October is the treasure of the year, and all the months pay bounty to her store Paul Laurence Dunbar

I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers L.M. Montgomery

With shutdowns and monsoons I thought these two cheery October quotes might brighten your day. Be sure to check out the author links

October Board meeting

It was pretty much a vanilla meeting with committee chairs reporting that things were moving forward or nothing new to report.

• Video History Project - Don Doerres, project chair, continues his efforts to restart the project. He presented a list of seven next steps including how to get the new interview room ready to use.
• Seminars – Karen Moses, committee chair, reported that seventeen NAU retirees had signed up for the 2025-26 Medicare Seminar.
• Finance Committee – I, as chair, presented the report on the review of last year’s expenses; ASURA passed with no issues. The reviewer, Jerry Snyder, wondered if the new expenses related to the new office location were going to be a problem. The committee will be looking into this issue.
• Government Committee – Karen Moses, ASURA president, told the meeting that the previous chair had to resign and that we are now actively looking for a new chair. Pat Schneider told the meeting that she will continue to monitor the legislative bills being introduced to keep the Board informed.
• AROHE Liaison – Pat Schneider reported on an AROHE meeting to seek better ways of helping its various members, i.e., its university retirement associations. Pat seemed pleased with the meeting results and impressed with the new Executive Director, Valerie Sutton.
• Membership Committee – Paul Skiera, chair, said Paul Harper, Database Management, was preparing the third quarter list new members. Since the meeting the new member report was prepared; if you see anyone on the list you know , welcome them to ASURA and encourage them to visit our website.

Social Security – Email from John (Jack) Burns

Thank you for your continued support and partnership as we work to provide essential services to the American public during the Federal Government shutdown.

We recently communicated with you about how your members can benefit from having a personal my Social Security account. The shutdown has further emphasized the value of my Social Security accounts by providing Americans with online services that are temporarily unavailable in our field offices due to the lapse in federal funding. This includes processing in-person requests for benefit verification letters and replacement Medicare cards.

These specific services—and many others—remain available online through secure my Social Security accounts.

Please encourage your members to sign up for or use their personal my Social Security accounts to easily access and manage their benefits online during and after the shutdown. With a my Social Security account, clients can:

• Access and print benefit verification letters
• Request replacement Medicare cards
• Request replacement Social Security cards (in most states)
• View earnings history and future benefit estimates
• Apply for retirement or disability benefits
• Manage direct deposit, update address, and more

We appreciate your help in sharing this information through your official channels so the members you serve know they can conveniently conduct business with us online via my Social Security.

Jack Burns
Public Affairs Specialist for Arizona
Social Security Administration
866-331-4359

Humanities Week

There is an interesting campus-wide event next week that you might want to look into – Humanities Week. Now entering its fifth year, Humanities Week opens the door to discovering how studying the humanities at Arizona State University can lead to a successful career, a good life and a more just world.

Students and the public are invited to engage with varied events throughout the week, from open houses to hands-on activities to panel discussions. You can see the complete schedule of events at Humanities Week.

Other Events

Aside from Humanities Week, if you want to know what events are coming up visit our homepage or any of the event webpages (see following). These pages can change weekly so checking periodically is a good idea.

Upcoming ASURA events

• Pre-Retirement Seminars
• Seminars 2025-26 ADOA/ASRS Health Insurance
• ASURA Luncheon at Mirabella (Free)
• ASURA Holiday Potluck, Bake Sale and Entertainment
• Northern Spain and Portugal in March/April 2026

Affiliated ASURA Events (primarily Emeritus College events)

Nothing posted at the moment

AROHE – upcoming events

• Part III: Long-term care and tax planning
• Island Hopping Adventure

AROHE – webinars and newsletters

• 2024 Virtual Summit
• AROHE webinar

Barry McNeill
E-News Editor