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Meeting with Wab Kinew, Leader of the Official Opposition
Our fall meeting was held at the residence of Gerry and Rosalene Saleski in Victoria. They hosted a lovely barbeque in their backyard. We had 16 members in attendance as well as two RTAM guests visiting from Manitoba. It was a fun event especially all the stories that were shared by attendees and of course the great food.
Our 2018 AGM will be held on April 12, 2018, at the same venue as last year’s AGM.
Westman Retired Educators’ Association
President: Darlene Wilkinson Past President: Judy Olmstead First Vice-President: Ron McPhail Second Vice President: Vacant Secretary: Rick Oakden Treasurer: Mavis Johnston Directors: Pat Bowslaugh, Ray Sitter, Peggy Wojnarski
Members: 37 paid members and 7 life members.
All this year’s meetings took place at Shriners’ Hall and included a catered luncheon, short program and business meeting. Door prizes were part of our routine and tubs were set out for donations to Westman YWCA, Westman Animal Shelter and Samaritan House.
At the September 12, 2017, meeting, there was a presentation by representatives from the Ombudsmen’s Office.
WREA made a donation to the Brandon School Division Youth Revolution group as part of our 25th anniversary celebration. Two representatives from WREA attended YRs fall kick-off event on October 13, as invited guests.
Twenty-five members volunteered to work at the session doors at Brandon LIFT on October 20. Six members had stuffed envelopes earlier that week.
Ray Sitter continued our recently established tradition of placing a wreath at the Westman Remembrance Day Service.
At our November 14, 2017, meeting, Ray Sitter did a presentation on tax regulations for TFSA beneficiaries, prior to the luncheon, for those members who were interested. This proved to be so successful that we have decided to use this format in the future for informational sessions that would be of interest to some but not all members.
There was no actual program that day so the members in attendance were able to devote considerable time during the business meeting to a discussion about what kinds of events and activities are important to us.
The February 23 meeting included short thankyou presentations by Karen Peto of the YWCA and Traci Munn from the Brandon Animal Shelter. Members in attendance found the stories of each of the speakers very moving and agreed that we have chosen charities that are doing very fine work.
Discussion about the Manitoba Pension Review took place and a motion was made to have representatives of WREA meet with local MLAs Reg Helwer and Len Isleifson to share our concerns. The executive met on March 2, along with three guests and planned a process for that meeting and again on March 6 to further consolidate plans. A meeting with the MLAs took place March 9 and a statement was then issued to the membership sharing the results of that meeting.
The AGM will take place on April 10, 2018, and will include a presentation by a member of the local genealogical association.
RTAM Meets with the Official Opposition. (From Left) Wab Kinew, Leader of the Official Opposition, Rosalie Bornn, RTAM President, JoAnne Hoyak, RTAM Vice President and Chair, Pension Committee, Mary-Anne Slegers, RTAM Executive Director, Beth Smith, Director and Chair, Membership and Chapters Committee and Matt Wiebe, Opposition Education Critic
