On Sunday night attendees were greeted to the area by the Chairman of the Berks County Commissioners, Judy Schwank, who provided a delightful slideshow of local attractions.

After the first round of business was done, PASR had its very own Oktoberfest complete with Bavarian dancers and the PASR executive director in lederhosen.

During the four day event attendees listened to speakers regarding politics, our legislative efforts to acquire a COLA, an update on the status of PASR as an organization and the turmoil that exists within the Pennsylvania legislature today.

Executive Director Richard Rowland brought everyone up to speed on the latest happenings at the State Headquarters and what was taking place within the General Assembly.

During his speech he informed attendees that this is the 5th COLA that he has been involved in and that at this point he feels very positive about our success in getting a COLA because the great majority of legislators do want to act on the issue. This is greatly in part due to the efforts of PASR’s Legislative Contact Teams and the excellent job they have done in keeping the minds of legislators open to the possibility of eliminating the spike in the employer contribution rate and pass a COLA.

Opportunities were available for attendees to learn about helping members in need and also the community service work taking place within PASR’s chapters and the many ways that assistance could be provided to individuals serving on our armed forces and their families.

Updated information was made available about the Health Options program (HOP) that is provided by the retirement system along with a lot of beneficial information from PASR’s endorsed services, the activities taking place to support public education through the Educational Support Foundation and so much more!

A moving speech was given by Ed Ryan, the United Nations representative for AARP, on the power of retirees to achieve positive change on a global level. He stressed that these opportunities provide the chance for lifelong learning. He noted that there are 70,000 Americans over the age of 100, 4.5 million people over age 85 and in Japan there are over a million people over the age of 90.

At a special session, those chapter presidents that are leaving office were recognized.

A new rewards program was reviewed for chapters that will provide monetary assistance to chapters that activities that have been recommended to better serve the needs of PASR members.

Additionally, nearly $30,000 was distributed to PASR chapters to assist in providing the spirit of love and care for our unfortunate retirees, who, due to illness or old age, are confined to their homes, hospitals and nursing homes

During the banquet on Tuesday evening a moving memorial was given on behalf of the association’s recently deceased president, R. Eugene Hummel.

Hard work was also acknowledged at the evening banquet. Various chapter awards were recognized for exemplary activities throughout the year with the Bucks County Chapter receiving the Outstanding Chapter Award for conducting many programs that could serve as outstanding models to all chapters within the organization.

Additionally, it was announced that Jeff Clay, Executive Director for the Public School Employees’ Retirement System will be given the Outstanding Non-Member Award for his efforts to help bring about a coalition of active and retired school employee organizations and his assistance in developing a methodology that would fix the funding crisis that was pending for the retirement system.

Elections were held and Don L. Casto, Immediate past President installed PASR’s State Officers for 2006/2007: Ureneus V. Kirkwood, President; John B. Nye, President-Elect; Stephn M. Vak, Vice President; James N. Papoutsis, Treasurer; and Barbara L. Kelly, Assistant Treasurer.

A silent auction was conducted by the host region, Region 2, that raised more than $4,000 for the Social Service Memorial Honor Fund (SSMHF), which is used to help school retirees in need of financial and emotional assistance.

Throughout the Convention everyone was kept busy: the budget was ratified and the goals of the Association were set through the established resolutions. The recommended action from each of the resolutions may be found by clicking here. An actual copy of all of the resolutions may be acquired by contacting the PASR office.