by John P. Meyer

"Passports! Passports! Get 'cher red hot passports!"

As a service to the communities served - and, incidentally, as a great way to trumpet their own services - North Texas AAA offices, including the branch at 5431 S. Hulen Street in Fort Worth, will offer a free passport photo day next Wed., Jan. 10th, from 9 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Since a set of passport photos would typically run you $10 (or $7 for AAA members), this is a pretty cool deal. And, since the U S of A Federal Government will soon begin requiring a valid passport for travel into and out of the U.S. for destinations including Canada, Mexico, Central/South America and the Caribbean, a lot of folks who thought they'd never need one are going to want to have a passport. (The new regulations go into effect January 23rd.)

Of course, you'll still need to make your official passport application through your post office or another authorized passport processing location - but at least you'll have the photo part taken care of.

Plus, if your car is disabled while you're in the office, someone there will probably know who to call for help.