« September 2026

Welcome to the Androscoggin Retired Educators Association newsletter for Septermber 2026


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Annual Auction for Scholarship

October 8, 2026

10:00 AM

East Auburn Baptist Church

Auburn, ME  


President's Message

I hope you all enjoyed our AARP speaker, our meeting and lunch , plus a chance to catch up with friends! I was surprised when I saw how many Auburn educators we had for their picture !!
Don’t forget to bring treasures you are willing to part with for our Auction- Scholarships is such a worthy cause!


Registration Form


Pay by The Exchange



Download Folder

september-pictures-clip-art.gifDay of Caring


AREA  DAY OF CARING PROJECT 2026
This year we will be helping Homeless Students at Oak Hill High School and Leaviett Area High School.   The Programs cover grades K-12 . The highest need is often during vacations when food is needed.  Please bring food gift cards for $10-$25 from Hannaford, Shaws ,Walmart or a local store for these places. I will collect money and purchases them also.  AREA budgets $300 towards this Project.  Thank You 


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Secretary's Reports


Planning for Super Seniors 

If you are bringing supplies for the Super Senior Event, please bring it along for the October meeting.


From the Statehouse

from Crystal Ward

MainePERS 2026 COLA Details

For 2026, the MainePERS Board of Trustees adopted an Annual Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) based on the Consumer Price Index – Urban Consumers (CPI-U) rate of 3.5% as of June 30, 2026.

 Teacher Retirement Plans: 3.0% COLA IS AS HIGH AS WE CAN GET  on your benefit up to $27,142.56 (2026 COLA base)

Total maximum amount $814.32, before taxes

Maximum monthly increase: $67.86, before taxes


ELECTIONS….ELECTIONS  EARLY VOTING STARTS Oct. 6 at your city/town building.

November is coming fast and elections are in high gear.  A great deal of Yellow Journalism is being used. What is that…. Yellow Journalism is sensational news/social media/ political ads that use eye-catching headlines, exaggerated claims and vivid illustrations to boost sales/ readership, often out right lying. This was named in the 1890’s when the two big newspapers fought and helped start the Spanish American War using it.   The MEA and MEARetired have worked on the Screening and Endorsement process,  a 10 page questionnaire was send to all running for Governor, US Senate and US Representatives , a 50-60 person group of members from across the state read them, meet, had an hour interview with them and vote on who best stood with educations and retired.  For Augusta, current Maine Representatives and Senators who had a voting record of at least 80% , many had 100% on 11 major bills from last session were endorsed. Others were send questionnaires and they were read, discussed and interviewed if needed , and voted on.  We work hard to find candidates that support MEARetired.

MEA endorsed Hannah Pingree for Governor, Matt Dunlap for US House District 2, and Troy Jackson for US Senate. These people strongly supported our positions on education and retirement.

If you did not receive an e-mail from MEA with the listing of candidatesand recommendations for Maine House of Representative and Maine Senate please contact  Jan kosinski  for the list. Jkosinski@maineea.org

What can you do to help !!  VOTE , help a candidate by driving them around, writing letters to the editor, canvas,help with mailing, get a lawn sign ,they all need help.

This NOVEMBER ELECTION…remember the last Republican strong hold in Augusta gave Retired huge PENSION CUTS  which takes money from our pockets every check.  The Republicans in Washington have already started talking about CUTS to Social Security and Medicare to fund their tax cuts for the rich and the War they started.   They have already cut $1,000,000,000,000 from Medicaid starting in 2027 (after elections) this will do great harm in Maine.  They are working hard to get rid of the Department of Educations and have never paid the 40% they owe for the IDEA law, costing the Maine a great deal of Money. 

VOTE FOR CANDIDATES WHO WILL HELP RETIRED AND EDUCATION !!!!


 




Scam Alert

from Mona Ervin



Quiz

from Mona Ervin



How well do you know these "Kings?"

  1. Iconic female athlete.
  2. Musician known as the "King of the Blues."
  3. Tragic protagonist of a play by Shakespeare.
  4. Maine politician, governor and senator.
  5. Winter game played by children.
  6. Past radio, TV host, author and spokesperson.  Known for iconic interviews.
  7. Fox and now Hulu cartoon series.
  8. He carried Fay Wray to the top of the Empire State Building.
  9. Roger Miller's most famous song. He was on the train to Bangor, Maine.
  10. King of Rock and Roll.
  11. King with many wives, several beheaded.
  12. He was the leader of the Knights of the Round Table.
  13. Last king of the American colonies.
  14. His greatest album was Thriller. What king is the known as?
  15. Current TV host and best friend of Oprah.
  16. Well known Maine author.
  17. She recorded Its too Late and I Feel the Earth Move.  
  18. Absolute King of France, identified with a part of the solar system.
  19. American leading civil rights activist.
  20. Current figurehead in England.

Answers:


Reflections and Transitions



Just a suggestion - how about if we add a section to the newsletter called Transitions.  We could notify members of deaths within the group, new addresses, phone numbers, emails or other changes?  Just a thought.

For the newsletter:  Please feel free to edit

 
Eleanor Pelletier passed away this summer.  She was a retired math teacher at Lewiston High School.  She was being cared for at her home by her daughter and son. A favorite retirement past time was sitting in the sun room and watching the wildlife that came from the woods into the yard.  She enjoyed having company stop and visit.
 
Bert Cote also passed away this summer.  Bert was a retired math teacher at Lewiston High School. Bert was always ready to help others from painting steps, decks, rooms or moving lawns to those needing help. He happily shared books and puzzles with many people.
 
Paul Boucher also passed away this summer.  While not a member of AREA, Paul was a retired educator.  He worked as a Guidance Counselor at Edward Little High School.  His sage advise and ability to listen helped many students over the years.
 
Patti Leblanc's mother passed away recently.
 


Other Transitions:
 
Hugh Keene has moved to Montello Heights.
 
Pat McClusky has moved to Montello Heights.
 
Beth Bell is moving to Florida 


A.R.E.A. Gem from Cynthia Peters' archive


 Recently I found a notebook in the history of A.R.E.A.  In it was a series of newsletters to A.R.E.A. members. At one time there was a committee for information and a newsletter was issued at least 5 times a year to give useful facts for us seniors.   The newsletter was conceived, written, and sent by the same person for 24 years--1994 to 2018.  Grace Keene wrote these.  She is the same person who for almost 20 years decorated and presented the Androscoggin  Table decorations for the annual  Maine Retired Educators Association. 

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