Invitation to a Retirement Party
Month: April 2021
Urgent Notice
BEWARE of email scams. No member of the Executive Board of the Retired Teachers of Northport would ever email a member requesting they buy gift cards for the organization. If you receive such a request IT IS A SCAM. Delete such an email immediately. If you should receive such an email, please email [email protected] and tell us the name of the board member who supposedly sent the email.
Celebrate New Retirees
Over forty teachers plan to retire at the end of the school year and the UTN is busy planning a Retirement Party for Friday June 11th at Crab Meadow. In order to prepare for the event, they need a preliminary count of attendees. If you think you will be attending, please send an email to [email protected] or call the UTN office at 631-261-2000. The union wants to be able to honor all of the retirees at this event, so please send your tentative RSVP by this coming Friday, April 16.
What have our members been up to?
The question is what I’ve been up to during Covid.
As a 2019 Christmas gift, our daughter Dana signed me up with Storyworth.com, an online vanity publisher. Each week of 2020, Storyworth sent me a question about a particular life experience or moment, or something meaningful to me. I could choose which questions to answer and was invited to submit my own topics as well. Any photographs that illustrated my writings were encouraged in the JPEG format. All editing was to be done by me, the writer. My stories grew to 288 pages and featured everything from “Close Calls” to “Peace of Mind.”
Glenn Baldwin, March 1, 2021
After a year of submissions, my subscription to questions ended and a two-month editing period ensued. An email address of [email protected] proved quite helpful for technical and pricing questions I had.
The result of all this came in the mail this week: three ordered copies of a hard-bound book I’d entitled “Glenn’s Stories … All True.” These hardbound books are 6” X 9” in size and feature a table of contents and selected photo for the cover. The first copy ordered comes with a $39 credit as part of the subscription, the price of each book with black and white photos. For color photos, the price is $79 per book plus our NYS state tax and shipping options.
I must say, Storyworth turned out to be one of the very best gifts in memory. Churning our narrative responses to their questions kept me off the streets, out of jail, and away from Covid-19. After editing tens of thousands of student essays in my teaching career, I got to challenge myself with each piece for the book. My thanks go to daughter Dana for this engaging experience, and to friend Linda Quinn and he newsletter staff for their question to our membership.
English Department, Northport High School
It’s not too late to send a submission to share with our membership. Send your anecdotes to [email protected], and be sure to include your name, school you retired from and subject taught – if applicable. Photos are welcome!
Dear Members,
Hooray! We have survived so far, and it is spring. Let us be glad! It has been a difficult year and because of COVID concerns we had to cancel hosting the our 2020 Luncheons, the Annual Picnic and this year’s Spring Luncheon. However, we have used the money saved doing good in your name. We have made donations to the Interfaith Food Pantry in Northport and St. Vincent de Paul food bank in East Northport. Both organizations distribute food based only on need and not because of any religious membership. We made a donation, with assistance from the UTN, to a Northport-East Northport district family in need. Finally, we gave a donation in memory of Chris Pendergast to the ALS Ride for Life to continue his work and legacy.
Due to the pandemic, elections of Executive Board officers were not held last year.The office of president is currently vacant due to the untimely death of Fran LaDuca. The current vice president, treasure, corresponding secretary and recording secretary have graciously offered to continue working in these positions. The Executive Board is also in need of volunteers who would be willing to serve on the committees that make our organization run. Please consider joining with former colleagues to do good for others, and keep us all connected. We will be posting additional information about the requirements for the office of president, and once there is a slate of candidates it will be posted online and a vote held.
Also, consider making a donation to Vote Cope. Our voices need to be heard to support public educators past and present and the system which has educated so many children so well. More information about Vote-Cope is posted on the NYSUT Vote-Cope information page.
Finally, enjoy colleagues’ post about what they have been doing during the pandemic. If you haven’t already done so, please share your experiences with us and let us know what you are most looking forward to enjoying in the future. Send short anecdotes to [email protected], and be sure to include your name, school you retired from and subject taught – if applicable. Photos are welcome!
We do not know if it will be possible to hold a picnic in September, but we will keep the membership posted as the pandemic plays out.
Be well, and stay safe, so we can all meet again.
The Executive Board