President’s Message

Rosalie Bornn

RTAM President 2017-2018

RETIRED TEACHERS’

ASSOCIATION OF MANITOBA

Greetings to all KIT Readers, and especially to those newly retired members who have just received their first official membership copies of KIT! • As Mother Nature puts the finishing touches on Summer 2017, we look to embrace the joys of

Fall 2017, and hope for a long and mellow glorious autumn period. • My summer was a true Manitoba stay-cation. I am so fortunate to have enjoyed the thirtieth summer of our cabin on Lake Manitoba.

It was a season of gorgeous mornings for sipping coffee on our lakefront deck, contemplating what the day had to offer: so different from more recent soggy

Manitoba summers where carp lazily floated around on the lawn where we would normally have been cutting the grass. The arrival of our second grandchild, a baby girl, on August 11, was an obvious summer bonus to our family. • Today, August 21, I witnessed the “not-so-total” eclipse of the sun. The sun burned off the early morning cloud and drizzle to make for a viewable experience in my part of Manitoba. My memory flashed back to February, 1979, where as a mom with a seven-month-old on “unpaid” adoptive leave, I got together with another stay-at-home mom to watch the eclipse with protective welders’ eye shields. I now wonder just where I will be for the next

local eclipse viewing experience estimated for April, 2024. • The RTAM Office remained open through the summer where staff has been busy with routine tasks such as getting our financial records ready for the annual audit, as well as prepping for our September meeting of the Board of Directors.

I do officially welcome our new

Monday to Friday Member

Services Coordinator, Nicole

Welwood, who joined us mid

May. Our part time Executive

Director, Mary-Anne Slegers, is in her second year of assisting and guiding us. Do remember that ours is a small office environment that may close occasionally for small periods of time. I would suggest that you call the RTAM office prior to visiting to ensure that staff is available at the time that you wish to be there. • RTAM now has a Strategic Plan to help direct our operations. This is a new venture and we do hope that it is a successful addition to our tool chest. • The ten-year period of Bill 45 that restricted our TRAF pension annual COLA has ended. The

MTS/RTAM joint agreement for disbursal of the approximately $27 million accumulated restricted surplus fund was forwarded to the

Government by the TRAF Board following their June meeting. As yet, RTAM has not been updated on that process.