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President's Message
Officers
Purpose of the NJRMEA
History of NJRMEA and Past-President List
Meeting Dates
Master Music Teacher Award
Dear Colleagues:
Attending the annual NJMEA state conference is always interesting, always rewarding. Even the retired can find much worthy of their time and attention. Thanks to all that give so much to make this event the extraordinary experience it is. This year, most unfortunately, the timing of a pesky winter storm had quite an impact. Attendance on Friday was definitely affected. However, the smaller crowd did allow for increased availability of time to visit and reminisce with many old friends at their booths in the exhibit hall. It was great talking with several that, when I was teaching, served my students and me well for many, many years.
The NJRMEA meeting agenda certainly did not go as planned. Our speaker, Jan Allen from the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance had quite a distance to travel that morning and after assessing circumstances and consulting with her several times, I decided that the safe and prudent thing for her was to stay put because of the snow and not attempt the long trip to East Brunswick for a presentation to what was sure to be a very small gathering. In the end, it proved to be the right decision.
Several have expressed interest in Allen’s presentations on consumer fraud and identity theft and I am pleased to again announce that she will be the speaker at our general membership meeting on May 14th at 10:00 AM. That meeting will be held at House by the Sea, Sally and Alyn Heim’s charming hotel in Ocean Grove, NJ. Please mark the date and come join us. We would love to see you.
Sincerely,
David Jones
jonesnjrmea@yahoo.com
President: David Jones - jonesnjrmea@yahoo.com
President-elect: Paul Oster - osterpaul@hotmail.com
Past-President: Winston Hughes - whdirector@aol.com
Treasurer: Bill Shoppell - Bill-Pat@optonline.net
Secretary: Marion Constable - mmconstable3@aol.com
To maintain communication with our parent organizations, the MENC and NJMEA, to serve them and to be served by them.
To act as an advocate for Music and Music Education in New Jersey.
To meet for sharing of knowledge, inspiration and enjoyment.
We meet two times a year, winter and spring, for a luncheon meeting. Meeting months are February, at the NJMEA Conference and the May meeting at Alyn Heim's "House by the Sea" in Ocean Grove. A beautiful setting for this meeting!
(The information below is excerpted from TEMPO Magazine, May, 1976 and Jan., 1977 issues. The listing of presidents is taken from the files of NJRMEA.)
On March 12, 1976, at 10:00 AM, at the Music Educators' National Conference (MENC) Convention, The New Jersey Retired Music Educators' Association was established at an organizational meeting held in the Pacific Room of the Howard Johnson Regency Hotel in Atlantic City, NJ. Officers were elected to serve pro tem. They were: Samuel W. Peck, Belleville, President; Maxine L. Shimer, Westfield, Vice-president; Mildred A. Midkiff, Matawan, Secretary; Lorraine Conover, North Plainfield, Treasurer; and C. Scripps Beebee, East Orange, liaison between NJRMEA and NJMEA. Other charter members present were Violet Johnson, New York; Elsie Mecaskie, Ventnor; and Ethel Easter, Mayetta.
Herman Dash, President of NJMEA, spoke to the group, expressing the interest of the parent organization in this undertaking, and making some suggestions, including the reduction of dues for retirees and a retiree to be seated on the Board of Directors (non-voting).
One of the problems that faced the group was establishing and maintaining an accurate mailing list.
It was decided that the organization would be open to any retired former member of NJMEA or MENC. By-Laws were also established at this meeting and remained in effect until a newly revised document was officially adopted on October 20, 1998.
From a nucleus of eight, the NJRMEA grew to 33 members by their first official meeting at The Somerville Inn, Somerville, NJ, on October 27, 1976. The membership now included four Past Presidents of the NJMEA: Dr. Samuel Peck, Agnes Gordon, Violet Johnson and Henry Zimmerman.
The second NJRMEA meeting was held in conjunction with the NJEA and the NJMEA Conventions, in Atlantic City, on November 5, 1976, in the Game Room of the Teplitzky International Hotel. Guest speakers at this meeting were Miriam Reichly, Past President of NJREA; Robert Zimmerman, President of Eastern Division, MENC; and Herman Dash, President of NJMEA.
From this genesis, and through the interest, guidance and hard work of many retirees, the NJRMEA has grown. After 27 years of growth, the group now now has a mailing list of over 200 retired music teachers, with two membership meetings a year and this web site in conjunction with the NJMEA.
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| 1976 | Sam Peck (March) | Belleville Director of Music |
| 1977 | Sam Peck | |
| 1978 | C. Scripps Beebee | Clifford J. Scott HS, East Orange |
| 1979 | Sam Peck | |
| 1980 | Walter Chersak | Instrumental Director, Bound Brook |
| 1981 | Henry Zimmerman | Roselle Park, Director of Music |
| 1982 | Walter Chersak | |
| 1983 | Sam Peck | |
| 1984 | Sam Peck | |
| 1985 | Walter Chersak | |
| 1986 | Walter Chersak | |
| 1987 | Ed Napiwocki | Montclair HS |
| 1988 | Harold A. Brown | Harrington Park |
| 1989 | Harold A. Brown | |
| 1990 | Marion Constable | Morris County Helping Teacher |
| 1991 | Dean Simpson | Old Tappan HS |
| 1992 | James Lenney | Cranford HS Choral Director |
| 1993 | Dorian Parreott | Asbury Park Music Supervisor |
| 1994 | Dorian Parreott | |
| 1995 | James Lenney | Cranford Schools Supervisor |
| 1996 | James Lenney | Cranford Schools Supervisor |
| 1997 | Joan Policastro | Middlesex Chairperson of Music and Visual Arts K-12 |
| 1998 | Joan Policastro | |
| 1999 | Joe Petrullo | Summit Public Schools HS and MS |
| 2000 | Joe Petrullo | |
| 2001 | Carl Wilhjelm | College of New Jersey |
| 2002 | Carl Wilhjelm | College of New Jersey |
| 2003 | William Workinger | Millburn/Short Hills Supervisor |
| 2004 | William Workinger | Millburn/Short Hills Supervisor |
| 2005 | Winston Hughes | Edison Public Schools Music Supervisor |
| 2006 | Winston Hughes | Edison Public Schools Music Supervisor |
| 2007 | David Jones | |
The Master Music Teacher Award
Chairperson: Paul Oster- osterpaul@hotmail.com
In 1979, the NJMEA, in conjunction with the NJRMEA, inaugurated a program to discover, recognize, and honor its quality music educators.
To be eligible for consideration, the nominee must:
1. have completed a minimum of ten years of music teaching in New Jersey schools (public, parochial, private, or collegiate.)
2. be actively teaching and a member of MENC-NJMEA for at least ten years.
3. display teaching excellence, as the only other major criterion used in the selection process.
Information regarding the application process appears in the October issue of TEMPO each year and is available from the www.njmea.org website. Deadline for the nomination material is March 15, 2007.
The NJRMEA provides the personnel to administer the program, including the observation of the nominees.