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Fort Bend Harris Retired Educators News and Notes Fort Bend – Harris Retired Educators News and Notes Editor: Eleanor Blain Vol. 7 Issue 5 January 1, 2020 Photo by Evelyn Smith Heaven’s Echo Handbell Choir Entertains FBHRE Members Sally Buck, director, and thirteen handbell ringers from the Heaven’s Echo Handbell Choir provided entertain- ment for our December FBHRE meeting. Members of the choir are also members of various churches in the area, including Methodist, Baptist, and Mormon. They performed delightful arrangements of “Spirit Song,” “Japanese Time Clock,” “Lord of the Dance,” “Bare Necessities”; a medley of patriotic songs including “America the Beautiful,” “God of our Fathers,” and “My Country ‘Tis of Thee”; “Let There Be Peace on Earth”; and ended with “Jingle Bells.” Sally explained the history and technique of bell ringing. Bells dating back to 5th Century BC have been found in China, and Chinese bells with handles date back to the 1600s. Handbells used in the U.S.A. are descendants of England’s tower bells, which were arranged in numerical order and rung in patterns called change ringing. Smaller bells were developed so bell ringers could practice indoors and not disturb the community. The use of handbells peaked in the 1800s, waned, but once became popular again in the 1950s and 1960s and remain popular. Handbells are made of tin and copper, with handles made of vinyl, leather, or wood. Ringers wear gloves to avoid tarnishing the bells, and they can ring the bells or strike them with mallets. The smaller bells can be played two in hand. Special tonal qualities can be gained by ringing the bell and gently placing it on the padded table for an echo effect, moving it from side to side for vibrato, and damping it with the thumb, shoulder, or table. Beginning bell ringers do not have to be able to read music, but they learn to read it as they practice. Mary Ann Dolezal, on behalf of FBHRE, presented Sally Buck with a floral arrangement and a check to express appreciation for the program. Photo by Evelyn Smith –Eleanor Blain 1 Pat Larson, Cathy Duvall, Kathy Aaron, Linda and Don Simmons Photo Photo by by Evelyn Evelyn Smith S FBHRE Attendees Enjoy a Souper Luncheon and Decorate Sacks for LunchesPhoto of by EvelynLove Smith FBHRE attendees enjoyed a luncheon of various soups, salads, rolls, crackers, and deserts at the December meeting. Mary Mouret, Hospitality Chair, and other FBHRE members did a wonderful job coordinating the menu and getting the tables beautifully set up and decorated with red table- cloths and floral centerpieces. Attendees also decorated 150 lunch sacks with original drawings and stickers and wrote well wishes on them. The sacks are for Lunches of Love, a program to provide meals over the holiday break and on weekends to school children ordinarily on nutritious free or reduced Ora Scott, Arleigh Kalinowski, Mary Ellen McCarthy, Cathie Ritchie, and Ann Thompson Photo by Evelyn Smith school lunches. Workers at host kitchens fill each sack with a sandwich, hot dog or spaghetti, Goldfish crackers, pretzels or Wheat Thins, fruit, yogurt, or low-fat snack, and juice or water in each bag. With Texas ranking 3rd in the nation for food insufficiency for adults and children and 87% of our Title I school children being on reduced or free lunch, your help with decorating lunch sacks to spread joy to these children was much appreciated.— Eleanor Blain 2 . Legislative Update Member Benefits U.S. Rep. Pete Olson and Texas One of our benefits is Rep. Rick Miller are not running for Ameritas Group Dental re-election. Olson cited personal Insurance. Routine clean- reasons. Miller developed serious ings and exams are part of problems after he made some the plan, and no referrals hasty, insensitive remarks about his are required for specialty Asian opponents in a Houston care. You can choose either to use your dentist Chronical interview. He lost the or locate a network dentist in your area by calling endorsement of Gov. Abbott and the Fort Bend County 1.888.239.3336 or clicking on www.my amba GOP Chair Linda Howell. Miller agrees backlash from benefits .info/ trta for plan information and bill- his remarks caused distractions that will be bad for his ing. party if he does not step down. Let’s be on alert to Another benefit is the Vision Service Plan select candidates for Texas and US Representatives (VSP). Check the net- who favor our issues. work to see whether New Year’s Resolutions for FBHRE: your optometrist or *Tell your US Senator and Representative to support ophthalmologist is on Rep. Brady’s HR 3934 and Rep. Neal’s HR 4540 in the US the list. When visiting a Congress. The bills address WEP situation. VSP network provider, *Thank your US Representative and US Senator for you will receive an eye passing the bipartisan bills Know the Lowest Price Act exam and new lenses and the Patients' Right to Know Drug Prices Act that the every 12 months if president signed into law. needed. You may order *Ask your US Representative and Senator to support new frames once every 24 months after a mini- the lowering of drug prices. mal co-pay. To learn more, call 1.800.258. 7041 *Be grateful for the progress we have made in assuring or visit www.myamba benefits. info/trta. our pension fund is actuarially sound. First Diagnosis Cancer Plan pays a lump sum at * Our voices made a difference on the state level. Now, first diagnosis of cancer. Click here or call 800. let’s aim for the national level and get bills passed that 258.7041 for more information. Mmmmmm favorably address our issues. —Eleanor Blain -- Eleanor Blain Exercises to Alleviate Back and Shoulder Pain To relieve lower back pain, hang onto your kitchen sink for support. Bend over until your hips are in line with your shoulders. Hold for 30 seconds. You may repeat if necessary. Back up flat against a wall, chin lifted, tummy tucked in. Hold for 60 seconds to improve posture and alleviate back pain caused by persistent slouching. Repeat 4 times daily. To improve posture and relieve shoulder pain, stand straight and tall. Pull your shoulder blades down and squeeze them to bring your elbows back and inward. French – Bonne Année Return to the starting position. Spanish – ¡Feliz Año Nuevo! Do 3 sets of 10. Italian – Buon anno With feet shoulder-width apart, Portuguese – Feliz Ano Novo arms straight down at your sides, German – Frohes Neues Jahr shoulders around in a forward circle. Norwegian – Godt nytt år After you have done 15 to 20 Danish – Godt nytår rotations, switch directions and Texan—Happy New Year, y’all! repeat. –AARP; Mike Ross Video 3 Book Project Benefits Burton Elementary The Texas Retired Teachers Association (TRTA) local unit, Fort Bend Harris Retired Educators (FBHRE), on December 11, 2019, presented 341 new books to the 2nd and 3rd graders in Burton Elementary and Goodman Elementary. This Children’s Book Project(CBP) is a statewide service activity carried out through TRTA to put new books into the hands of children. With this project, retired public school personnel continue to be a part of the education of Texas School children. CBP began in 1998 and since that time has provided more than 600,500 books to children who otherwise might never have a book to call their own. Targeting at-risk schools, FBHRE gives approximately 600 new age-appropriate books each year to FBISD school children. These books are selected under the leadership of retired librarians. –Evelyn Smith Online “Romance” Scams are Fleecing Americans Scammers are trolling social media sites looking for victims. Fraud perpetuated against seniors is the online dating site. A vulnerable person corresponds with another and a romance begins. The victims tend to be widowed or divorced women age 50+ targeted by criminal syndicates usually based in Nigeria, according to the FBI. Russian fraudsters are also heavily involved in romance scams, according to romancescam.com. The victims are educated, computer-savvy, and emotionally vulnerable, the agency adds. Con artists are able to exploit that vulnerability because potential “marks” post openly about their lives and dreams on social media and dating sites. After their romance continues, the perpetrator asks for a “loan.” The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) received close to 15,000 reports of “romance scams,” amounting to more than $230 million in losses in 2016 alone. (That was 2,500 more reports than the previous year.) The states with the most victims were California, Florida, Texas, New York and Pennsylvania. In figures from Romancescams.org--which has 59,000 members--1,813 members have reported more than $25,891,837 in losses to romance scams, an average of more than $10,430 in losses per victim. Romance scams initiated via the Internet and resulted in a phone call should be reported to the F.B.I.’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). What can you do to prevent being a victim? Do your research. If you’re in an online relationship, take it slowly. Since social media profiles may be fake, do online searches on your sweetie’s photo and profile to see if it has appeared somewhere else. Be wary if someone asks you to leave Facebook or a dating service to talk “offline.” Be skeptical of boyfriends/girlfriends you’ve never met. If someone is asking for money or professing love to you before you’ve even met the person, that should suggest this may be fraud. Other common red flags include a suitor who can’t meet you because he/she is supposedly working overseas and one who tries to isolate you from your friends and family to keep your online relationship secret.
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