Minutes of the March 28, 2009 meeting of
the Tampa Chapter SAR
President Bell called the
meeting to order at
Members present: Jack Bolen,
John Sessums, Ira Ward, Marty Miller, Roger Quackenbush, Devaux McLean, Ed Neugaard, Luke Lloyd, Allen,
Welcome
guests: Prospective members Chuck Hawley
and Terrell Sussums; June Bolen, Jeanne Lloyd, Licia Sessums, Phyllis Ward, Captain
Derrick Ryan and his wife Debbie.
The President introduced the
guests.
The minutes of the February
meeting were approved with additions made to the list of members present.
John Skillman announced that
he had secure Lt. Gen. James Ellis as our speaker for the November meeting.
The secretary made several
announcements:
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He thanked Vice
President Yarnell for assuming the duties of secretary at the last meeting
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The first
commemoration of the Battle of Pensacola will be held May 8-9. The secretary
had information available.
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At the FLSSAR
annual meeting, April 24-25, eight changes to the society bylaws will be
considered. The proposed changes will be printed in the Patriot magazine which
is expected to be mailed next week. Members were asked to consider these so
that, if necessary, they might be briefly discussed at the April meeting.
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The National
Society is considering an increase of $60 in the new member application fee.
The secretary solicited feedback as the topic would be considered at the next
FLSSAR Board of Management meeting so that the FLSSAR delegates to the National
Congress can be instructed on voting this matter. The consensus of the members
was clearly that the increased seemed like a poor idea and if there was a need
for funds, perhaps to hire another genealogist, then the National Society
needed to do a better job of communicating this need.
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The National
Congress will be held in
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Our next meeting
will be the annual JROTC luncheon. Some of the details were briefly discussed.
Copies of the invitation that was mailed to the ROTC units were available.
The Treasurer reported a
balance of $2,698.62 and petty cash of $48.47. During the month the treasurer
moved $125 from petty cash to the checking account.
The registrar, Luke Lloyd, reported
that National had approved the change to require documentation for “center
check marked”
The Compatriot Bell, as
commander of the color guard unit reported on the unit’s recent attendance at
the Florida Children of the American Revolution state meeting held here in
In old business the
secretary inquired of the membership how they wished to respond to the FLSSAR
President’s call for support of the Center for Advancing America’s Heritage.
The membership, while supportive of the project as evidenced by a recent
chapter donation, was not inclined to do anything else at this time. The
secretary will send on the “seed” donation make by the FLSSAR President at the
last meeting with a note to National expressing our current view of the
Society’s responsiveness to local chapter needs.
Under new business Luke
Lloyd and Jack Bolen reported on their judging of the Poster Contest.
The meeting recessed for lunch.
The
President reconvened the meeting and introduced Vice President Yarnell who
introduced Captain Derrick Ryan, our recipient for the Fire Safety Award. Derrick Ryan is a
Captain
Ryan first observed that he wasn’t entirely convinced that he was deserving of
any award thinking instead that he had done only what was expected. He then
recounted the story of that day. It isn’t possible to include the details of
the Captain’s story here, but the membership was in rapt attention throughout
the presentation. After answering a few questions, Captain Ryan was presented
with the SAR Fire Safety Award by President Bell.
John Skillman won the 50/50
drawing and graciously donated his share to the chapter. The treasury was thus
enriched by $24.00.
Luke Lloyd gave the
benediction. The President led the recessional and adjourned the meeting at
Respectfully submitted,
Kevin Yarnell
Chapter Secretary