With the warmer weather and people getting vaccinated, the board of directors has decided to hold our April Membership meeting in-person on Tuesday April 6th. Like last October’s and November’s meetings, we will be outdoors at Hilda and Willis Jones' Flat Duck Farm (7742 Three Notch Rd., Ringgold, GA 30736). No meal will be served, but you can come at 6:30pm to socially interact distantly, then the regular meeting will start at 7pm.
The news everyone has been awaiting: at the April meeting we will announce the dates and destinations of all trips and start sign-up for the western (non-Europe) trips. Scott Kramer has been working very hard to put together an excellent slate of trips, so bring your checkbook to be the first to sign up for a trip. As a teaser, you’ll be interested to know that starting at the May membership meeting you will be able to make trip payments by credit card, more information on that will be in next month's newsletter. For those of you who buy EPIC and/or IKON passes, there are advantages to purchasing them through our vendor, so please hold off until after the April meeting where details about these passes will be provided.
Also, at the April meeting we will be holding elections of officers (President, Vice President, Treasurer, and Secretary) for the 2021-2022 year. Jim Bates has agreed to be the Nominating Committee Chair for the election. If you are interested in running for one of these offices, please contact Jim at (706)-537-6331 or jimbates18@gmail.com.
Speaking of trips, don’t forget that beginning October 1st (just 6 months away) you must have a REAL ID (or passport) to board a domestic flight.
A REAL ID will cost the same as current Tennessee licenses and IDs. If it is time to renew your license, the cost to obtain a REAL ID driver license or Identification credential will be the standard renewal fee of an 8-year credential. However, if you are not within your renewal period and you wish to obtain a REAL ID compliant credential, you will be charged a duplicate fee. Federal law requires that your first application for a REAL ID compliant credential be made in person.
For details of what you need to get your REAL ID (for those of us blessed to live in Tennessee) see this website: REAL ID Requirements (tn.gov). To schedule an appointment to get a REAL ID in Tennessee use this link: Wizard Appointment -Units (cxmflow.com). For more information on TN and for information on other states see REAL ID | Homeland Security (dhs.gov) and on the US map that appears, click on your state.
Everyone should have received an email on March 12th reporting the passing of Betty Hubbs a long time member and caterer for our meetings when we met at Finley Stadium. When the email went out, we didn’t have any additional information, but since then Hilda has gotten the address of her husband, Fred Hubbs, should anyone want to send a card: 249 West Pine Valley Ln., Rotonda, FL 33947.
This is where I usually introduce new members, but we don’t have any this month. So we’ve all fallen down on our job of recruiting new members!
For those that attended, how did you like the virtual membership meeting last month? Hopefully we won’t have to do it again, but should the need arise, what, if anything, should be done differently? Let me know what you think.
Stay safe everyone,
Bob