Greetings fellow KMEA retirees!

Another year has come and gone, and it's time to look ahead to the convention/workshop and our annual meeting/luncheon. After last year's event was so devastated by the winter weather, everyone is hoping this year's will be more normal (whatever you might take that to mean for Kansas at the end of February). I was extremely pleased so many of you still made it to the luncheon last year, and I'm hoping many more will try to be there this year. It's always interesting to see who attends. Some of you would almost never miss, while others are a once in a while pleasant surprise. As I "cruise" around the convention I notice several retirees who never seem to attend the luncheon. While I understand there are a myriad of sessions to attend and friends to see, I am somewhat disappointed those folks don't see our get together as "our time." It's our time to greet each other, renew acquaintances, catch up on family and friends, enjoy good food and entertainment, and just "hang out" with fellow KMEA retirees.

President Avian Bear and the board and staff have been working hard to make sure we have another outstanding convention/workshop. You can help make it so by coming and by attending our own special part of the event. The leadership of KMEA is so convinced we are still an important part of the group that they provide us the time and place for our luncheon meeting. They also partially fund the luncheon to help us save our retirement dollars.

I received and acted upon one suggestion for entertainment, and it resulted in our acquiring the Troubadors from Kansas Newman University. I look forward to hearing this group perform and possibly seeing some of our attendees be very proud grandparents.

I'm also pretty sure we'll have dignitaries from KMEA and NAfME stop by to greet us and assure us of the importance we still have in advancing music education. There are many ways we can be involved in the successful continuation of our profession, and I know many of you are doing that in one way or another.

Once again I'm asking you to inform me if you know of recent retirees. I receive a list from NAfME, but there are always those who slip through the cracks or just plain get missed. Also please bring to my attention those who have passed from our ranks to one of the great musical organizations I'm hoping are in the hereafter.

Below is the registration form for the luncheon. Please note the registration deadline of February 8. The Hyatt needs to know fairly early about the number of meals they need to prepare. Please make checks payable to KMEA.

Retired Luncheon Registration Form
Deadline to register is February 8, 2014
Also I would be very interested to know how many of you are actually "receiving" the KMR. Please email me at the address shown at the top of this page to let me know you are really reading it. Thanks for all you do and have done, and I hope to see you in Wichita at the meeting.