Minutes of the February 18, 2006 meeting
of the Tampa Chapter SAR
President Bolen called the
meeting to order at
Members present: Jack Bolen,
Marty Miller, Luke Lloyd, Ed Neugaard, Ken Skillman, Richard Hardesty, John
Skillman, Allen Bell, Robert Yarnell, and Kevin Yarnell.
Welcome
guests: June Bolen, Jeanne Lloyd, Shelley Jakes, Roger and Kathy Quakenbush,
and John Sessions. Both Roger and John are prospective members.
The president introduced the
guests and, for the benefit of our speaker, recessed the meeting for lunch.
President
Bolen reconvened the meeting and introduced our speaker Shelley Jakes. Mrs.
Jakes spoke on
The
woman credited with establishing the Mount Vernon Women’s Society in 1853 is
Pamela Cunningham. Her mother, on a visit to
The
home was left in the care of two individuals- one man, Mr. Upton, a southerner,
and one woman, Sarah C. Tracy, a northerner. The perception that this created
is not to be overlooked and the society had to reassure interested persons that
everything was appropriate. The fact that the pair represented both sides of
the conflict turned out to be a significant advantage. The speaker shared
several stories to illustrate this point.
Money
to sustain the property was, at time, difficult to obtain as visitors had a
hard time getting to the home. In the first year of the war almost no visitors
were allowed. After that time visitors were allowed by boat. Passengers paid
$1.50 for passage and additional money to see the home.
In
order to keep
They
had some trouble with visitors taking souvenirs and thus degrading the
property. This led to the idea of selling items for guests to take with them.
Items included wild flowers and pictures of the visitor at
Mr.
Upton and Miss Tracy married after the war which added a small romantic angle
to the story.
A
short question and answer session followed and the President presented Mrs.
Jakes with a certificate of appreciation from the chapter. The significant
applause for Mrs. Jakes reflected the appreciation of the membership for the
presentation.
The meeting proceeded with
the business portion.
The SAR membership approved
the minutes of the January meeting as published in the newsletter.
The secretary received
acknowledgement for our donation of $86.65 to the Endowment Trust Fund. These
funds were collected from members as an additional donation with the dues. A
thank you phone call was received from the Riverview JROTC unit in response to
our donation.
The treasurer reported a
balance of $2226.19. Marty Miller reported his audit of the chapter accounts.
He made a suggestion to the treasurer regarding a better way to record one
transaction and assured the chapter that the books were in order.
Luke Lloyd, as registrar,
submitted a written report which is summarized here. Seven members have
applications in process. He brought up several items for consideration.
-
a new member is needed
to maintain the ancestry database started by Rod Stebbins
-
a new webmaster is
needed
-
supplies are needed
from National; specifically a computer program to aid in typing applications
The secretary reported on
his activity with the chapter webpage. Rod Stebbins was handling the site but
recently indicated that he was no longer able to do so. The secretary has had
the appropriate accounts transferred to him and is currently working on a new
website. He asked for suggestions for content.
The President reported on
plans to visit other SAR chapters to observe how they contact their meetings.
The goal is to take the best ideas and incorporate them into our meetings so as
to make the gatherings more enjoyable to the membership and guests.
Next month Grant Wallin from
the
Marty Miller won the 50/50
drawing. He donated his share to the treasury which was thus enriched by
$19.00.
President Bolen led the
recessional. Chaplain Hardesty gave the benediction. The meeting adjourned at
Respectfully submitted,
Kevin Yarnell
Chapter Secretary