GAILYA RAINES
13th President
1994 - 1995
As the thirteenth president of the Gwinnett County Retired Teachers Association in 1994 - 1995, I inherited
a well-established unit with a proud past. In addition, I had an outstanding Executive Board that included Katherine Carlyle,
President Elect; Nancy O Neill, Secretary; and as Jackie Perry, Treasurer.
The Board encouraged our members to build on our past and commit to the future growth of the unit. State GRTA President
Peggy McMahan set as her theme "Proud Past-Future Commitment," and we joined her in this endeavor. All retired teachers in
Gwinnett County were urged to join not only our local unit but the state organization as well.
The Board was committed to promoting programs beneficial to retired teachers. Reid Mullins, Legislative Chairperson,
kept us involved with legislative concerns. A Legislative Coffee at Mary and Dean Long s home provided a time of fellowship
and an exchange of ideas between a representation of our elected officials and retired teachers.
Increasing our membership and maintaining active participation was a major goal. By May, our membership totaled
148, with 88 life members and 60 regular members. We celebrated a rapid increase in Life memberships, 22 of them in the month
of September!
Meetings were well-attended as we had entertaining and informative programs planned by Katherine Carlyle. Also,
a faithful telephone committee headed by Jane Alexander provided a personal contact with our membership.
A very successful auction enabled us to continue to provide a $600 scholarship to a local high school graduate
(Gwinnett County or Buford High School) who planned to get a degree in education. Mariah Lowe was our recipient in 1995. George
and Esterlee Post headed this committee.
Although many people contributed to the success of the auction, special thanks goes to Mary and Dean Long, Don
and Katie Herndon, and Jane Alexander. Throughout the year, both Mary and Don generously contributed monies they'd received
from speaking engagements or services performed.
These two led the way in volunteering their time and services; however, it was discovered that volunteerism abounded
in the membership. The Gwinnett Retired Teachers Association members remain actively involved in their community and school.
Mary Long, our local Volunteer Service Award winner, was District XIV winner also.
The Executive Board recommended that our membership give an additional scholarship to an active Gwinnett County
teacher who is pursuing an advanced degree in the field of education. The Scholarship Committee and the new Executive Board
were to finalize details.
The state convention of GRTA in Augusta was attended by five of us: Deloris and Reid Mullins, Katherine Carlyle,
Jackie Perry and Gailya Raines. Our unit was named a
Unit of Excellence, an award based on programs and an increase in membership. Our scrapbook, kept by Mary Long,
won first place in the District. (Each District has a winner, but there are no state-wide winners each year.)
It was a very good year Many people made it so. However, I must give special I recognition to Betty Still for typing
the quarterly newsletter; Annie Frances Flanigan for serving as Sunshine Chairperson; and Mary Beabes for representing us
on the Gwinnett Council for Seniors
It takes us all to have a successful unit!
