Building an RTC section can take time, but Judy Rosenstein, the coordinator of the New Jersey section, is putting the building blocks in place.

An important part of her strategy is organizing Si Beagle courses. “We’re trying to attract a cross-section of people,” said Rosenstein. “We’re tweaking the Si Beagle courses and making them fresh.”

Remote Si Beagle classes have helped the section extend its reach to people who would not or could not have traveled long distances for an in-person activity.

“Spanish and Pilates have a strong following, and workshops on how to organize your important documents or family photographs,” said Rosenstein. Virtual workshops on how to cook like a caterer consistently draw 40 people.

“That’s union building. That’s what pulls us all together,” said Rosenstein.

There are 4,813 RTC members in New Jersey. More than 61% have been retired for more than a decade, with 20% retired for more than 20 years. Nearly three-quarters, 72.5%, are retired teachers.

Bringing people together was tricky, even before the pandemic. The New Jersey section has no office space of its own, so open house events were held in rented spaces in Fort Lee, in the northern part of the state, or in Freehold, in the southern part of the state. The pandemic brought to a halt those meetings and other in-person activities, such as trips to the Yogi Berra Museum in Montclair.

Rosenstein also wants to cater to retirees who are eager for more vigorous activity. There are 878 members, about a fifth of the section, who have been retired for five years or less. In the spring, members will have a chance to sign up for hiking in Northern New Jersey — the first in-person offering since the pandemic shut down everything.

Members played an important role in the recent governor’s race, which saw incumbent Gov. Phil Murphy win an unexpectedly close race. “We had a good group of volunteers,” said Mark Chaykin, the AFT political director, who trained members in virtual phone banking they could do from their homes.