The Shadow
COVINGTON, Va. (VR) – The Alleghany Retired Teachers Association met on Tuesday, May 6, at The Discovery Center in Covington. After a meet and greet, the meeting was called to order. President Joan Green welcomed the ARTA Members and the guest speaker, then led the group in the Pledge of Allegiance. Green read a short story entitled “Last Day of School” and a poem entitled “Seeds.” Ironically it was National Teachers Day and the story was about planting seeds of knowledge.
Anita Rice, Vice President, introduced the guest speaker, Paul Linkenhoker. Mr. Linkenhoker is the President/CEO of the Alleghany Historical Society. He enjoyed a long career in education. Paul helps to promote the Discovery Center that is located at 227 North Maple Avenue Covington, VA. “The Discovery Center engages visitors with fun, hands-on activities drawn from the rich exhibits of manufacturing and industrial development here in the Alleghany Highlands.” You will find more of the history of the Alleghany Highlands and surrounding areas at the Discovery Center.
The business meeting followed the very informative meeting at the Discovery Center. Secretary Robbie Thomas distributed the minutes from the March meeting to the members. The minutes were filed as presented.
Renee Warren, treasurer, presented the treasurer’s report. The report was accepted as presented. She was pleased to recognize the association for giving $642 to the Food Pantries in March, the most given from our association.
Dewey Lawson, Co-Chairman of the Scholarship Committee conducted the 50/50 scholarship drawing and it was won by Anita Rice who donated her winnings back to the scholarship fund.
Anita Rice gave an update on the State Spring Conference in Midlothian. She mentioned there were several breakout sessions with one being from AARP. Anita told the members that they will receive a cost of living raise in August of 2.95%. She also mentioned members can go to VRTA.US website for more information. The last printed VRTA newsletter will be Fall 2025, then they will begin sending the newsletter via email to members due to the cost of printing and mailing. Anita stated that if a member did not have an email address, we could print one out to give to them.
Green gave an update on two breakout sessions she attended at the state conference. The first session was on using VRTA benefits to attract or retain members. She mentioned Creekside Insurance advisors will be going around to school divisions in the state to do a VRTA branded 1-hour pre-retirement seminar entitled “Retiring with Confidence” to teachers who are considering retiring. The seminar is to help teachers make an informed decision before they retire. The second session was on the work of the Legislative Committee. Green said that NAEP is hiring to do testing in schools if anyone is interested. Joan gave information on the importance of having documents on file for individuals to discuss their VRS account information such as a Designation of Beneficiary and Power of Attorney. Green told the members that this fall VRTA will celebrate 90 years of service to retired teachers.
President Green reminded everyone to turn in their volunteer hours to Helen Jean Fitzgerald. She reminded the members how important the hours are to the legislative committee who lobby at the general assembly in January for the retired teachers. This year the legislators were amazed at the dollar value of the volunteer hours that were reported.
President Green read two thank you notes from the Clifton Forge Food Pantry and the COPE Food Pantry. She also mentioned that get-well cards were sent out to members who were sick.
Green announced the schedule for upcoming meetings. The Spring District P meeting will be at Montano’s in Roanoke on May 19 at 10am.The Fall ARTA Fall meeting will be held September 2, 2025. The Fall State Conference will be at DoubleTree Hotel September 30-October 1 in Midlothian. VRTA will be celebrating their 90th anniversary at the fall meeting. She encouraged members to attend the district and state meetings which provide a vast amount of information.
Joan asked for the members to write down on the slip of paper provided ideas of programs they would like to have and meeting places.
Anita Rice gave the blessing for our delicious lunch which was prepared by The Friendly Fork.
