(Compiled from annual reports of RTAM Chapters)

Charities

• Collect food for food hampers and distribute them to a local food bank.
• A “Tin for the Bin” for Christmas hampers.
• Pour coffee at a local restaurant for the Alzheimer Society or other charity group.
• Partner with the Diabetes Association to offer classroom presentations on diabetes awareness.
• Register a team for the Diabetes Association MUDRUN.
• Register a team for Relay for Life Cancer Society fundraiser.
• Collect travel size lotion, shampoo, and soap to donate to a local women’s shelter.
• Collect unwanted or outgrown toys to donate to a local women’s shelter.
• Collect eyeglasses for Lions Eyeglass Recycle for Sight.
• Take part in the Terry Fox Run/Walk and hold a barbecue.
• Collect school supplies for needy students.
• Help prepare and/or deliver meals for the Breakfast/Lunch Program in local schools.
• Collect needed supplies for your local Humane Society. Also donate time and/or money for the upkeep of the building and its inhabitants
• Deliver Meals on Wheels.
• Have a collection box at your meeting where members can donate items if they wish. For example, a women’s shelter, Humane Society.
• Help with the construction of a house for Habitat for Humanity.

Meeting Ideas

• Apply for a Chapter Initiative Grant through RTAM.
• Sponsor a wreath for a Remembrance Day Service.
• Potluck supper and card game
• Holiday Cheer and Chat which provides chapter members a chance to visit, sample some Christmas baking and prepare Christmas cards to send to shut in members.
• Volunteer to work as ushers at hockey tournaments or other sports events.
• Year-end barbecue.
• At a Holiday gathering have a “tacky” re-gifting exchange.
• Have a potluck picnic.
• Hold a golf tournament, or any other sporting event, curling, baseball, etc.
• Have a luncheon or breakfast on the first day of school. “The Hell with Bells”.
• Have floral displays in the community in conjunction with Communities in Bloom.
• At your meeting have a draw for a night at the movies, dinner out, coffee card, etc.
• Attend Yoga that is geared toward your personal needs.
• Judge posters, projects for a school or community event.
• Plan a fashion show with styles from casual to formal for every figure.
• Offer to read books during “I Love to Read” month.
• Offer the option of officers holding their positions for one year at a time in your local association.
• Before the end of your meeting share any cultural and/or sporting event that will be taking place before your next meeting.
• Have a Sunshine Representative send cards to acknowledge member illness and member/family loss.
• Provide honour guards at member funerals upon request.
• Twin a retired teacher with a new teacher in the division.
• Generate a bucket list of accomplishments your chapter would like to achieve.
• Highlight members in your group who are musicians, authors, crafters, etc.
• Decorate a float for a local parade.
• Switch your meeting times from breakfast, lunch and supper to accommodate various members who have continued to take on jobs around the community.
• Celebrate birthdays of members over 90 to a free meal with the meeting.
• Offer people with mobility issues a ride to the meeting.
• Offer to teach Literacy or English as an Additional Language in your community.
• Make an album/scrapbook of your chapter activities.
• Help with the orientation of refugee families who have recently arrived in your community.
• Offer to visit shut in members of the group by organizing a trip to their place of residence at Christmas and Easter with a small gift or food item to let them know they are remembered as part of their local group.
• Host a Car Rally Scavenger Hunt.
• Plan an ethnic cooking class.
• Attend free events at your local library.
• Invite your local President of the Teachers’ Association to speak about some of the issues facing active teachers in your area.
• At your Chapter’s AGM or first meeting of the year ask your members to provide feedback and suggestions for the coming year.
• Offer an educational session with children at the local library where you read stories on how plants grow and then plant seeds with the children.
• Share an experience or “Gem” from your education experience.
• Educate people as to the value of seniors and their rolls within a community by staying visible in the community and volunteering wherever you can make a difference.

Recruiting New Members

• Entice a newly retired teacher to your meeting by buying them their meal at the first meeting of the year.
• Write an open letter to the editor of the local newspaper inviting new members to join your group and give an overview of the activities, charities, workshops, etc. that your group has been involved in.
• Send a letter and membership form out to all retiring teachers in your area.
• Place an article in an issue of KIT. KIT is now sent to all Manitoba schools so active teachers will be aware of the RTAM organization and the various chapters throughout Manitoba, Alberta and British Columbia.
• Attend the annual Division Retirement Banquet.
• Provide a “Welcome to Retirement” bag with various goodies to newly retired teachers to encourage them to join their local retired teacher association.
• Provide a Pre-Retirement seminar for active teachers. (RTAM has offered these in Portage La Prairie, Brandon, Thompson and Winnipeg). There is a USB power point on Benefits and hard copy with speaker’s notes for chapters to borrow.
• Offer incentives to attendees of the Pre-Retirement seminar, such as a coffee card, movie pass, etc.
• (EOBO) Each One Bring One – each member is to ask a possible new member to come to the next meeting.
• Bring a cake to the classroom and/or school of retiring teachers in your division on the last day of school to celebrate their retirement with their students and/or colleagues.
• Host an “Open House”.
• During member events take pictures which can later be added to the website or published in KIT including a short summary of the event. This could be used as a marketing and recruitment strategy to get members involved and attract new members.

Seniors’ Issues

• Provincial and Regional Services for Seniors.
• Senior Safety – Scams, Fraud and Power of Attorney.
• Host a Senior Driver Training Workshop.
• Offer a workshop on “Phones, Death and Downsizing” for people to learn about technology, wills and moving to a smaller residence.
• Seniors Vote 2016 Campaign resulted in the formation of the Seniors Coalition. Following the election, Premier Brian Pallister announced a Minister of Health, Seniors and Active Living. The coalition of seven groups, including RTAM, has agreed to continue to educate and advocate for seniors.
• Host a seminar on “Immunization Needs for Seniors”.
• Have a representative from the Alzheimer Society present information on “Signs and Decreasing Your Risk of Alzheimer’s”.
• Have a representative from a retirement community present information on options, challenges and questions to ask when considering the transition from one’s personal residence to an assisted living setting.

Sightseeing Trips

• Tour the Human Rights Museum in Winnipeg.
• Wine tour and tasting.
• Clear Lake Dinner Cruise.
• Have a “Bucket Trip List” activity, have members share experiences of recent trips in the form of slides, pictures and commentary.
• Visit the Trembowla Cross of Freedom Historical Museum Site and Negrych Pioneer Farm near Dauphin, MB.
• Visit Pine Ridge Hollow to tour the landscaped gardens, greenhouse and unique gift shop before having lunch.
• Arrange a bus trip. For example, “Follow the French Trail” and “Spirit Sands – The Covered Wagon Trail”.
• Visit a Hutterite colony.
• Have a travel agent talk about possible travel destinations.
• Ghost Town Bus Tour – Following the outbreak of WWll, 22,000 Canadians of Japanese ancestry, living along the West Coast, were removed from their homes and labelled “enemy aliens” by the federal government. Eight internment camps were put up in the spring and summer of 1942 in the West Kootenays. Four of these were ghost towns at the time. Over 8,000 internees were placed in these camps.
• Visit the Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre in Morden, MB.
• Host a tour of the Farmery Estate Brewery in Neepawa, MB.
• Plan an evening meal and entertainment, locally or at a distance.

Workshops

• Offer a Life Review Workshop which informs members of the need to organize personal information and have affairs in order before it is too late.
• Laughter Yoga Workshop.
• Three Day Green Smoothie Challenge Workshop.
• Have a librarian guide you through a presentation on downloading e-books. At home or away, all you need is an e-reader and a library account to be captivated by your favourite books.
• Offer a workshop on “The Importance of Writing Your Life Story”. Information can be found on the website www.canada150.ca under Project – Getting started. The book is called “Recording Your Life and Family Stories” and is free to download.
• Invite local people to do presentations of interest to your group.
• Invite a physiotherapist to speak about how to respect and nourish your body through exercise, proper diet and careful movements.
• Invite a local pharmacist to speak on the careful use of prescription medications as well as herbal remedies and other ‘over the counter’ medications.
• Get Better Together – a free province-wide program designed to help Manitobans with ongoing health conditions.
• Active Aging Fitness – exercise program.
• Winter Driving Skills.
• Invite a Johnson Insurance representative to provide information on Travel Insurance (contact the RTAM office to coordinate this activity).

Compiled by: Beth Smith, Chair
Membership and Chapters Committee