Marines seek exemption from announcement fee in Lifestyles

Amid Sun City’s busy activities and resort-style living, there are a few groups that pretty much operate in the deep background.

There are 26 of them, and they are called special interest groups. They are generally small groups of residents that pursue various activities inside and outside of Sun City. Unlike Sun City’s 43 charter groups, they are not open to all residents. Some of them are groups of Sun Citians that participate in Huntley village or area organizations such as Lions and Rotary Clubs or golf clubs. Others are groups of residents that conduct their activities outside Sun City and in some cases outside of Huntley.

Currently, these groups include bowling leagues, hobby groups, the Encore Chamber Orchestra, religious groups for both men and women, ethnic groups such as Italian Americans and Filipino Americans, and cancer and grief support groups, among others. (To view the entire list, see pp. 42-43 of the March Lifestyles).

All 26 seek and are granted space in Lifestyles magazine to publish a single line of brief contact information. The entire list is published monthly near the center section of the magazine, free of charge. That’s the easy and well-accepted part. The other part gets a bit more complicated.

Some of the groups want to include additional information about their purposes and activities, and promote upcoming events. About a decade ago, the association established a fee of $20 per year for this “additional” text. Last September, responding to rising printing prices, the community’s board of directors approved a management recommendation to raise the printing charge to $20 a quarter (three issues of the magazine), or $80 a year). “The cost to produce the magazine has continued to rise since the fee was initiated 10-plus years ago, and special interest groups do not have the same status as the other clubs and events because they are not open to all residents,” Executive Director Deanna Loughran said.

One of these special interest organizations is a group of Marines. They are about 40 retired members of the U.S. Marine Corps. The group is the only military-related one in the community. It was formed 11 years ago for Marine Corps veterans of World War II, Korean War, Vietnam, and other conflicts in which the Corps has participated.

The group is a participant in the Huntley Memorial Day parade each year. Its color guard, led by Joe Scorn, presents the colors at many Huntley area events, treats and honors high school students entering the U.S. Marine Corps at a luncheon, and participates in the 9/11 flag ceremony and many other Sun City events. The group also holds many social events for members and guests each year.

Tony Loforte is current commandant of the Marine group. He was the co-founder, along with Fritz Masur (A WWII veteran) of the unit in 2007. Loforte returned to the commandant office this year. Other commandants have been Charles Molitor, Richard Christie, and John Martinez. Loforte inadvertently shined a light on all of the special interest groups on February 28 at the community board of directors meeting.

The Marine group formerly published a short paragraph describing their organization’s purposes and activities, and paid the small fee for it. Now that the board has raised the price to $20 a quarter, his group has dropped its additional information paragraph and includes only a free contact information line. It is seeking an exemption from the “additional information” fee.

“We want to re-establish our additional information,” Laforte said.

“We are the only military group in Sun City, we are the only group dedicated to the United States of America, Sun City, and the greater Huntley area,” he said. “We are a big part of the nation’s history. We don’t charge any fees for our appearances. We create a positive recognition in the Greater Huntley community by the patriotic exposure we provide. We respectfully request that the Sun City Huntley Marines be exempt from the Lifestyles’ print charges.”

Loforte said he has delivered this request directly to the Sun City management staff as well as the Sun Day.

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