Montgomery County Retired Teacher Meeting Minutes

President Steve Frees welcomed members and guests to the March 10, Montgomery County Retired Teachers Association meeting held in the Crawfordsville Public Library.  Lunch was provided by the Creekside Restaurant.  Table decorations were provided by Nancy Bowes and Mary Lefebvre.

Kathy Steele introduced the speakers for our 4-H Tech Changemakers program.  Addy Morgan is the coordinator for the program which started in 2022.  The team involves 4-H members and is currently looking for 4-H kids in grades 9, 10, and 11 to join them.  The members of this team are tech savvy and help others with tech questions and problems.  One student talked about the importance of strong passwords.  Passwords should be 12-16 characters and should be changed regularly.  Use sentences or phrases, but don’t use obvious patterns or common phrases.  They also discussed storing passwords in encrypted files, physical notebooks, or password managers. Another member talked about scams and the use of AI.  The members explained how to store and share photos online. 

President Steve called the business meeting to order.  The minutes from the February meeting which were sent previously were approved.  Barb Foster gave the treasurer’s report which was approved.  Nancy Bowes reported that the community service committee had received thank-you notes from the Salvation Army and the Community Foundation for our donations. The members were reminded that there are scholarships available for students in college going into education. Mary Lefebvre sent one card of sympathy to a family and one card of congratulations for an award.

President Steve presented the slate of officers for the next year.  It will remain the same as this year with Steve Frees, president, Kathy Steele, vice-president, Jerilyn Yerkes, secretary, and Barb Foster as treasurer.

In new business, Steve stated that the Strawberry Festival committee is looking for volunteers to read at the gazebo during the festival.  If you are interested, let Steve know.  The Trail Tale project which was established in 2016 is in need to funds for books.  Nancy Bowes made a motion to give the project $200.00 and it was seconded by Sue Mullendore.  The members voted in favor of this motion. Steve said that he and Glenda will be participating in the Dancing with the Stars in May for the Youth Service Bureau.  The tickets will likely go on sale in April. Kathy Steele told the members that Amanda Ellenberger, a CHS art teacher is looking for embroidery hoops, yarn, needles, canvases, white T-shirts, and old T-shirts.  If you have items to donated, please take them to the high school.  Kathy alerted the group to an app called 5 Calls, which gives information on legislative issues and the representatives or senator in your area to call with concerns.

The next meeting will be held at the library on Monday, April 14.  The program will be members from the Master Gardener’s talking about the Nicholson garden.  Sheila Hodges and Barb Foster are responsible for the table decorations and the invocation will be given by Nancy Buckles. The meeting was adjourned.