PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
President’s Message
Peggy Prendergast
RTAM President
2019-2020
RETIRED TEACHERS’
ASSOCIATION OF MANITOBA
F
rom a vision of the lake on a hot
summer’s day to snow and wind
on a cold November morning in
the early winter that we are having in
Manitoba comes this message. How
our weather changes! The activities
of RTAM follow a cycle as well. The
student award winners and a little about
each are named in this edition of KIT
and of course the names of their RTAM
relatives that were their sponsors.
Congratulations to you all, winners
and sponsors alike. I would also like
to congratulate all the other sponsors
that took the time to encourage their
young relatives to apply. I find It a great
opportunity and honour to view the
accomplishments of all these students.
From this beginning of our committee
work in late August to preparing for
the upcoming provincial election in
September and then the federal election
in October there was lots of activity
around the distribution of the “postcard”
that was sent to all of you to assist you
in questioning the candidates in your
area and thus being an informed voter.
On Wednesday, September 10th I made
my first chapter visit to the St. James
chapter. I was cordially greeted and
given an opportunity to speak about
some of the work the RTAM Board has
undertaken this year. The chapter
members attending were indeed
having fun and games and enjoying
one another’s company over a delicious
dessert and yet definitely renewing
old relationships and ensuring the
continuation of friendships into the
future. You will read about this further
in this magazine. The next chapter
visit was Thursday, September 26th to
the Retired Women, RWTA, and their
annual fashion show. I belong to this
chapter and was delighted to bring
them the quarterly news from the RTAM
Board. The pleasure of the Louis Riel
chapter members and their unique style
of operating at their biannual lunches
was apparent on Thursday, October
3rd. They include the support staff that
they worked with in their schools that
are so important to the functioning of a
school setting and often a great friend
to teachers and students. The LRSD
active teacher president, spoke to the
group thus providing a connection to
the active teachers in the area and an
opportunity for supporting each other.
My trip to the breakfast meeting of the
Boyne Chapter on Friday, October 25th
was again a very unique experience.
After a very pleasant morning drive I
found fifteen people from Carmen and
surrounding areas ordering breakfast
at 9:00 o’clock and getting on with
the busy meeting and day that was to
follow. As they ate they talked about
what they were involved in, the heart
of RTAM, volunteering. One person
discussed the extensive library project
that some were involved in and how
it should be done in January and is
being named after a passionate class 1
teacher who taught in Carmen and who
gave so much to the library program in
the town. Others were involved in the
state of the art senior complex that is
being built by the government following
the concept of the model found in
Niverville. One of the most striking
projects of all to me was the one
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