« October 2021
Welcome to AREA -
Androscoggin Retired Educators Association - Many thanks to Crystal Ward, Mona Ervin, Gina Fuller, and Linda DeSantis for the contributions this month.
Newsletter Notes!
Please feel free to contribute to
your newsletter. You can send contributions to me by emailing them
to - area@mainenet.org
or rfuller@mainenet.org
From the President -
NEXT MEETING - November 10, 2021 @10:30 AM
Marco's Restaurant, Lewiston, ME
If you paid your dues last year then you do not need to pay dues this year, but donations are appreciated.
Any donations this year will be placed in our general checkbook - unless you specify that it be placed into our scholarship account.
The only major check written last year was for our $1,000 annual scholarship.
If you have questions please contact Gina Fuller, our treasurer
Cell: 818-438-8663
Home: 207-783-9091
Email: gfuller1130@gmail.com
Lastly, Gina does spend some time in New Hampshire babysitting and may not be able to respond promptly to messages left on her home phone.
You can download and print the luncheon
reservation form here
Or
Print the
form and send it along to -
David Wing
42 North Hatch Hill Rd.
Greene, ME 04235
Minutes from October 13, 2021
from Mona Ervin
There are no
new scam alerts this month but I feel that the message that I shared at
the meeting is worth repeating. If you become a victim of credit card
fraud as I was, here are some things that you need to
do.
Contact your credit card company to alert it to the fraudulent charges. Have the company cancel your credit card and issue a new one to you. The credit card companies are very cooperative and will reimburse any charges that you say are fraudulent.
If you have more than one credit card it is wise to contact all the companies whose cards you have to alert them to possible fraudulent charges that may appear.
It is also prudent to contact your bank to notify it about the credit card fraud. Your bank account(s) may also have been compromised. Again, the bank will be cooperative.
My bank manager stated that all monies stolen would be reimbursed. Fortunately my bank accounts were not hacked.
Contact the three major credit
card bureaus that offer free credit scores. The three major companies are
Equifax, Experian, and Transunion. When contacting these companies be sure
to register on line or by phone to get the FREE credit card report. Each
company also charges for added services. If you want the added services
that are provided by all means pay for these. But the free reporting
service is all that is needed.
The contact number for Experian is 1-888-397-3742. Contact Experian on line by using www.experian.creditcardreport.
The contact number for Equifax to reach an actual person is 1-888836-6351. You can also go on line to www.customer.care@equifax.com
The contact number for Transunion is 1-800-813-5604. You can contact Transunion by using www.transunion.com. I found Transunion the more difficult of the 3 credit bureaus to contact. Their web site is not user friendly.
Once you
have done all of the above and you receive an e-mail from your credit card
company that your claim of a fraudulent charge is itself fraudulent do no
panic. Be persistent. It took me talking to operator #1 and getting
denied; I asked for a supervisor and was denied by this person, #2; asked
for her supervisor – this was operator #3. In each case I was persistent
and denied that my claim was fraudulent, that someone had indeed secured
my credit card numbers (2). I also stated that one of the credit card
companies trusted me and cancelled all charges, no questions asked.
Finally, the third operator relented and removed all charges and stated
that my case was closed.
Bottom line – if your
credit card or bank accounts are compromised there are step to take to
protect yourself. And be persistent, do not give up if you do not receive
immediate satisfaction.
LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
from
Crystal Ward
Continuing what I started last month when I explained Question 1 : Remember--- YES means to STOP the corridor project and NO means to keep the Corridor Project going.
Question 2 – Bond Issue
Do you favor a $100,000,000 bond issue to build
or improve roads, bridges, railroads, airports, transit facilities and
ports and make other transportation investments, to be used to leverage an
estimated $253,000,000 in federal and other funds?
This money is for several projects across the State and in order to qualify for Federal money Maine has to “put up” its share--- we put up $100,000,000 and the Federal government send Maine about $253,000,000)
Question 3 – Constitutional Amendment
Do you favor amending the Constitution of
Maine to declare that all individuals have a natural, inherent and
unalienable right to grow, raise, harvest, produce and consume the food of
their own choosing for their own nourishment, sustenance, bodily health
and well-being?
Here is some Info on this amendment
Maine Food Sovereignty
Act
In 2017, Gov. Paul LePage (R) signed legislation called
the Maine Food Sovereignty Act (MFSA). Senate Majority Leader Troy Dale
Jackson (D) sponsored the bill. The MFSA was intended to "encourage food
self-sufficiency for [the state's] citizens." Under MFSA, local
governments were allowed to adopt ordinances.
Constitutional amendments on food, farming, and
harvesting
The Maine Right to Produce, Harvest, and Consume Food
Amendment would be the first state constitutional amendment to provide an
explicit right to "grow, raise, harvest, produce and consume the food of
their own choosing."
Question 3 would declare that individuals have a "natural, inherent and unalienable right to food," including:[1]
"the right to save and exchange seeds" and"the right to grow, raise, harvest, produce and consume the food of their own choosing for their own nourishment, sustenance, bodily health and well-being[.]"
Question 3 would not provide a right to harvest, produce, or acquire food in cases in which an individual commits trespassing, theft, poaching, or "other abuses of private property rights, public lands or natural resources."[1]
The constitutional amendment would be added to the Maine Constitution's Declaration of Rights.
Statement from those opposed to Question 3 :
Katie Hansberry, Maine State Director for The Humane Society of the United States: "Unfortunately, Maine has had several neglect and cruelty cases involving livestock and wildlife species and the proposed amendment would provide a defense that they have a constitutional right to 'raise' and 'harvest' those animals as the food 'of their own choosing,' a right that is not subject to being limited by animal welfare or cruelty laws. The inclusion of the terms 'raise,' 'harvest,' and 'of their own choosing' could also result in a constitutional right for the consumption of species that are not viewed as food animals, such as cats and dogs or some wildlife species."
Janelle D. Tirrell, Maine Veterinary Medical Association (MVMA) Legislative Committee Chair: "This amendment seems to be offering protections for animal husbandry practices that may or may not conform to accepted practices, and that lack oversight in favor of protecting the 'right' offered herein to 'access food.' One is left to wonder: Does this mean I can keep a cow in my Portland apartment? Can I slaughter pigs in my front yard? Must I abide by standards and practices for humane processing? Can I house laying hens in my basement?"
There are three ways to Vote :
1. Go to the polls on November 2, 2021
2. Apply for an Absentee Ballot with your local town/city of Secretary of State office on line
Ballots May be returned by US Mail of by putting it is n official Ballot Drop Box for your town/city
3. Vote early- you will have to contact your local town/city for when/where they are opening up early voting
Many places have local elections , charter changes, or other issues on the Ballot unique to the town or city.
Make sure YOUR voice is heard!
VOTE—VOTE---VOTE----VOTE
Treasurer's Report
Gina Fuller sends along the Treasurer's Report as a downloadable PDF. Remember that you can send your dues for this year by sending a check to -
Gina Fuller
36 Elliott Ave.
Lewiston, ME 04240
For next month's meeting, November 10, 2021, David Wing will be the host.
The QUIZ
from Mona Ervin
1. Autumn is also known as (a) summer (b) spring (c) fall (d) winter
2. What are the months of
Autumn? (a) June, July, August (b) September, October, November (c)
December, January, February (d) March, April, May
Which is not an
autumnal holiday? (a) Halloween (b) Thanksgiving (c) Memorial Day (d)
Veterans Day
3. Who is the goddess of the harvest? (a) Demeter
(b) Pan (c) Dianna (d) Venus
4. The full moon closest to the
Autumn Equinox is called the (a) Autumn Moon (b) Harvest Moon (c) Autumnal
Moon (d) Hunters Moon
What is the main feature of Autumn? (a) bitter
cold (b) strong winds (c) shedding of leaves from trees (d) snow
fall
5. Leaf changes depend upon the tree species (a) true (b)
false
6. Which nation does not get to experience fall at all?
(a) Brazil (b) Chile (c) Paraguay (d) Uruguay
7. Which festival
marking the Jewish New Year occurs in the autumn? (a) Shabbat (b) Yom
Kippur (c) Purim (d) Hanukkah
8. Thanksgiving is celebrated in
the United States and Canada but in different months. (a) True (f)
False
10. Fall is associated with our distance from the sun. (a)
true (b) false
11. Why did some of the ancient people wear
costumes in the fall? (a) to hide from zombies (b) to scare goblins away
(c) to hide from ghosts (d) escape having to bring in the
harvest
12. What is the statistic about fall weddings? (a) more
end up in divorce than any other season (b) there are more weddings than
any other season (c) this season has more known “shotgun” weddings (d)
all of the above
13. What was the use of pumpkin in the old
days? (a) make soup (b) remove freckles and cure snake bites (c) carved as
Jack-O-Lanterns to scare off goblins (d) hurled at opposing
forces
14. The first Jack-O-Lanterns were made from (a) gourds
(b) pumpkins (c) turnips (d) overgrown cucumbers
Answers
1. C – fall
2. B – September, October,
November
3. C – Memorial Day
4. A – Demeter
5. B – Harvest
Moon
6. C – Shedding of leaves from trees
7. True
8. A –
Brazil
9. B – Yom Kippur
10. True
11. False
12. C – to
hide from ghosts
13. B – there are more weddings than any other
season
14. B – remove freckles and cure snake bites
15. C -
turnips
We invite you to follow us on Facebook:
MEA
Retired - Facebook
OH.. and speaking of Facebook... here are the links to the presentations. You can download them and use them to help you get started. Remember that Facebook is always changing stuff - so keep trying. I'm no expert, just persistent.
AND - Well, We have a "room" on Facebook. This is a "gathering place" for people from the Androscoggin Area Retired Teachers' Association. It is a private room. That means that it is open on only members from this group.
You can request membership.
You can request membership in two ways -
1. Go to Facebook/MEA-Retired/Groups
or
2. Go to this web location -https://www.facebook.com/groups/586230592543947
We are
still learning. I check the group almost every day. Aroostook County
also has a private room. Eventually, the name here for our group
will change a little bit. I'll be sure to let you all know and the
change will make finding the group easier.
Be well. Stay well.
