Sarnia sign to light up for retired women teachers’ 70th anniversary

The Retired Women Teachers of Ontario are celebrating seven decades of advocacy and community support by illuminating a local landmark.

The "Sarnia" sign in Centennial Park will glow on April 9 at 4 p.m. to mark the 70th anniversary of the Retired Women Teachers of Ontario (RWTO). The local Sarnia-Lambton branch is one of 12 original founding chapters participating in the province-wide "Beacon of Light" campaign.

The organization's history is rooted in a fight for systemic equity. In April 1956, a small group of retired women in Toronto organized to lobby the government for pension parity with their male colleagues. While they eventually won that battle, the group realized that retired women in education still required a permanent, collective voice.

Today, the RWTO/OERO operates as a not-for-profit social organization with 46 branches across the province. The Sarnia-Lambton branch provides retired educational professionals with social interaction, emotional support, and friendship through regular programs and lunches.

The local branch has a long history of redistributing resources to Sarnia-Lambton institutions. Recent "Caring and Sharing" donations have supported several local causes: Stars 21+, sponsored by the Down Syndrome Association Noelle’s Gift to Children Women’s Interval Home Local food banks

Over the last 70 years, the group has also contributed to the VON Children’s Program, Access Open Minds, Literacy Lambton, St. Joseph’s Hospice Child Grief Program, Rebound, and Ohana’s Landing.

Community members looking for more information on the celebration or the organization can contact local writer Norma Vossen at [email protected] or by phone at 519-328-2201.