Looking Ahead

The Book Sale is off and running.  It's not too early to mark these dates on your calendar:

Book take-in days:

Monday, June 24
Monday, July 22
Monday, August 26
Monday, September 23

 Please do not block the sidewalk or leave books in the hallway!

The Fall Book Sale will be Wednesday, October 16, 2019 through Saturday, October 19, 2019.

Link to Book Sale Information

Click on this link to access information about the book sale.

https://stevenspoint.news/

The Book Sale is Coming

The SPARTA Spring Book Sale is right around the corner.  You can find us on the first floor of the Central Wisconsin Children's Museum Building, 1100 Main St., Stevens Point.

Times are:

Wednesday, May 1  -noon - 7pm

Thursday, May 2     - 9am - 7pm

Friday, May 3          - 9am - 7pm

Saturday, May 4      - 9am - 2pm

If you can work a shift, contact Nancy Mezyk. 

Our Latest Good Deed is Done

Sandy Williams, at far right, executive director of the Central Wisconsin Children’s Museum, demonstrates the recently installed Automatic Door Operator donated by the Stevens Point Area Retired Teachers’ Association (SPARTA) from profits of a recent book sale. The north entrance off the city parking lot is now handicapped accessible to the Museum and businesses on the first floor. SPARTA book committee members pictured, from left, are Janeen Kwarciany, Janet Swiston, Nancy Kemmeter with Maya Kemmeter, Mary Marks, Nancy Mezyk, Charlene Laurent, and Santha Bickford, president of SPARTA. The next SPARTA book sale is Wednesday, May 1, to Saturday, May 4.

Notes from the President (The one that works hard and makes sense)

I wanted to get this little update out quickly so that you don’t think it’s an April Fool joke. First of all, doesn’t it feel great to be able to get outside again? Hurray! I hope you were not affected by the flood!

I also wanted to report on our WREA Seminar which we hosted for anyone with money in our state retirement fund. It was held on the evening of March 14 at the Lincoln Center and, even though it was the night of the big rain and we had many cancellations, we still had over 60 in attendance! They came from our Point Schools, Rosholt, Amherst, and Almond in addition to both city and county workers in many departments. Many thanks to those of you who helped with that! Judy Zimmerman and I took reservations, Lynne Kagelmann helped me with goodies, and Jan Langton helped sign folks in and get the evening launched. Remember that we do this in odd-numbered years, so we have a year off in 2020!

On that same afternoon, SPARTA was invited to a special program that our local Symphony held for all the third and fourth graders in the county. It is designed to introduce these young students to the orchestra through a curriculum developed by Carnegie Hall in New York. They have a portion where they can play their recorders along, and several teachers did actually bring recorders! Why, you may ask, were we invited? Because it is one of the projects we support with our Book Sale money. Jan Swiston, as head of the Grant Committee, was invited to attend with other folks who contributed in some way, and I tagged along with her! Wow! It was very impressive! Did you ever guess we’d get a chance to be connected to something from Carnegie Hall? All of us who helped with the Book Sales, take a bow!

On May 9 our District III Spring Meeting will be held in Wausau. So far Lauren Isberner, Jan Langton, and I are planning to attend along with Lynne Kagelmann, our own District President! Is anyone else interested incoming along? More details are in the latest edition of the Red Apple Express or call one of us!

This is not a joke-the Lincoln Center has several new exercise and strengthening programs for older adults (US!) and they need weights, which are expensive. If any of us have some sitting around at home, they would love to have them. I have a couple left from students and from my own good intentions, and maybe you do too! If so, give me a call and I’ll help you donate them.

Don’t forget the Book Sale May 1-4! If you’re helping with publicity, next week is the time for us to get the word out. And if you haven’t signed for your shift to work, call Nancy Mezyk! That’s all my ramblings until next time! Don’t forget to vote Tuesday!

--Santha Bickford

Save the Date!

What:  SPARTA’s 50^th Anniversary

Theme:  50 years of memories and shaping the future

When:   November 11, 2019

             Noon – meal

             1:00-2:30: entertainment & program

Where:  Sentry World, Stevens Point

Cost:     $15.00

             Non-refundable tickets will be sold at the

             May, July and Sept SPARTA meetings.

March 11, 2019 Meeting

Park Ridge Restaurant
3425 Church
Stevens Point, WI 54481

11:00 am. Socializing
11:15 am. Order Lunch Entrée
11:30 am. Business Meeting
12:30 pm. Program Speaker

Program Speaker for March is Susan Lemke, Transportation Superintendent for ADRC and Stevens Point Transit who have merged their services. She will talk about “I Get Around, ‘Round, Get Around” and explain how to do that in the Point area.

To download the newsletter, go to "SPARTA News and Notes" section in the sidebar.  The text translates to the blog, but the pictures do not.  Or, rather,  I haven't figured it out yet.