News
Membership
Greetings, fellow Cacti! Many of you have viewed our website but have not yet joined us.
I have good news!
Annual Dues has been lowered to $20 for Annual Mail and $10 for
Annual Email Memberships. Annual Mail will get you a hard copy of our Cacti Times News while
Annual Email will get you a color copy of our great magazine.
We do not want to lose
contact with you after all these years, so please consider this offer. It makes no difference
who you served with and when/where you served; we have all walked the same ground!
Questions may be directed to Pete Birrow, Chairman Membership Committee, at Email Link
Here
Take Arms!
Cacti Forever!
Constitution and Bylaws
The new Constitution and Bylaws as passed by the Association members at the 2018 Reunion in
Portland, OR are posted under the Association tab above. For any questions please email Jim
Anderson at his Email address Here!
Credit Card Dues Payment?
Look!
Need Information on how to pay your Dues, Donations and Registration Fees Electronically?
Contact Association Secretary Don Johnson to find out how! Email Link
Here!
Scholarships
Most of us in the 35th Infantry Regiment Cacti Association would wish that
we could offer each qualified applicant to our scholarship program a full scholarship each year.
The financial realities, of course, are far short of this requiring some
rather severe compromises. But we must plan and work toward the best compromise we can obtain.
We ask the membership yearly to contribute toward a pot of funds that are
used to monetize these funds. We know that the membership often gets tired of being asked
again and again for help with this funding but at the same time most of us feel that this is
one of the most worthwhile things that we do.
So we will continue to ask and we may even step up our efforts in order to
be able to award the greatest amount of financial support to the largest number of qualified Cacti
family members.
Realistically at this time the best we may be able to do is to give out
one-time awards to a limited number of applicants. But if we work hard, and you are
generous, we may at least be able to increase the number of scholarships awarded in any given
year and perhaps even increase the dollar amount in some future years.
We need to do what we can to place this program on a solid foundation. Your
generosity is the key.
There are currently two different target fund sources in use to try and
maximize and stabilize our ability to award scholarships.
One is, of course, your donation to the Scholarship fund itself. The more
that you give to this fund the more scholarships we can award. A simple explanation of the
number of such awards that will be given is to take the total amount of scholarship funds available
at the end of a given year and then divide it by $2000. The whole number that results represents
the number of awards that can be given in the coming year. One of the awards is the Jim "Doc" Hall
Award, which gives an additional $500 to the top rated applicant of the year. So, for instance, if
we have $9,000 in the fund at the end of the year and we divide this by $2000 then we can award three
scholarships for $2000 and one for $2500 during the following year. However, if we have $5000 in the
fund at the end of the year, and divide by $2000 then we can only fund two scholarships, one for
$2000 and one for $2500.
The Scholarship Reserve
This brings us to the second of our funds. Confusing as it may seem it
is referred to as the "Scholarship Reserve" fund. This is our attempt to hedge against poorer years
for scholarship fund raising.
Basically, the idea here is to obtain commitments from those of us who can
afford this to pledge a certain amount of money per year to this "hedge" fund that will allow us
to comfortably set a minimum number of scholarships per year.
Currently we are looking at four scholarships as our minimum desirable
number. So in the case of the second example above, $5000 in the fund at the end of the year divided
by $2000 would allow for only two scholarships.
By using the "Scholarship Reserve" fund (assuming that it has enough funds
to do this) we would still be able to award the minimum number of four scholarships by utilizing
$3500 from the reserve fund.
So simply put, the "Scholarship Reserve" fund is a hedge to assure a minimum
number of scholarships every year while the Scholarship fund may allow us to go above the minimum
number of awards.
For those of us who feel that they can contribute a yearly amount to the
Scholarship Reserve, we would ideally ask that you pledge at least $100 per year over a
five year period. A larger contribution is, of course, welcome and even a larger contribution in
any given year would be beneficial (i.e. you give $100 annually for four years but find yourself
able to give $200 or more in the 5th year.)
Giving to the Scholarship Reserve should not preclude giving to the
Scholarship Fund. Any amount given to the scholarship fund is welcome and helpful and certainly
multiple contributions during the year, as you find yourself able to contribute, would be even
more helpful.
So there it is, our appeal to you to give until it hurts in an effort to
help the children and grandchildren of the Cacti. Sorry but you will hear from us again. Please
forgive us this intrusion. With your help we will make the best effort we can to help these kids.
NOT a Member? Or your Membership has Lapsed? Three times a year John
Lorts, Editor, and Bill Henson, Associate Editor, create 32-44 pages of your Cacti history and
news about our Active Cacti. As a Member you receive this excellent publication as a benefit.
If you haven't seen the Cacti Times in its full color version we have a treat for you. Follow
this link for a blast from the past. The 2014 Spring Edition: Click
HERE
to see what you are missing.
Can't wait to become a Member? Open and Print the Membership Form
HERE
WAR STORIES
The War Stories Section has turned into a huge success with over one
hundred stories written by our Cacti Members. Got a "Cacti War Story"? It can be a battle story, a
funny or sad story. Just put it down the way you remember it. If you want to use "creative license"
to embellish a little, you've got it. Only rule is not to be malicious.
Submit them to Wiley "Tiny" Dodd at
Email, today!
Health &
Welfare
Do YOU know someone in Need?
The Association's Health and Welfare Account currently has a very
positive balance. To date, there has been only one request for financial assistance. Obviously more
requests could be accommodated, but we have no knowledge of these situations. But maybe YOU can help
from today and into the future. Should you be aware of a Cacti Brother that has fallen on hard times,
suffered a loss such as a hurricane or a flood, has medical issues and is uninsurable, or anything
else that cries for help, please be his ombudsman. These Health and Welfare funds were donated by
you, our caring members, to be used for those in need not just to be saved for a rainy day. Please
let us know about your brothers in need.
If you know of someone in need, or are that someone, please contact Pete
Birrow by email by clicking
HERE.
ALL information is kept confidential.
