BARTOW - The next regular meeting of the Central Florida Regional Planning Council is scheduled for Jan. 9, at 9 a.m. at the Bob Crawford Agriculture Center, 605 East Main Street, Bartow.
The Florida Retired Educators Association District 8, Unit II will meet at 10 a.m. Jan. 7, at the First United Methodist Church of Haines City, at 21 S. Second St. The program will be "Fun Time" presented by Dolla Williams. Cost is $6 for those eating brunch, others free.
volunteering, and other services that benefit our community. In December the unit gave food, toys, and books, to area schools to be distributed to needy families.
For details, call Betty Woodard, Vice-president at 863-324-0214.
LAKELAND - Polk Works Workforce 2020 will host two employers' edge seminars with the topic "Retaining Your Employees" in March.
On March 11 from 7:45 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., the first seminar will be at the Hilton Garden Inn, 3839 Don Emerson Dr., Lakeland.
The second seminar will be held March 19 from 7:45 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Lake Ashton Golf Club, 4141 Ashton Club Dr., Lake Wales.
Employers' Edge Seminars help business owners, executives, managers and human resource professionals gain the edge in hiring, training, motivating and retaining good quality employees.
The spring agenda will focus on motivation techniques for four generations in one workplace and retention best practices that you can implement tomorrow.
SEBRING - Founders' Day of the P.E.O. Sisterhood will be observed on Jan. 19, 2008, with a luncheon at 11:30 a.m. to be held at the Sebring Lakeside Inn and Tea Room, 1063 Lake Sebring Drive in Sebring. Cost of the luncheon is $18. All P.E.O.s in the area are invited to attend.
For reservations call Martha Carter, secretary of the Ridge Reciprocity Council, at 863-655-5630.
Deadline for reservations is Jan. 7.
Classes for the AARP 55 Driver Safety Program are being conducted at the following locations: the Gill Jones Center in Winter Haven, the Winter Haven Senior Center, Lake Region Mobile Home Park and the Lakeland Police Department.
To enroll in the Gill Jones, the Lakeland Police Department or the Lake Region classes, call Ernie Conte at 863-324-6887.
To enroll in the Winter Haven Senior Center class, call John O'Flaharty at 863-984-9721.
WINTER HAVEN -�The Winter Haven AARP Tax-Aide Program will begin training sessions for old and new volunteers in January. The training dates will be on Jan. 11, 15, 18, 22, and 25 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Last year, the program prepared free-of-charge over 800 tax returns for area Senior citizens. The location of the program will continue to be in the meeting room of the Hope Presbyterian Church at 2110 Cypress Garden Blvd SE. The facility and utilities are donated by the church as part of its Senior citizen outreach program to the community, and are very much appreciated.
All volunteers must pass a standardized test that is part of the course materials provided by the Internal Revenue Service. All of the computers and programs are provided by IRS in cooperation with AARP. The entire program is administered by volunteers with AARP and IRS oversight.
New volunteers are always needed, program officials say. Previous tax preparation knowledge and experience is desired but not necessary. However, the tax course material is covered rapidly, and without previous knowledge could be difficult due to its complexity. Some aspects of tax preparation are limited, not covered by the course, and cannot be done for tax payers with large stock portfolios, stock day traders, small businesses, and those with K-1 reports as part of their corporation holdings. Some volunteers serve as receptionist and assistants which does not require testing.
People who wish to volunteer for the Winter Haven's AARP Tax-Aide program may contact Shirley Rafool at 863-294-4542 or for other locations, contact AARP 1-888-687-2277.