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Welcometoour first Tehama County Veterans Corner in the Red Bluff Daily News. Chip Thomp- son and I discussed this column about a year ago and we agreed that the tim- ing was now right because of the push and growing movement about veterans and their families now taking place in Te- hama County. Just briefly for those of you who know little or nothing about my service I did serve in three Armed Forces branches. I first joined the US Army in 1973 and in 1976 was dis- charged from Active Duty (Postal). Then I served out my original enlistment in the Army Reserve until 1979 (military police). About that time I started feeling like I needed to reenlist but I did serve with a law en- forcement agency after at- tending and graduating from an academy. A friend had been serving in the US Air Force reserve so for a year I attended reserve drills in law enforcement. Post Vietnam Era veter- ans were being permit- ted and encouraged to find their branch to call home if they wished to continue to serve their nation. After serving a year with a civilian law enforce- ment agency I decided, in 1981, finally to really chal- lenge myself at the ripe old age of 28. I enlisted in the US Marine Corps (in- fantry) and started every- thing all over. If I could I would do this over and over again. But I was med- ically discharged in 1984. That's when my claims for disabilities began. Here it is, 2015, and I live in Tehama County, the best place I have ever lived. I gradu- ated from a very small Catholic high school in In- dianapolis, Car- dinal Ritter. Te- hama County and Red Bluff have the same small community feeling in many ways. I've met a lot of really wonderful God loving people here. Chil- dren have been my passion since about 1983 when I first began mentoring. But for the past year I have been fortunate enough to also learn more and more about my fellow veterans and their families. Work- ing in a veteran's ser- vice position was reward- ing, but complex, compli- cated and difficult all at the same time. I found it too easy to not be able to file and track every claim that arrived on my desk. Lots of work and very little time to do it in properly. But we all do what we can with the support that we do get at any given time. I am a disabled veteran myself, 100%. I recall my own claims process. Over the years there was dif- ficulty being on the vet- eran's side of the claim. Many years in the process. Even after my 100% was approved in 1996 I filed a complaint against VA be- cause I felt they had made a serious mistake in my care which ended me up on an operating table to save my life in 1996. That process took nearly eight years to complete but I never gave in until I felt justice had been served. A service organization that I had been a mem- ber of refused to take my claim to its full completion because my representative died while adjudicating it with VA. My claim died with him so I continued it on until I won without the assistance of that service organization. They felt my claim was frivolous. So, I have been there and have done that. I feel I need to mention that I have made my own share of mistakes in processing claims. I believe now that the reasons all of these mistakes occur is due to a lack of training for those trying to do their jobs at the local, state and VA lev- els. These days I also be- lieve that Tehama County is doing everything possi- ble to serve our veterans and their families. They are doing a pretty good job. There's a new Vet- erans Services Officer in town but she needs our continued patience, un- derstanding, support, love and empathy. She cares about veterans and their families more than any other person I've met. In upcoming articles we will provide information from the VSO in Veterans Corner. She wants to make information available about the VA claims pro- cesses. We hope she can provide the article in Vet- erans Corner as much as possible. We also hope to introduce you to a Veteran of the Month — hopefully one each month at least. A number of businesses in Tehama County provide 10 percent discounts for vet- erans with a valid VA or County Veteran ID card, which will also be ad- dressed by the VSO soon. Some readers may choose to write negative comments about this or that. Whether or not those comments will make it to publication won't be up to me, but your comments are encouraged either way. I hope that is fair. Remember that every- thing we know about our veterans, we learned from our veterans, their families and a few good friends. ReachJohnMintonat JarusHeadus5@gmail. com. JOHNMINTON Tehama County Veterans Corner The 72nd outing of the Stonyford Rodeo will be May 2 and 3 and this year it will be better than ever. The specialty act will be The Daredevil Sweet- hearts trick-riding ladies who will open the rodeo and are sure to thrill the crowd with their awesome horseback-riding stunts. The Rodeo Clown and Barrelman will be Clint "Wolfey" Selvester. Wolfey and announcer Don Jesser are sure to keep you en- tertained with their jokes and skits that go on con- tinuously throughout the three-plus hours of great rodeo action. The rodeo is a two-day PRCA event that brings professional cowboys from around the nation to compete for prizes in bareback and saddle- bronc riding, team rop- ing, tie-down roping, bar- rel racing, steer wrestling and bull riding. Amateur cowboys and cowgirls also compete in barrel racing, numbered team roping, steer and bull riding. And there is also mutton busting for the littlest rodeo cowboys and cowgirls. Stonyford put on its first rodeo, an amateur outing, in 1939. It proved to be so popular that the Stony Creek Horsemen's Association was formed in 1943 to manage it as an annual affair. In 1945, it took on a professional tone when it came under the auspices of the Cali- fornia Cowboy Associa- tion (CCA). It became a PRCA event in 1976. Even though Stonyford is a small town, its rodeo weekend offers big-town fun. The weekend begins on Friday evening with a barrel race at 5 p.m. On Saturday the day begins with breakfast 7-10 a.m., then moves on to a small- town parade at 10 a.m. The rodeo begins at 1 p.m. and runs 3 to 3 ½ hours. Later in the evening, there is dancing at the Timberline Bar and Res- taurant. It all starts again on Sunday with breakfast 7-10 a.m., Sunday services at either of two churches — the non-denomina- tional Stonyford Commu- nity Church or the Indian Valley Assembly of God Church. The rodeo starts at noon. Stonyford is too small to have its own commercial lodging; however, it has three great camping areas. The most popular is di- rectly behind and within walking distance to the rodeo arena. The second in popularity is along the shoreline of the East Park Reservoir. The Stonyford end of the reservoir is two miles from the rodeo arena and offers many delightful camping spots. The third camping area is on the other side of the reservoir, at the Lodoga end. This is about an eight- mile drive from the arena; however, the camping sites are plentiful. If camping is not your style, there are motels in Willows and Williams, both about 40 miles away. New for this year, tick- ets are general admission with no assigned seating. Seating is first-come, first- served. Tickets are now avail- able on www.stonycreek- horsemen.org. They can also be purchased at the gate. Advanced adult ticket price is $10, gate price is $15. Stonyford Rodeo set May 2-3 TO DO The Child Tax Credit may save you money at tax- time if you have a qualified child. Here are six things you should know about the credit. 1. Amount. The Child Tax Credit may help reduce your federal income tax by up to $1,000 for each qualifying child that you are eligible to claim on your tax return. 2. Additional Child Tax Credit. If you qualify and get less than the full Child Tax Credit, you could re- ceive a refund even if you owe no tax with the Addi- tional Child Tax Credit. 3. Qualifications. For this credit, a qualifying child must pass several tests: Age test. The child must have been under age 17 at the end of 2014. Relationship test. The child must be your son, daughter, stepchild, foster child, brother, sister, step- brother, or stepsister. The child may be a descendant of any of these individuals. A qualifying child could also include your grand- child, niece or nephew. You would always treat an ad- opted child as your own child. An adopted child includes a child lawfully placed with you for legal adoption. Support test. The child must not have provided more than half of their own support for the year. Dependent test. The child must be a dependent that you claim on your fed- eral tax return. Joint return test. The child cannot file a joint re- turn for the year, unless the only reason they are filing is to claim a refund. Citizenship test. The child must be a U.S. citizen, a U.S. national or a U.S. res- ident alien. Residence test. In most cases, the child must have lived with you for more than half of 2014. 4. Limitations. The Child Tax Credit is subject to in- come limitations. The lim- its may reduce or eliminate your credit depending on your filing status and in- come. 5. Schedule 8812. If you qualify to claim the Child Tax Credit, make sure to check whether you must complete and attach Sched- ule 8812, Child Tax Credit, with your tax return. For example, if you claim a credit for a child with an Individual Taxpayer Identi- fication Number, you must complete Part I of Sched- ule 8812. If you qualify to claim the Additional Child Tax Credit, you must com- plete and attach Schedule 8812. Visit IRS.gov to view, download or print IRS tax forms anytime. 6. IRS E-file. Electronic filing is the best way to file your tax return. IRS E-file is the safe, accurate and easiest way to file. If you use IRS Free File, you can prepare and e-file your taxes for free. Go to IRS. gov/filing and review your options. You can use the Interac- tive Tax Assistant tool on IRS.gov to see if you can claim the credit. TAX TIP 6 things you should know about the Child Tax Credit COURTESY The Stonyford Rodeo is scheduled for May 2-3. PLEASE RECYCLE THIS NEWSPAPER. Thankyou! 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