Stafford Military Friends - Bonding military spouses and their families; building friendships, one assignment at a time! This group is for any military family, no matter what branch, to meet others and have a good time. I find the worst part about being military is leaving your old friends and making new ones. Half the time, you end up meeting people who would have been great friends, right as one of you are leaving. I would like everyone to find something they are looking for from this group, since there seems to be no other groups for military spouses/families in the stafford area. I would like for us to be able to have all sorts of meetups; some may not be good for all, but there will be a little something for everyone. We like to meet for lunch, local park play dates, other playdates or kid activities, gym dates, walking datesl, family BBQ's, family cosmic bowling, adults night out, ladies night out, happy hour, scrapbooking/crafting, and and much more. We value your input, so let us know if there is something else you may be interested in. If you are interested in helping put together a function, please let one of the organizers know. So, please join us here and invite others so we can all meet new friends and have a lot of fun! We do require yearly dues of $10 per family to cover the costs of this Meetup group website, and few little things here and there. All of the extra money will go back to you through our events, such as paying for drinks at a BBQ. We want you to come and check us out and see if you are a fit for our group. We invite you to come to your first meetup for free and just ask that you pay your dues at your second function or within 60 days, whichever comes first. You can pay your dues online at the left under "Membership Dues", you can mail a check to me, or pay by cash or check in person. We want to keep this fee as low as possible, but do need to cover the cost of the website so this fee is subject to change, as needed. We want to keep our group full of active members and not have lurkers hanging around, so we encourage participation on our site as well as the meetups. We understand that you will not be able to attend every function, but please join us when you can and be present on the discussion board. We look forward to having you join our group and are always open to the new ideas you may have, as we are always looking for fresh and new ideas

Below are a few rules to live by for the Stafford Military Friends:

1) Dues - Please pay your $10 yearly membership dues for 2010 within 60 days of becoming part of the group, or by your second gathering, whichever comes first. This will help filter out those that are not really serious, as well as keep our group info (pictures/addresses/etc) out of view to those that are not truly a part of the group. If you are experiencing a financial hardship, then please speak with me about it and we can work something out. If you have not paid or made special arrangements to do so after 60 days, you will be removed from our group.
2) Attendance - We ask that you attend at least one meetup/gathering every 3 months. This ensures that people don't join and just linger in the group with access to all of our personal information. If you have joined and have decided that our group is not for you, you can remove yourself from the group. If you have been in the group longer than three months and have not attended any events, you will be removed for the safety and privacy of our participating members.
3) No Shows – Please be a courteous member. Three no-shows without changing your RSVP will result in removal from the group. Our event hosts put a lot of effort to ensure you and your family have a great time at our functions. It is only polite to notify them if your plans have changed and you will no longer be able to attend. We understand that life happens and children get sick or something comes up. Please be sure to update your RSVP immediately if that is the case so that the event host can plan accordingly. After three no-shows to any event, you will be removed from the group.

We thank you for your understanding for the need of these rules. They are in place to keep us and our personal information safe. We know that everyone is busy and life can sometimes get in the way, but please speak up every once in a while and let us know what you are up to! We would love to hear from you! We look forward to the upcoming months and have a lot of activities on the calendar. We hope that you will find something that will interest you and your family. If this sounds like fun to you, we look forward to having you join us!

Thank you,
Shawn and Libby Lafferty
Stafford Military Friends
www.MilitaryBondsUs.com