| 380th Bomb Group Association |
NEWSLETTER #1 -- December 1999 |
Compatriots and Friends,
As Tom Hunt has explained, in his letter in the last newsletter of the previous Association, our officers and directors felt that they had to give up our incorporation as the 380th Bombardment Group Association, Inc. because of potential liabilities to those involved since much of the work of running the Association was carried out in private homes. He has explained the procedure involved in his letter. They had assumed that this would mean the end of our reunions, with Tucson 1999 being the last one. However, as you know, the members voted at that reunion that they did not want to stop.
It is necessary in developing a new format to make certain we don't give the impression of trying to bypass Internal Revenue Service rules. Thus we should do the following:
1. Change the name of our organization, if only slightly.
2. Do not have the same formal officer structure as before.
3. We need funding to finance the publication of our quarterly newsletters and our historical studies, but we cannot have a dues fund as in the past.
We are therefore proposing the following as outlined by Tom in his earlier letter:
1. Barbara Gotham and I will prepare and mail the Quarterly Newsletter.
2. We have made an arrangement with Carnevale & Associates, Inc., to handle our reunion arrangements. Pat Carnevale has informed us she is working on a Fall 2000 date in San Antonio as we requested in Tucson (see her letter enclosed).
3. Carnevale & Associates has offered to handle our bank account for us without charge. They would then reimburse our publishing and mailing costs to us from this fund.
Just as with the Association, we must have funds to publish and mail the Society newsletter. Your dues as members provided this means for the Association. We understand that we must not call members' fees "dues" in the new organization. We are therefore proposing the following to avoid IRS problems:
1. You are asked to make a donation of $20.00 (same as Association dues).
2. As noted above, Carnevale & Associates will handle our bank account for us at no charge, so please make out your checks to "Carnevale & Associates" but mark your checks "For 380th Bomb Group," so it can be earmarked for our fund.
3. In addition to providing the account, Carnevale & Associates will report all "donations" to us to form our membership rolls.
4. Those who have already sent contributions to me for the Rosters will be considered as having joined up this year.
Pat Carnevale has given us her report on the reunion negotiations in San Antonio. See below. We look forward to returning there for a memorable occasion; the dates selected are November 8-12, 2000.
Please be sure to send me your address changes, Taps, and other pertinent Society news to be published in our quarterly newsletters.
To preserve the memory of the 380th.
Sincerely,
Theodore J. (Ted) Williams