Winter Park Memorial Post 112 4490 North Goldenrod Road Winter Park, FL 32792 www.wpflpost112.org 407.671.6404 2014-2015 Officers Commander Billy Dover Vice Cmdr. Gerard (Jerry) Dress Adjutant Bob Colbert Finance Officer Dyke Shannon Sgt. at Arms James Middlekauff Judge Advocate Open COMMANDER’S MINUTE Volume 7, Issue 4 Jan.—Feb. 2015 What a year 2014 has been. I personally wish to thank the Post Staff for covering me this past year. For those who do not know I had a knee replaceSee Bob to ment along with treatment for cancer that appears sign up! to be in remission. Many of our members have had other issues greater but if we are not aware then Do you please make us aware of your situation. We would like to help you if you need it or assist you in whatever way we can. YOU ARE OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS, and we continue to pray for each of Inside this Issue: you daily. Our Vice Commander still amazes us daily by the events scheduled and implemented during the year. The coordination of Post Activities, Sea CaAsst. Judge Adv. det drills, community meetings and private parties Terry Brown are quite impressive. As he says he is ALWAYS THINKING on how to help out our members, veterService Officer ans and community, thanks Jerry. NOW THE Billy Dover MOST IMPORTANT NEW FUNCTION he has put Chaplain his heart and soul into is the FOUR CHAPLAIN’S Open SERVICE on 01 FEB 15. What an honor to remember these four heroes of WWII. The research Historian and planning for this event started over a year ago James Middlekauff and I know you will be impressed with the producSons of the Legion tion of this event. Commander As many of you know the calendar year for the Bob Colbert American Legion runs from July 1 to June 30th, however if you have not sent in your dues please Auxiliary do so ASAP. District/Post Membership Report: DePresident cember 11, 2014 11:44 AM shows us at 73.333 Marge Berrios percent which means that we need 42 members Sea Cadet Liaison to step up. I know that we can break the record Gerard (Jerry) Dress for having 100% membership but we need YOU to RENEW NOW. If you have paid and not reNewsletter Editor ceived your card then please contact the Adjutant Nell Colbert ASAP. We have all been busy and dealing with work, family and health issues but you are imWebsite portant to US. Our job is to serve you. http:// www.wpflpost112.org Cont’d on Page 8 Page 2 From the Vice Commanders Table Page 3 The Adjutants Desk Page 4 How to Advertise in our Newsletter Page 5 What’s Happenin’ Auxiliary? Page 6 Our Sea Cadet Squadron Page 7 Happy Birthday to YOU! Be Prepared! Page 8 Words from the S.A.L. Chaplain Commanders Minute Cont’d from Page 1 Page 9 The Value of Powers of Attorney—Part 2 Page 10 Sea Cadets cont’d from Page 6 Value of PoA’s cont’d from Page 9 Page 11 Christmas Party FUN! Page 12 Calendar Officers Directory Page 2 Newsletter Title From the Vice Commander’s Table As we say goodbye to 2014, we now look to the future for OUR post and all our members. This past year we have celebrated Veteran’s Day, Memorial Day, Easter, Halloween, given out over 110 meals to our Veteran’s in the Nursing home and many other things. OUR post is very active but we need YOUR help in keeping this up. I hope you have all had a Merry Christmas with your family and love ones. If you missed our Post Christmas Dinner at Perkins, then you missed a good time. We are having our monthly pancake breakfast on the 27th of December and we welcome our Nursing Home guest again along with veterans in the CLC section. The NEW YEAR, 2015, starts out with our Sons of the American Legion meeting on the 5th of January at 1800 hours. We encourage members who are interested in learning about what the S.A.L. stands for and our functions to come and join us. If you have family members they can become part of the American Legion through the S.A.L organization. The post is putting on a FOUR CHAPLAIN’S SERVICE ON FEBURARY 1, 2015. This program is to honor those four individuals who gave up their life vests to save fellow service members during WWII. These brave chaplains show what sacrifice for others is all about. PLEASE JOIN US AT 2:00 P.M. for this very moving and important service. We are reaching out to those members who are having a difficult time and trying to help all our members along with other veterans. If you need assistance please contact use so that if we are not able to help directly, we can assist you in getting the help you need. IF YOU HAVE NOT RECEIVED YOUR MEMBERSHIP CARD PLEASE CALL ADJUTANT COLBERT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. HAPPY NEW YEAR Jerry, Vice Commander Volume 7, Issue 4 Page 3 From the Adjutant’s Desk HAPPY NEW YEAR! Welcome to 2015! As we close out 2014 and open up 2015, there is much to look forward to. One of the most important events of the next two months is our FOUR CHAPLAINS SERVICE coming up on February 1st at 2 p.m. We also will have our Oratorical Contest at the January meeting and need your help to judge the contestants. A good turnout of members will show the youth that we care about them and their development. 2014 IN REVIEW The Post has been hosting the Sea Cadets another year and the unit has been growing. In fact, due to the growth of the unit and its popularity, other units around the state are being formed. The Sea Cadets boast of members who have received Military Academy appointments and others who have joined the military after graduating from High School. By the way, the time that our members spend with this organization counts as participation in “Children and Youth.” Our Auxiliary has been very busy, this year. As of this writing, the members are shopping for the five food baskets that they will be distributing to families of military veterans in financial need so that they have what they need to have a good traditional Christmas Dinner. They have done this every year and this year, the Post has joined in, asking the Auxiliary to shop for and deliver two baskets funded by the Post. Other funding comes from the Poppy donations and donations to the Unit. They also sent a young lady to Girls State this year and helped the Post with the Halloween Party, Easter Egg Hunt, Christmas in July, Memorial Day service and Yard Sales during the year. We did not succeed in getting Oratorical candidates in 2014 but are well underway in getting candidates for the 2015 competition. We did send four boys to Boys State this year. That is one more than we have done in the past. PLUS, we were able to find sponsors for all of the candidates that we selected to be alternates. The weather played a part in the two Yard Sales, this year. Neither of them came up to what the Vice Commander had hoped for. And, in spite of the bad weather for the FALL Yard Sale, it was held as scheduled. A special thank you goes out to Vice Commander Dress for all of his effort in setting these up and handling the administrative details that come with them. AND, good weather permitting, we hope for a much better turn out in the coming year. In support of the Boy Scouts, we hosted an activity for Troop 613 in the course of the year. We also work with Troop 219. Both troops have Post members involved in their activities. We want to thank these veterans for taking the time to help mentor our youth on their own time! We look forward to future activities with both Troops in the coming year. Some of these VETERAN/SCOUTERS also support Scouting in other ways. There are many support positions within the scouting world that do not require that you belong to a Troop, Pack or Crew. They are always looking for Unit Commissioners to work with our Troops, Packs, Crews and Exploring Posts. This is not the same as being a member of the unit. The time commitment that you would be incurring is much less and you would be mentoring the adults who run the units as well as answering questions and giving suggestions that help them accomplish their unit’s goals. You can check with the Adjutant or our Auxiliary Secretary for more details on how this works . The Post member’s SCOUTING activities go to help the Post’s AMERICANISM report. Finally, the Veterans Administration (VA) is in desperate need of volunteers. They have jobs covering many different skills. One of the major needs is for “Golf Cart Drivers” to help the visiting veterans with disabilities get from their car to the facility. It is not hard work and it can be quite rewarding. And, when the new facility opens at Lake Nona, there will be double the need for volunteers as the VA has announced that they intend to keep both facilities open. AND, time spent on VA activities that are reported back to Post will count in our annual report to National showing National, the Department and CONGRESS that Veterans DO HELP veterans. Let’s work together to make 2015 a BANNER YEAR! Bob Colbert, Adjutant Page 4 SUPPORT OUR ADVERTISERS Would your business like to advertise in our Post newsletter? This newsletter, with distribution via email and USPS to over 200 members and organizations, is now accepting advertising for our monthly newsletters. Advertising rates per issue are as follows: Business card size - $ 6.00 (3 3/4"w x 2 1/4"l) 1/4 page - $ 10.00 (3 3/4"w x 4 3/4"l) 1/2 page - $ 18.00 (7 3/4"w x 4 3/4"l or 3 3/4"w x 9 3/4"l) Full page - $ 30.00 (7 3/4"w x 9 3/4"l) If paid in advance for FIVE ISSUES, THE SIXTH ISSUE IS FREE! Copy MUST be emailed to the editor as a jpg or Publisher file but payment MUST be mailed to the Post’s PO Box or hand delivered to the Post by the 15th of the month preceding publication. COPY DEADLINES: Jan-Feb issue—15December Mar-April issue—15February May-June issue—15April July-August issue—15June September-October issue—15August November-December issue—15October QUESTIONS—Contact the editor at 407.401.8360 or email [email protected]. Page 5 Our Happenin’ Auxiliar y What a busy couple of months we’ve had! We kicked off November by attending the Department Fall Conference. Marge and Nell attended some very interesting classes and were able to bring back lots of great information that our Unit can use. Next up was Veterans Day. Aunita placed flags on Veterans graves in a local cemetery aided by her hubby Dick; Marge and her hubby Lou, the Commander for Post 243, attended Veterans Day services in Oviedo; and Nell and hubby Bob, Post 112 Adjutant attended the Veterans Day program at Eastbrook Elementary as well as stopping by our Post to support Jerry’s Veterans Day open house. Of course, Unit 112 was well represented at the 6th District meeting at Post 80 on November 15th. Our annual Reading Rockets book project came in conjunction with National Education Week. We delivered packets of books to a total of 20 classrooms at Aloma, Cheney and Eastbrook Elementary Schools. Each packet contains one fiction and one nonfiction paperback book along with reading helps program guides for parents. Dinosaurs was the theme this year for the third grade Cheney students. To support our teach- ers and staff at the three schools, we also deliv- ered huge continental breakfast food baskets. We just love to see the smiling faces of our school Principal’s. We took a short breather for Thanksgiving but hit the ground running in December by attending the Posts annual Christmas party held this year at Perkins. The Post party was soon followed by our annual Holiday Food Gift Basket project. This year, the Auxiliary funded three baskets and shopped for the food for two more baskets given out on behalf of the Post. The week of December 15th was very busy and after $500 dollars spent and more than 100 miles traveled, your Auxiliary delivered baskets to five Veteran fami- lies, all with children, who were very grateful for our assistance. Special thanks to Marge and Nell for handling the shopping detail and to Nell and Bob for delivering the baskets from Oviedo to Pine Hills, Kissimmee and a few points in between! Next month—delivering our stuffed backpacks to our schools followed by Girls State interviews. As always, we welcome new ladies who would like to actively support our military, our youth and our community through our community service projects. To become involved, please call us at 321.578.8612. Check out our Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/ ALA112FL or our website at: www.AmLegionAux112FL.com to see what we’ve been doing. Page 6 Sea Cadet Update: Billy Dover During the month of November, we attended the US Navy SEAL Muster in Ft. Pierce, Florida along with a memorial service for 14 members of the Special Operations members who died this past year. In December we attended the Winter Park Christmas Parade to represent all Veteran’s and especially Winter Park Memorial Post 112. Thank you for your assistance during this past year. We have seen four of our members go on active duty this year to serve just as you have. Just to show you how the cadets react to attending the SEAL Muster I have attached one of the reports by a new cadet. By Seaman Recruit Muehlbauer As of 7 November 2014 to 9 November 2014, the Navy Seal Muster Demonstration for the year of 2014 took place at Fort Pierce. This was a great experience for me. I had the opportunity to provide my service and demonstrate my patriotism for my country. I had the opportunity to work side by side with my fellow cadets, as well as enjoy camaraderie with cadets from other units. I had an amazing time at this event. I watched active Leapfrog SEAL’s skydive and parachute their way down to the field, observed a demonstration of trained attack dog units, and participated in many other activities. I felt proud that I joined the Sea Cadets and very fortunate to be included in the SEAL Muster. I was particularly struck by the ceremony Sunday morning. I knew we were being included in something special, but was truly moved and honored to hold a flag and witness something that meaningful. When we arrived at the beach I noticed the state flags from the SEAL Muster demonstration were on the beach. I was instructed to grab one and stand at attention while holding it. I saw the American Rogues appear and others begin to show up. I realized I was about to be included in something very important so I held my flag standing at attention and awaited further instruction. I was captivated by the veteran who spoke of the sacrifice, dedication and contributions of former Navy SEALs. When he began to mention former SEALs who have fought in previous wars for our country I truly began to understand the honor in which these soldiers lived and died. Honoring those Seals who have fought and died for our country was truly a moving experience. There was a helicopter that dropped off about 6 to 7 men at about 500 yards from the shore where they swam to the beach to receive the remains of those SEALs who fought from WWII to present day. I saw them swim back out and spread their shipmates across the ocean. It did not take long for me to realize that what I just saw was the SEAL service of those honored men and women that sacrificed and fought for our country. Another activity that was exciting was exploring the US Naval Special Warfare Museum where we were paired up into groups with 30 question surveys that we had to complete. It was assigned by Commander Almon a former SEAL himself. I enjoyed Commander Almon's point of leaving with more knowledge than you came with it that was definitely one of my objectives. I felt the whole experience really brought the meaning of Honor, Courage, and Commitment home for me. It was truly an honor for me participate in the ceremonial service of what I consider some of our nations heroes. During the exploration of the museum I learned about some of the famous Navy SEALs and their ranks and what they did in the Navy. One interesting thing that I learned from the exploration was the type of dog that they used, it was not the German Sheppard, but the Belgium Malinois. Although, I learned some new and interesting things at the museum I wished that I had more time to learn and explore. I am particularly interested in learning more about the UDT’s in WWII and the types of special warfare boats outside the museum. CONT’D ON PAGE 10 Page 7 New article Happy Birthday to YOU! Happy Birthday to YOU! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday dear ____. Happy Birthday to YOU! JANUARY Member Mar n, Druce McNamer, Michael Tegnazian, Walter Randall, Beuford Brasher, Lawrence Domke, Richard Laney, Reed Roberts, Wayne Schecher, Henry Travers, Charles Date 01/01 01/02 01/04 01/11 01/15 01/17 01/17 01/17 01/18 01/21 FEBRUARY Member Casiano, Joe Crowley, Chris na Lawrence, William Flanagan, Donald Meiner, Herbert Ackley, Wayne Posada, Eduardo Hale, Jr, Philip Jackson, Gary Colbert, Bob Ely, Albert Roberts, Marian Sines, Irvin Boyle, William Padge , Norma Date 02/04 02/05 02/05 02/06 02/06 02/07 02/08 02/09 02/09 02/10 02/12 02/17 02/18 02/23 02/23 Member Griffin, Walter Towles, Robin Nunn, June Marie Comstock, Charles O Langis, Johanna Paquin, Jr, Joseph Date 02/24 02/24 02/25 02/25 02/27 02/27 BE PREPARED! Are YOU Prepared? Everyone knows that the Boy Scout Motto is Be Prepared! But are YOU really prepared for 2015? Do you have a safe deposit box? Are you the only one authorized to access your box? Are you prepared for that emergency trip to the hospital where you may not be able to make decisions about your own health care? And what about your final trip home? Are your affairs in good order? As a mobile Notary, I meet a lot of very wonderful people … in their homes, at their offices, in banks, in hospitals, nursing homes, rehab centers and even hospice care facilities. The one thing that many of them have in common is that something serious has happened in their lives and they need to have their signature notarized on documents right now … so that their car that was impounded can be picked up by another family member while they are hospitalized, so that they can authorize another family member to handle their finances and/or healthcare decisions while they are hospitalized, grant temporary custody of their minor children to another family member, or even take care of their Last Will and Testament because they have a terminal illness and are being moved to hospice. So, as we begin the New Year, please take some time and make sure that your affairs are in order—don’t wait until it’s too late. Add a trusted loved one to your safe deposit box so they can access it if you can’t; get your Last Will and Testament written; have your attorney draw up (or use one of the on-line services) the Powers of Attorney that you need so a loved one or family friend can handle your finances and health care decisions if you are incapacitated. Wishing everyone a very Healthy and Happy 2015! Article submitted by Nell Colbert, CommuniMatics Mobile Notary Services Newsletter Title Page 8 Words from the S.A.L. Chaplain: The New Year is beginning and have you looked at how GOD has protected you, comforted you and your family during the past years. The old saying, “I woke up this morning and did not see my name in the obituary so it is a good day”. Just this past month of December I attended three funerals of my fellow firefighters, one who was a Vietnam Vet, all three died due to cancer. During the Vietnam conflict there was a song by Don McLean “American Pie” that discussed death and looking for some happy news. Well let me tell you the happy news is that death will come to us, but we can ALL have Life Eternal if you accept it Christ. The decision is YOURS and YOURS alone. Billy Dover Second Samuel 22:3: My GOD is my rock, in whom I find protection. FOR GOD AND COUNTRY, Billy Dover, Jr. No one is granted tomorrow nor our next breath but THANKS BE TO GOD you can have eternal life. My prayer this year is that we seek the face of GOD in all things, quick to forgive and slow to react towards others who wrongs you. Everyone has good and bad days, but you can always look for the GOOD in all things. Commander’s Minute Cont’d from Page 1 HAVE YOU APPLIED FOR YOU VETERAN’S BENEFITS??? HAVE YOU SERVED OTHERS?? The VA facilities is looking for volunteers to help out at both the VA Clinic and VA hospital or Nursing facilities. AND, if you know a veteran who DOES FINE ARTS, APPLIED ARTS and CRAFTS THERE IS A COMPETITION at the Orlando VA ART SHOW. If interested please contact Jenny Danieli at 407-631-7209, the deadline for entry is Feb. 2, 2015 and if you wish to visit the show it will be held on Feb. 14, 2015 at the Lake Baldwin Campus of the Orlando VAMC Auditorium. While there why not APPLY FOR YOUR BENEFITS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The Vaughan property which surrounds the Post has been rezoned to Residential 3 which means that they can place 320 apartments around the property. This is a concern for the Post due to traffic, and parking for our members not to mention the possibility of crime. The positive side is that there may be the potential for new members in walking distance of the post. Our annual Oratorical contest will be held during our January 13, 2015 meeting. We have three young adults from different schools who have shown interest in the competition. We need you to assist in the evaluation of these speeches to determine who will represent us at the next level. FOR GOD AND COUNTRY, BILLY G. DOVER, JR., COMMANDER Page 9 The Value of Powers of Attor ney in Estate anning — Part 2 Why You Need to Look at Your Old Power of Attorney Now: When you, as the Agent, present the PoA to another person or business, for them to act on it for your Grantor, there is a moment when those who receive the PoA are skeptical - at best. The older a oA is, the more skeptical they become. Banks are notorious for this, usually setting their own arbitrary time frame, before that PoA becomes “stale”, or too old. Then they reject it. Imagine that horrible day, with your family’s affairs in total disarray and requiring one of the kids to do something on a parent’s behalf. You presented the PoA to some banker and they throw the PoA back in your face, saying it’s “too old”. Why? Because they can? Not any longer, at least not in Florida as of October 1, 2011. Florida’s New Power of Attorney Law: This new law is pretty sweeping and some lawyers are claiming that it caused them to their six page PoA into a 30 page PoA. Whatever… One change is the stronger duties of the Agent that are built in as a fiduciary, obligated with asset preservation. And beyond that there are some more vital changes of interest: 1. Good news: your pre-October 1, 2011 PoA is “grandfathered in” and you do not have to get a new one (although you really should). The bad news: at least one “American” bank (I won’t give you its full name) is rejecting old PoA’s, telling customers that they must get a new one. When do the law suits start? 2. Banks - and all others who are presented with a PoA (called “Third Parties”) - must give a specific reason in writing, as defined in the law, as to why the PoA is being rejected. Being “stale” is not one of those reasons. Four days is deemed by the law to be a “reasonable” time for banks to respond. I wonder if the “American” bank does that. 3. There is an affidavit suggested in the new law that an Agent can use to clarify any questions about the status of the PoA and about whether or not the Grantor is still living or the PoA has been revoked. 4. Most sweeping is the need to spell out every single act the Agent is allowed to do for the Grantor. Actually, the old PoA’s seemed to do that, but maybe I missed something. The New “Super Powers” and What I Do: The new PoA law requires certain actions granted by the Grantor to be individually approved, with that grant of authority signed or initialed on the document. The lawyers refer to these as the “Super Powers” and they include the right to change beneficiaries, change rights of survivorship, disclaim (i.e., reject) property given to the Grantor by Will or Trust, make gifts, and waive rights under annuities and retirement plans. Those are all very powerful Estate Planning tools, to be used by the lawyer when the Grantor can’t do things for himself, but there is one that pops up constantly involving my work. It is the right to create, and change, trusts for the Grantor. Typically the old PoA’s included the right to change a Grantor’s trusts but I rarely saw where the Agent had the right to create new trusts. It’s not so much that the new law allows this. You could do this before. But the new law calls attention to it. We hope that attorneys will now regularly add that “Super Power” to the granted authorities. It will sure make a Caregiver’s work much easier. Here’s why: Sometimes I have to help families with someone who cannot afford Nursing Home care. We have to consider Medicaid. Medicaid has set income limits and asset limits. In 2014, in Florida, an individual on Medicaid cannot have income over $2,163 per month (he or she gets to keep all of $105 of that and the rest pays for care). If her or his income is even a penny over that amount, he or she is ineligible for Medicaid. CONT’D ON PAGE 10 Page 10 Sea Cadets Update - Cont’d from Page 6 Overall, the exploration was an excellent experience and I plan on learning more in the future through my training. Finally, I also really enjoyed meeting the other Naval Sea Cadet units that came. I was happy to see such a diverse group of people come together for a common cause. Although I respect everyone, I must compliment Centurion Battalion on being a pro- fessional, class act. Overall, the Seal Muster of 2014 was a lot of fun the experience taught me a lot of new things about the SEALs, SEAL history, and serving for the SEALs in an appropriate fashion. In those three days I made a lot of new friends and felt good about helping the community for our military. I was intrigued with the Navy SEAL Museum. I even had the opportunity to look up a friends grandfather E.S. Hochuli, C.O. UDT 12. Very worthy experience, very honored to have had it. The Value of Powers of Attor ney in Estate Cont’d. from Page 9 anning But the State of Florida allows for the creation of what is known as a “Qualified Income Trust” that directs all income, including the excess that made him or her ineligible, into this trust. This make the person eligible for Medicaid. However, if the person is not legally competent, or physically able, to create this new trust, and if the proper language is not in the Power of Attorney, you have big problems. You either don’t become eligible for Medicaid, or you must seek a Guardian through the court system, to get the authority to create the trust. This is also true if an applicant for Medicaid has too much “countable assets”. If, after converting countable assets into things allowable by Medicaid, there are still assets that a person must “Spend Down”, often it is a good idea to look into what is known as a “Pooled Special Needs Trust”. This trust put the funds into a place where they can be accessed by the Caregiver, with Trustee approval, for the direct benefit of the Medicaid recipient. Any funds left at the end of his or her life, go to pay for the care given. This is specifically allowed by statue, but, as with the Qualified Income Trust, if there is no authority granted by the PoA, it can’t get done without court approval. Volume 7, Issue 4 Page 11 The American Legion 112 Family Holiday Party was held on Dec. 9th at the Perkins Restaurant on University Blvd. Special thanks to Vice Commander Dress for making all the arrangements for this FUN event. We had some good food and awesome fellowship. The room afforded us the opportunity to share great conversation with each other and everyone agreed that this was the best holiday party we’ve held in several years. Winter Park Memorial Post 112 4490 North Goldenrod Road Winter Park, FL 32792 www.flpost112.org JANUARY: HAPPY NEW YEAR! 5 S.A.L. Meeting (6pm) Executive Board Meeting (7pm) 13 Monthly Post & Auxiliary Meetings (7pm) 31 Post Pancake Breakfast (8-11am) FEBRUARY: 1 Four Chaplains Service (2pm) 2 S.A.L. Meeting (6pm) Executive Board Meeting—7pm 10 Monthly Post & Auxiliary Meetings (7pm) 14 Happy Valentines Day! 22 Auxiliary Girls State Interviews (12n-4pm) Post Pancake Breakfast (8-11am) 28 OFFICER’S DIRECTORY Commander: Billy Dover 407-383-9455 – [email protected] Vice Cmdr.: Gerard (Jerry) Dress 407-671-8616 – [email protected] Adjutant: Bob Colbert 407-619-9611 – [email protected] Finance Officer: Dyke Shannon 407-322-6126 – [email protected] Chaplain: Open Sgt. At Arms: James Middlekauff 407-977-0521—[email protected] Newsletter Editor: Nell Colbert 321.303.7445— [email protected] Winter Park Memorial Post 112 PO Box 910 Goldenrod, FL 32733‐0910 CALENDAR
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