VETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS DEPARTMENT OF IOWA OCTOBER 2015 GENERAL ORDERS No. 4 ************************************************************************************* 1. GENERAL ORDERS: Are to be read at the Post Meeting and posted in your Post. 2. FALL POW-WOW: The Fall Pow-Wow will be Friday Oct. 2, 2015 Sunday, Oct. 4, 2015 at the Meskwaki Bingo Casino Hotel in Tama, Iowa. There will be a buffet style Banquet Saturday night, Oct. 3, 2015 at 7 pm. There will be a Social Mixer beginning at 6:15 pm before the meal. NO BEVERAGES, ALCOHOLIC OR NON-ALCOHOLIC, ARE TO BE BROUGHT INTO OR TAKEN FROM THE CASINO HOTEL. 3. QUARTERMASTER CLASS TO BE GIVEN AT FALL POW-WOW: There will be a Quartermaster Class at the VFW Fall Pow-Wow on Saturday Oct. 3, 2015 at 8 am. The class will be about the Online Membership System (OMS). We encourage all Quartermasters to attend the class so they are better prepared to help the members of their Post. 4. SERVICE OFFICER CLASS TO BE GIVEN AT THE VFW FALL POW-WOW: There will be a Service Officer Class at the Fall Pow-Wow after the QM Class. We have scheduled them at different times so that you have the option to attend both if you would like to do so. There will be a class on FDC, Fully Developed Claims, and other important information. We encourage all Post Service Officers & Commanders to attend the Service Officer class so they will be better prepared to answer questions. 5. CHAPLAINS CLASS TO BE HELD AT FALL POW-WOW: Department Chaplain Stuart Juarez will be conducting a Post Chaplains class at Fall Pow-Wow. The class will be held at 10 am in the Red Earth Room at the Meskwaki Convention Center. We encourage all Post Chaplains to attend this informative class. 6. BIG TEN CONFERENCE: The Department of Iowa will be hosting the 2015 Big Ten Conference to be held October 16-18, 2015 in Bettendorf, Iowa at the Isle of Capri Casino Hotel. Let s work together and make this a very successful and memorable Big Ten Conference. Page 1 of 5
7. TEACHER OF THE YEAR: The Teacher of the Year deadlines have changed please see the Program Deadlines that are attached to the General Orders. Teacher of the Year is a requirement to be All-State. 8. QUARTERMASTER BOND: All bonds that have not been renewed have expired as of September 1, 2015. If you have not renewed your Bond you need to do so IMMEDIATELY! The cost of the Bond has increased to $8 (eight) dollars per thousand. The application for the Quartermaster and Men s Auxiliary Treasurer Surety Bond is attached please fill out and send to Headquarters. If you are not Bonding with the Department fill out the name of your agent, amount of Bond and Expiration date and send in. District 1: Post 2271, 3508, 3949,10102 Men s Aux. 1565, & 2271 District 2: Post 8883, 9664, Men s Aux. 828, District 3: Post 733, 839, 4013, 4868, 5227, 6607, 7920 District 4: Post 2237, 4716 & Men s Aux. 2237 District 5: Post 2060, 2099, 8879, 12105, District 5 QM, Men s Aux 738 & 9127 District 6: Post 817, 1856, 2504, District 6 QM District 7: Post 2694 & 7224 District 8: Post 590, 1750, 1973, 4514 & 4704 District 9: Post 1977, 3771 & 5139 District 10: Post 2541, 3388, 4370, 4512 & 5232. 9. POST ASSESSMENT: The Post Assessment for 2015-2016 will be $1.00 per member based on last year s Adjusted Membership total. The deadline to pay your Post Assessment is Oct. 15, 2015. If your Post achieved 100% in membership by June 30, 2015, your Post does not have to pay the Post assessment. This will be shown on the Status Report block as 100%. Posts that have not paid their Post assessments as of the date of these General Orders are: District 1: Post 2561, 3508, 3949, 5166, 7641, & 10102 District 2: Post 788,1683, & 4077 District 3: Post 733, 839, 1623, 1886, 3914, 3974, 4013, 4069, 4868, 5661, 6607, 6779, & 7920 District 4: ALL PAID District 5: Post 2060, 2099, 9127, 12105 District 6: Post 1856, 1899, 2349, 3930 District 7: Post 737, 2694, 5949, & 7244 District 8: Post 590, 1973, 3159, 3328, 6129, 6537, 6960, & 7373 District 9: Post 1977, 2440, 3771, 3902, 5139, 5603, 5981, 7736, & 9663 District 10: Post 2541, 3388, 3533, 4071, 4244, 4370, 5232, 5240, 5515, 6161, & 7083. 10. DELINQUENT STATE CONVENTION REGISTRATION: There are Posts that haven t paid their 2015 State Convention Registration. The registration fee is $5.00. Please correct this issue immediately! Those Posts are: District 3 : Post 6607 District 4: Post 526 District 5: 2209 & 12105 District 8 Post 1750 & 1973. 11. STATE FAIR BOOTH DONATIONS: The Department is in need of donations for the Fair Booth. Individuals, Posts, or Auxiliaries willing to donate, please send your checks to Department of Iowa, Attn: Jerry Black, QM, 3601 Beaver Avenue, Des Moines, IA 50310. Any donation will be greatly appreciated and help to defer the cost of the booth. 12. NATIONAL HOME BUS TRIP: We have seats available for the Department of Iowa bus trip to the VFW National Home for Children in Eaton Rapids, Michigan. The remaining seats will be first come first serve. We will be leaving on Oct. 23, 2015 and will return the night of Oct. 24, 2015. The cost of a seat on the bus is $40 per person and the cost of the hotel in Page 2 of 5
Charlotte, Michigan is $105 per night. You may call 517-541-5000 to make your hotel room reservation. If you would like to go please send your payment, made payable to VFW Iowa, to VFW Iowa Headquarters, 3601 Beaver Ave, Des Moines, IA 50310. Be sure to make your hotel reservation by Sept. 23, 2015. 13. VFW IOWA LICENSE PLATES: The Iowa Department of Transportation committee has approved our custom license plate. The application for the VFW license plate along with instructions will be sent with the General Orders. The application and instructions will also be available at the Fall Pow-Wow. Auxiliary members may also purchase the plate. 14. STATE COMMANDER HOLDEN S MEMBERSHIP PROGRAM BOOK: State Commander Travis Holden s membership program book has been emailed to everyone on the Headquarters email list. There will also be copies available at the Quartermaster class and the registration desk at the 2015 VFW Fall Pow-Wow in Tama. 15. DEADLINE FOR IOWA VOICE ARTICLES: The deadline for placing articles in the next issue of the Iowa Voice is Oct. 31, 2015. Department officers, don t forget to send in your article for the Voice. If sending a photo, please email it to iowavfwvoice@aol.com in jpeg format. Please indicate who is in the photo and the event it was taken at. 16. BUDDY POPPIES: Place your orders EARLY, AT LEAST 90 DAYS IN ADVANCE OF YOUR DISTRIBUTION DATE. Every Post should be able to receive donations for at least 1,000 Poppies, which is also a requirement for All State Award. Buddy Poppy prices for 500 poppies are $72.50 and 1,000 are $145. Many Posts are not sending their orders in early enough to receive them prior to their scheduled date. GET THEM IN AT LEAST 90 DAYS IN ADVANCE OF YOUR DISTRIBUTION DATE. 17. DEFECTIVE BUDDY POPPIES: For adjustment purposes, it is necessary to report all quality problems and shortages concerning the buddy poppies to Nelda Clifton (816) 968-1148 or nclifton@vfw.org, in the VFW Programs Department, within 30 days of receiving the order. After receiving your poppy order, you will need to check it as soon as possible for defective poppies and any shortages. After 30 days, no adjustments will be made. If a Post fails to report that they haven t received their Buddy Poppy order within 90 days from the date of the invoice to their Department Headquarters, they will not be replaced. 18. PARTNERS IN PATRIOTISM PROGRAM: This program benefits both Post and Department. You can sign up to donate a minimum of $10, or more, once a year and the entire proceeds come back to the Department. I have attached a form for your use. Post Commanders please hand this form out at your Post meeting. If every member in the Department of Iowa gave just $10 a year to this program, we would have over $180,000 to help veterans and their families. 19. VOICE OF DEMOCRACY/PATRIOT S PEN: The new school year has started. Now is the time to present the schools with Voice of Democracy and Patriot s Pen program information. The Voice of Democracy program is for grades 9 th - 12th. Patriot s Pen program is for grades 6th - 8th. Voice of Democracy Student Entry Deadline to the Post: November 1, Page 3 of 5
2015. Patriot s Pen Student Entry Deadline to the Post: November 1, 2015. Themes for each program are: Voice of Democracy My Vision for America Patriot s Pen What Freedom Means to Me The point of contact for the Patriots Pen is VFW Chairman Gary O Daniels, 1204 N. Cedar St., Creston, IA 50801, 641-782-8907, godaniels@iowatelecom.net. The point of contact for the Voice of Democracy programs is VFW Chairman Tara Knight- Sconiers, 2343 York St, Des Moines, IA 50316, 515-771-4233, taraknight69@gmail.com. 20. POST 9668 AUXILIARY: Urbandale/Johnston VFW Post 9668 is no longer a bachelor Post! The institution of their new VFW Auxiliary will be on October 12, 2015 at 6:30 pm. It will take place at VFW Post 9127, 4029 Urbandale Avenue in Des Moines. All VFW members and VFW Auxiliary members are welcome to join in on the event as they institute Iowa s newest VFW Auxiliary. 21 ELECTION DAY: November 3, 2015 is Election Day. Please study all the facts and examine each candidate as to what they are going to do for Veterans. This affects all of us so consider who you should vote for carefully. 22. GENERAL ORDERS EMAIL: General Orders will be sent via Email. Please send your e-mail address to Department Headquarters at vfwiowa@qwestoffice.net if you have not done so and wish to receive them. Post Commanders and Quartermasters please ensure we have your email address on file. If you do not have email, please contact your District Commander for a printed copy. Department Headquarters no longer snail mails General Orders as of July 1, 2013. 23. INSPECTIONS: District Commanders your attention is directed to Section 517 of the Manual of Procedure, which states that each Post shall be inspected at least once during the year. Please make sure all the Posts in your District are inspected and report them in a timely manner rather that accumulating reports for 100% mailing. Please send completed Reports to State Inspector Danny White, 1309 S.E. University Ave., #207, Waukee, IA 50263. Please send white copy only. 24. VETERANS & MILITARY SUPPORT PROGRAM: For questions or concerns about connecting with Iowa Military Units, Adopt A Unit, Uplink Phone Calling, Unmet Needs (soldier/military assistance), Post Donor Cards, and MAP Grants for your Post/Auxiliary, contact VMSP Chairman Pat Stark at vfw.patstark@gmail.com or 641-780-9929. Please consider making a donation to Veterans & Military Support Program today. Regarding Operation Uplink, contact Uplink Chairman Pat Stark if you request a phone card for a hospitalized veteran who is in any hospital or nursing home other than one of the VAMF s. 25. POST DUES RESERVE FUND: Attention is directed to section 218, Manual of Procedure, which mandates Post Quartermasters to maintain a dues reserve fund to which shall be credited not less than one-half of the Post s part of the current year s (2015-2016) dues paid by each member prior to July 1, including Life Membership per capita taxes received from National on account of Life Members. Post Quartermaster shall not disburse nor shall an Page 4 of 5
obligation be incurred against this fund until after July 1, at which time it shall be transferred to the Post s General Fund and be available for expenditure. 26. VFW NATIONAL HOME: If you are making donations for Iowa Cottage at the VFW National Home, please make checks payable to VFW NATIONAL HOME for CHILDREN earmarked for the Iowa Cottage. 27. CHECKS SENT TO DEPARTMENT (STATE) HQ s: When forwarding your checks to VFW State Headquarters, please earmark or indicate what the check is to be used for: Hospital Fund, VOD Fund, Disaster Fund, etc. 28. CHANGE OF MEETING LOCATION OR TIME: Any Districts or Posts changing their meeting date, location or time are required to notify the State HQ as soon as possible so that the information can be published. A change of Post officers require the submission of a new election report immediately after the new officers have taken their respective post position. 29. MARK YOUR CALENDARS! 2016 Mid-Winter Conference will be January 22-24, 2016 at Lakeside Casino Hotel, 777 Casino Drive Osceola, IA 50213. Room rates are not available at this time. Department of Iowa 95 th Annual State Convention will be June 2-5, 2016 at the Grand Harbor Resort Hotel, 350 Bell St., Dubuque, IA 52001. Room rates are $80 Thursday & Friday night, $129 Saturday night, plus tax. 2016 Fall Pow-Wow will be October 7-9, 2016 at Lakeside Casino Hotel, 777 Casino Drive Osceola, IA 50213. Room rates are not available at this time. Department of Iowa 96 th Annual State Convention will be June 1 4, 2017 at the 5 Sullivan Brothers Convention Center, 205 W. 4 th St, Waterloo, IA 50701. Room rates at the Ramada Inn are $95.99 plus tax. OFFICIAL: Jerry Black State Adjutant-Quartermaster VFW Department of Iowa TH/jb By Order of: Travis W. Holden Department Commander VFW Department of Iowa Page 5 of 5