JULY!!!!!!!!!!

SERVED IN THE MILITARY? THIS MIGHT INCREASE YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS. Provided by Saint Leo University

DD FORM 214 -- SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFIT

Please share this with anyone who's had active duty service between January 1957 to December 31, 2001 and planning for retirement. In a nutshell it boils down to this:

You qualify for a higher social security payment because of your Military service for active duty any time from 1957 through 2001 (the program was done away with 1 January 2002). Up to $1200 per year of earnings credit credited at time of application - which can make a substantial difference in social security monthly payments upon your retirement. You must bring your DD 214 to the Social Security Office and you must ask for this benefit to receive it!

Soc Sec website: http://www.ssa.gov/retire2/military.htm

            This is something to put in your files for when you apply for Social Security down the road.  It is NOT just for retirees, BUT anyone who has served on active duty between January 1957 to December 31, 2001.

REMEMBER, this benefit is not automatic, you must ask for it! We've all been on active duty between 1957 and 2001 or know someone who has.

Passing on good information for all you military folks when you apply for social security. I know this may be too early for some of you to think about Social Ssecurity but, keep living and you will get there...

Alison J. Brown/Financial Coordinator

Saint Leo University/Langley Center

alison.brown@saintleo.edu

REMINDER TO CLUBS - MAIL YOUR $50 ANNUAL DUES TO  THE AVA -  Regular Member Clubs pay annual dues to the AVA on or before July 1 of each year. A Club that has not paid its annual dues by September 1 will be assessed a late fee. A Club that has not paid its annual dues plus the late fee by October 1 will be considered “not in good standing."

TAW DEADLINE -   The  deadline  for  the  October/November  issue  of  The

American Wanderer is August 25th. All articles, including Tails on the Trails and photographs should be submitted directly to Laurel Parrott, Editor taw@bhi.com or mailed to: 3526 Humboldt Ave. N., Minneapolis, MN 55412.  Be sure to include "TAW" in the subject line if emailing.

JULY 1st TO NOVEMBER 15th IS THE DUE DATE FOR E-POSTCARDS, OTHER 990s, CLUB FINANCIAL REPORTS AND OFFICER UPDATES  -  A 990 is the IRS income tax form for nonprofits. Proof of filing of E-postcards and other 990 forms, together with Club Financial Reports and Officer Updates must be received at the AVA  Headquarters no later than November 15, 2012.  After November 15th these reports become past due and a Club will be assessed a $10 late fee.

In Volkssporting,

Ken
Ken Miles
AVA SC Region Director
918-745-0212

Adieu Mon Ami!

AVA OFFICER RESIGNATION - Last Thursday, July 21st, AVA President Heinz Johnson sent the following message to members of AVA NEC VII:

It is with deep regret that I announce the resignation of Marvin Stokes as the Vice President of the American Volkssport Association and Chair of the 18^th AVA Biennial Convention. His resignation was effective at Midnight (2400) on 20 June 2012.

Marvin has been diagnosed with a serious health condition: MCI or Mild Cognitive Impairment. His doctors strongly recommended that he get away from those activities that may cause stressful situations which could accelerate the disease.  .  .  .

     Marvin Stokes has been a dedicated and steadfast volunteer with the AVA and a strong and loyal friend. His presence at AVA activities will be sorely missed!

In Volkssporting,

Ken
Ken Miles
AVA SC Region Director
918-745-0212

Flag Day!

AVA NEC AGENDA ITEMS - The next AVA NEC Meeting is on July 6th and 7th, 2012, at the Airport Fairfield Inn, Orlando, FL.  Your Club Officers have been provided copies of each of the Agenda Items to be considered by the AVA Officers and Directors during that Meeting.  Some proposals that warrant your consideration are:

1) Raising Club dues  from $50 to $100 annually.

2) Raising individual AVA Associate Membership dues from $25 to $30 and families from $30 to $40 per year.

3) Establishing a national task force to lead AVA in the fight against obesity.

 

 

4) The Centurion Club; a program to recognize people who do at least 100 AVA Events in a year.

     What do YOU think about these?  They and other motions will be on the floor, one to get the Starting Point ready as an electronic application that you will be able to download into your iPad, Nook, Kindle, etc for a fee.  Please ask your Club Officers to share information about the NEC Agenda Items that they have been provided and please provide information concerning your opinions, recommendations, etc. to me at AVA.SCRD@hotmail.com or by telephoning me at 918-745-0212 or mailing me at 3613 East 55th Street, Tulsa, OK 74135.


AVA NO LONGER HOSTING CLUB WEBSITES? - Without notice to the Clubs concerned OR the AVA Headquarters, the contractor updating the AVA Website terminated a number of Club Websites hosted by the AVA.  The "excuse" appears to be that the respective website servers are not compatible with the updated programing being installed.  Nevertheless, it is clear that the AVA Headquarters and IT Committee should have been consulted first by this gentleman prior to taking that action. Please advise me if you have any problems as a result of this.







FLAG DAY - Some of you know the significance of Flag Day to me.  Anyone who isn't aware of that should know that on each June 14 during my youth it was Flag Day, to the exclusion of all other events, that got observed and celebrated in my family.  HAPPY FLAG DAY!

Ken
Ken Miles

AVA SC Region Director

918-745-0212

 

A Summertime Celebration in Kansas

CENTRAL KANSAS MULTI-EVENT WEEKEND - The Sunflower Sod Stompers of Topeka, Kansas, are offering 13 events from June 15th through June 17th!  Starting with a memorial walk in Salina, KS (Event 1), on Friday evening (start between 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.), the Club will progress on Saturday morning to Lindsborg, KS (Little Sweden, USA), to celebrate in conjunction with the Swedish Midsummer Celebration with a walk (Event 2) and 3 swims (Events 3, 4, & 5).  Late that afternoon (beginning at 4:15 p.m.), the activities continue to McPherson, KS, for another walk (Event 6).  Even later on Saturday (starting at 8:00 p.m.), in Newton, KS, the Club will sponsor a "Get Together" with food and refreshments, and 3 more swims (Events 7, 8, & 9) will follow that (starting at 9:00 p.m.).  Sunday, June 17th, starts at 7:30 a.m. in Newton with a final walk (Event 10), followed by 3 more swims (Events 11, 12, & 13).  COUNT 'EM!  And there are some YREs available in close proximity, if 13 Events in 2 days aren't sufficient to satisfy your volkssporting appetite. 

     HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!



2013 YREs ELECTRONIC SANCTIONING WINDOW OPENED ON JUNE 1 -  All Year Round and Seasonal Events for 2013 must be submitted for sanctioning between June 1st and August 31st.  All such events should list at minimum a starting point location and beginning and ending dates. The use of "To Be Determined" (TBD) should only be a last resort, as it causes problems for travelers who are unable to plan for the events. 

     Congratulations Dogwood Trailblazers, whose 2013 YRE ESRs have already been submitted and approved!

Ken
Ken Miles

AVA SC Region Director

918-745-0212

And Memorial Day Has Gone

THE MASTERS DEGREE - Wow!  It has been nearly two weeks since Boonville, Arrow Rock, Rocheport, and Warm Springs Ranch, but with scenery and social activities like that, the weekend will be hard to forget!  Again, I want to express my deepest gratitude to the officers and other members of the Dogwood Trailblazers, the Pace Setters Volkssport Club, the Clay-Platte Trackers, the St. Louis-Stuttgart Volksmarch Club, the Illinois Trekkers, and the World Wide Walkers for a fabulous multi-event weekend!  And another kudo to Deb and Missy!

     As a number of you know, my wife, Judy, and I were immediately off to New York City on Memorial Day to be with our only son, Justin, as he received his Masters Degree (an MPA).  We spent a week and far too much money with him, but it appears to have been worth it.  Occasions like that are very special and this was no exception!  Judy and I only arrived back in South Central Region on Monday, June 4th, and in Tulsa on Wednesday, June 6th.  Consequently, I haven't been boring you with regular blurbs on this blogspot.

     But here come some more  .  .  .  .

CONVENTION ROOM BLOCK RESERVATIONS ARE NOW OPEN -  Hotel room reservations for the 2013 Biennial Convention can now be made by calling 1.800.380.6751. A reservation form is located on the left side of the AVA Homepage. If you call, be sure to request the AVA convention room block.

The negotiated rate of $99 applies only to the Convention dates, Monday, April 29th thru Friday, May 3, 2013. The overall dates including the pre and post events are April 27th thru May 5th.

Hotel information: Orlando Airport Marriott, 7499 Augusta National Drive, Orlando, Florida 32822-5015.

LOUISIANA CAPITAL WALK -  The location of the Louisiana State Capital Walk in Baton Rouge has been temporarily changed to New Orleans, Louisiana, effective immediately. This change was necessitated by the inactivation of the volkssport club in Baton Rouge. The Capital City event is now being hosted by the Crescent City Volkssport Club, AVA-473.

The AVA Special Program, Walking the United States: FIFTY-ONE CAPITALS ROGRAM, on the LA line, now can be stamped with the YR076 IVV Certification Stamp. The official event designation is New Orleans – State Capital/French Quarter Walk. Event details are listed in the Starting Point 2012 (page 259) or on the AVA Website. 

For history buffs: New Orleans served as the capital of Louisiana from 1812 – 1849 except for a brief period from 1830 - 1831.

Ken
Ken Miles

AVA SC Region Director

918-745-0212

Memorial Day Weekend is Coming!

MILES 'N' MISSOURI - 5 Walks, 3 Swims, and 1 Bike in Central Missouri sponsored by four Missouri Volkssport Clubs (the Clay-Platte Trackers of Kansas City, the Dogwood Trailblazers, the Pace Setters Volkssport Club, and the St. Louis-Stuttgart Volksmarch Club) with the help of the Illinois Trekkers Volkssport Club and the World Wide Walkers, an Oklahoma Club!  Events commence in Boonville, MO, at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday (May 26th) and continue to occur until Monday, May 28th, Memorial Day.  Aside from uniformly beautiful trails and walks and a social event/mixer on Sunday evening at about 6:30 p.m., you will have the opportunity to walk on Warm Springs Ranch, where all of the Budweiser Clydesdales are bred, born and raised.  For additional information about Miles 'n' Missouri contact Missy McBride, Clay-Platte Trackers, @ missymcbride@kc.rr.com or Deb Kruep, Illinois Trekkers, @ debmarkkreup@yahoo.com.

STARTING POINT 2013 - This year only, pre-orders for clubs and individuals will be accepted and will not be billed until the Starting Point 2013 books arrive. The deadline for pre-orders is no later than midnight Sunday, July 1. The deadline is necessary for the publisher to ensure books will be delivered before Christmas.   All orders will be shipped from the AVA Headquarters. Estimated time of delivery is after Thanksgiving – early December.

2012 South Central Region Round-Up - October 5th-7th -  Most of you are aware that planning for the 2012 South Central Region Round-Up in the Kansas City (Kansas AND Missouri) area has been underway.  We certainly want to have you attend and to provide you all of the information that you might need to enable that (for any additional information, contact me, Ken Miles, @ AVA.SCRD@hotmail.com, Missy McBride, Clay-Platte Trackers, @ missymcbride@kc.rr.com,  Barb Ramsay, Pace Setters Volkssport Club,  @ bramsay55@gmail.com, or Lucy Yother,  @ yotherl@yahoo.com), but frankly, this blast has an ulterior motive;  IF your Club is considering or might consider sponsoring the 2014 South Central Region Round-Up, please let me know at the earliest opportunity!  

Ken
Ken Miles

AVA SC Region Director

918-745-0212

The State of Two States

THE STATE OF TWO STATES - On Saturday, May 19th, Holy Family Walkers of Lawton, Oklahoma, will be celebrating the "Red River Ramble" with walks in BOTH Oklahoma AND Texas. At Pavilion #2 in the park at Lake Frederick, OK, Saturday morning's event will start (9:00 a.m. to Noon). Lake Frederick is about 50 miles west of Lawton. The AVA South Central Region Director's Stamp will be available at Lake Frederick for all who are or would like to do the SNOB Stamps Program. After completing the Oklahoma leg of the Red River Ramble, head south for about 35 miles and across the Red River to the Holy Family Walkers Texas event, starting (Noon to 3:00 p.m.) at the Chaparral Activities Center, 4400 Augusta Street in Vernon, TX. The AVA South West Region Director's Stamp will be available at Vernon. THANK YOU Holy Family Walkers for taking on the task of providing us events in two states on one weekend!

EVENT STAMP HANDLES - Some AVA Clubs have discovered a new way to be accessed a $15.00 fine by the AVA. They are not protecting the stamp handles. These clubs are writing“Front”, “Back”, or the name of the event on the stamp handles using some type of permanent ink marker or an individual working the Finish Table lays the stamp handle flat on an ink pad and presses down hard, resulting in the stamp handle becoming the same color as the entries in the IVV event /distance books.

To prevent paying a fine of $15.00, just spend a few minutes prior to your event by protecting the stamp handle. Perhaps by wrapping your stamp handle in some type of plastic wrap. Write the name of your event on a paper label which you affix to the front of the stamp handle or to a plastc baggie in which you store the stamp.  This will definitely protect the AVA event stamp handle from damage. Just remember to remove any plastic wrap, paper label and tape that you affix to the stamp prior to returning it to AVA Headquarters.

CLUBS CANNOT CHECK THEIR YEAR-ROUND OR SEASONAL EVENT ROUTES OFTEN ENOUGH - One AVA Region's seasonal walks have had three major changes to the trail directions in the last six weeks.  Seems like the people (walkers?) are replacing or moving signs or even moving the location of rest benches. YRE Sponsoring Club Members must check the trail directions constantly.  You may ask volksmarchers attending your year-round or seasonal events to inform your Club of possible problem areas or changes they have observed to your trail directions while walking, but nothing substitutes for hands-on inspection.

 

Ken
Ken Miles

AVA SC Region Director

918-745-0212