Gerry Berger AVHOFS President Class of 2016

Dear Patriots,

The excitement of March awaits us as many, many events occur in our state and I hope you will participate in some of them in your community too.

I have been asked to provide some information on the business cards many of us possess that includes the Arizona Veterans Hall of Fame symbol.  If you wish to order them, contact Scott Bagley. His info is: desertmoongraphics@gmail.com.  In the past, he has charged $25.00 plus $5.00 shipping for 250 cards.

Please note that nominations for the Arizona Veterans Hall of Fame are due no later than the 31st of March once again for the 2020 Class of Inductees.  Obtain all the information from the Unified Arizona Veterans website: azuav.org including the updated Nomination Form.  See an article from Dylan Dalzotto, Chairman of the UAV in this edition.

By now you should have received the SAVE THE DATE postcard.  Jim Monroe provides further information on the Luncheon in this Patriot. 

A reminder once again to please inform us if you know of someone who is ill or needs a phone call as well as inform us when you have an address, telephone change too. 

Once again, the Society is recruiting a Secretary to perform our much appreciated secretarial duties so if interested, please email me at: bergergerry@hotmail.com.

I also look forward to seeing photographs and stories you submit for publication in our Patriot.  Please continue with your efforts.

Thank you for all you do for Veterans.

Gerry Berger
Aspire to Inspire before you Expire

Jim Monroe AVHOFS Vice President Class of 20164

Exciting news for all:  This year’s annual AVHOFS awards event is coming soon! In previous years, this event has been identified as the AVHOFS GALA.  It was an evening dinner followed by presentation of four specific Copper Awards and numerous scholarships.  This year, the event is being held as a mid-day lunch event where the Copper Awards and Scholarships will be presented. 

Of special interest is the reduced registration fee for AVHOFS Members.  Additionally, this reduced fee will be extended to the member’s spouse or one guest.  The PAL starts at 1100 with a Reception, a perfect opportunity to connect with your friends, fellow members and others.  The doors to the main event open at noon when all will be seated.  Lunch will be served followed by the awarding of scholarships and the presentation of the four Copper Awards.  The program will finish around 2p.m. and we will then be grateful for another very successful AVHOFS Patriotic Awards Program.

This is the major event of the year for the AVHOFS.  I encourage each of you to commit to attending your PAL.  Registration is easy, either online or by mail, and you will be glad you came.

REGISTER ONLINE     GET FORM TO REGISTER BY MAIL

HONOREES

Copper Sword
Kristine Huskey – Director, Veterans Advocacy Law Clinic

Copper Eagle
Hospice of the Valley

Copper Shield
Mark Cardenas - Past AZ House Representative, Army Veteran

Copper Star
Drew Trojanowski - Veteran Advocate, Army National Guard

Scholarships Veterans, VA Students and Veteran Heritage Project

Friday, May 8, 2020
Doubletree Resort by Hilton Hotel Paradise Valley – Scottsdale 5401 North Scottsdale Road Scottsdale, Arizona 85205

Reception 11 AM
Lunch and Program 12 PM – 2 PM
Convenient Self-Parking or Complimentary Valet
* No-host Bar *
Event Photographer on Site Meal Choices: Herb-Crusted Ranch Chicken
OR Vegetarian/Gluten Free upon Request
All meals served with salad, vegetables and dessert

Early Bird Prices Through April 14
$40 pp – AVHOFS Member and One Guest
$50 pp – Non-Members

Last-Chance Prices from April 15 Through April 30
$50 pp – AVHOFS Member and One Guest
$60 pp – Non-Members

Full Table (10 seats) through April 30 $500
Absolutely No Purchases at the Door * No Refunds after April 30 * Open-Seating

REGISTER ONLINE     GET FORM TO REGISTER BY MAIL

Jerry Wojtas AVHOFS Treasurer Class of 2011

Not a lot of activity during the month of Feb. and that helped your Society treasurer cope with his personal health issues.

Almost a complete turnaround after our fantastic January.  The new Challenges mean that individual entries could change by color or type size and from month to month.

We want to be certain that your money gets to where you wanted it to go.  And the mailing address to always use is:
Arizona Veterans Hall of Fame
2980 S. Alma School Road, Ste, A2-619
Chandler, AZ 85248-5545

Black - up to $100  GREEN - $101-$199   BLUE - $200-$299   RED - $300 and above

The Country Store opens on 15 March and will remain open until the end of April.  It will then be closed again until mid-September.  Feel free to browse the store items anytime at www.avhof.org.

Roy McClymonds
AVHOFS Quartermaster
Class of 2017

Dylan Dalzotto UAV Chair Class of 2015

Phoenix, Arizona - The Arizona Veterans Hall of Fame (AVHOF) located in Phoenix, Arizona, seeks to recognize Arizonans, living and posthumous, who have worn the uniform of our Nation's Armed Forces, and have made significant contributions to their community, Arizona, or the Nation outside of their military service.  These contributions may be in the areas of veterans’ advocacy, professional, civic, political, or other contributions of an outstanding nature.

Regarding eligibility for nomination to the Arizona Veterans Hall of Fame, the Nominee must be of good moral character, have no felony convictions, and must have been born in, or entered military service from, Arizona; or lived in Arizona for a minimum of five years.  (Satisfaction of the residency requirement is based upon meeting the criteria by the nomination application deadline of March 31st).  The Nominee must also have honorably served as verified by a U.S. Military service document (Item D-2).  The AVHOF recognizes Medal of Honor Recipients who meet these criteria.    

Complete details are posted on the UAV website: www.azuav.org such as the Guidelines and the Format and Sequence of the Nomination Packet. 

The Arizona Veterans Hall of Fame Class of 2020 Induction Ceremony will be held during the last two weeks of October 2020.  Induction Ceremony details will be posted on the UAV website www.azuav.org in August 2020.  Veterans, military, and the public are invited to the Induction Ceremony with luncheon. 

For general information, please contact Carol Culbertson, Secretary, Unified Arizona Veterans, at email: secretary@azuav.org or telephone (602) 799.9480.  Nominators who do not have access to the website, please telephone Secretary Culbertson at (602) 799-9480 to request that the Nomination Form and Criteria/Guidelines be mailed to you. 

Media Point of Contact:
Dylan Dalzotto, UAV Chair
Email:  chair@azuav.org

Lee Lange AVHOFS Director Class of 2018

The Arizona state legislature is now in the second month of its current session.  There are two important veterans’ issues being considered by the legislature.  The first seeks an increase in funding for six additional Veteran Benefits Counselor (VBC) positions.  The Arizona Department of Veterans Services (ADVS) currently has funding for 30 of its 42 authorized VBC positions.  VBCs are critical to helping veterans develop and file claims for disability, pension, and other veteran benefits. SB1044, sponsored by Sen David Livingston calls for six new VBC’s.  It was passed by the Senate on February 4 and sent to the House for further action. A similar bill, HB2139, sponsored by Representative Jay Lawrence, passed the House Appropriations Committee on February 12.

The second issue is a proposal that calls for full exemption of military retired pay from state taxes for some 50,000 veterans in Arizona.  This $45M Initiative would be retroactive to tax year 2020. Companion bills have been introduced in both houses of the legislature.  The Senate champion, Senator David Gowan, has introduced SB1237 which has been passed by the Appropriations Committee on February 4 and now goes to the full Senate for consideration.  House champion, Representative Gail Griffin, has introduced HB 2667 which was first taken up in The Ways and Means Committee on February 19 as this article was being submitted.

Governor Ducey supports both initiatives in his 2021 Executive Budget.

Arizona Fair Lending Campaign Suspended

The Arizona Fair Lending Campaign highlighted in the January Patriot, has been suspended after Arizona state courts rejected a legal challenge by the campaign.  The legal challenge requested relief from the “strikeout” provision that could require ballot signature gatherers to appear in court if challenged by opposition groups.  This threatened to add more than $1M in travel and court costs to the campaign which were not affordable.  The court ruling has been appealed but the timing of the final decision is unknown, and action to suspend the campaign was required now.
The Arizona Fair Lending Campaign was led by a coalition of charitable, faith based and military service organizations  whose goal was to include a ballot initiative on the November 2020 ballot to limit the interest rate on car title loans in Arizona to 36% vice the 204% now allowed by state law.  Despite the set-back, the Fair Lending Coalition is considering alternatives to fixing the problem of title loans and will be back in action in the future.

By April 1, 2020, every home will receive an invitation to participate in the 2020 Census. You will have three options for responding: online, by phone, by mail. The census is an important tool in planning for our community’s future-including healthcare, roads, and more.  

WHAT HAPPENS TO MY INFORMATION?
Your responses to the 2020 Census are safe, secure, and protected by federal law. Answers can only be used to produce statistics. They cannot be used against you by any government agency or court in any way—not by the FBI, not by the CIA, not by the DHS, and not by ICE.
The Census isn’t only required by the U.S. Constitution, it’s critical for our state’s future. Census results touch nearly every element of our lives for the next decade, including our roads, schools, and community programs.

RISK OF UNDERCOUNT
An undercount of Arizonans would result in a direct loss of millions of dollars per year to Arizona for critical programs across the state.

ARIZONA’S REPRESENTATION
AZ Census 2020 also affects Arizona’s representation at every level of government from our cities and towns to Washington, DC. In addition, the lines that determine our political boundaries will be set based on the results of the 2020 census.

UNDERCOUNTED COMMUNITIES
Arizona has historically seen underrepresented counts for young children, multi-family housing residents, military families, non-native English speakers, low-income residents, minorities and rural residents.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT AZCENSUS2020.GOV

Respectfully,
Nicole Baker
Assistant Deputy Director - Public and Intergovernmental Affairs
Arizona Department of Veterans’ Services

IN MEMORY OF LLOYD W. KILMER

Lloyd W. Kilmer, WWII Air Corps, Class of 2004, medallion and the certificate are now taking pride of place near the entrance to the Grand Canyon Room of the Sun City West Foundation.  Lloyd passed on the 6th of January 2016.

Standing near the photograph of Lloyd’s medallion and certificate is Phil Hanson who also was inducted into the Arizona Veterans Hall of Fame Class of 2004.

Chuck Schluter AVHOFS Past President Class of 2007

The first program adopted by the Arizona Veterans Hall of Fame Society was our Scholarship Program.  Our scholarships are awarded to Veterans, currently serving military, college bound High School seniors who are Veterans Administration volunteers or Veterans Heritage Project participants.

The scholars are exceptional, and your annual support is sincerely appreciated. As our recipient scholars brought their experiences to us, their continuing contributions are yet to be measured in full, because each and every one of them, like you, aspire to do more. 

Our scholarships for 2020 will be awarded on May 8th during the Patriotic Awards Luncheon.  Veteran applications will be accepted up to February 28th and may be downloaded from www.avhof.org.  VA Administrators and VHP cadre submit separately.

Scholarship Committee members are Chairman Scott Essex, Copper Sword Recipient; Christine Mahon, AVHOFS Board of Directors; Kathy Laurier, former Director; Rob Welch, UAV Scholarship Chair and former UAV Chairman, and Chuck Schluter, former AVHOFS President.  If you have questions, please call Chuck at 480 419-8501.

Request you let us know as soon as you know of an inductee’s passing.  If available, we would like to know the inductee’s name, date of passing, funeral and memorial service details, and a copy of the obituary.  Send notices to Gerry Berger at bergergerry@hotmail.com

Known members that have passed in 2020:
None

Many of our Society members are very active in their communities.  You are invited to send me articles with pictures of our “members in action”.  Be sure to identify the members in the pictures.  We will select a few of the best for publication.  Please send to me (tom Hessler) at tjhessler@cox.net.

I am planning to end my career as editor effective the end of 2020.  If anyone is interested in taking on the editor position, please email me or call (520) 227-0545 so we can discuss the position.  There is no travel involved.  I have done this out of my home in Sierra Vista.