OLAN (Oklahoma Legislative Association of NARVRE)

Chairman                                     Carl Mallonee

1st Vice Chairman                         Arnold Thompson

2nd Vice Chairman                        Jim Blakely

Secretary/Treasurer                      Sandra Stuart

State Legislative Representative    Sandra Stuart

Meet 3rd Friday Quarterly - January, April, July and October - at 12:00 AM at Jim's Restaurant, corner of Hwy 66 and NW Council, Bethany OK. Lunch available before or after meeting.

The April meeting relayed updated information on high-speed passenger rail service, with pictures of an existing Bombardier Jet Train Turbo-Electric High Speed Passenger Locomotive in existence today. With the national spotlight on rail service, additional interest and support are being given to expanding passenger rail lines from Oklahoma to Kansas and the rest of the national Amtrak system. NARVRE is supporting these efforts and contacting national and state congressional leaders to add their support to this enhanced rail vision for OK and KS.

The next OLAN Meeting will be held July 17th, 2009, at Jim's Restaurant; all NARVRE members and their guests are invited to attend.

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NARVRE Unit 93, Shawnee OK

President                                   Doyle Wasson

1st Vice President                      Maxine Marzuola

2nd Vice President                     John Permetter

Secretary                                  Leotta Talley

Treasurer                                  Doyle Wasson

Unit Legislative Representative  Jim Townsend

Meet 2nd Wednesday of each month at 11:00 AM at the Cinderella Motel Restaurant, Shawnee OK.

Unit #93 has been donated two hand-carved teakwood Steam Engine replicas with tender for raffling in August/September 2009. The Rock Island Technical Society (RITS) provided members J. W. and Greta Stephenson with these replicas, with one for Shawnee's NARVRE Unit to raffle and one for El Reno's NARVRE Unit to raffle. Tickets are $1 each, with proceeds to be split between RITS and the applicable unit. Contact J.W. or Greta Stephenson of Unit 93 at 918-297-2110 or Sandy Stuart of Unit 145 at 405-262-5893 for tickets.

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NARVRE Unit 145, El Reno OK

President                                    Bill Webb

1st Vice President                       Barbara Higdon

2nd Vice President                      Bill Flippen

Secretary/Treasurer                    Sandra Stuart

Unit Legislative Representative    John Higdon

Meet 1st Monday of each Month at 10:30 AM at Redlands Community College, El Reno OK.

At the last unit meeting John Higdon, Unit Legislative Representative, presented information about a little-known Veterans' benefit for help with long-term care expenses for both Veterans and their spouses/widows. The special Pension for Veterans Aid and Attendance pays up to $1,644 month toward assisted living, nursing homes or in-home care for veterans 65 and older who served at least 90 days, plus one day, during wartime (statewide or overseas).

Widows of deceased Veterans can receive up to $12,681 annually, with both Veterans and their spouses receiving up to $23,396 annually. Operation Veteran Aid in Oklahoma City OK helps with completion of the necessary forms so approval can be received in 4-6 months.

Veterans who are blind or have memory issues and widows with medical needs receive expedited processing. All Veterans and their widows may receive additional information on this benefit by calling Operation Veteran Aid at 703-3849 or see information at www.VeteranAid.org or www.va.gov. Learning more about the special veterans' pension may allow a better quality of life in later years for all NARVRE Veterans' and other families.