No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn. April is a promise that May is bound to keep, and we know it – Hal Borland

The tantalizing scent transported me to a white, sandy beach lapped by a turquoise sea under a tropical sun. Lime and coconut were the getaway flavors my bakery customers needed in April, tax time – from the novel The Memory of Lemon by Judith Fertig

April was just beginning, and after the warm spring day it turned cooler, slightly frosty, and a breath of spring could be felt in the soft, cold air – from the short story “The Bishop” by Anton Checkov

April is a perfect month - the days are not too long or too short, the temperature is just right for outdoor activities. The April quotes ranged from light, happy feelings - spring and flowers are on the way, to more gloomy thoughts - another month of cold, rainy weather. I’m in the happy camp so I chose quotes that had a note of optimism. I couldn’t pass up the Judith Fertig given the time of the month.

From the Board meeting

It’s getting to the end of the year and the Board meetings are beginning to wind down. Even so, there were several interesting pieces of information at this month’s Board meeting.

• Maria Hesse, Board Member Election Committee Chair, reported on a successful election. She said the turnout was very good, a record or close to it, and thanked all the members who helped put the election on and those members who voted. The five new Board Members, who will take their seat on the Board July first, are:

• Jan Shore, Chair of the Scholarship Committee, report Jan reported that her committee worked diligently the past few weeks and selected next year’s recipient - Amanda Davis. You can read more about Amada in the summer edition of Prime Times. Jan thanked the committee for its work.

   

• Pat Schneider, member of the Government Committee, mentioned that last week the Morning Scoop had a panel addressing water security in Arizona. They had some very good panelists.
• Pat Schneider, AROHE -Liaison, report:
  • The quarterly meeting of the AROHE’s Liaisons from the various retirement organizations met last week to discussed the overriding issue of how AROHE can supply better resources to its members to help with recruitment and member retention.
  • At the meeting Pat mentioned our foray into creating small local groups as a means of enabling more social interaction and hopefully increased retention (there was interest expressed).
  • Finally there are a couple of new AROHE seminars on living and traveling alone that might be of interest (see events below).
• Paul Skiera, Chair of the Membership Committee, reported on his experience in attending one of the Staff Council’s BBQs. Two takeaways:
  • Most employees who came to our table knew nothing about ASURA.
  • The promotional ASURA nail clippers flew off the table like hotcakes and we were soon “sold out". Paul mentioned that it is easy to buy more clippers but how to get ASURA’s existence into the conscience of ASU employees is not as easily solved.
• Elisa Kawam, University Senate, mentioned several things, but an amazing one was that President Crow has told the Board of Regents that he would like to grow the online enrolment to 200,000.

April Social Security Column

Jack Burns, Public Affairs specialist for Arizona, Social Security Administration, prepared the following Social Security Information Manual for April.

• English version
• Spanish version

Social Security offers free workshops. Readers can find the workshop schedule at www.phoenixpubliclibrary.org under the “Calendar” tab. Using search term “Medicare” will list all workshops for 2026.

Upcoming Events

There are a variety of ASURA / Emeritus College activities in April and an exciting travel event next April.

• Emeritus College - Short Talks Luncheon (April 20)
• Emeritus College - Colloquium (April 21)
• ASU – Sidney Poitier New American Film School (April 24)
• Travel – Canadian Rockies Adventure (April 2027)

There are also AROHE (Association of Retirement Organizations in Higher Education). webinars and newsletters you might be interested in. Listed below are the fourth and fifth webinars in a five-part series on Charting the Journey to a Fulfilling Retirement. Use the links above to access all the AROHE webinars and newsletters.

• Time Well Spent (April 22)
• Cultivating Social Connections and Support Systems in Retirement (May 6
• Aging Alone Together: Unique Considerations to Support Solo Agers (April 27)
• Traveling Along (Date TBD)

Watch out for puddles and don’t trip over the flowers

Barry McNeill
E-News Editor