President's Blast

March 7, 2017
 
Riders and Supporters Nationwide,
 
I hope this finds everyone doing well!
 
Since August 2016, we’ve opened 7 new chapters and 1 new department. Welcome to all of you! We are very pleased to have you join our Riders family! If you have any questions, concerns or need help, please don’t hesitate to contact us. If you have a Department, please refer your questions to them first. If you don’t have a Department, please contact National.
 
NATIONAL RIDERS WEBSITE: Be sure and check out our National Riders Website. It has a lot of good useful info. It has all our forms, our National Quartermaster, Laura Stenson’s info; the new Unified Constitution and By-Laws (CBL’s) and much more. amvetsridersnational.org.
 
NATIONAL LOTTERY TICKETS: You can order them online or contact Tom McNamara, National 2nd Vice and he’ll make sure you get them. If you already have some, please try to sell them; that’s what helps keep us from raising the Riders dues. Remember, you can sell them to anyone: family, friends and neighbors.
 
DRFs: Nice job to the Departments and individual chapters who have sent them in! If you haven’t yet, please do so as soon as possible.
 
QUALITY CHAPTERS CRITERIA: The 5 areas that need to be met for Quality Chapter patch are: DRF in on time, REVAL in on time, recruit new member(s), participate in at least 1 National fund raiser and report your programs.
 
MID-YEAR RALLY: This is a very informative convention. If you can possibly come, you will enjoy it. This is the place where new ideas are formed, new friendships are formed, and old ones reunite. It will take place at Post 48 in Desoto, MO from May 5-7. Pre-registration forms are on the website. Print the form, fill it out and mail them, with your registration fee, to the National Riders Secretary. The cost is $10 if you pre-register by April 15th. Registration after the 15th and at the Rally is $20. T-shirts are also available for $15 each. Those must be paid for by April 15th so they can be ordered. Information about the rally is on the website.
Also remember: This year the hosting Chapter/Department for Mid-Year 2019 will be chosen. If your Chapter/Department would like to be considered to host the 2019 Mid-Year, the requirements and bidding guidelines can be found on the website under the events tab. Bids need to be postmarked  by April 1st.
 
SCHOLARSHIP AND DEATH BENEFIT FORMS: These forms are on our website now. Please take advantage of the Scholarship Program; the application has been revised. Also, if a Rider or Supporter has passed, please fill out that form. It doesn’t matter what caused their death. This program was implemented last fall, so you can fill out a form if someone has died since that time.
Thank you Riders and Supporters for all you do for our communities and veterans out there! Everyone stay safe! Hope to see you all in Missouri in May!
 
Don Cox,
Riders National President