« October 2026

Welcome to the Androscoggin Retired Educators Newsletter for October 2026.

Next Meeting

November 18, 2026

10:30 AM.  - Arrive early for coffee and chat

East Auburn Baptist Church

PLEASE NOTE - The date has been changed in observance of Veteran's Day.

Registration Form

You can also register by going to The Exchange. It's easy.  Here is the link for our group.

AREA Meeting

Downloads Folder 

Request for Volunteers

from Jackie Strong

I received a phone call from a delightful woman named Erin Lamb.  She is the head of volunteers for the Auburn Drop In Center.  She is hoping that some of our members would be able to volunteer a few hours a week or every other week.  Their hours are from 8 am to 1pm on Wednesdays and Saturdays.  Volunteers can work a whole shift or just an hour or two.  They need help in their store, the kitchen or to visit with the homeless as they are eating their breakfast or lunch.  She is willing to come speak to our group if we would like that.  If anyone is interested they can call the local phone number 207-200-4869.  There is an answering machine at this number and Erin will return calls.  They also have a website :  Thedrop-incenter.org that we can visit to see what the drop in center is like.  .  

President's Message

I continue to be so impressed and thankful for your continued generosity and caring for others. The auction and day of caring were hugely successful and Ruben made sure we had a good time also.

Don’t forget our November meeting is a week later on November 18 th when we will be recognizing our Veterans and Super Seniors(Ritter Grant) Should be a fun day and an opportunity to recognize so many of our members!

Jerry Short -US Department of Veteran Affairs will be our speaker, I look forward to his talk!

Secretary's Reports

from Gina Fuller

Please click on the links below to read the latest financial reports.

Treasury Overview

Treasurer's Report

From the State House

From Crystal Ward

Remember to participate in Democracy ------ V O T E  !!!!

Electing people who will help with our MainePERS pension issues, Social Security, Medicaid ,  Medicare and public schools is very important ! If you have voted . Thank you !!!!

In August we are looking to work on fixing the mess made in 2011 in MainePERS, increasing the amount the State pays for your Healthcare insurance from 60% to 65% , and  raising the COLA cap from 3% to 4% ,after the elections we will have more details.

News from Washington D.C.

The Trustees 2026 report states that the Social security Trust fund will be insolvent in 2032 ,they will only be able to pay about 78%-83% of your check.

The people you elect in November will be making the decisions

The Social Security Trust Fund is receiving less money now because all the people who were working and got deported are not paying in, millions a month lost.  The One Big Beautiful Bill decreased money going into the Trust fund starting in 2027.

Two bills introduced to improve Social Security are House Bill HR1700 and Senate bill S770… The Social Security  Expansion Act. More after Elections!

Another issue is protecting the Connectivity For Public Schools and Libraries, this is called the E-rate. The E-rate is what it costs to supply the internet to these places.  The Federal E-RATE program cap for 2026 is $5.2 billion spread out to all states and D.C. They are looking at major cuts to this program which would hit Maine schools and Libraries hard.

Scams

from Roger Fuller

AARP publishes this wonderful Scam Alert Newsletter.  It's in the Downloads Folder, or available at this link - Scam Alert

It's so important to be careful out there.  I maintain about six different web sites and recently they were all attacked via denial of service bot or program. The attack left the servers useless and drove the support staff in Canada crazy.  After four weeks, we are finally seeing our way clear, and this newsletter is a testament to the work of some very good and dedicated individuals around the world who came together to flush this program out of the servers.  In our estimation, the offending program came from some place in Russia.  It has been a real Halloween horror story.

Quiz

from Mona Ervin

1. She received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress in 2003 for her role as Matron "Mama" Morton in the musical film Chicago.
2. Well known Drag Queen.
3. She is the undisputed "Queen of Soul."  Respect is her signature song.
4. Longest reigning British monarch.
5. She is known as the "Queen if Crime" or "Queen of Mysteries. "
6. She is recognized as the "Queen of Rock and Roll."  Known for many songs, a popular one was "What's Love Got To Do With It?"
7. She is known as the "Queen of Romance Novels."  In 1976 she  set a  Guinness World Record for publishing 26 novels in one year.
8. She is widely called the "Queen of Pop."  
9. She is the quintessential "Queen of Rom-Coms."  Stared in "When Harry Met Sally."
10. She is known as the "Scream Queen" due to her starring role in many horror movies.  She is the daughter of Hollywood royalty.
11. During her reign  England emerged as the most powerful nation, amassing an amazing empire.
12. Along with her husband, they funded a voyage of Christopher Columbus.
13. She allegedly said, "let them eat cake."
14. Vain and jealous monarch, she was obsessed with being the fairest of them all.
15. A volatile ruler famous for her quick temper and cry of "Off with their heads!"
    
    

1. Queen Latifah, real name Dana Owens. She was given the nickname Latifah as a child, meaning "delicate" or "kind," she later added "queen."
2. RuPaul, real name, is an American drag Queen, television host, singer, actor and producer.  H is the most commercially successful drag queen in the world.
3. Aretha Franklin is regarded as the "Queen of Soul", she was twice named by Rolling Stone Magazine as the greatest singer of all time.  She sold 75 million records, and won 18 Grammy's.
4. Queen Elizabeth II was the longest-reigning monarch in British history, sitting on the throne for 71 years. 
5. Agatha Christie Dubbed the “Queen of Mystery,” was an author and playwright known for books such as "Murder on the Orient Express" and "Death on the Nile", as well as characters like Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple. Christie published her first novel, "The Mysterious Affair at Styles", in 1920 and went on to become one of the most famous writers in history with 83 books to her name.
   She sold more than 2 billion books worldwide.
6. Tina Turner began performing with musician Ike Turner in the 1950s. They became known as the Ike and Tina Turner Revue, achieving popular acclaim for their live performances and recordings like the top 5 hit “Proud Mary,” until Tina left in the 1970s after years of domestic abuse. Following a slow start to her solo career, Turner achieved massive success with her 1984 album Private Dancer. She went on to deliver more chart-topping albums and hit singles and was twice elected into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
7. Barbara Cartland was the world's most prolific novelist who wrote an amazing 723 books in her lifetime, of which no less than 644 were romantic novels with worldwide sales of over 1 billion copies and her books were translated into 36 different languages.
8. Madonna is the best-selling female music artist of all time, and the first female performer to accumulate US$1 billion from her concerts. She has twelve number-one singles on the Bilboard Hot 100 singles. Known as the Material Girl, she is the Queen of Pop.
9. Meg Ryan is an American actress. Known for playing quirky, charismatic women since the late 1980s, Ryan is particularly recognized for her leading roles in romantic comedies, a genre she dominated during the 1990s. Dubbed "America's Sweetheart" by the media, she became one of Hollywood's most bankable stars of the latter decade.
10. Jamie Lee Curtis is an American actress, producer, and children's author. Known for her performances in the horror and slasher genres, alongside multiple comedies, she is regarded as a "scream queen".  As of 2023, her films have grossed over $2.5 billion at the box office. Her parenta are Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis.
11. Elizabeth I (7 September 1533 – 24 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudor. Her eventful reign, and its effect on history and culture, gave name to the Elizabethan Era.
12. Queen Isabella I of Castile was famous for unifying Spain. This was brought about by her marriage in 1469 to Ferdinand of Aragon. She famously supported funding Christopher Columbus's 1492 voyage to the Americas, and completing the Reconquista. This led to Spain emerging as a powerful world empire.
13. Marie Antoinette was the last queen of France who helped provoke the popular unrest that led to the French Revolution and to the overthrow of the monarchy in 1792. She became a symbol of the excesses of the monarchyand is often credited with the famous quote “Let them eat cake,” though there is no evidence she actually said it. Marie Antoinette was beheaded nine months after her husband, Louis XVI, by order of the Revolutionary tribunal. She was 37 years old when she died in 1793.
14. The Evil Queen (also known as Queen Grimhilde or the Wicked Queen) is the iconic primary antagonist from the1937 animated masterpiece Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, originally adapted from the Brothers Grimm fairy tale. She was highly vain, cruel, arrogant, and consumed by intense jealousy over anyone surpassing her beauty.
15. The Queen of Hearts is a fictional character and the main antagonist in the 1865 book  "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" by Lewis Carroll. She is a childish, foul-tempered monarch whom Carroll himself describes as "a blind fury", and who is quick to give death sentences at even the slightest of offenses. One of her most famous lines is the oft-repeated,  "Off with his/her/their head(s)!"
    

Recipe. EZEE KWEEZEEN - well maybe not so easy, but... 

Recipe - 

This recipe is different.  It looks more difficult than it actually is.    Once you understand how to do it, it is pretty easy. See the workabouts below the actual recipe.

Medieval Apple Pie

found at this link - https://www.tastinghistory.com/recipes/medievalapplepie

And that site is pretty interesting - take a few mintues to listen to it. The recipe is more complex than it needs to be.  Believe me, I did this recipe and it is quite easy and very good.

Ingredients:

Filling
• 8 to 10 threads of saffron
• A few tablespoons water
• 3 lbs (1.3 kg ) apples, a mix of sweet and tart
• 1 lb (1/2 kg) pears
• 1/2 cup (80 g) raisins
• 1/2 cup (60 g) chopped dried figs
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon*
• 1 teaspoon ginger*
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg*
• 1/2 teaspoon cardamom*
• 1/8 teaspoon cloves*

Crust

• 1 cup (235 ml) water
• 1 cup (225 g) suet or lard
• 4 cups (500 g) flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg for an egg wash, optional
*The spices you use are up to you. Feel free to change the quantities or swap out or add ones you like. Galangal, black or long pepper, and mace were also popular.

Instructions:

1. For the filling: Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C).
2. Pour a few tablespoons of water over the saffron threads and let them soak while you prepare the fruit.
3. Core and roughly chop the apples and pears. There’s no need to peel them, but you can if you like.
4. Mash the apples and pears in a mortar and pestle (a large bowl and handle-less rolling pin also works well) or throw them in a food processor. Whichever way you choose, you want them to form a mush or paste.
5. Place the apple and pear mush into a bowl. Strain the saffron out of the water and mix the saffron water, raisins, and chopped figs into the fruit mush.
6. Mix together the sugar and spices, then mix this into the fruit.
7. For the crust: Bring the water to a gentle boil. Stir in the suet or lard and the salt and let the fat melt.
8. Place the flour in a large bowl. Once the fat has melted and the mixture is simmering, pour it into the flour and stir it together. Once it’s cool enough to handle with your hands, turn it out and knead it for a minute or two until it becomes nice and smooth.
9. You want to work with the dough while it’s still warm because it will become more difficult as it cools. Divide the dough into one larger piece that’s about 3/4 of the dough and a smaller piece that’s about 1/4 of the dough.
10. To assemble: Flatten the larger piece out into a large disc, then press that into the bottom and sides of an 9 inch (23 cm) cake pan or springform pan. This dough is very forgiving and you can mash it up the sides and patch any cracks that form, the only trick is to work with it while it’s warm.
11. Fill the pie with the filling, packing it down.
12. Roll the smaller piece of dough out into a 9 inch (23 cm) circle, then lay it on top of the pie and crimp the edges to seal. Cut a hole in the center of the top crust or pierce it a few times so that the steam can get out.
13. Beat the egg and brush it over the top of the pie if you’d like, but you can bake it as-is.
14. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until you can see the filling bubbling through the hole or cuts in the top crust.
15. If you used a springform pan, you can remove the outer ring when the pie is almost done, brush it all over with more of the beaten egg, then return it to the oven for 5 more minutes to give it a nice browned color.
16. When the pie is done, let it cool completely before slicing and serving it forth.

A couple simple workabouts.

1. Use pre-prepared pie crusts. One pie crust can cover a standard spring form pan, though you may have to stretch the crust a bit.

2. Chop the apples and pears into small pieces.  Put it all in a bowl and mash with a spoon.  It does not need to be a mush.

3. Add the spices and saffron water to the fruit. Mix and crush a bit.

4. Use honey as a replacement for sugar.