Important Message

Peter Duncan, Grand Chef de Gare

     I bring you greetings from the Grande, so much for the small talk.  I need your help.  Please take a few minutes to consider the following.
     I’m not exactly sure how it came about but it would appear to me, your Grand Chef, that I was blindsided in Clovis at our Fall Grandes Cheminots.  It happened so quickly that I almost missed it.  But, being a reasonably intelligent person, and after no less than a dozen Voyageurs Militaire got in my face about it I quickly surmised the danger I was in with regard to the future.
     I will not bore you into that future with the gruesome details, but I will summarize for your edification.  My mustache was placed into grave danger when some nefarious member, who shall remain nameless, somehow caused a notion to come before the membership and then got everyone to vote on it.  That notion stated, in part as follows, the Grand Chef, that would be me, will cause to have removed his facial hair located below his nose, should the Grande du California reach one hundred percent plus one in membership for 2011 - 2012.
     Looking back on it now, I can state that that was the good news.  The truly tragic part of that event came when I overheard a comment made by a Voyageur Militaire, someone that I respect and look up to, when he stated, kinda, that my sweet loving wife (of forty plus years) had volunteered to perform the dastardly deed of removal.  When I confronted Darlene with this information, I expected to hear a complete denial of those comments attributed to her.  I don’t think I misunderstood what she told me, but it went something like this, kinda, “Not only will I remove that thing but I will do it in front of anyone willing to watch and I will make it a fund raiser!”  I was speechless as her words reverberated in my ears while I detected a slight smile of victory on her face.  In front of everyone?  A fundraiser?  Who the heck would pay to see that?
     Here’s my dilemma; we must achieve a hundred percent, but I am not onboard with this mustache thing, which brings me to the reason for this email.  The last time I checked the website for Voiture Nationale, the Grande was not quite at 70%.  This is good for my mustache but not so good for the Grande.  In that spirit, I have a compromise.  How about I let everyone call me Mustache Pete, but you can only do that if I can keep my mustache once we reach 100 %.
     What say you to that?  I await your comments.  Please forward this email far and wide, I need all the support I can get with this endeavor.

   Yours in Service,
  Peter L Duncan (And future Mustache Pete to You)
  Phone: 805-750-0095; e-mail: Moorparkpost502@aol.com

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From Mike Wood - Directeur 2012 "I Salute You" Membership TEAM
 
     Below - I am sharing an article from the Grande du Ohio where they just wrecked a 24 year old Afghani War Veteran into Voiture Locale 20 as their newest Voyageur. I ask that you make your Grandes and Locales aware that there are younger veterans that can be recruited and this is picture proof. Not only is the new Voyageur, Josh Sommers a young veteran, he was also injured in an accident in Afghanistan and now is without vision, has partial hearing and his left side is paralyzed.
     I also ask that you keep this in your file and the next time a Voyageur says that they cannot recruit younger veterans because they are too busy raising families and working their jobs, you can show them this example. Voyageur Sommers joined the Forty and Eight and I think he probably has more obstacles in his path of life than raising a family or working a job. This may eliminate that excuse that has been conveniently used for a long time as a reason for not recruiting younger veterans.
     A Tip of my Chapeau to Voiture Locale 20, the Grande du Ohio and Grande Chef de Gare John Murphy for a JOB  WELL  DONE.

     On Sunday, December 11th, during Richland County Voiture Locale # 20's Family Christmas Gathering, they also received their newest and youngest member into La Societe.  Voyageur Joshua Sommers, a severely injured and disabled veteran from the Afghani War, who served with the 101 st Airborne, U. S. Army. An accident in Afghanistan left 24 year old Josh, without vision, partial hearing and his entire left side paralyzed - yet Voyageur Sommers said he doesn't regret his decision to join the United States Army for a second. "Life is what it is," "You can't control it or do anything to change what happens. So why worry about it? Just go on and keep living."
     THANK YOU JOSH, for your service,  Welcome Home and Welcome Aboard.

Above: Grand Chef de Gare Murphy gives the obligation to Afghani War Veteran
Joshua Sommers with the assistance of Voyageur Jim Stinehour, from Voiture # 20.

Above: Grand Chef de Gare Murphy presents and places on Voyageur
Sommers head his Chapeau, officially making him a Voyageur.

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Women Veterans Survey
 
     California's women veterans are being asked to participate in a follow-up survey to a report that was issued in 2009 by the CA Research Bureau, "California's Women Veterans: The Challenges and Needs of those who served."  The survey is jointly sponsored by the Bureau, the CA Department of Veterans Affairs, and the California Commission on the Status of Women.  The survey can be taken on-line or the survey can be filled out and mailed in.
 
          http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/PM2JFZD
 
Please pass on to your women veterans.
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Tax Exempt Issues
 
    Voiture Nationale has been informed that a special toll-free phone number has been established for a special IRS Office in Cincinnati. This particular IRS office houses a group of agents that have been especially training in Tax Exempt issues. It is suggested that any Voiture Locale that may currently be experiencing Tax Exempt related issues or problem, should contact his office and seek their assistance in solving the problem.
    It should be noted that the IRS office(s) that you have contacted or dealt with in the past may NOT have individuals who have received the special Tax Exempt training, and may not be able to address the related issues to the extent, and with the same authority as the group in Cincinnati. The toll-free phone number to contact the Cincinnati IRS office is (877) 829-5500.
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Nationale Sous Directeur Membership Region 1
La Societe des Quarante Hommes et Huit Chevaux
  Robert S. (Bob) Mattson  Phone # 707-644-6295 Email rsmattson@att.net

TEN  COMMANDMENTS  OF  THE  40 &  8

1. The Voyageur Militaire is the life blood of the Voiture and La Societe des Quarante Hommes et Huit Chevaux.
2. My fellow Voyageurs and I are La Societe des Quarante Hommes et Huit Chevaux without our active support it ceases to exist.
3. As a Voyageur Militaire, I am the representative of my Voiture Locale, Grand Voiture and Voiture Nationale, La Societe des Quarante Hommes et Huit Chevaux. Whatever I do or say reflects directly upon myself and my fellow Voyageurs Militaire.
4. As a Voyageur Militaire, I am responsible for what my Voiture Locale, Grand Voiture and Voiture Nationale stands for. It can be no more than what my fellow Voyageurs and I, together make it.
5. As a Voyageur Militaire, I should not criticize what my fellow Voyageurs do for the Forty and Eight unless I have a better suggestion and I am prepared to do it myself.
6. As a Voyageur Militaire, I must remember that the fact that I bear the title of a Forty and Eight Voyageur is not enough. I must continue to be an active member, and to be a Forty and Eight Voyageur.
7. As a Voyageur Militaire, I should treat my fellow Voyageurs with the respect, honor, and understanding that I would like to receive from them.
8. It is not my right to be a Voyageur Militaire, it is an honor. I should respect that Honor by abiding by all Forty and Eight precepts.
9. La Societe does me an honor by calling on me. I am not doing my Voiture a favor by serving. It is both an obligation and a privilege.
10. Whatever differences my fellow Voyageurs and I may have, we are all bound together by the bonds of our loyalty to our Voiture, to La Societe, and to all American Veterans.

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A Forty & Eighter is Many Things (A LOOK BACK IN TIME...)
 
    Between the manliness of serving his country, and sometime during the golden years to follow, we find a delightful fellow called a Forty et Eighter. Voyageurs come in all sizes, ages, drinking capacities, and from all walks of life. Forty et Eighters are found everywhere - on top of, hanging from, marching in, climbing, running, or presiding over and giving to others. Children love them, non-members hate them, wives tolerate them, newspapers misspell their names, nurses respect them, and heaven protects them. A Forty et Eighter is many things. He has the consumptive capabilities of a camel, the digestive qualities of a little boy, the energy of a rocket thrust, the imagination of a clown, the audacity of a pick pocket, the enthusiasm of a cheerleader, and the heart of a saint.
    A Forty et Eighter is fun with egg on his smock, camaraderie with beer in his belly, cockiness with a chapeau on his head, chivalry with a string around your legs, innocence with a buzzer on your hip, wisdom with his own version of the French language, hope with candy in his pocket, and sack of toys under his arm. He likes conventions, kids, nurses, parades, fire trucks, boxcars, swapping stories, wrecks, his best friend is always another Voyageur. He’s not much on lengthy meetings, windy speakers, neckties, complainers, non-workers, and Voyageurs who don’t pay dues on time. A few others would even claim that all he can hold in his pockets are raffle tickets, a can opener, a beer can, breath freshener, assorted crumpled up addresses, keys, billfold, credit cards, paperback joke book, cigars or cigarettes, matches, American Legion membership forms, 17 chances on a bushel of booze.
    A Forty et Eighter is quite a guy. You can knock him, tease him, torment him, flatter him, or rebuke him, but you can’t beat him in the long run. He’s an angel of mercy to the needy, but a fun loving, hell raising, flag waving little boy who runs amok among the unsuspecting. He’s a hardworking dedicated man to his community, but sometimes is a hard-to-find, unapproachable, grouchy man when the grass needs cutting and the ball game is on. He’ll break a leg playing ball with the kids and laugh it off. He’ll work from dawn til dark cooking for a Voiture project, though at home he won’t fry an egg. He’s got a gift of gab, that before you know it, you find yourself listening to his words of wisdom with awe.
    So when you meet this Voyageur, after a wreck, or Promenade, and he appears slightly worse for the wear from booze, cards, talk, lots of work, and he is grinning a little foolishly, with a pocket full of tickets that didn’t win, well right then my friend, you have met...

“Some Kind of a Man, A Forty et Eighter.”
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