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| LIFE IN SOLERA | MARCH 2026 | 29 I have been writing an article, every month, for about 16 years. I often have no idea of what to write, until I "put pen to paper" as the saying goes. I have never written such an article as this one will be. I am going to describe my day, from the time I was fully dressed and in the kitchen, until mid-morning. First thing is making my half of a pot of coffee for myself and a little Krung K-Cup for my bride, Linda, of 66 years. Then I made us our own "Egg Mc-Muffin. About 8:45, one of Linda's early morning card group arrived with several thermo-mug type water bottles. She had read my message, that I had recently sent all of my water and coffee mugs to the troops. I have added these type mugs to our Suggested Donations List. I can email you a copy of the list, or often you can pick one up in the Mail Room. Next, I had just gone out into our garage and opened the door. One of our Solera residents drove up. He dropped off some snacks and magazines for our service men and women. Back in the house, I noticed that my hand dolly was standing empty, on the front porch. It had contained packages being mailed overseas. I usually have volunteers help me pack the packages that we send. I print our own postage labels for the packages, and order their pickup on line. The postal employee, working in Solera's mail room, picks up any packages being sent by people in our community. When we adopt a military unit, I try to learn as much as possible about their living conditions. One of the questions I ask, is if they have any readers in their group and if they can use paperback books. Every once in a while, we will send them a box of books. Today's shipment was seven boxes, totaling 252 books. They were sent to two units in Bahrain and outfits in Okinawa, Kuwait, Djibouti, Cuba, and Romania. Most of these paperbacks are excess from Solera's Library. There are books that the troops like, but that our library doesn't receive many. They are Westerns, Science Fiction, Fantasy, History, and Military. Do you have a collection of any of these? Thank you for caring. ~ Jesse Donardt, (951) 892-6635 SUPPORT OUR TROOPS VETERAN ASSISTANCE FLAG BRIGADE Billy (Mitch) Mitchell is a resident and Veteran who has voluntarily worked with individuals and the Veterans Administration to assist Veterans in obtaining benefits. If you are a Veteran and want to know which benefits you may be eligible for, contact Mitch at (951) 797-0800. The Flags will be raised in February for President's Day, up the 12th and down the 17th. Thank you to those few dedicated resident volunteers who are up "at the crack of dawn" on these special days to put up and take down our flags. Contact for the Flag Brigade – Nick Gercis, nick.gercis@gmail.com. Flag schedule for 2026 Viet Nam War Veterans Day: Fri., March 29 (up 3/27, down 3/30) Armed Forces Day: Sat., May 16 (up 5/15, down 5/18) Memorial Day: Mon., May 25 (up 5/23, down 5/26) D Day: Thurs., June 6 (up 6/5, down 6/8) Flag Day: Fri., June 14 (up 6/12, down 6/15) Independence Day: Thurs., July 4 (up 7/3, down 7/6) Labor Day: Mon., Sept. 1 (up 9/4, down 9/8) Patriots Day: Mon., Sept. 11 (up 9/11, down 9/14 National POW/MIA Day: Fri., Sept. 20 (up 9/18, down 9/21) Veterans Day: Sat., Nov. 11 (up 11/10, down 11/13 Pearl Harbor Day: Thurs., Dec. 7 (up 12/4, down 12/8)

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