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Events
Fort Minnesota Express is your family's link to what's going on Beyond the Yellow Ribbon.
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Pine City Yellow Ribbon Kick-Off
May 20 |
Pine City Yellow Ribbon Kick-Off and training for community members |
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Plymouth Yellow Ribbon Kick-Off
May 24 | |
Plymouth Yellow Ribbon Kick-Off and training for community members. |
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ESGR Banquet
June 7 |
Employer Support of the Guard & Reserve banquet |
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1-151 & ETAB 30-Day
June 12, 13 & 19 |
30-Day Reintegration Event for 1-151 in Morris (12th), Marshall (13th) and ETAB in the metro (19th) |
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Military Kids Camp
June 13-19 |
Camp for military children in
Hudson |
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Maplewood Yellow Ribbon Kick-Off June 21 | |
Maplewood Yellow Ribbon kick-off and training for community members.
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Lower St. Croix Valley
June 22 | |
Lower St Croix Yellow Ribbon kick-off and training for community members. |
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Operation Purple Camp
July 4-9 | |
Camp for military children in Hudson |
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1-151 & ETAB 60-Day
July 10,11,17 | |
60-Day Reintegration Event for 1-151in Morris (10th), Marshall (11th) and ETAB in the metro (17th) |
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204th, 114th & OMLT II 30-Day
July 31 | |
30-Day Reintegration Event in the metro |
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Operation Purple Camp
August 1-6 | |
Camp for military children in McGregor |
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| First Annual Military Kid of the Year |
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In April, Taylor Ulmen of Madelia, Minn. received the first annual Military Kid of the Year Award presented by Our Military Kids. Thousands of kids were nominated and Ulmen was one of only four children to receive the award.
Ulmen was a strong peer leader in groups and became an obvious selection for a 2-year term as Army State Youth Representative at the National Youth Symposium. Representatives would participate in panels on topics of resiliency, develop leadership through motivational workshops, and return to their States to continue the military youth support programs.
Ulmen and the other winners were given a trip to Washington DC for the award ceremony which included a trip to the Capitol building and the White House.
Each winner also received an award packet from Target Corporation. Target also donated $500 to each of the winner's schools.
Our Military Kids was founded in 2004 to support children ages three to 18 of National Guard and Reserve.
The organization provides $500 grants for activities such as sports, fine arts, and tutoring programs that nurture and sustain children while a parent is serving our country overseas. The program is also available to children of severely injured Servicemembers in all branches of the military.
Our Military Kids is funded by corporations, private donors and government grants.
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| Golden Valley Memorial Day Parade |
Golden Valley resident and Air Guardsman Tech. Sgt. John Giese served in Iraq as a truck driver in 2005. On that deployment he attended three memorial services for fellow Servicemembers from his battalion, "and it had a profound effect upon me," said Giese.
In honor of those Servicemembers and others, Giese got with his local VFW and American Legion to lead a Memorial Day parade that Giese says will, "promote the true intended meaning of the holiday in which many Americans regard as just another holiday and a day off from work."
"I, like many other present and past Servicemembers, regard Memorial Day as a special holiday to honor and pay respect to those who gave their lives while serving this country," he continued.
The Golden Valley Memorial Day Parade on Monday May 31st, will start in Seeman Park at 10:15AM and head westbound on Golden Valley Road to the Golden Valley City Hall where a 30-40 minute ceremony will take place. The ceremony will include a guest speaker and various local organizations will be in attendance. There will be free hot dogs, chips and pop immediately after the ceremony.
"Together with the VFW and American Legion, we are hopeful that we can get people to observe Memorial Day at our parade and ceremony or attend some other type of observance around the Twin City area," said Giese.
For a map of the parade route click here. | |
| Nominate your employer for the ESGR Patriot Award |
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After recognizing the employers of numerous Servicemembers with the Patriot Award, the ESGR has decided to start recognizing the employers of Servicemembers spouses with the same award.
The Patriot Award recognizes employers who show flexibility and support for military families, allows military spouses to balance the responsibilities of being a parent and an employee when their spouse is deployed, or allows reserve component Servicemembers to juggle their military duties and being an employee.
You can now nominate employers of both Servicemembers and their spouses for the Patriot Award by visiting:
http://esgr.org and click on, "Servicemembers, Award You Employer."
If your employer has been truly outstanding, please take a few minutes to write some details about your employer. They may be eligible for further recognition from ESGR.
Choose how you want to deliver the award. You may have it delivered to your home address, or you can request that a member of the ESGR present it to your employer in person. The employer will receive a certificate and an ESGR Patriot lapel pin. | |
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Dakota County Pleasant Hill Library |
Hastings Yellow Ribbon Network will have a display case at the Dakota County Pleasant Library in Hastings, Minn.
The display case will have different themes each week honoring the military and Servicemembers, the display runs through June 15th.
Hastings Yellow Ribbon Network member Dean Markuson, said the idea was to collaborate with local government agencies in Hastings and to establish a contact within the community for Servicemembers and their families.
The display dates and themes are listed below:
May 12th-26th Armed Forces Day; Minnesota National Guard History
May 26th-June 2nd; Fallen Heroes Statute from Jodi Johnson
June 2nd-15th Flag Day; Flag Etiquette information and interesting facts
The library will also be displaying the US Flag and service colors coordinated by a local Gold Star Mother. | |
| Miss out on the federal housing tax credit? You still have a chance to get it! | |
The $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers and the $6,500 tax credit for repeat home buyers have expired, however if you were a Servicemember on official extended duty (any period of extended duty outside of the United States for at least 90 days) between January 1, 2009 and May 1, 2010, you qualify for a one-year extension of the tax credit.
A person who is forced to return to the U.S. for medical reasons before completing an assignment of at least 90 days of qualified official extended duty outside of the United States may also qualify for the one-year extension.
In addition, qualified Servicemembers who sell or move from a tax credit home within three years of the initial purchase due to official extended duty are exempt from the tax credit recapture rule which would reclaim the tax credit if moving before three years after the initial purchase.
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With Armed Forces Day just around the corner now is the perfect time to think about how you can make a difference just like Hastings resident Jennifer Roussell.
A former flight attendant, Jennifer was a part of the Patriot Express flights that served as chartered commercial air service for the military.
She said she jumped at the chance to be on those flights because, "the Servicemembers were so courteous and respectful saying 'thank you ma'am', it was refreshing compared to a regular commercial flight."
One of her most heartwarming memories is of sending a shoebox to a flight attendant friend of hers working a Patriot Express flight, "I sent her a shoebox full of dirt and grass that I dug up and told her to let the Servicemembers touch it, the first time they could touch American soil again," Roussell said.
Roussell, a 911 dispatcher, now lives in Hastings where she has become an indispensable member of the Hastings Yellow Ribbon Network, helping make the lives of Servicemembers and their families easier by planning and participating in events and volunteering to help. From cleaning a spouse's house while their Servicemember is deployed to planning thank you events, Roussell is there to lend a hand.
"I do it because I am too much of a wimp to join myself, but I feel the need to give back to them in some way," said Roussell.
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