Sons of the American Revolution
Meeting Notice, March 2008
Compatriot,
The next
meeting of the Tampa Chapter will be held on March 15th in the
private meeting room of the Piccadilly
Cafeteria, located at
Each year we present the Fire Safety medal to an area fire fighter and this will be the program for our March meeting. The award will be given to Lt. Bob Vanek of the New Port Richey Fire Department. The following is the report / recommendation of his chief. "On April 20th of 2007, Lt. Bob Vanek rescued a homeowner from within the homeowner’s residence while his house was on fire. Bob entered a smoke fill structure and quickly found the resident laying on the floor in his front bedroom hallway. Bob dragged the somewhat combative resident to the front bedroom window where myself and FF Pipp helped finish pulling him out through a window. At this point, he along with other firefighters finished extinguishing the house fire."
I trust you’ll make every effort to attend. It is always good to see each of you.
Regards,
Kevin Yarnell
Secretary,
Upcoming
Meetings
In April we’ll hold
our annual ROTC luncheon and we hope you’ll make a special effort to attend.
We’ll honor the cadets chosen by their commanders to receive the SAR JROTC
award. It is always a wonderful time meeting and talking with these fine young
men and women. So save April 19th on your calendar and remember
guests are always welcome.
Our May speaker will present a program on Colonial education. That too promises to be an excellent program.
Presenters Needed
We are in need of
members to attend awards ceremonies at the local high schools to present our
JROTC awards. If you would be interested in going to one or more schools please
let Kevin know at the meeting or at kayarnell@hotmail.com.
There is no public speaking involved. Your task is to simply present the medal
to the cadet. A signup list will be available at the meeting this Saturday.
Thanks for
considering this important task.
National to Move Headquarters
If you’ve been
reading your national magazine you’ll know that the society has been
considering moving its headquarters to a different location in
You can find much
more on this decision, including pictures and architect renderings, on the
National website (www.sar.org).
Minutes
of the February 16, 2008 meeting of the Tampa Chapter SAR
President Bell called the meeting to order at
Members present: DeVaux McLean, Luke Lloyd, Cy Gamber, John Sessons, Allen Bell, Marty Miller,
Welcome guests: Jeanne Lloyd, June Bolen, Gerald Sessons and his wife, Darlene and Tom Schoepsk.
Tom and Gerald are prospective members.
The guests were introduced by various members.
The minutes of the January meeting were approved.
The secretary reported that the chapter membership stood at 35. He has
received emails from members as a result of the meeting notices now being sent.
This month Chuck Grant, Bill Floyd, and Ed Neugaard
sent greetings to the members. The Chapter Challenge contest form was submitted
to the Regional Vice President. Chapter Challenge is a yearly contest between
local chapters. Points are awarded for various activities completed by the
chapter. For 2007
Marty Miller reported on his audit of the chapter treasury records.
Everything was in order. The Treasurer reported a checking balance of $2,267.91
and a petty cash amount of $102.99.
Jack Bolen asked if brochures were available to give to prospective
members. Luke Lloyd had some pamphlets but the secretary was asked to order
some brochures suitable for recruitment.
Under new business the secretary asked the membership if they’d be
willing to sponsor a local contest for the Americanism Elementary School Poster
Contest. He has several contacts at local Catholic elementary schools and
thought they might be receptive to the contest. Luke Lloyd also has a contact
at a local Christian school in his area. The membership agreed to have both men
float the idea with these schools. If there is interest the chapter may be
willing to offer prize money for the winners.
The meeting recessed for
lunch.
Following lunch President Bell introduce the Vice President, Robert
Yarnell who provided the program for the meeting.
In honor of Washington’s birthday this month,
Compatriot Yarnell sought to answer the question, “Why did it succeed?” Too
often we tend to end our thinking regarding the Revolution with the surrender
at
Focusing on the founders and particularly
1. They knew each other personally and they knew how to disagree without
being disagreeable. During this time,
2. They had a sense that they were making history and that they were
actors in what they understood as a drama. This prevented them from being
radical in their approach to starting the government under the constitution.
Each man, in his own way, realized what was at stake and very much wanted the
government to work more than they wanted personal power and glory.
3.
So why did it work? It had to work to avoid someone becoming King or
having the country carved up by European nations. This fact was clearly on the
minds of the founders and they never lost sight of it.
A time for questions followed.
The secretary won the 50/50 drawing and donated the full proceeds to the
chapter. The treasury was thus enriched by $13.00
President Bell led the recessional. Chaplain Lloyd gave the benediction.
The meeting adjourned at
Respectfully submitted,
Kevin Yarnell
Chapter Secretary