President's Report 

By Wayne hughes

Board of Directors 2012 – 2013

You will notice a substantial change in the Board as you peruse the names on the inside cover.

The Annual General Meeting appointed and/ or elected a full slate of officers and directors for 2012 - 2013. The new Board will consist of 12 incumbents, 5 members who served on previous Boards and 3 new directors which will hopefully provide a good balance of proven experience and new perspectives. A special thank you and welcome is in order for the new members, namely, Peter Carney from Winnipeg, Joan Dawson from Thomson and Marvin Krawec from Portage la Prairie. I look forward to working with them and the whole Board, in addressing the many tasks and responsibilities needed to represent retired teachers across Manitoba.

With the significant changes of directors, there is also a certain amount of sadness in that a number of colleagues and friends are leaving the Board. The amount of collective experience and wisdom of these directors will be sorely missed by all members of the Board. The members who are leaving are as follows:

Val smyth – We have had the pleasure of working with Val for the past year. Her calm demeanor and thoughtful opinions have been appreciated. Val chaired theTravel Committee as well as helped with AGM and Elections. I believe she has offered to consult with RTAM as long as the meetings take place on the golf course. Thank you Val for all your work. Mary Pankiw – Mary has worked on the board for two years – one year as Vice President and one year as a director. She has participated in a number of committees including Bylaws and Policy, Educational Advocacy and the Travel Committees. We will miss her beautiful singing voice and wish her the best in her “new” career as a childrens’ author. Thank you Mary for your work.

Ron Kalinchuk – Ron took on the very demanding job of Web Master three years ago. He also returned to full time work in Virden as a second career. Ron decided to leave the Board and we appreciate all the effort he made over the past three years. anne Monk is also leaving the Board after serving for 9 years. I have no hesitation in saying she was our hardest working director. She will be difficult to replace on the pension, political action and numerous ad hoc committees as well as Vice President. She guided us through the very difficult years of the Sale Report and Bill 45. As if that was not enough she has provided updates, reached out to active teachers, traveled the province with COLA Roadshows and worked on a process to appoint a representative to the TRAF Board. I can only hope that after a brief rest, she will become involved with RTAM again. Thank you Anne for your extraordinary devotion to retired teachers across Manitoba.

It is now time to move on and I look forward to working with the new board.

Reflections and a Note of Farewell as President

By richard Benoit

In May 2009, I was elected as your President. I was reelected again in 2010 and 2011 and now, I am leaving the presidency in the capable hands of Wayne Hughes, our newly elected President.

I have thoroughly enjoyed this three year experience. It has enabled me to work with a number of knowledgeable and interesting retirees who were very cooperative, supportive and helpful in their constructive suggestions and proposals. I thank all members who served on the Board with me for all three years or for shorter periods.

Together, we deliberated, worked and experienced enjoyable moments. Together we sincerely attempted to benefit the plight of retired teachers and, as we all know, there are many areas of retired living that need improvement. We have succeeded well in some areas. In others, there are miles to go before we sleep, as Robert Frost reminds us.

I also thank all the various chapters who welcomed me so heartily during my Chapter visits. Chapters constitute the core of RTAM. Chapters know exactly the feelings of retirees regarding the various issues and their feedback is necessary and important.

All RTAM members share in our hopes and aspirations for a better future and I commend you for your interest and participation in various projects.

This message would not be complete without thanking Carol Gillis, our most competent Executive Assistant, a real gem to our organization. Continued on Page 9