October/November/December

Here it is the mid of October and I am sitting on the edge of the Tuckasegee River in North Carolina. The sun doesn't burn the fog off until about 10 am so the day begins perfectly for me. Being here for a week really brings home what is important in life. It is not what you do on a day to day basis that defines you but who you are and what you really love. For me it will always be other people but it is also the beauty of nature in it's simplest form. The mountains have taken on fall color everywhere I look. The behavior of the birds, trout and small mammals all around me is always fascinating. I haven't had a chance to observe the behavior of any large mammals and for that I am grateful! Take time for you. You are definitely worth it. I have often forgotten that in the hustle and bustle of daily life. I am so grateful for the time to find that again.

JOINT COUNCIL was Oct. 10th while I was away so Christie took my place. You'll find her report here. http://gammatauk.blogspot.com/2011/10/joint-council.html

Next meeting will be Nov. 14th at the Valley Library at 5 pm. Building Reps are now current on the blog. Please let your Building Rep know if you will be wanting a meal for this meeting by Nov. 7th. The menu for that meeting is here on the blog. http://gammatauk.blogspot.com/2011/08/dinner-menus-2011-2012-this-is-way-we.html

Building Reps, please let me know by 9 pm on the 7th. This is not a meeting you will want to miss.

We have 40 to 50 purses for the "Purse Party". We can not FILL all of these but we have a keychain for each that we made at last meeting. We will be able to put a few items in each purse. I have found a lot of make up samples that I never used because of the colors but they are still good products. Some ideas for what to bring to the November meeting are anything you have in your purse right now, i.e. a wallet or coin purse, make up, lotion, nail or hair care products, a reusable water bottle or a $10 gas or phone card. If you are out shopping feel free to ask if they have anything to donate to the cause. Local grocery stores or shops might be happy to give a gift card or excess items they have piled in back. You don't know until you inquire! Bring all your goodies to the November meeting. We will fill the purses and give them to our guest speakers of the evening to be distributed to the needy women at the shelter. Who knows we may have enough to fill that need for a full year. What a wonderful way to give back to our community.

Also at this meeting we will be taking written nominations for several positions which we will vote on at the February meeting. I know we need a 2nd Vice President and a Recording Secretary for sure. There are others I am not positive about but will be by the meeting. Pam Penrose is the chairperson of that committee. Be thinking about potential candidates.

November 28th will be the BRO(Brotherhood of Religious Organizations) Gamma Tau Volunteer Workday. So sign up at the Nov. meeting if you will be working with us. We can use 10 to 12 volunteers. It is a very satisfying way to spend a day. We will carpool from the 270/30 Commuter Lot leaving at 8:30 am. Bring a sack lunch and a drink. Dessert, snacks and water will be provided.

December meeting will be at the Blue Owl Restaurant in Kimmswick on Dec. 4th at 10 am. Mark it on your calendar now since I know how fast that month books up.

I am very happy with all the good work we are doing together this year. Thank you so much for your very important part in it.

Pam Penrose

Hi Regina:Just wanted to let you know that I had a wonderful time last night at the Joint Council meeting. Thanks for nominating me for the award. It was a honor to represent our chapter. I've attached a picture that Nancy Bohle took for me.See you in November,Pam

Joint Council

Joint Council was held at the Methodist Church in Festus. As usual the Methodist women served a very nice meal of salad, cranberry chicken, green beans, rice, homemade rolls and desserts. Alpha Iota hosted the event.

Gently used books and stuffed animals were collected to be turned into Book Buddies. Cathy Hippert reported on the Book Buddies. She said it started in May by giving 50 to Operation Home Front. These Book Buddies go to military families children. Each month she has been called for more Book Buddies. Since she started this project, she has donated over 3,000 Book Buddies. She says as long as there are garage sales and thrift stores, she will continue to create the book buddies.

AND the winner of the 50/50 was ... Christie Wiltz. She donated the $79.50 to "Missouri Night 2013.

"There were greetings from the State President, Bev Teri. She spoke of the conference in Springfield, MO on April 13, 14, and 15th. On Friday during the conference there will be a auction to help raise money for Missouri 2013. She also mentioned her program teachers helping another teacher. The idea is to help a new teacher feel welcome by listening or helping out in many different ways. We want to keep them in the profession.

The guest speaker was Jack Jordan. He is a retired administrator from Mehlville School District. He is very active on several teacher retirement boards. He discussed many legislative issues that may affect teachers. Especially the Representative from Cape Girardeau, Jason Crowell. He plans to present several bills to the legislators that may hurt teachers and affect PSRS. We may need your phone calls, letters and emails if he should present these bills. We are blessed to have Sherri Talbot. Most of the information Mr. Jordan talked about we have already heard from Sherri or Peggy Cochran.

The meeting was called to order. Leadership Achievement Awards were presented to the following: Alpha Iota - Mary Tidd, Beta Delta - Nancy Woods, Beta Pi - Nancy Strain, and Gamma Tau - Pam Penrose. We are blessed to have Pam represent us. One person was supposed to receive a 20 year pin. We also learned Gamma Tau will turn 20 next year. The meeting was adjourned after we all held hands and sang the Delta Kappa Gamma song.