AfterWords: Volume 1, Issue 1

Winter  2003

Greetings

ARM is the official organization for retired OSSTF members. We are devoted to keeping the best of your connection to your profession, your colleagues, and your union. That means our meetings and activities are not "mandatory sessions", will not try to "attain a vision", or have anything to do with "Trillium", "mark entry deadlines", or "personal goal setting". Instead, we will try to keep your informed and entertained, and provide some real services and benefits--such as our exclusive ARM Chapter 11 Discount Card. 

Take a look through this newsletter to see what we have done so far, what ARM Chapter 11 and ARM Provincial Council have to offer you, and what's on the plate for the rest of this year. We particularly want you to tell us what you want your ARM Chapter to provide: information meetings? Community and school service projects, such as United Way support? Access to benefits and services? Travel opportunities? Social activities, like golf tournaments or excursions? Political action opportunities in support of education? Please let us know! 

Our First Date

On Wednesday, November 20, ARM Chapter 11 held its first lunch-time information session at Bill Bentley's Restaurant in the Oakridge Mall. After some brief updates on current OSSTF issues and activities, special guest Gary Gorham, Investment Advisor with RBG Dominion Investment Securities, gave an intriguing talk entitled "The Key Underpinnings to Successful Investing: The Power of Calm". He gave a clear and informative overview of the current investment climate, especially highlighting the predictably cyclical nature of the market, and of the general strategies necessary for successful long-term investment strategies.

Gary's talk was followed by a lunch specially catered by the Bentley's kitchen. Participants enjoyed the opportunity to chat and mingle, and talk more informally with Gary. ARM Chapter 11 plans more of these low-key opportunities for members to get information on topics of interest while enjoying a delicious lunch in the company of friends and former colleagues.

...And Our Next One

Political Action
by Joe Wilson

If you are like me, my teaching career was a generally rich, rewarding and positive experience--until the takeover of our provincial government by the Harris right-wing Alliance juggernaut, disguised as the Progressive Conservative party. These were no Bill Davis-style, moderate-right, "small c" conservatives, but rather a hard core group of ideologues ruthlessly devoted to their own anti-democratic and self-serving reformation of the basic structure of Ontario society.

Unfortunately, teachers and education were, from the first, right in their cross hairs, and we and our students found ourselves under powerful and seemingly unrelenting attack. As OSSTF members, we can be proud that we have been the most persistent, constant and effective resisters of the Tory attempts to gut public education.

As retired teachers, it is tempting to stay as far away as possible from this on-going battle, because mostly we wanted only to teach, serve students, and lead a productive and rewarding career. However, a provincial election is just around the corner. Can public education survive another term of Tory attacks? I can't bear the thought of the profession that was so central in my life being further degraded. I don't want the teachers and education workers who succeeded me in an already intrinsically challenging profession to face more of the despair, stress and damage the Tories have wrought.

We can play a role in the return of education-positive government. We can vote, bring others to vote, inform friends and relatives of the issues, or get actively involved in supporting one of the candidates. There are three District members running in this election: Brian Brown (Liberal--Oxford), Patti Dalton (NDP--London West), and Irene Mathyssen (NDP--London Fanshawe). 

You are invited to a District 11 Election Rally on Thursday March 20 at the Marconi Club. Call the District Office for details.

Stay tuned for more details of how ARM Chapter 11 can make a difference.

ARM Discounts

Your  District 11 ARM Council has initiated a new discount card to reward you for ARM membership. One of the perks of ARM membership has been the continuance of the Edvantage discount card via our affiliation with OSSTF. While this card offers discounts with an impressive array of businesses, there are gaps in the types of goods and services obtainable. It is the view of your District 11 ARM Organizing Committee that those gaps can be substantially reduced through the creation of a local "Preferred Business Relationship Program" and related discounts that can be accessed by showing your ARM Chapter 11 membership card. To that end, over the last few months we have worked with local businesses to establish discounts at types of businesses different from those accessible through the Edvantage discount card. Click here to see a list of our partner businesses to date. ARM Chapter 11 members received their ARM Chapter 11 membership card with this issue of the newsletter mailed to their home. 

To obtain significant discounts at those businesses, simply phone the contact person listed. That person will be able to provide discount details. You may then choose to set up an appointment, show your membership card, and receive another and very substantial benefit of ARM membership! This program is intended for you and immediate family members, but for them to access it, you must be present with your current membership card. In some cases, such as automobile purchases, the local business discounts can amount to thousands of dollars and be further augmented with on-going manufacturer's incentive programs. In future, more businesses will be added to this program and they will be announced via the ARM Newsletter. Please patronize these businesses which support us and give us feedback.

Start your ARM savings now!!

Back to the USSR...Our Russian Trip, 2002
by Brian Carrier

Patricia and I flew Aeroflot from Kennedy Airport, New York to Moscow, and then connected to St. Petersburg. This was our second visit here, and the changes in ten years were astounding. There were no food lines. The restoration of Hermitage is on-going, the Pushkin Palace was beautiful, and the wealth, as exhibited by the expensive clothes and the many Mercedes on the streets, was quite evident. We returned to Moscow after three days, and again the evidence of wealth was everywhere. The GUM department store could rival anything in the western world.

The cruise that we had come to Russia for was going to follow the Volga River from Moscow to Volgograd (formerly Stalingrad), then connect to the Don River via the Volga-Don Canal and finish in Rostov-on-Don. This trip occurs twice a year, once in May, when riverboats sail north to Moscow and again in September when the boats return to Rostov. We were taking only the second September trip offered by this company.

The riverboat holds two hundred people on three decks., All the cabins have an outside view. We sailed north to Uglich and then headed south. We made stops almost every day at villages and towns that had only been exposed to tourists a few times. In one village, we did touring in 1940 vintage buses. The Russian Orthodox religion is in full swing and many churches were in the process of being renovated. For us, the highlight of the trip was the day we spent in Volgograd. Until you have been there and seen the memorials to the terrible siege of the city by the German army in World War 2, you have no idea what the people went through.

If you are looking for a trip off the beaten path, this is one to consider.

(Brian and Patricia Carrier, both avid travellers, now live in the charming village of Bayfield, Ontario. Brian has been retired from secondary school teaching for eight years. During his career, he taught mathematics and drafting at Clarke Road, Westminster, Saunders and Lucas. He finished his career as the Head of the Drafting and Design Department at H.B. Beal S.S. There are several companies, such as Uniworld and Orthodox Cruises, that offer the travel package the article describes.)

From Where We Sit: some words to the soon-to-be-retired
by Katherine Donaldson and Eleanor Fidlin

Retirement...an extended vacation, less structured days; as the commercial says, "so every day will be Saturday."

There's always the obvious things, which for us have included reading, relaxing, renewing friendships, travelling, and pursuing new hobbies and interests.

We both really enjoyed the work and the students, but now there's no stomach-churning on Sunday evenings and, even though a few pounds have been added to the frame, there's a feeling of lightness.

Sleep deprivation is no longer a problem. The eyes open when they're ready, not when the clock radio alarm breaks the morning silence.

There's time to be - whatever you want - time to giggle, time to reflect, time to stop and watch a hawk circling overhead, time to attend an evening concert without worrying about an early morning, ...just - time.

Some friends were given advice by a couple in their seventies. If travelling is a wish, do it now. Don't wait. Tomorrow may not come.

Hints from where we sit, or what worked for us:

1. Go when you are ready, not when someone else says you should.
2. Go to retirement workshops sponsored by OSSTF.
3. Develop hobbies and interests now.
4. Don't sit at home on the first day of school - have something planned.
5. Contact friends you have lost touch with.
6. Continue to learn. Take a class.
7. Volunteer if you want to, not because someone else says you should.
8. Go slowly at first.
9. ENJOY.
10. If someone asks you to write an article...well...

(Contributors Eleanor Fidlin and Katherine Donaldson both retired in 2002 from Norwich District High School. During their careers, Eleanor taught French, English and Library, while Katherine taught Phys. Ed., English and Special Education.)

Word Play

Each year the Washington Post's Style Invitational asks readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing only one letter and supply a new definition. 

And a challenge: send us your own created word and definition, preferably on an education theme, and we'll print it!

Quick Hits and Final Words

Submissions Needed for Next Issue

We need your articles, notices, pictures, letters. Please direct your submissions to Joe Wilson c/o the District Office. The tentative deadline for our next issue is May 9, 2003.

Let us not take thought for our separate interests, but let us help one another.
(OSSTF Motto)

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