AARP offers free tax aid
Special to The Monitor
SEVEN POINTS–Free income tax assistance services will be
provided by AARP Tax-Aid volunteers. These services will be
available from Feb. 2 through April 13, at the following
times and locations:
8 a.m. to noon Mondays, at The Library at Cedar Creek Lake
in Seven Points, 410 East Cedar Creek Parkway.
8 a.m. to noon Wednesdays, in Malakoff at the Senior
Citizens Center, 503 North Terry Street.
8 a.m. to noon Fridays, in Athens at the Henderson County
Senior Center, 3344 Hwy 31 East.
Here are some important facts taxpayers should know:
• Our services are free, to include electronic filing.
• All eligible returns will be filed electronically,
• All returns are completed with computer software.
• Taxpayers do not have to be elderly or members of AARP.
• We are busiest the first few weeks of February. If
taxpayers are patient and come in later in the season, we
will probably not be as busy and the wait may be shorter.
• Married taxpayers should both come to the site unless one
is incapacitated.
• We do not prepare extremely complicated returns; however,
we will assist taxpayers with such returns and advise them
what steps they should take to get their return completed.
• Counselors may not be present for the entire posted hours
if no taxpayers are present for assistance.
• We will normally stay longer than the posted hours if
extremely busy.
• This service is provided by the AARP Foundation in
cooperation with the IRS.
All taxpayers should bring a copy of any return for the
prior tax year, 2010; and all tax-related documents that
have been received in the mail, including W-2s, 1099s,
SSA1099s, broker’s statements showing dividends, interest,
capital gains distributions, or sale of capital assets like
stocks, bonds and real estate.
Other documents that will be needed are Social Security
cards for all taxpayers and all dependents, date of birth
for all dependents, amount of any property taxes paid, and
the amount of any Economic Recovery Payment received in
2010.
If you have any questions, please call (903) 778-2423.
Family, friends help Eva
Kaikkonen celebrate 100th
By Kisstrin Kaikkonen Cozier
Special to The Monitor
GUN BARREL CITY–Nearly two dozen family members were on hand
Saturday to mark Eva Kaikkonen’s 100th birthday at the
Cedarview House in Gun Barrel City.
Family members flew in from as far away as Hawaii,
California, Michigan and Arizona for the birthday party,
which, technically, was a couple of days early, as my
grandmother’s actual birthday was Monday.
Born
Eva Marie Caradonna March 21, 1911, in Detroit, Mich., she
grew up in a traditional Italian-American home and has
attended mass at the Catholic church regularly her entire
life.
Monitor Photo/Kerry
Yancey
Eva Kaikkonen holds up an American flag, flown over the U.S.
Capitol in commemoration of her 100th birthday and sent to
her by U.S. Rep. Jeb Hensarling, during a birthday reception
for her at the Cedarview House in Gun Barrel City Saturday.
For more on the event, see page 10A.
During Saturday’s party, she was presented
with a congratulatory letter from Congressman Jeb Hensarling,
who included a flag flown over the U.S. Capitol March 15.
She also received similar letters from Sen. Kay Bailey
Hutchinson and Texas Gov. Rick Perry.
She met my grandfather, Gustov “Sanders” Kaikkonen, while
mistakenly thinking he was her neighbor, as he worked on a
vehicle outside of her home. All she could see were legs
sticking out from under the car.
She addressed the man by her neighbor’s name. He rolled out
on the dolly he was on, and said, “I’m not ‘so and so’ but
will I do?”
Ah yes, he will do! He was blond, blue-eyed and a gentleman.
After a few potholes, they were married on Halloween Day in
1928, when she was 17½.
My grandmother was always an ambitious person. She and her
husband became landlords to help build their capital.
My grandfather worked as a metal fabricator in the
automobile industry, and my grandmother operated a dress
shop in Detroit.
Monitor Photo/Kerry Yancey
ABOVE: Great-grandchildren dance to the big-band music of
Frank Sinatra during Eva Kaikkonen’s 100th birthday party at
the Cedarview House Saturday.
I remember Grama telling me stories about
her trips to Chicago and New York.
She would go to those places, see the current fashions, come
back to Detroit, design and sew them. She was very
successful selling her own versions of current fashions in
her dress shop.
Her most beloved pastime was to go fishing. She absolutely
loved to go fishing.
She would take a frying pan with her, sit on the bank of the
lake, build a campfire, catch some fish, cook them up right
there in her pan and keep fishing for more. She’d eat the
fish as she went.
When Eva Kaikkonen had her first child, it was during the
Great Depression.
My grandmother told me she and her husband brought their
baby girl, Viola, home from the hospital and made a bed for
her inside a dresser drawer. Viola was later followed by
Arthur, Gus and Robert – though I’m sure she finally got a
crib!
My grandparents would winter in Lehigh Acres, Fla., each
year, and they also retired there.
Grama told me when they bought their lot in Lehigh Acres,
they were the first house to go in. Later, a second house
went in, and her husband walked over to the new neighbor’s
home to welcome them to the area.
The new neighbor turned out to be a co-worker from the very
auto company my grandpa had retired from back in Michigan!
Small world!
My Grama lost her beloved husband later in life and was very
happy and lucky to have such a sweet man to share her life
with for as long as she did. All of her children are all
doing well. She has four children, nine grandchildren and 15
great-grandchildren.
VZ
CrimeStoppers issues $1,000 Reward
Special to The Monitor
VAN ZANDT COUNTY–An anonymous tip that led to the arrest of
a Canton woman for drug and credit card fraud has resulted
in a $1,000 reward from the Van Zandt County CrimeStoppers.
The arrest of the woman was made following a call to the
CrimeStoppers hotline.
The woman was arrested by county deputies in connection with
two outstanding warrants for possession of a controlled
substance – she stands accused of dealing drugs – and a
third warrant for credit card abuse, a form of theft.
The woman had been on the “Top 10 Most Wanted” list that the
Sheriff’s Office maintains on an ongoing basis.
“Because of the seriousness of these charges, we felt that
the anonymous tip that lead to this arrest deserved our
maximum reward,” said Andy Flowers, president of the Van
Zandt County CrimeStoppers.
“We encourage more people to call us with information about
crimes and criminals. We have the money in the bank to give
out generous rewards; what we need are the tips that lead to
more such arrests,” Flowers added.
Van Zandt County CrimeStoppers always offers cash rewards
for anonymous tips that lead to the arrest of a criminal
offender, someone who has either just committed a crime or
is wanted on a warrant.
By calling (903) 567-7867, you can anonymously provide
information about a crime.
When you call, you are given a special code number. After
the crime is solved or the individual arrested, you can use
that code number to arrange to collect your cash reward.
CrimeStoppers callers never have to give their names or any
identifying information.
Van Zandt County CrimeStoppers uses cash from criminal court
fines and donations to finance its rewards of up to $1,000
for anonymous tipsters.
More information about CrimeStoppers is available online at
www.vanzandtcrimestoppers.org or by calling the
Van Zandt County Sheriff’s Office.
Come Adopt
Us At
The Humane Society of Cedar Creek Lake |
 We
have many animals at the
Humane Society of Cedar Creek Lake
in Seven Points
in dire need of a good home.
Please call or stop by the Humane Society today
and rescue one of these forgotten animals.
The Humane Society of Cedar Creek Lake
is located on
10220 County Road 2403 in Seven Points.
For more information, please call
(903) 432-3422 after 11 a.m.
We are closed on Wednesday and Sunday. |
For further
information visit our website at petfinder.com |
