action fund, $541 belongs to the scholarship fund, and the MAREA balance is $591.00.

Ruby Pinter read a thank you from MAREA scholarship winner, Sawyer Ladick, and a letter from the WREA Foundation stating that Sawyer did not win the state scholarship.

Envelopes were provided each member for dues payment.  Mary Denk asked that dues be paid by September and that all information be filled out on the card to be used in the directory.

Volunteer hours were recorded.

        Community Action donation for August will go to St. Vincent’s Food Pantry along with a check for $50.  Kathy Bushman and Linda Merkel will deliver.  The winner of the drawing for a free meal was Elaine Haas.  Next month’s donations will go to the CUP in Colby with Elaine Haas and Carol Subera delivering.

Since the secretary’s term expires in October, president Mary asked if there were any volunteers to take over.  Nancy Young and Karen Stevens volunteered to share the position.

Ruby Pinter reported on Emergency Health Information Envelopes.

Kathleen Hasenohrl reported on the executive meeting held in July.  Some of the business conducted that day included:

     Committee chairs will be asked if they wish to continue another year.

     Mary Denk and Carol Ely will continue to provide information of the MAREA blog, which will take the place of a newsletter.

     Dues envelopes are to be ready at the August meeting.

     A meeting to welcome recent retirees will be held Monday, August 26, at 10:15.  Current members are encouraged to attend at a cost of $5.00.  A speaker from the state WREA office will be present to talk about member benefits.

     Kathleen Hasenohrl will send letters to speakers, confirming the time and date.

President Mary reported that the top favorite programs from the last year included: the foreign exchange students, organic farming, Jeff Reiche and his charter school, Mark Lacke, Attorney Al Hougum, George Hirsch, and the Honor Flight.

The birthday song was sung for members having birthdays in June, July, and August.

Joan Zoellner provided a sign up sheet for the MAREA Brat Fry to be held Tuesday and Wednesday, September 17 and 18.  

Next meeting is September 16.  The speaker will be Mary Griepentrop and her “Mission to Congo Africa”.

The meeting was adjourned to hear the speaker, Charles Schoenfeld.  He is a retired truck driver who got his CNA and worked as a caregiver in an Alzheimer’s Unit.  He wrote a book, A Funny Thing Happened on My Way to the Dementia Ward (Memoir of a Male CNA).  He gave a very moving talk about the realities of Alzheimer’s, and the personal relationships he formed with hundreds of his patients.  His message was that human kindness can go where textbooks cannot.

Respectfully submitted,

Ruby Pinter, MAREA Secretary 

MAREA Executive Committee Meeting

June 24, 2013

The working lunch meeting was held at Variety, LLC Restaurant in Athens, and was called to order by president, Mary Denk.  Members present were Mary Denk, Carol Subera, Carol Ballerstein, Carol Ely, Ruby Pinter, Pat Tietyen, Kathleen Hasenohrl, Myrtle Prestebak, and Larry Perrodin.

Carol Subera reported that there are new items added to the state Units of Distinction report that need to be looked at as we plan the program for the coming year.

It was decided to contact chairpersons of all the committees to see if they wish to continue for next year.  If not, new chairs need to be appointed.  A discussion was held about the responsibility of some of the committees.  A new responsibility will be to keep up the MAREA Blog on the WREA website.  Mary Denk and Carol Ely will continue to share this responsibility, and it will take the place of the newsletter.  Carol Ely will continue to be the greeter for each meeting.

We will begin to have a sign up for each meeting as members pick up their name tag.  Those members attending the most meetings will be rewarded at the end of the year.

Dues envelopes will be available at the August meeting and members will be encouraged to pay dues early.  The new state dues amount will be listed on the envelope.  They are $50/year, $30 for associate/year, $135 for 3 years, and $625 for lifetime.

On August 24, a meeting will be held for any new retirees called Wine, Cheese, and all that Jazz.  In order to cover all new retirees, Mary will send out an email to all members, asking them for names and addresses that they are aware of from all area schools, and they will receive a written invitation.  All current members are invited to attend at a cost of $4.00 each.  

An idea to honor honorary members at our local meetings was discussed.  An honorary member is one who has been a MAREA member for at least 15 years and has reached the age of 80.  Local dues are optional, state dues are required.  We also talked about the procedure for putting members on the emeritus list if they can no longer attend meetings.  A member reaching this status does not have to pay local or state dues.

It was suggested to publish a directory every 2 years, and add additions and changes as they are needed throughout the year.  No decision was made.  Carol Ely will make the directory this year and Carol Ballerstein will run it off.  President Mary has a new MAREA brochure ready to be published and we talked about possible places to get it done.

A suggestion was made to have members take turns bringing treats at regular meetings.

A discussion was held about having a 5 minute spotlight on individual members at each meeting in order for members to get to know each other better.  Members would be given suggestions of what to talk about.

The program committee has a good start on getting programs for next year beginning October, 2013 through September, 2014.  Kathleen Hasenohrl, president-elect, will send confirmation letters to each speaker reminding them of the time frame of their presentation, inviting them for lunch, etc.

After a delicious lunch, the meeting was adjourned.

Respectfully submitted,

Ruby Pinter, MAREA Secretary

MAREA Minutes

May 20, 2013

            The May meeting of the Marshfield Area Retired Educators’ Association was called to order by president, Mary Denk.  There were 38 members present.  The meeting opened with the Pledge of Allegiance.

            The secretary’s report was approved as read.  Treasurer, Pat Tietyen, reported $1328.62 in checking.  Of that, $80.95 belongs to Community Action, $541 is in the scholarship fund, and the MAREA balance is $706.67.

            Ruby Pinter reported on the Sunshine and Shadows.  She sent a sympathy card to Janet Campbell at Robert’s death, a get well card to Vivian Kramer, and a happy 90^th birthday card to Delores Reigel.

            Ruby also announced the winner of the first annual MAREA scholarship.  The senior receiving the $500 is Sawyer Ladick from Pittsville.  Kathleen Hasenohrl will present the award on Wednesday, May 22, at the awards night.  Sawyer will be attending UW Eau Claire in the fall.  He was chosen from 17 applications from 8 of the 10 schools that we represent.

            The Community Action donations plus $50 will go to Soup & Socks.  Next month’s donations will go to the Stratford Food Pantry.  Winner of the drawing for a free meal was Grace Dietel-Ensign.   Three more drawings were held with flowers won by Ruby Pinter and Elaine Haas, and a book “In Defense of Food”, won by Carol Subera.

            The birthday song was sung for Carol Subera, Joan Zoellner, and Diane Ritzinger, who have May birthdays. 

            Nine MAREA members attended the WREA State Convention in Stevens Point.  Carol Subera and Carol Ballerstein shared highlights of the convention.

             Carol Subera said that the delegate assembly voted to increase state dues from $40 to $50.  There will continue to be a three year option and a lifetime option, with those dues increasing also.  There will be a vote this week concerning changing the state convention to the fall and the district meetings to the spring.  There is also discussion going on about “double dipping” and lengthening the break between the dates of retirement and going back to work.  The state will conduct a membership campaign this year to try to get more members.  There are 76,000 retired educators and WREA has 15,000. 

            Carol Ballerstein talked about the panel of four superintendents that was a highlight of the two day convention.  Each one had a lot of positive things to say about their schools.  She said there was a lot of discussion about voucher schools.  We were told to contact our state legislators to let them know we are opposed.  Voucher schools only select certain students. They do not have public accountability, the same legal requirements, or public access to decision making, student achievement, or finances.   $7000 per student would go to private schools.  We had two speakers from ETF and SWIB.  They explained the diverse investments and said that investment returns look good for next year.    

            President Mary announced that there will be an executive dinner meeting on June 24.    On August 26, there will be a meeting for new retirees and any MAREA members that wish to attend.  It will be called “Wine, Cheese, and All That Jazz”.

            Mavis Wood announced that she will be going to Lithuania on June 20 to teach English for three weeks.

            The meeting was adjourned to hear our speaker, Judy Steinke, Volunteer Coordinator for SMP (Senior Medicare Patrol) – Coalition of Wisconsin Aging Groups.  She spoke about the top 10 scams that we should watch out for.  She also talked about ways to protect ourselves from health care fraud, medical equipment fraud, Medicare fraud and medical identity theft.  She gave us information about who to contact if we suspect fraud, error, or abuse.

Respectfully submitted, Ruby Pinter, MAREA Secretary



April 15, 2013

The April meeting of Marshfield Area Retired Educators' Association was called to order by President, Mary Denk, and opened with the Pledge of Allegiance.  There were 30 members in attendance along with two speakers for the meeting: Eivor (Ivy) Setrom Christiansen from Norway and Elin Ahlgren from Sweden.  Both girls attend Colby High School as foreign exchange students.

The secretary's report was approved as printed.  Pat Tietyen gave the treasurer's report showing a balance of $849.77 for March and $786.17 April balance to date. There is $90.00 in the WREA Foundation box.

Larry Perrodin gave information on the proposed dues increase to be voted on at the May State meeting.  MAREA membership proposed voting delegate, Mary Denk vote in favor of the dues increase.

Following recording volunteer hours,  Community Action Chairman, Shari Stangl reported that the Edgar Circle of Joy is this months recipient of food and financial donations, to be delivered by Barb Sinz.  May's recipient will be Marshfield Soup and Socks delivered by Dick and Dorothy Halle.  Dorothy Dietsche was the recipient of the free meal drawing.


Dorothy Dietsche reported that this meeting is the last meeting to circulate the WREA Foundation box.

Scholarship committee members Shari Stangl, Ruby Pinter and Elaine Haas  reported that 7 schools had students apply for the MAREA $500 scholarship, and the winner would be announced at next months meeting.

Anyone with program ideas was invited to share those ideas with Mary Denk or President Elect Kathleen Hasenhorl.

June 17 meeting will be at Stoney River Assisted Living in Marshfield and members are to confirm attendance at the May meeting.  Anne Teska is making the meeting arrangements.  Meeting adjourned to hear Elin and Eivor tell about their country and their experiences as  exchange students.

Eivor (Ivy) is 18 years old, from Norway.  She enjoys soccer, skiing and photography and  lives in a town of 6,000 population. Norway is divided into 19 counties and has a King and Prime Minister.  Free health care and public education is paid by taxes.  Eivor shared that Norway has lots of mountains, midnight sun, $10 a gallon gasoline and lots of public transportation.  Norwegians, Eivor stated are not as "open"  and friendly to strangers unlike Americans and begin learning English in 2nd grade.  Grading is a scale of 1-6 instead of letter grades and foreign study is very common for Norway students.

Both Eivor and Elin (Sweden) stated that they decided to join an exchange program to become more fluent in English, meet new people, learn a new culture, and out of a sense of adventure.  Both girls stated there is more homework at Colby High School but it is not difficult.  While there is less pre packaged food in their countries, there is not a big difference in foods eaten.  Norway does serve more fish and lefse and lutefisk are not as popular in Norway as Americans believe. Both girls miss the mountains of their homeland.

Elin is 19 years old and from Sweden which she reminded us is built on islands. Sweden is a monarchy with popular, inexpensive public transportation (bus, train, subway, trolley) which combats the $10 per gallon gasoline cost. Practicing religion is not common in Sweden.  In 9th grade students choose their career direction with a certain number of points (grades) allowing you to pursue that career route.  Elin shared that a sailor hat is worn at graduation unlike our American graduation hat. Sweden has winter tempertures ranging from -20 degrees F in the north  and 23 degreees F average winter temp. in the south.  There is not a lot of daylight in the winter in Sweden.  Summer temp. average 50 degrees F in the north and 77 degrees F in the south.  Lynx, reindeer, wolf, moose and brown bear are the common animals of Sweden.  There are lots of pine trees and big copper mines that are often now tourist attractions.  Many of the houses are red due to the copper mining.  Elin stated she likes to ride horses, down hill ski, photography, shop and spend time with friends.   Respectfully submitted, Carol Ballerstein for MAREA Secretary, Ruby Pinter



  March 18, 2013

The March meeting of the Marshfield Area Retired Educators’ Association was called to order by president, Mary Denk, and opened with the Pledge of Allegiance.  There were 33 members present.  Guests were Rick and Carol Koenig from Wausau.

The secretary’s report was approved as printed.  There was no treasurer’s report.  Pat will give 2 reports when she gets back home.

Ruby Pinter reported that $117 was collected last month from members for the scholarship fund. This meets the goal of $500, which will be given to the MAREA scholarship winner.  Scholarship applications are due March 25, and so far we have received two.

The WREA Foundation box was passed.

Volunteer hours were recorded.

This month’s winner of the Community Action drawing for a free meal was Grace Dietel-Ensign.  Dorothy Dietsche will deliver the donations to the Spencer Food Pantry.  Next month, donations will go to the Circle of Joy in Edgar.  Barb Sinz will deliver.

The birthday song was sung for Mark Lacke, who has a March birthday.

President Mary announced that Barry Brubaker will serve on the District 3 Legislative Committee along with a lady from Tomah.  

She also read a letter that Larry Perrodin had received from our state director, Dave Bennett, in answer to a question that Larry had about the dues structure at the state level.  He explained the need for a dues increase for all members.  Carol Ballerstein added that from a meeting she and Carol Subera had attended, that the state cannot continue to offer services and benefits without an increase.  This will be voted on at the state convention.

The WREA State Convention will be held in Stevens Point May 7-8.   Registration is due by April 26 (Early Bird April 19), and President Mary encouraged members to attend.

At the April 15 meeting, two AFS students attending Colby High School will be our speakers.  They are Elin Ahlgren from Sweden and Eivor Christiansen from Norway.

The meeting was adjourned to hear Attorney Alan Hougum, who gave a very informative and interesting talk about protecting our assets, the importance of having a power of attorney for health care and finances, the difference between a will and a trust, explained POD and TOD and gave a lot of other pertinent information.  He answered many questions from members.

Respectfully submitted,

Ruby Pinter, MAREA Secretary

February 18, 2013  

      

            The February meeting of the Marshfield Area Retired Educators’ Association was called to order by president, Mary Denk.  There were 38 members present.  The meeting opened with the Pledge of Allegiance.

            The secretary’s report was approved as printed.

            The treasurer’s report, given by Nancy Young, was approved for audit.  MAREA has $1395.72 in checking.  Of that, $24.95 belongs to the Community Action Fund, $424 belongs to the local scholarship fund, and $55 is the WREA Foundation balance.  The MAREA balance is $891.77.

            Larry Perrodin reported on the pension; he stated that on May 1st members will receive a cut of 0 to 13% in their CORE pension depending on their length of retirement and an increase of about 10% in their VARIABLE pension.  2008 will not be in the five year smoothing for 2013; at this time it appears that there will be an increase in the CORE pension on May 1, 2014.

            Ruby Pinter reported on the local scholarship, and passed around a box for donations to try to reach the goal of $500 without having a fund raiser.  A total of $117 was collected.

            The WREA Foundation box was passed around for donations.  The Foundation funds the Challenge Award and two scholarships given each year, among other things.

            Carol Subera presented a pin and certificate to Elaine Haas, who was chosen Volunteer of the Year in 2011.  Elaine Haas then announced that Karen Thompson has been chosen Volunteer of the Year for 2012.  She told of several of Karen’s volunteer activities.

            Elaine Bennett moved to vote on whether or not to change the by-laws to eliminate the January meeting.  The motion was seconded by Grace Dietel-Ensign.  After some discussion, members voted by secret ballot.  The majority decided to leave the meetings as they are – to meet every month except July.

            The birthday song was sung for Vivian Kramer, Nancy Young, and Annette McCabe, who have February birthdays.

            Volunteer hours were recorded.

            The winner of the Community Action drawing for a free meal was Myrtle Prestebak.

            Food pantry donations will go to the CUP in Colby, delivered by Carol Subera and Elaine Haas.  Next month, they will go to King’s Pantry in Spencer, delivered by Dorothy Dietsche.

            The next meeting will be held Monday, March 18. 

            Carol Subera announced the upcoming Cultural Fair in Marshfield on Feb. 23 and the WREA State Convention, which will be held in Stevens Point May 7-8.

            The meeting was adjourned to hear the speaker, Amy Chick, who spoke on the 10 signs of Alzheimer’s disease, which is a type of dementia.  She hoped to increase awareness of Alzheimer’s, stating that one in eight people, 65 and older, and half of those 85 and older, will develop a type of dementia.

Respectfully submitted,

Ruby Pinter, MAREA secretary

January 21, 2013

           The January meeting of the Marshfield Area Retired Educators’ Association was called to order by president,Mary Denk.  There were 30 members present.  The meeting opened with the singing of

America, the Beautiful and the Pledge of Allegiance.

            The secretary’s report was approved as read.

The treasurer, Pat Tietyen, reported a total of $1494.72 in checking.  Of that amount, $54.95 belongs to the Community Action Fund, $424 belongs to the MAREA scholarship fund, and $55 is the WREA Foundation balance.  The MAREA balance is $960.77.  The report will be filed for audit.

            A report on the pension was given by Kathleen Hasenohrl, with information provided by Larry Perrodin.

            Shari Stangl read a thank you from the Stratford Community Food Pantry for donations received.  This month’s donations plus $50 will be delivered to St. Vincent DePaul Food Pantry by Joan Zoellner.  Next month, donations will go to CUP in Colby.  The winner of the community action drawing for a free meal was Joan Zoellner.

            President Mary Denk passed around a sign up sheet for anyone interested in being on the legislative alert for WREA.

            President Mary Denk and Carol Ely did a demonstration of the MAREA blog on the WREA website.  To reach it, Google http://wrea.net, click on Links, then click 3J Marshfield Area REA

            Carol Subera, District III Director, reported on the WREA Board of Directors meeting held recently.  She said that there is a proposal for WREA to collaborate and cooperate with SAA, School Administrators’ Alliance, in order to improve public education.

            Ruby Pinter reported that the local MAREA scholarship applications have been sent to the 10 schools that we represent.  They are Abbotsford, Athens, Colby, Edgar, Marathon, Marshfield, Mosinee, Pittsville, Spencer, and Stratford.  They are due back on March 25.  Instead of having a fundraiser, a collection will be taken in February and April in order to reach our goal of $500. 

            Discussion was held about changing our by-laws in order to eliminate the January meeting, starting in 2014.  A written notice was given to members, stating how the by-laws would read, if changed.  This vote will be taken at the February meeting.

            John Wood told us of two books that he would recommend.  One is A Whole Which is Greater: Why the Wisconsin Uprising Failed, by Paul Gilk (editor) and David Kast (editor).  It is a series of essays and each contributor has a unique perspective.  The other is The Better Angels of our Nature: Why Violence Has Decreased, by Steven Pinker.

            The next meeting will be held on February 18 and the speaker will talk about the 10 signs of Alzheimer's.

            The meeting was adjourned to hear the speaker, Tony Schultz from Athens.  He talked about organic farming and his Stoney Acres Farm, which is a CSA model.  CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture.  You can pay for a seasons worth of vegetables in the spring, and receive a share of fresh, organically grown vegetables and fruit each week delivered to your local neighborhood. 

Respectfully submitted,

Ruby Pinter, MAREA Secretary

 

December 17, 2012

The December meeting of the Marshfield Area Retired Educators Association was called to order by president, Mary Denk. There were 47 members present. Guests were Jim Legner and new members, Diane Ritzinger and Mark Lacke.

The secretary's report was approved as read.

The treasurer, Pat Tietyen, reported a total of $1469.37 in checking. Of that amount, $53.95 belongs to the Community Action Fund; $389 belongs to the local scholarship fund; and $55 is the WREA Foundation balance. The report will be filed for audit.

Ruby Pinter reported that she sent Christmas cards to members not able to attend meetings. She also stated that MAREA scholarship applications will be sent to 10 schools in January.

Pat Tietyen will deliver food pantry donations to the Stratford Food Pantry along with $50. January donations will go to St. Vincents in Marshfield. Grace Dietel-Ensign won the community action drawing for a free meal.

Karen Winkler announced that in 2011, MAREA members volunteered 6,908 hours for a total worth of $139,887.00. Fifty-one of the 77 members did some volunteering.

The December birthday song was sung for Mavis Wood.

President Denk reported that she and vice president, Kathleen Hasenohrl, and membership chair, Carol Ely, recently attended the WREA Big Picture training.

Anne Teska reported on the Marshfield Library display.

Carol Ballerstein, District 3 co-director, reported on the Marathon County Retired Educators meeting that she and Carol Subera attended. Bob Conlin, secretary of the Department of Employee Trust Funds, was the speaker. He said that our pension is on solid ground.

A discussion of whether we should cancel January meetings starting in 2014, will be held at the January meeting.

The meeting was adjourned and door prizes were handed out. Rita Berg, mezzo-soprano, entertained us with songs, then led the group in a Christmas sing-a-long.

Next meeting is January 21, 2013 withTony Schultz speaking on Organic Farming.

Respectfully submitted, Ruby Pinter, MAREA Secretary

November 19, 2012

The November meeting of the Marshfield Area Retired Educators Association was called to order by president, Mary Denk. The meeting opened with the singing of the Star Spangled Banner, led by Elaine Haas. Guests included Marti Delaney and Margaret Meacham.

Pat Tietyen handed out directories to members.

The secretary's report was approved as read.

The treasurer reported $1485.37 in checking. Of that amount, $78.95 belongs to the Community Action Fund, and $379 belongs to the local scholarship fund. The report will be filed for audit.

Larry Perrodin reported on the status of the pension.  Ruby Pinter gave the sunshine and shadows report: long time member, Gwen Peterson, celebrated her 90^th birthday on November 10, 2012.

Ruby Pinter reported on the progress of the local scholarship to be given next year. The committee met and worked on the application form, which is ready to be sent to schools in January.

Carol Ballerstein, Carol Subera, Mary Denk and Kathleen Hasenohrl reported on the District Meeting they attended. The highlight was a panel of three superintendents and meeting our new state director, Dave Bennett. Karen Winkler showed a facsimile check presented at the meeting showing the value of the 7,206 hours recorded by MAREA members in 2011. The hours were worth $153,920.16. MAREA received a AA rating on the Units of Distinction.

Dona Balciar won the drawing for the Community Action free meal. Donations this month will be delivered to Soup or Socks by Kathleen Hasenohrl. Next month the donations will go to the Stratford Food Pantry, with Pat Tietyen delivering.

Karen Thompson volunteered to fill the position of education chairman.

An unanimous ballot was cast for Kathleen Hasenohrl for vice president and for Ruby Pinter to fill out the term of secretary.

Larry Perrodin suggested that we talk about the possibility of having NO meeting in January, starting in

2014. It will be discussed at the January, 2013, meeting.

The meeting was adjourned to hear speakers, Jeff Reiche, principal of Marathon Charter School and two students at the school, Michael Lang and Mandy Lyons. Mr. Reiche explained the need for change in education and how the school is based on expeditionary learning. The students then told of things they have been studying and talked about their field research.

Our next meeting is a Christmas party on December 17, with singer, Rita Berg.

Respectfully submitted,

Ruby Pinter, MAREA secretary