Retired Teachers’ Association elects new officers during monthly meeting

The Bandera County Retired Teachers’ Association (BCRTA) met at the Mayan Ranch in Bandera on Wednesday, January 19 to elect new officers for 2022-2024: President Lynn Oliver; First Vice President Linda Hunter; Second Vice President Dee Anne Mazurek; Treasurer Sharon Anderwald; and Secretary Sarah Baxter.

The new officers will take their official positions on July 1 after attending an officer training in June.

Guest speaker at the January meeting was the District 20 President, Irene Rodriguez-Dubberly, who spoke on volunteer opportunities available at the district level.

She also spoke on issues affecting the 100,000 TRTA members like a Cost-of-Living raise and legislative actions. She mentioned that 45 percent of TRTA members get by on a TRS pension of only $1,600 a month.

Sarah Baxter reported BCRTA has 90 members. Health Committee representative Doris Doebbler reported on the efficacy of cognitive tests and benefits of having one on file to use as a baseline.

In Old Business, Dee Anne Mazurek directed members to the thank you cards sent by the elementary classes who received books at Christmas.

She reminded the group this year’s focus will be on third, fourth and fifth grade students and encouraged focus on collecting chapter books for this year’s drive. BCRTA collected 639 books this year and distributed 603 books to students in PreK, Kinder, and First grades. She hopes the BCRTA will exceed that number this year.

BCRTA will be joining the Association of Texas Professional Educators in a joint teacher appreciation project in May.

Sharon Anderwald reminded members there were a few more red club shirts available for purchase. Anyone wanting a shirt may contact her.

President Connie Young spoke briefly about the peanut butter collection for the local Snack Pak 4 Kids organization. The BCRTA collected 92 jars of peanut butter to donate to Snack Pak 4 Kids, which is housed at the Bandera United Methodist Church and helps combat food insecurity by providing a backpack with nutritious snacks to children in need.

Secretary Sara Baxter reported to the group they needed to turn in volunteer hours to her for reporting to the state organization. Currently, she has a total of 5821 volunteer hours for the BCRTA but still has a few members who have not reported in.

Connie Young spoke about the 68th state convention that will be held in Dallas during April. She said that room reservations can be made online as well as convention enrollment. Contact her for more information.

After the meeting was adjourned, the membership ate a scrumptious Mexican food lunch in the dining room of the Mayan Ranch. Cook Elizabeth Vincent serenaded the group with two songs, a traditional Mexican ballad in Spanish and a popular slow song. Her songs were the perfect cap to a wonderful meal and a productive meeting.

The next meeting of the BCRTA will be on Wednesday, February 16, at the American Legion Hall in Bandera. A chili luncheon will be served afterward.