{"462561":{"#nid":"462561","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Retirees Keep Connected through Silver Jackets","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EEvery year, dozens of employees say goodbye to the proverbial 9 to 5 at Georgia Tech, but they do not say goodbye to 11 a.m. to noon, the second Tuesday of every month during fall and spring semesters.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p4\u0022\u003EThat\u2019s when members of Georgia Tech\u2019s retiree organization, the Silver Jackets, meet to stay connected to one another and the institution.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003EThe group was founded in 2007 at the instigation of Maureen Glass, an administrative manager who retired from the (then) School of Polymer, Textile and Fiber Engineering after 30 years with the Institute. \u201cHow could I just stop being connected to Tech?\u201d she thought at the time.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003EThere are no membership fees, but the organization does accept donations to its operating and endowment accounts with the Georgia Tech Foundation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003ESilver Jackets meetings are held in the Student Center (Room 343) and typically draw around 40 attendees, said Ian Gatland, immediate past president of the organization, who retired as a professor and associate chair of the School of Physics in 2003 after 39 years at Tech. He joined the Silver Jackets in 2008.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003EEach meeting features a speaker, who gives a 45-minute presentation on his or her area of expertise. \u201cThey\u2019re mainly given by people who are associated with Tech,\u201d Gatland said, \u201cbut occasionally we do bring in people from outside to talk about interesting things.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003EThe group\u2019s December meeting is a holiday luncheon, but the most popular meeting every year by far, Gatland said, is the annual presentation from Human Resources on health insurance benefits.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003E\u201cThese meetings are attended by about 140 people,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have to use the Student Center Theater.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003EAttendees usually break into smaller groups and head out for lunch after the meetings, Gatland said. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003EAnother ongoing activity is assisting with semi-annual campus blood drives. \u201cWe have lots of munchies and drinks, and when the students have finished giving blood, our job is to give them something to nibble on and make sure they don\u2019t leave for at least 10 minutes,\u201d Gatland said.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003EAs the Institute celebrates its annual Retirement Dinner on Nov. 5, about 100 employees will move into the next phase of their relationship with Georgia Tech and have the chance to become Silver Jackets.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003EMore information is available at \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.silverjackets.gatech.edu\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003Ewww.silverjackets.gatech.edu\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe Silver Jackets meet once a month to stay connected to one another and the Institute.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The Silver Jackets meet once a month to stay connected to one another and the Institute."}],"uid":"27469","created_gmt":"2015-10-26 14:14:09","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:19:51","author":"Kristen Bailey","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-10-26T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2015-10-26T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"431701":{"id":"431701","type":"image","title":"Retirement Dinner Buzz","body":null,"created":"1449256133","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:08:53","changed":"1475895169","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:52:49"}},"media_ids":["431701"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/specialevents.gatech.edu\/retirement","title":"Retirement Dinner"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.silverjackets.gatech.edu\/","title":"Silver Jackets"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[{"id":"3423","name":"employees"},{"id":"15076","name":"retirees"},{"id":"2198","name":"Retirement"},{"id":"15075","name":"retirement dinner"},{"id":"171139","name":"silver jackets"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:margaret.tate@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EMargaret Tate\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EInstitute Communications\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}