COUNTY — The Oxford County Educators Association-Retired (OCEAR) will meet on September 20 at the West Paris Universalist Church on Main Street. The summer recess is over and we will resume monthly meetings, on the third Friday of each month through November, and then start up again in the spring. Sign-ins will begin at 10:30. A business meeting will start close to 11, followed by lunch and then a program presented by John Kimball, our president. He will speak of his trip to Normandy.

OCEA-R’s last meeting was June 20 in Lovell at the Harriman Barn. We were informed about a possible increase in our monthly retirement check. A discussion was held about how to proceed with our Books for Maine Kids program. OCEA-R donates a children’s book to every public library in Oxford County every year. We were served a great lunch, followed by a presentation by Robin Chiarello about her latest book, Remembrance. Robin has written a number of children’s books and her talk was both informative and entertaining.

We encourage retired teachers and other employees who worked as part of a school community to join us. One of our goals is to be a place where people with similar experiences can meet and socialize. We keep informed of issues that affect our members and advocate for policies that benefit our retirees. We support the work of the schools in our area and contribute many volunteer hours to them.