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| PARTA BACKGROUND |
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| PARTA BACKGROUND |
| In November 1950, Walter Current, President of the Peoria Division
of the IEA, received a letter from the chairman of the organizing
committee of the retired teachers of Chicago urging the Peoria Division to
form a retired teacher's organization. Walter Current asked John
Brewer to chair an organization meeting to which retired teachers in the
Peoria Division IEA were invited. On March 17, 1951, 15 people
attended the meeting at which Mr. Current explained that a retired
teachers organization would have much in common with the active teachers
of IEA. The group agreed to form an association and John Brewer was
elected as the first president. A committee was appointed to draft
by-laws and the sum of $1 per person was collected to establish a treasury
fund. Thus began the Peoria Retired Teachers Association, 4 years
after the formation of the NRTA and 4 years before the IRTA.
At the next meeting of the year, April 21, 1951, the first group action took place to support action against a court case in Springfield which was filed to attempt to declare a 1947 amendment to the pension laws invalid. The fourth meeting was held in October in conjunction with the Annual IEA meeting. In 1953-1956 only one meeting was held each year at the same time as the IEA meeting. In 1955 the IRTA was formed with dues of $1.50 including membership in NRTA. On March 1, 1957, 60 member met at Block and Kuhl's Skyline Restaurant to initiate the monthly luncheon meetings. The first Monday of each month became the regular meeting date in 1958 with an average attendance of 40. By 1959 membership had grown to 133 and programs included speakers and travel slides shown by member or invited guests. Meetings were changed to the Pere Marquette in October 1962. In 1973, when the Hilton (Pere Marquette) raised the price of ht luncheon to #3, the meetings were moved to the First Presbyterian Church. The meal charge here was $2.50 and the attendance had reached as high as 135. Activities included day long bus tours and door prizes at each meeting. Beginning February 6, 1978, meetings were held at Heritage House. Also in 1978, health insurance was made available through District 150 for $10.88 per month. In this same year, John Aiello announced the annual pension increase was raised from 2% to 3%. Membership stood at 409 in September 1980 and the name was changed to the Peoria Area Retired Teachers Association because it included all of Peoria County. Now the acronym became easier to pronounce, PARTA. Also this year, Louis R. McDonald, PARTA member, was President of IRTA. Virgil Boucher, in 1982, was a delegate to the White House Conference on Aging. By 1986 the association had grown to 532 and the treasury from $15 to $2356. (This information was taken from a PARTA anonymous history article found in the presidents file and was probably written in 1986. The article states that all information came from recorded minutes of the association.) |
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PEORIA AREA RETIRED
TEACHERS ASSOCIATION PARTA members revisited the organization's past history and accomplishments as they celebrated the Golden Anniversary on May 26, 2002. A history of the growth and accomplishments of PARTA could be seen in a display of historical items brought from the archives housed at Bradley University. Each past-President attending added to the "history" by writing a memoir of their two years as President. A bound copy of the memoirs was presented to each past-President. Following the buffet luncheon, Tim Lee, Executive Director of IRTA, recounted the history of retired teacher organizations in Illinois and the value of active retiree involvement in their local and state groups. Area IV IRTA Representative, Gilbert Deimel, and Region 10 Director, Neil Williams, each described the responsibilities of their position in the IRTA organization. Dr. Gerald Brookhart, Regional Superintendent of Schools, offered congratulations to the group and assured the continued support from his office. Others recognized by President Stafford were Terry Knapp, current President of the Peoria Federation of Teachers, Edie Stubbs, a representative of IEA, Elmer Schaufelberger and Paul Mangieri. A display of PARTA historical items was on display throughout the month of May at the Lakeview library in Peoria to extend the celebration to the public. |
| Mr. John Brewer * Mrs. Ann B. Wisman * Mr. Arthur E. Epstein * Mrs. Edith Savage * Miss Eva Kidder * Mrs. Della Thede * Mrs. Emma G. McDonald * Miss H. E. Irene Wilson * Miss Dorothy L. Sprague * Mrs. Elsie Bontemps * Mr. Louis R. McDonald * Mrs. Juanita Walterscheid * Mr. Theodore Fluegel * Miss Florence Poshard * Mr. Orville Nothdurft * Mrs. Martha Thompson Mr. Virgil Boucher Mrs. Lois Collier Mrs. Doris Whitsell-Case Mrs. Walter Fink Mr. Robert Walters Mrs. Charlotte Gettman Mr. Dean L. Patton Mrs. Helen Radley Marquess * Mrs. Evelyn Stafford Mrs. Maxine Blane Mr. John Rathbun Mr. Bob Itschner Mrs. Linda Horton * Deceased |
1951 - 1954 1954 - 1955 1955 - 1956 1956 - 1958 1958 - 1960 1960 - 1962 1962 - 1964 1966 - 1968 1968 - 1970 1970 - 1972 1972 - 1974 1974 - 1976 1976 - 1978 1979 - 1980 1981 - 1982 1983 - 1984 1985 - 1986 1987 - 1988 1989 - 1990 1991 - 1992 1993 - 1994 1995 - 1996 1997 - 1998 1999 - 2000 2001 - 2002 2004 - 2004 2005 - 2006 2007 - 2008 2009 - 2010 |
