IEA Regions 14 &62 Retired Newsletter
An
Affiliate
Volume 2 – November 2008
REGIONS 14 & 62 IEA-Retired LUNCHEON MEETING
Wednesday, November 12, 2008, at 11:30 AM
THE MOOSE LODGE, 614 IAA Drive, Bloomington
We would like for you to join us at our meetings during the 2008-2009 school year. Our chapter
serves retired teachers and ESPs in Region 14 (Bloomington-Normal) and Region 62 (McLean,
Livingston, and parts of Woodford Counties). We meet the second Wednesday of every other month
during the school year – September, November, January, March, and May. Please plan to attend and
bring a new retiree or old retiree with you. We have some varied and interesting programs planned
for you this year, so mark your calendars and save the dates.
November 12 – Fair Trade at its Best Through the Holidays by CROSSROADS Global Handicrafts, a
varied presentation about crafts and goods from around the world, items on display and for sale,
coupons, and question and answer time. (Note the date is Nov. 12. It was mistakenly listed as Nov. 10 in
the September newsletter. Change your calendar if you wrote it down after receiving the last newsletter.)
January 14 – Best Travel Deals for Your Money by Suzi Davis Travel, rescheduled by request from
last year.
March 11 – Abraham Lincoln by Dan Leifel.
May 13 – TRIP – Teachers’ Retirement Insurance Program , Current Updates, Rates, and
Information by Tracy McCurley from TRS.
A Way to Help!
We are trying to cut expenses to have more money for programs. You can help. Consider donating a
book of stamps for use in mailing our newsletters. If you wish to contribute, you can bring 1 book of
stamps to any meeting and give it to any of the officers.
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MEAL CHOICES
Choices for lunch this month are (1) Pork Tenderloin Sandwich or (2) Chicken Salad Sandwich. There will also
be soup and tossed salad. The price is $7.00 which is all inclusive, except for soda, which is $1.00. This is a
$1 increase from the past, but is understandable with the economy and is still a great deal. Please have
exact change for your meal. Chris Albritton must have your reservation no later than November 3. Please
call her at (309) 452-3828 or e-mail her at albrit@verizon.net. If you leave a message, please leave your
name and which sandwich choice you wish to order.
IEA Regions 14 & 62 Retired Newsletter
Chapter Leaders for 2008-2009
President – Janet Kilgus – 815-692-2172, djkilgus@davesworld.net
Vice-President – Peggy Brown – 309-829-3463, pbrown2102@comcast.net
Secretary – June Schultz – 309-664-1762
Treasurer – Carla Smith – 309-663-1570, campin1@msn.com
Past President – Judy Duvall – 309-663-1573, JDU2904@aol.com
Committee Chairs:
Address Labels – Judy Duvall
Membership – Judy Addicks
Newsletter – Janet Kilgus and June Schultz
School Supply Project – Peggy Brown
Region Council Rep for both Region 14 and Region
62 – Janet Kilgus
Program – Peggy Brown
Luncheon Reservations – Chris Albritton
Program Committee – Officers, committee chairs,
Tom Dunavin, Barb Gilhaus
Legislative – Lou Ann Jacobs
____________________________________________
NEA Representative Assembly
by Barb Gilhaus
Eight retired delegates attended the NEA Retired Annual meeting from June 26-June
28 and the NEA RA from July 1-July 6 in Washington DC.
The delegates included Council Chairperson, Jack Tucker, Gene Craig, who serves
as Secretary/Treasurer of NEA Retired, Barb Gilhaus, who serves as
Secretary/Treasurer of the IEA-Retired Council, Mae Smith, Pearl Mack, Marge
Houghland, Jim Duffy, and Ed Rosenthal. Janet and Dave Kilgus attended the NEA
Retired Annual meeting where Janet was a presenter at one of the interest
sessions. She and Dan and Steve Fouts presented a program on the Living Library
to increase awareness of the program sponsored by IEA-Retired. NEA Retired
celebrated our 25th birthday.
New NEA officers elected at the NEA RA were Dennis Van Roekel, President; Lily
Eskelsen, Vice-President; Becky Pringle, Secretary/Treasurer; Princess Moss and
Len Paolillo , Executive Committee. A bylaw amendment allowing the retired
organization to amend their bylaws was adopted.
Delegates far exceeded their 2008 goal, raising a whopping $1,848,681 for the NEA
Fund for Children and Public Education for the fundraising year and at the RA.
NEA-Retired raised $13,867.00 for the fund through their quilt raffle, which is
made from T Shirts donated by educators. Marge Houghland, of Region 8 and a
Retired delegate, has donated over 65 T-Shirts for the quilts that have been
made.
November 2008
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IEA Regions 14 & 62 Retired Newsletter
This and That from Janet

Barb Gilhaus and Janet Kilgus serve on the IEA Retired Budget Committee. We met in Lombard
in September.

Barb Gilhaus, Janet Kilgus, and Lou Ann Jacobs attended TRS retirement meetings in the area to
distribute IEA/NEA retired membership materials to future retirees.

Lou Ann Jacobs, Barb Gilhaus, Dave Kilgus, and Janet Kilgus participated in IEA
Recommendation Meetings for political candidates, including Dan Rutherford, Aaron Schock, Tim
Johnson, Dan Brady, Keith Sommer, and Debbie Halverson.

Barb Gilhaus, Lou Ann Jacobs, Terry Fry, and several pre-retired active members from the
Roanoke-Benson area represented our chapter by attending the IEA Retired Conference in
Springfield on October 4.

Barb Gilhaus, Lou Ann Jacobs, and Janet Kilgus represented us at an IEA Town Hall Meeting
held at the Region Office on October 14. The purpose of the town hall meetings is to gather input
from members on how IEA can better serve them and meet their needs as educators.

Did you know – Barb Gilhaus is the substitute secretary at the IEA Region Office when Karen
Hancock needs to be gone.

Access the Living Library, an electronic file cabinet system which enhances the Mentor Program,
by going to www.livinglibrary.us for great teaching ideas. Lou Ann Jacobs, Dave Kilgus, and
Janet Kilgus all have files open for use by students and educators.

Lou Ann Jacobs will continue to keep us updated on Legislative concerns via e-mail. Let her
know if you wish to be added to her group. (ljacobs363@aol.com)
RETIREES DO HAVE A VOICE AND A VOTE IN IEA/NEA!
++++++++++++++++++
IEA Representative Assembly Election
Ballots for the election of retired delegates to the IEA Representative Assembly in March will be
mailed out to all IEA/NEA Retired members on October 29, 2008. They must be received back
to IEA by December 3, 2008. Fourteen retired delegates will be elected to represent us in
addition to being represented by our IEA Retired Chair, Jack Tucker, and Vice-Chair, JoAnn
Kenner. Two members of our chapter are on the ballot. We encourage you to participate in this
election. Lou Ann Jacobs will be sending out via e-mail more information regarding this
election.
November 2008
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IEA Regions 14 & 62 Retired Newsletter
The Educator’s 10% Discount One More Way Target Supports Education
Target offers IEA/NEA educators a 10% discount on all Target.com orders. Redeem your
discount in 3 easy steps:
1. Log on to the IEA website – www.ieanea.org
2. Locate the Access Discount section and follow the instructions to log on to the discount site.
You will need your IEA/NEA membership card with your member number.
3. At the access site, click on Redeem Your Target Buckslip Here and follow the instructions.
Register your IEA/NEA membership card with Access for many more discounts.
School Supply Project
We are continuing with our school supply project this year. Members are encouraged to bring
school supplies or a donation to buy some to our meetings and they will be distributed to needy
students in our area schools. Lincoln Elementary in Pontiac, Trinity Lutheran School in
Bloomington, Bloomington Jr. High, and Bent Elementary in Bloomington were drawn to be the
recipients in September.
Our project is enhanced by the generous contributions of others. IEA Region 14 gave us $250
this year and Region 62 and the Moose have continued their $100 donations. Thank you to them
for their support.
KEEP BRINGING SCHOOL SUPPLIES FOR NEEDY STUDENTS!!!
The recipient schools have been very appreciative to receive the supplies for their needy
students. Please fill out the form below and bring to the meeting for the school supply
drawing.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Name of Deserving School ________________________________
City of School _________________________________________
Person to deliver supplies_________________________________
November 2008
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IEA Regions 14 & 62 Retired Newsletter
Legislative Up-date
from Lou Ann Jacobs
BE SURE TO VOTE
The general election day is Tuesday, November 4. This election will probably have the highest election
turnout in history. Polls in Illinois open at 6:00 a.m. and will close at 7:00 p.m.
To avoid long lines, do consider early voting. That has started and continues until October 30. Consult
your county clerk's office (or in Bloomington, the board of election) for places and times.
If you did not get to the county clerk or board of election offices to register or change your address before
the Oct 7 deadline, you can do what is called Grace Period Voting. One needs to go to the office to
register to vote or change address and you MUST vote in person at that time.
Absentee voting is still possible if you have applied for an absentee ballot. Get it in the mail no later than
October 30 or you can take the absentee ballot to the election office no later than Nov. 3.
VOTE NO FOR CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION
A vote to consider a Constitutional Convention (Con-Con) is on the ballot this fall. A convention will open
up the constitution to change for the better or for the worse.
A few points to ponder:
-The people elected to the con-con will mainly be members of the General Assembly, the same people
who brought you the current gridlock in Springfield.
-The cost for operating a con-con could be as high as $80 to $100 million dollars that could be used for
other purposes such as improving education funding or improving the state portion of pension funding.
-Concerns about the con-con have been raised by TRS in that a new constitution may weaken or even
eliminate the current pension protections in place. This could threaten the retirement of those still active in
the profession and probably deter others from entering the profession.
- A reason given for having a con-con is to amend the constitution. There is another way and that is to
have a grassroots effort by way of petition to put an amendment on the ballot. This has been done in the
past to reduce the size of the House membership in the 1980's.
There is a lot to consider before voting this year. I urge you to study carefully before you vote on the
constitutional convention
November 2008
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IEA Regions 14 & 62 Retired Newsletter
All IEA-Retired members from Regions 14 & 62 are invited to join our chapter. If you are a
member of IEA/NEA-R, it doesn’t automatically make you a member of our group. Local dues are
$6.00, which mainly covers our mailings. Please make checks payable to IEA-R Regions 14/62.
Please pay for only one year at a time. If you have paid your dues, the label on your envelope will
have the date through which you have paid. No date on your label means you owe for this year.
(Return this form with your check)
NAME ______________________________________________
ADDRESS ____________________________________________
CITY ______________________________Zip_______________
TELEPHONE NUMBER ___________________________________
E-MAIL ADDRESS ______________________________________
SPECIAL CONCERNS ____________________________________
I WISH TO RECEIVE CHAPTER NEWSLETTERS BY:
(CHECK ONE)
___________ US MAIL
___________ E-MAIL (make sure your e-mail is included on the e-mail address line above)
Please mail this form to Mrs. Carla Smith, Treasurer, 1215 Gettysburg Drive, Bloomington, IL
61704 or bring it to a Regions 14 & 62 Chapter meeting. If you have questions about your
membership you can call Carla at 309-663-1570.
November 2008
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