FEBRUARY 2007
COMMANDER’S CORNER: Membership – If you have not yet renewed your dues you missed out on a $5.00 savings as dues are now $30.00 a year. We are standing at about 90% to our goal of 100%, so please renew and help Post 327 make its goal. Day on the Hill - January 17th – Johnnie Maples, Otha Newton, Jeff Evans, Steve Gower, Sr., and I went to Richmond to visit the General Assembly. We all gave nine or more hours of volunteer service for this good cause. It’s amazing how our State Govern-ment works, and we all came back with more knowledge. Of course, veteran’s benefits were our main concern. Thanks guys for giving so freely of your time to help others. Days to Remember – Sunday, 4 February – Four Chaplains Ceremony at Post 310 at 3:00 p.m. and Sunday, 18 February – 2nd District Spring Conference at Post 280 at 3:00 p.m. For God and Country, Mary Lee Lupejkis
FIRST VICE COMMANDER: Membership is at 90% with a total of 1,000 members renewing. Please renew if you have not done so. Thank you. For God and Country, Byron Pianalto
SECOND VICE COMMANDER: The New Year’s Eve party went well. Thanks to all who helped; too many names to mention. The Honor Guard will be serving a ham dinner on Friday, 23FEB07. Proceeds from this fundraiser will go towards the cost of the new grill for our Post 327 cook-outs. For God and Country, Johnnie A. Maples, II
AMERICAN LEGION AUXILIARY PRESIDENT: Membership is doing well. We are a few renewals away from our 100% goal. Please help us reach that goal. Our dinner will be on Friday, 2 February. Please call the club for menu. FIRST NOTICE: Our elections will be held in May. If you plan to run for an office, please attend our meeting on Tuesday, 6 February so you can submit your name. We will have a Valentine dinner (Steak) on Friday, 16 February. There will also be music that night as well. Our Juniors will have a Chili Cook-off on Saturday, 17 February at NOON. Come and show off your best chili. The Juniors also have breakfast the fourth Sunday each month. A get well wish goes out to Pat Gotta and Maryemma Brown from Cathey Anderson and all of us. We love you. Happy Birthday Maryemma. For God and Country, Dawn Thomas
SQUADRON 327 COMMANDER: Hello, I hope everyone is sticking to those New Year's Resolutions. Membership is doing well, but we have not quite made 100% yet. So, if you need to renew your member- ship, PLEASE DO. I am happy to inform you that Steve Gower, Sr. presented the winner of the 2nd District Oratorical Contest with our 1st $500 scholarship. He is a senior at Lake Taylor High School and the Captain of their Debate Team. For God and Country, Brook Gillespie
ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT: REMEMBER the elections for Association Officers & Board of Directors on Sunday, 18FEB07 from NOON - 6:30 p.m. at Post 327. Nominations were taken at the Association meeting on 16JAN, and the following names were submitted: President: Jim Norton -Earl Tanner, Vice President: W.T. Jones - Bill Craig, Secretary: John Schenk, Finance Officer: Leonard Frederick, Board of Directors (select 4): Jim Dunning, Jim Pearson, Lee Hemmerich, Jim Spradlin, and Larry Turner. Sunday, 18Feb07, noon until 6:30 p.m. is your chance to vote!!! For God and Country, Jim Norton
ASSOCIATION CLUB MANAGER: Friday night dinners for February are: 2nd – Call Club for menu; 9th – Pork Loin; 16th – Steak; 23rd – Ham. The Saturday night Karaoke KJ’s for February are: 3rd – Walt DeGraaf; 10th – Linda M. & Tim; 17th – Karaoke Soundwaves; 24th – Tootsie’s Karaoke. Thank you for supporting our fundraiser dinners for charities. Please check your newsletter calendar for our breakfast schedule. Your locker fees were due by 31Jan07, if not paid by 20FEB07, lockers WILL be emptied and reassigned. Locker fee is $5.00 per year - please be reminded that I have a waiting list for members wanting a locker – shall I reassign yours? FYI, if the bartender cuts you off you have three (3) minutes to leave or thirty (30) days to think about it!!! ABC laws require an intoxicated person to leave the premises. For God & Country, Sandra Wright
EDITOR/ADJUTANT: Social Security Administration “Special Extra Earnings for Military Service: The info that follows applies only to active duty military service earnings from 1940 through 2001. Here’s how the special extra earnings are credited: Service in 1978 through 2001 - For every $300 in active duty basic pay, you are credited with an additional $100 in earnings up to a maximum of $1,200 a year. If you enlisted after 7SEP80, and didn’t complete at least 24 months of active duty or your full tour, you may not be able to receive the additional earnings. Check with Social Security for details. Service in 1957-1977 – you are credited with $300 in additional earnings for each calendar quarter in which you received active duty basic pay. If you were in the military during 1940-1956, including attendance at a service academy, you did not pay social security taxes. However, your social security record may be credited with $160 a month in earnings for military service from 16SEP40-31DEC56, under the following circumstances: You were honorably discharged after 90 or more days of service, or you were released because of disability or injury received in the line of duty; or you are still on active duty; or you are applying for survivors benefits and the veteran died while on active duty. You cannot receive credit for these special extra earnings if you are already receiving a federal benefit based on the same years of service. There is one exception: If you were on active duty after 1956, you can still get the special earnings for 1951-1956, even if you’re receiving a military retirement based on service during that period. In January 2002, Public Law 107-117, the Defense Appropriations Act, stopped the special extra earnings that have been credited to military service personnel. Military service in calendar year 2002 and future years no longer qualifies for these special extra earnings.
Note: If you would like to learn more about Veterans burial benefits/Veterans Spouse/Eligible Dependents Burial Benefits, please call the Albert G. Horton, Jr. Memorial Veterans Cemetery at Hampton Roads (757) 255-7217 for details. Veterans burial benefits include: Grave site cost, opening & closing, committal shelter provided to conduct service, memorialization (granite stone and inscription), perpetual care (cemetery will be taken care of by the state forever.) Veteran’s Spouse/eligible dependents burial benefits include: grave site, opening & closing of grave site, memorialization (grave stone and inscription), and committal shelter provided to conduct service, perpetual care, costs $300 at the time of spouse/eligible dependent’s death.
HUMOR: “Quieting the Church Gossip” - Mildred, the church gossip, and self-appointed monitor of the church's morals, kept sticking her nose into other people's business. Several members did not approve of her extra curricular activities, but feared her enough to maintain their silence. She made a mistake, however, when she accused George, a new member, of being an alcoholic after she saw his old pickup parked in front of the town's only bar one afternoon. She emphatically told George and several others that everyone seeing it there would know what he was doing. George, a man of few words, stared at her for a moment and just turned and walked away. He didn't explain, defend, or deny. He said nothing. Later that evening, George quietly parked his pickup in front of Mildred's house...walked home....and left it there all night. Don't you just love old George? May God bless each of you with good health and happiness? For God and Country, B.J. Miller-Nobles