Our postal mail today brought us a very nice letter from none other than Gerry Lopez, who is a top player and a tireless organizer and promoter of our great game. Gerry is a major force behind this year's Nationals, coming up sooner than you think in July, 2007.

Gerry enclosed two short notes, one from himself and the other from American Checker Federation President Alan Millhone. We're pleased to be able to reproduce these messages here.

From Gerry: "It took a lot of work to get a good deal at the Plaza in Las Vegas for the GAYP National. Now the ACF needs help with pledges to meet the bid that we made to get it there. Anything you can do to help with a check or pledge will be much appreciated. Please help our game by mailing your check or pledge to: Gerry Lopez (ACF Nat'l), 41959 Corte Selva, Temecula, CA 92591. My phone number: (951)-695-2499. Email: prof237@netzero.net."

From Alan: "The National Tourney is coming up in July. Unfortunately, for many people, one of the measuring sticks for the value of a game is its prize fund. Checkers, one of the most beautiful games in the world, is not understood by most people. They think it's a game for children. When they read that the National Champion of the game receives a first prize of only $1,000, their conception is strengthened. It's high time to support our game. If every checker player contributes something, that terrible misconception can be changed. Let's do something to affect that change with your contribution, big or small, to this year's National. To support the game, please mail your check to Gerry Lopez, GAYP 2007, at 41858 Corte Selva, Temecula, CA 92591. All contributions will be credited in the ACF bulletin. Let's get more respect for our game!"

We couldn't agree more, and The Checker Maven encourages you to help out in any way you can. We'll be sending in a little something ourselves, and we challenge you to do the same if at all possible.