Minutes of the March 18, 2006 meeting of the Tampa Chapter SAR

President Bolen called the meeting to order at 12:00. Chaplain Richard Hardesty offered the invocation. President Bolen led the pledge to the flag and the pledge to the SAR.

Members present: Jack Bolen, Marty Miller, Cy Gamber, Ken Skillman, John Skillman, Richard Hardesty, and Kevin Yarnell. Also Gene Brown and Grant Wallin of the Clearwater Chapter were in attendance.

Welcome guests: June Bolen, Roger Quakenbush, Morgan Cheek, our essay winner, her mother and great grandmother.

The president introduced the guests.

The minutes of the February were approved with two corrections.

The secretary reported on his activity with the chapter webpage. He asked for suggestions and feedback.

The treasurer reported a balance of $1991.19.

In new business, the secretary reported on the arrangements for next months meeting honoring the JROTC cadets. Members will be paying for the meals of the cadets. Several members agreed to present the awards at the local unit ceremonies.

The president, on behalf of Registrar Luke Lloyd, briefly reported on the status of our prospective members. He also gave a brief report of his recent trip to Athens, GA where he attended the local SAR officer installation ceremony.

There being no further business the meeting recessed for lunch.

President Bolen reconvened the meeting and introduced the secretary who, in turn, introduced Morgan Cheek the winner of the chapter essay contest. Morgan is a junior at Tampa Catholic High School and is currently enrolled in Advanced Placement U.S. History as well as Political Science. Morgan read her essay on Benjamin Franklin for the members. The president then presented Morgan with a certificate and book. The latter contained a dedication signed by all those present.

Next, the president introduced Grant Wallin and Gene Brown of the Clearwater chapter. They spoke to the membership on forming a color guard.

The main reason to form a color guard is recognition and exposure for the SAR. Grant pointed out that just in walking through the restaurant to attend the meeting he received any number of questions and comments.

In order to form a color guard a name for the “camp” needs to be selected. A camp commander is the only required officer. Ed Young is the state commander and we’d need to work through him to establish the camp.

Uniforms are available from a variety of sources and can be of many types. There are three official uniforms:

The Alpha Uniform is a colonial dress uniform

The Bravo Uniform: Tricorn hat, with brigade button, blue blazer with SAR badge patch and medium gray trousers

The Charlie Uniform: Tricorn hat, with Brigade button, blue blazer with SAR patch and white trousers

The national SAR website has a list of uniform suppliers. Grant discussed the colonial dress uniform at some length answering questions by the members as they arose.

Grant briefly discussed how the Clearwater chapter obtained two replica muskets and some of the issues surrounding weapons. He also discussed how they participate in parades using a pickup truck as opposed to marching.

Grant Wallin won the 50/50 drawing. He donated his share to the treasury which was thus enriched by $16.00.

President Bolen led the recessional. Chaplain Hardesty gave the benediction. The meeting adjourned at 1:17pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Kevin Yarnell

Chapter Secretary