Rendezvous Branch

Rendezvous Branch draws its approximately sixty members from the vast area of Toronto that stretches to the west of Scarborough. Many of our members taught in the former boards that comprised the greater Toronto area. But a significant number of our members also taught elsewhere and have come to live their retirement years in the GTA. They find Rendezvous Branch a friendly, cosmopolitan group of women open to making new friendships.

The concept of a retired women teachers’ group is at least 85 years old in what we call the Rendezvous Branch area. For that long, there has been an active group of retired women teachers meeting each other regularly for playing bridge, having fun, and sharing and caring. Significantly, they called themselves the Rendezvous Club because they were often looking for a local place to “rendezvous”. A more serious goal of those retired women teachers was their struggle to obtain pensions that would actually allow them a decent standard of living. That group eventually joined with similarly purposed groups across the province to become part of the Ontario Association of Superannuated Women Teachers (OASWT), the forerunner of RWTO/OERO. Unique to the present Rendezvous Branch area is a somewhat larger group of women teachers, still known as Rendezvous Club, whose aim is to continue the social meetings of the original group in the form of monthly formal luncheons at the Old Mill, usually followed by professional entertainment. Most of our Branch members are also members of that club and enjoy everything from music groups, to famous authors talking about their writing, to a magician performing sleight of hand tricks, or perhaps a traveler describing adventures and showing pictures of faraway places.

            Our Rendezvous Branch met mainly online durng the pandemic, but is looking forward to more in-person meetings in 2023. A small core group, always looking for more volunteers, meets frequently to craft plastic milk bags into small mattresses which are donated to charitable groups like the Salvation Army who in turn give them to the needy locally and in faraway countries. One member in particular knits woolen squares and is pleased to have helpers join her in making lap rugs or crib blankets.  We demonstrate caring and sharing with our own members through personal notes in birthday cards to everyone. Starting at her 90^th birthday, each member is treated to an annual free lunch. Our branch produces a monthly newsletter, welcoming member contributions of stories, poems, pictures and jokes.  Attending the RWTO/OERO AGM and Convention to experience the camaraderie of retired women teachers from all parts of the province is enjoyed by many of our Rendezvous Branch members. We truly enjoy meeting, sharing and caring for retired women teachers, always a happy, engaged and creative group of women. We welcome any woman who has been a teacher. Do come and try us out!