Tennessee Retired Teachers' Association

September 3, 2024--WCRTA members once again donated money and showed some love to the White County new rookies starting their teaching careers. Preparing care packs for nine rookies to tide them over a couple of weeks until that long awaited payday, the new teachers received an array of snacks, quick meals, desserts, and drinks, as well as a coffee mug and a soup mug.  Our project "Love a Rookie Teacher" was once again a great success and these are some of the smiles to prove it!

June 12, 2024--Members of the WCRTA met at the First National Bank of Sparta for its last meeting of the year.  FNB sponsored a lovely meal, and after Becky Tubb gave the meeting's devotional, Sharon Kidd shared with members the highlights of the TRTA Representative Assembly, which she and others had attended the previous day. 

April 10, 2024--The April meeting of WCRTA was held at Duck Pond Manor, an all-inclusive wedding and event venue in Sparta. Terra Ballinger, owner of the manor, shared its interesting history and her journey to develop the property into the venue. Construction of the mansion, once known as the England mansion, began in 1861 but was not completed until 1865. The talented White County Middle School Choir led by Director Beth Delk provided the musical entertainment.  Topics discussed in the business meeting included inviting recently retired teachers to our June meeting and funding the Love a Rookie Teacher Project. 

February 13, 2024-- WCRTA members met at the White County Public Library for the regular meeting. Boxed lunches were prepared by Miss Marenda's Tea Room and homemade Valentine treats were for dessert.

The guest speaker was Anna Rich, a retired White County Middle School teacher, who is just as busy in retirement as while teaching. 

Anna brought in several of the baskets she weaves, including one that has been in her family for over 100 years. She explained the process of taking a white oak log and the steps involved in turning that into a basket. She explained the different types of baskets and how she creates patterns in the designs of the baskets. She also talked about the ladies who taught her the art. 

Anna also went on to discuss the Prison Ministry that she is involved in with her husband, and several of the ways the prisoners were being rehabilitated. The WCRTA plans on donating yarn at our April meeting for one of the women's projects. 

A short business meeting also occurred at the meeting.

November 7, 2024--The Wilson County RTA met at 10:00 at the Rutland Place Senior Center in Mt. Juliet. WCRTA President Jeff Garrett welcomed the group of 37 attendees. Dr. Williams provided a TRTA update and news on the recently filed voucher bill. WCRTA signed up three new members at the meeting. 

May 2, 2024--Lots of end-of-year business was addressed at the Wilson County RTA meeting.  

All committee chairpersons and members of each committee reported and were thanked for a job well done.  

The Scholarship Committee chairperson, Ellen James, gave each member a copy of the new scholarship application and qualifications on which the committee worked many hours revising and improving.

The following newly elected WCRTA officers for 2024-2026 were installed by County Clerk Jim Goodall: Jeff Garrett, president; Sarah White, vice president; and Betty Anderson, secretary. Barbara Thompson, treasurer, was absent during installation, but accepted the job at the end of the meeting.  Betty Anderson recognized out- going president, Dianne Cozart, and presented her a thank you gift from all members.

WCRTA's Hospitality Committee set up beautiful tables for our lunch afterward. They prepared a light buffet and had a special thank you cake served for dessert.

Our year has been very successful thanks to the great group of retired educators and community support.

April 4, 2024--Wilson County Retired Teachers' Association met April 4, 2024.  We had the largest attendance since COVID.

Our pledge was led by Nancy James. The devotional by Sherrie Green centered around the saying April Showers Bring May Flowers and the word patience.

Our monthly Community Service project for April is donating to the Wilson County Books from Birth program.  Our membership donated $655 at this meeting. This project is a yearly endeavor with a book giving and buying each month, so there was more money from the monthly "transactions". Peggy Simpson, Director of Wilson County Books from Birth, was present to receive a check for $1000 from Laura Honeyman, representing our WCRTA membership..  Peggy said there 6154 children enrolls in the program at the present.  Since it started in 2005, 25,389 children have graduated out of the program.

Jeff Garrett gave a legislative report and answered members' questions.

A slate of officers for 2024-2026 was presented and voted on.  The new officers for next year are Jeff Garrett President, Sarah White Vice President, Betty Anderson Secretary and Barbara Thompson Treasurer.

Wilson Bank and Trust sponsored our April meeting with a catered luncheon enjoyed by all. We are very blessed to have community support.

The Scholarship Committee met after lunch and finalized the new application for our scholarship.  All the details will be shared with our membership in May.

WCRTA has had a great year.  Our last meeting will be May 2, at the First Church of the Nazarene in Lebanon.  New officers will be installed at that meeting.

March 7, 2024--The Wilson County Retired Teachers' Association met for the first time in 2024. We had a good number present.  After the pledge and devotional centered around the Hymn of Promise, our guest speaker Beth Petty was introduced.

Beth is the director of the Lebanon Special School District's Family Resource Center.  WCRTA has sponsored the FRC for several years.  A new program has been developed for the FRC which involves camps for cooking, forensic science, sports, coffee shop business, sculpting compassion fundraiser, and attendance reward closet. 

Beth explained the different camps and how they function.  She highlighted The Young Authors and Illustrators Camp, which receives our support.  She brought materials that support this camp for us to see. All camps are created and carried out by students with supervision. Beth said all the camps have been very successful and are changing lives. WCRTA is proud to support the LSSD Family Resource Center and its director, Beth Petty.

After committee reports, members were reminded that a slate of officers will be presented and voted on at the April meeting.  Also, they were reminded that dues for next year are now being collected.  It was announced that $495 and several bags of donated items had been collected for the Wilson County Help Center, our March project. 

We shared our cares and concerns, and the meeting was adjourned.

The Scholarship Committee met after our regular meeting to finalize our new approach to awarding our WCRTA scholarship.

Many thanks to Jim Goodall, County Court Clerk, and Stephen Goodall, Assessor of Property, for sponsoring our March meeting refreshments and making a donation to our chapter.