Over 250 members and guests gathered at the Confederation Education Centre on October 4th to celebrity District 27's 40th Anniversary.

The reception not only featured the 80 plus members and its past presidents, it also highlighted the members of the Board of Directors who have served diligently over the past fifteen years.

Imagine the vision of the founding members of RTO/ERO’s District 27 some forty years ago. They wanted to be part of a provincial association which lobbied on behalf of retired teachers and retirees in general. Today, District 27 continues to successfully serve almost 4,000 members of which 733 are aged 80 and over. District 27 is very proud of its "senior seniors" and its six centenarians.

Lise Routhier Boudreau, past president of both AEFO and the French and Acadian Communities, joined the celebrations. In 2010, she received "l'Ordre de la Pléiade" for her outstanding contribution to Ontario's Francophonie, and, in September, 2011, she was the recipient of "l’Ordre de la Francophonies des Amériques." As well, Lise recently joined the Honourary Advisory group for the RTO/ERO Charitable Foundation.

Joan Murphy, Provincial President of RTO/ERO, brought greetings from the Executive. The Entre-Nous Choir, along with other entertainers, presented a bilingual program especially prepared for the occasion. Artists, writers and musicians— all retired teachers — were featured as well.

Members of the 40th Anniversary Committee gave freely of their time to mark the occasion, for which they are to be commended. Committee members would like to thank all volunteers too numerous to name.

It was good to see so many gathered to celebrate 40 years of success with us.