FLORENCE GARNER

2nd President

1974 1976

I was the first vice-president of the Gwinnett County Retired Teachers Association in 1972 - 1974, and president during the years 1974 - 1976. 1 served as vice-president in 1986 - 1988 when Don Herndon was president.

I have many wonderful memories of those early years, but I must confess that some of them are memories of struggle. One of our main problems was our meeting place. We were growing, and so many restaurants were not equipped to feed larger numbers in addition to their regular diners.

Holiday Inn could not work us into their schedule any more, so we met several times at the Buford Mall and various places. It was such a problem that when it was time to install Crawford Puckett, the third president, I even considered having the meeting in my home!

The rest of my memories are beautiful. I recall at our third meeting our speaker was Mr. Michael Ault, a representative from the National Retired Teachers Association. He said to the retired teachers:

You are the freest people on earth.

No one tells you what to do, or when to do it.

You are walking treasures, and we need you.

Please stay involved and use your talents."

The Gwinnett County Retired Teachers have certainly followed his advice.