August 23, 2012 Meeting:

Fulton County Retired Teachers met August 23, 2012 at Christos Family Restaurant in Plymouth.  President Ilene Howard welcomed State Representative Bill Friend and Area #3 Director Rev. Jim Lund and wife Dorris along with retired teachers including first time attendees Diane Weaver-Gady, Janet Copeland, and Marsha Roberts.
Kay Horn, secretary read the minutes of the April meeting and gave the treasurer’s report of $912.02.  Dues were collected from members and scholarship money was accepted.  Mrs. Horn also shared the certificate of recognition Fulton county received at the 47th Representative Assembly for Outstanding Press Releases.
Karmin Reeves was recognized as an outstanding volunteer with her work with Habitat for Humanity and work with the school’s swimming and track teams.
 

Several will be attending the Fall Workshop at The Honeywell Center in Wabash on September 17, 2012.

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Also, we will be at The Career Fair to greet students on September 27, 2012 at the fairgrounds. It was decided to contribute the entry fee for the Fulton County Literacy Coalition Spellbowl in lieu of a team since several were already participating on teams.
 

Mrs. Howard asked for volunteers for several committees.  The Necrology volunteer is Carol Walker. She will notify the state office in the event of someone’s death.  Sandra Denton volunteered to put the news of upcoming meetings on Channel 4 and notify The Rochester Sentinel and The Shopper’s Guide.  Kaleen Krom will look into program ideas for our next meeting.  Joan Ewing and Alona Leininger will handle the telephone calling list.  The next meeting will be October 25, 2012 at 11:30 at The Jackson Estates.

President Howard then introduced our speaker, State Representative Bill Friend from Miami County.  Mr. Friend thanked the teachers for inviting him to speak.  We found out he represents District 23 which has 5 counties and the largest town is Peru.  There are 8 school districts from Maconaquah to Wakarusa to Tippecanoe Valley to Rochester.  He mentioned that 800 case workers have been added to address the abused children issue in public schools. 
An on-going discussion concerning House Bill 1376 is an omnibus funding measure directed at public kindergarten.  This allocates $80-$100 million in additional funding for full-day kindergarten (FDK).  This more than doubles funding levels for FDK; the most significant investment in FDK in state history.
He stated inheritance tax will be gone in 10 years.  He spoke about term limits.  In the Indiana House, one-third of the members were brand new; this year there were 30 who have served 2 years or less.
He suggested to freeze the budget that deals with education.  Funds are generated from income sales, sales tax and gambling revenue.  Cigarette tax brings in 550 million dollars and alcohol tax brings in 50 million.  District 23 is not a high wage district.  Education is dependent on a society that is working.
Mr. Friend said he has been going to fairs and parades,  and the comment he heard the most was about the drought.  People wanted “to just make it rain.”  The drought affected the long term economic input.
State Representative Friend can be reached at: h23@in.gov -1-800-382-9841 – www.in.gov/h23
        
State Representative Bill Friend (R-Macy) and Fulton County Retired Teachers president Ilene Howard.
Teachers asked questions of Mr. Friend and enjoyed fellowship time after his remarks. 
Rev. Jim Lund made some closing remarks and Kay Horn had a closing thought.  The meeting adjourned.

Kay Horn, Secretary
FCRTA