« March 2025
Welcome to the Androscoggin Retired Area
Educators (AREA) Newsletter for March
2025
President's Message
from David Wing
To AREA
I HOPE YOU ARE ALL SAFE AND WARM DURING THESE EVERY TWO
OR THREE DAY WINTER STORMS. I ALSO HOPE THAT YOU HAD LOTS OF FAMILY AND
FRIENDS AROUND FOR THE HOLIDAYS. IT’S SUCH A GREAT TIME OF
YEAR!
Diane Bailey and Brent Wadleigh will be our guests
for our March meeting, and I expect the nominating committee will give us
a slate of officers for the upcoming year. Our singers were unable to make
it for our April meeting so we are looking at several different
possibilities, and we will let you know as soon as we know.
Take
Care
Dave Wing
Next Meeting
March 12, 2025
10:30am
The Green Ladle, Lewiston.
Registration Form
March
2025 - Registration Form
Downloads
Everything to download - March
2025
Treasurer's Reports
from Gina Fuller
November
15 Treasurer's Report
Treasurer
Report Overview 2024
From the State House
from Crystal Ward
Hello AREA,
Another year and another Maine legislative session is in action in Augusta. The State Budget in Augusta is tight and getting money will be hard.
MEA and MEA Retired are working on bills for retired. On Feb 12 I will testify on LD111, a bill to increase the amount the State pays for retired Health Insurance from the current 60% to 70%, 5% increase each year for two years. We got this through committee and Legislature last year but it died on the Appropriation table for lack of funding. There are bills dealing the cuts made in 2011 and a bill dealing with the upcoming available money in 2028 when the UAL is paid off by the State to MainePERS. I will make sure to let you know what is going on as soon as I receive the information.
Down in Washington, things are a mess … trying to close the Department of Education which provides money to states for a lot of student needs. Maine is a high receiver State from the Federal government programs. Musk and his crew were allowed into the Treasury Department payment system which includes: Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid …and to everyone’s direct deposit routing information to your bank/ credit union.
I have asked Senators Collins and King if they know anything about this and have not received an answer. Having computer geniuses allowed into computer system is way past concerning to me. It takes very little to change /add code to a computer program system.
Please contact your US Senator and US Representative if you are concerned .
Crystal Ward
To Your Health
from Mona Ervin
1. Make sure stairs and walkways are clear before you walk. Be especially careful if you see wet pavements that could be iced over.2. Clear away snow and salt your walkways at home, or hire someone to do it.3. Wear boots with non-skid soles – this will prevent you from slipping. You can also purchase traction cleats that fit over your shoes and give you surer footing on icy surfaces.4. If you use a cane, replace the rubber tip before it is worn smooth.5. Consider an ice pick-like attachment that fits onto the end of the cane for additional traction.
- Small, itchy areas on your skin, often on your feet or hands.
- Sores or blistering.
- Swelling.
- Pain or stinging.
- Changes in skin color.
Monthly
Quiz
from Mona Ervin
AREA March Quiz
Can you correctly identify who uttered the following quotes?
1. ___ “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.”
2. ___“So many books, so little time.”
3. ___ “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
4. ___ “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
5. ___ “In the end, its not the years in your life that count. Its the life in your years.”
6. ___ “You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one. I hope someday you will join us. And the world will live as one.”
7. ___“The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary.”
8. ___ “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”
9. ___”A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”
10. ___” Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.”
11. ___”For those to whom much is given, much is required.”
12. ___”Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damm.”
13. ___“Houston, we have a problem.”
14. ___”Nothing is certain except for death and taxes.”
15. ___”I think, therefore I am.”
Select the speaker from the following list:
a. Vidal Sassoon
b. Frank Zappa
c. Clark Gable
d. Oscar Wilde
e. Benjamin Franklin
f. Franklin D. Roosevelt
g. Wayne Gretzky
h. Maya Angelou
i. William Shakespeare
j. Rene Descartes
k. John F. Kennedy
l. Abraham Lincoln
m. the Bible
n. Jim Lovell
o. John Lennon
EZEEE
KWEEZEEN
Always the easy recipe! All things in life are best when easy and simple. And is this recipe both easy and simple ands delicious.
Pepperoni Pizza Monkey Bread
I found this recipe at this link - Let's
Dish
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons butter melted
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
- 1-2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley
- 2 16.3 oz. cans refrigerated biscuits, cut into quarters (or a package of unbaked dinner rolls)
- 5 ounces mini pepperoni
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 10-inch bundt pan.
- In a large bowl, whisk together butter, Italian seasoning, garlic salt and parsley. Add quartered biscuits, pepperoni and cheeses and toss gently to coat well.
- Arrange mixture in prepared pan. Bake for 35-40 minutes, covering with foil half-way through baking, if needed, to keep top from burning.
- Serve warm with marinara
Roger's Notes - A
package of unbaked dinner rolls works just fine. Cut them in
quarters. I added three eggs and spices and stirred it all up with
some sauce, and then layered it in a bundt pan with layers of cheese and
pepperoni. Easy. Using the bundt pan provided a convenient
place for a glass of dipping sauce when served.
The "monkey bread" idea leads to other things... like this could make a great bread pudding by changing up the other ingredients.
