Good Day Post #57
Member!
MESSAGE FROM THE COMMANDER:
I would like to start off by saying thank you to all those that have renewed their membership and a welcome to those that have just joined our post. We have started off great with about 30 percent of our goal being achieved in the first week. We still have a long way to go to be FIRST in the state to reach 100 percent. So those of you who haven’t renewed please step up to the plate and join us in our quest. There is still time to be an early bird! So don’t hesitate to get your renewal in!!!!
Ask not what your country can do for you: Ask what you can do for your country. – John Fitzgerald Kennedy – (And so it is with your membership in The American Legion)
For those of you who didn’t or couldn’t make the July meeting, you missed a great surprise. Our adjutant Barry Sharp was presented with an NCO’s Marine Saber by a member of Ash Fork community, Joe Pronto. Joe took it upon himself to show Barry that someone in the community is aware of the unselfish things Barry does for the community as well as the post. Congratulations Barry, we all salute you and thank you Joe for noticing!
Douglas Gorniak
Commander
POST NEWS:
Our post meeting was on 5 July and our next meeting is 1
August at
The 4th of July Barbecue was a success! If you weren’t able to attend, you missed some good food and great entertainment!
The music was provided by Bonnie Lou and Her Stealth Band and for those of you who don’t know it, Bonnie’s a Post member.
The Fourth of July 50/50 raffle winners are: First Prize, $217.50—Sallie Carroll; 2nd
Prize, mini-stereo—Pat Mongiat; 3rd Prize, laptop—LeAnn Hanko; 4th Prize, car cassette player, Rich
& Alva Brown. Congratulations to all!
Don’t forget to save those empty inkjet cartridges and old
cells phones to drop off at the Post for the Soldiers to Soldiers Program. I need five more phones to send in our first
package to the program. For more
information, contact Yvonne Gorniak at 637-2240.
Convention, what can I say.
It was H O T in
We’re looking for volunteers to help with clean up of
veterans’ grave sites twice a year at
LADIES AUXILIARY:
MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT:
Dear Auxiliary Sisters,
The Convention was great.
Maxine Bowling and I enjoyed it.
The Wigwam Resort was beautiful, very spread out, and very hot down
there. I was so proud,
we did very well this year. We came home
with a plaque for Americanism and four certificates; a Department and a
National Certificate for Membership, a Department Certificate for Field Service
and one for Poppy’s window display for which Maxine received a thank you note
and $5. It’s framed and on the
wall. Bernadine Sydow
received $25 and our Unit received $25 for Membership. At the last minute we were knocked out of
first place by Unit 117.
The 4th of July Bar-B-Q was great, food was outstanding. Thank you to all the ladies that donated salads and cakes. Maxine did a beautiful job on the décor of the post. She’s like the bunny with the batteries, she just keep going.
We need ladies to take these projects and work them so we can fill our wall with certificates. Unit 57, Ash Fork is on the map and we let them know we’re small but mighty.
Peggy Gasdorf
Auxiliary President
NOTES FROM THE EDITOR:
The Early Bird Appreciation Dinner has been moved from 30 July to 6 August due to a conflict with another town event. Dues still must be paid by 30 July to be eligible for the Early Bird Appreciation Dinner.
Tired of paying dues every year? Think about becoming a PUFL. PUFL stands for Paid Up For Life and that means if you become a PUFL, you won’t have to worry about any dues increases.
MONTHLY
TRIVIA: June Newsletter: What famous North American
landmark is constantly moving backward?
(Thanks to Gerry Erman for this
question.) Answer: The
This month’s question:
What planet is the only one that rotates clockwise?
ITEMS OF INTEREST (if interested in an item listed,
contact the Post for further information)
RAO Bulletin Update 15 June 2005 contains the following articles: NDAA 2006 Update 01; Tricare in the Philippines; Tricare in PI Update 01; BRAC Update 09 (Impact on medical facilities/care); Social Security COLA 2006 (Not looking good for retirees); VA Comp Disparity Update 02; VA Comp Disparity Update 03; Shingles Update 01 (Vaccine shows promise); Pentagon Wasted Supplies; Pennsylvania Veterans Homes; Tricare Overseas Phone Numbers; VA Claims Assistance Update 01; VA Budget 2006 Update 06; Mint Strikes Marine Corps Coin (230th Anniversary Silver Dollar)
RAO Bulletin Update
Long-sealed Military Files Made Available: The
National Personnel Records Center in
Fighting Identity Theft and Fraud. As a
public service for those affected by identity theft and fraud issues, here are
some resources of note: To obtain a
copy of your credit report, or to place a fraud alert on your credit report,
contact the three credit reporting agencies, which are: Transunion -
1-800-680-7289; Equifax - 1-800-525-6285
; Experian -
1-888-397-3742
To
file an identity theft complaint with the Federal Trade Commission -
1-877-438-4338. The Social Security Administration Fraud
telephone number is 1-800-269-0271.
[Source: Military Report,
Cold
War Certificates. In
accordance with section 1084 of the Fiscal Year 1998 National Defense
Authorization Act, the Secretary of Defense approved awarding Cold War
Recognition Certificates to all members of the armed forces and qualified
federal government civilian personnel who faithfully and honorably served the
United States anytime during the Cold War era, which is defined as Sept. 2,
1945 to Dec. 26, 1991. All members of the armed forces and federal government
civilian personnel who faithfully served the
Many
Doctors Refusing to Accept TRICARE Patients. The TRICARE system stands a chance of
becoming virtually unusable for many service members and retirees because the
payment rate to physicians continues to go down and is expected to drop another
4.3% in January, 2006. The major problem
is that the statutory reimbursement formula for TRICARE and Medicare is flawed
in that it does not accurately reflect the true cost of running a physician
practice. This means that many
physicians are unable to afford to provide care to TRICARE beneficiaries. Both the House and Senate have introduced
bills (H.R. 2356 and S. 1068) to address this issue. The House version is
called the "Preserving Patient Access to Physicians Act of
2005." For more information on
these bills or more information on rising military health costs, see articles
kept at Post.
AF Enlisted Village assisted living dream becoming
reality. Construction on Hawthorn House, the
Watch Out For Brown
Recluse Spiders. The Brown Recluse
Spider is the most dangerous spider that we have here in the
Characteristics. Size:
May grow to have a body about 5/8-inch in length and a leg span of about
one and a half inches in diameter. Color: Usually light brown but may be darker in some
specimens. The key identifying
characteristics are the six eyes arranged in three pairs at the front of the
head area and the fiddle-shaped marking on the back. The brown recluse spider
is often called the "violin" spider or "fiddleback"
spider because of the distinctive fiddle-shaped marking on top of its cephalothorax (head end to which the legs are attached).
Behavior. Like
most spiders, the brown recluse spider does not seek to bite people. The bite
is usually accidental. The spider crawls into a shoe, into clothing or into a
bed and a person then puts on the clothing or lies on the spider in bed. The
spider, being trapped, has only one defense - and that is to bite.
Unfortunately, the bite of this spider produces a nasty result in people, such
as open, ulcerating sores. Left untreated, such bites often become infected and
significant tissue necrosis can occur. It is always best to seek medical
attention, preferably from a dermatologist, if you think you may have a spider
bite. This is especially true in areas where brown recluse spiders are common. Thanks
to Gerry Erman for reminding us about this danger.
Little Known VA Benefits. Congresswoman Shelley Berkley (D-NV) says that a recent evaluation of the VA's Non-Service Connected Pension Program found that only about one in four eligible veterans are estimated to be receiving the pension benefits they are owed. This is because many veterans still do not know that this VA pension program exists. Current recipients surveyed by the VA in 2004 reported that they had been eligible for many years before actually applying for benefits. In order to qualify for the VA non-service connected pension program, veterans are required to have served during a specific "period of war." The veteran should have been discharged under honorable conditions and generally served for at least 90 days. Veterans may receive a non-service-connected pension based on reaching age 65. Veterans who are under age 65 qualify if they are permanently and totally disabled. For disabled veterans, the disability does not have to have any relationship to the veteran's military service. Eligibility for the program is based upon need. Wartime veterans who believe that they qualify for a pension can contact the Department of Veterans Affairs at 1-800-827-1000 for an application and further information. For more information, read article located at Post. [Source: Military.com]
New Program Thanks Army Veterans. Honorably discharged veterans may nominate themselves for recognition under the new Freedom Team Salute (FTS) Program. Nominees will receive a packet that contains an Army lapel pin, an Army decal, a certificate, and a letter signed by the Secretary of the Army and the Chief of Staff of the Army thanking them for their support. Once a nominee is registered online, the data is forwarded to the Pentagon. The information is then sent to local distributors who mail out the packets. It takes between four and six weeks for the honorees to receive their packets. For more information or to nominate someone for a Freedom Team Salute Packet, visit the Freedom Team Salute site at https://secureweb.hqda.pentagon.mil/ftspublic/ . [Source: Military.com]
Qualifying
for “Aid and Attendance” Funds.
One VA benefit veterans and their caretakers may be unaware of is the
"Aid and Attendance" benefit. For those veterans and their widows who
are eligible, the benefit can be a blessing for an incapacitated individual who
wants to avoid going to a nursing home. Included as a part of the veteran's
pension program as well as the compensation program, the benefit is available
to a veteran who is not only disabled, but needs the aid and attendance of a
caretaker. A veteran is eligible for this program if he or she has served at
least one day during wartime; has at least 90 days or more of active duty; is
found to be permanently or totally disabled; and makes an annual income of
$10,162 or less. An unmarried widow does not have to be disabled to receive the
benefit. He or she must have been married to the veteran for at least one year
before the death unless they had a child, then benefits can be received
regardless of length of marriage. The widow's income cannot exceed $6,814. A
person's medical expenses can be used to offset income. To see if you or a
loved one is eligible for the benefit, contact your local veterans' office.
[Source: Military.com]
Mailing a package to service personnel via an
LIFELEGACY, Anatomical Donation: The Legacy of a Lifetime. This
is a program where upon your death, you donate your organs and your cremation
is completely paid for by the LIFELEGACY organization including transportation
of the body from anywhere in the continental US, free filing of
legally-required original death certificate and more. If you want more information see brochures at
Post or call 888-774-4438.
UPCOMING EVENTS TO PUT ON YOUR CALENDAR: (all events at Post 57 unless otherwise
noted.)
8-9 July 2005 (Fri-Sat), Post Social,
22-23 July 2005 (Fri-Sat), Post
Social,
Have an article or piece of information that you think would
be of interest to the whole Post? Drop
it off at the Post or email me and I’ll include it in the newsletter. And speaking of email…If you have an email
address, please send it to me. My email
address is rockin_g@netzero.com and
make sure you identify yourself so I know whom the email address belongs to.
Yvonne Gorniak
Yvonne
Gorniak
Editor
Post 57