Sons of the American
Revolution
Meeting Notice and News, September
2009
Compatriots,
Our first
meeting of the 2009-2010 year will be held on September 19th in the
private meeting room of the Piccadilly
Cafeteria, located at
This month we welcome Rodney Kite-Powell of the Tampa Bay History Center. Rodney has spoken at previous meetings and is always well received. I trust you’ll make every effort to attend. It is always good to see each of you and I know you’ll find the program of interest.
Below are a number of items that may be of interest to you. Thanks for taking the time to look them over.
Regards,
Kevin Yarnell
Secretary,
Upcoming
Meetings
In the mid-1990’s the chapter President, George Brooks,
stressed to the membership the importance of having quality programs and
emphasized those that dealt with our heritage and the study of history. Since
that time, even as a small chapter, we’ve done remarkably well in living up to
this goal. This year promises to be no different. As you’ve read, we’ll start
the year with Rodney Kite-Powell from the
Registrar’s Report
Luke and Jeanne will be
celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary on the weekend of our
meeting so Luke sent this report on his work with our prospective members. (I’m sure I write for all the members in
offering Luke and Jeanne our congratulations on 50 years of marriage.)
Current Potential
Contacts: 50
These go back to 2005 when I got started and every
once in a while somebody will stick their head in the door. For
instance, I just spent an hour and a half with a gentleman who first made
contact in Aug 2006. I have only had two new contacts since the last
meeting.
New Members Since June: 5 Tom Sessums, Gordon Bassett, Tom Quackenbush,
Charlie Copeland and David Jenks
(In looking at the records, 24 men have been accepted into the organization since I got involved as registrar.)
New Member Applications At National: 1 (Vassar)
New Member Application Returned By State For Additional Information: 1
(Rosier)
Supplemental On Way To National: 1 (Jenks)
An invitation for our
Color Guard
Compatriots,
Each year the
The Central Florida Chapter SAR participates each year and they have proven
themselves a great representative of the Florida Sons of the American
Revolution, as has the
I am encouraging each of you, as the leaders of your respective Chapters to
join the Central Florida Chapter in this event. I particularly wish to
see your wonderful Color Guards there. Please think about this
opportunity and let me know if you can/will participate. The only cost is
your travel expenses. Further details will be provided to those who
choose to join in the fun.
All my best,
Scott Bushnell
http://www.cityoforlando.net/executive/communications/events/veterans/index.htm
News from
We received this email from John
Skillman last May and thought it might be of interest to the membership.
Hi Compatriots,
In May I participated in my first VASSAR Color Guard event at the Raid at
Martin's Station in
The Color Guard was made up of members from the VA, KY and TN Societies, plus a
militia detachment that came from all over the
Minutes
of the May 16, 2009 meeting of the Tampa Chapter SAR
President Bell called the meeting to order at
Members present: Jack Bolen, Luke Lloyd, Marty Miller, John Sessums ,
Welcome guests: Jeanne Lloyd, June Bolen, and prospective
members Tom Hawley, David Jenks, and Terrell Sessums
The President introduced their guests.
The minutes of the April meeting were approved.
Secretary’s Report
The secretary gave a brief report of the
FLSSAR annual meeting held April 24-25. The chapter received a 2nd
place ribbon for the Chapter Challenge contest. In this contest our chapter was
judged against others of similar size based on our activities for 2008. This is
our best finish in many years and is due largely to Luke Lloyd’s effort in
securing new members (for which we receive significant numbers of points) and
our ROTC program which is also weighted heavily.
The Treasurer reported a balance of $2,670.48 and petty cash of $70.84.
The registrar, Luke Lloyd, reported that we have about 50 prospects on
our list. Chuck Hawley and Richard Beatty have both been approved as of May 13th.
Four applications are at National awaiting processing. Luke shared some
information he obtained from a workshop held at the recent State Society
meeting. The workshop provided some excellent information especially with respect
to finding documentation from
President Bell reported that the Color Guard will again be participating
in the 4th of July parade in Lutz.
The President presented Dick Hurley with an approved Supplemental.
Vice President Yarnell reported that neither education bill considered
during the recent Florida Legislation session passed. The bills were not
precisely what the Florida Society had wanted and likely would not have done
anything to improve history education in the public schools so their defeat is
likely a positive outcome.
President Bell reported that the downtown library is in the process of
purchasing Revolutionary War records on microfilm. This could be a significant
resource for both current and perspective members.
The meeting recessed for
lunch.
The President
reconvened the meeting and called on Vice President Yarnell to introduce the
program. Bob introduced Jack Bolen who spoke on the Battle of Cowpens.
[Secretary’s note: Jack did a great job with
this talk. The few notes below do not do his presentation justice but will,
perhaps, give a broad overview.]
Jack began with
some background of the war in the south after 1780. He gave an overview of the
British’s “Southern Strategy” and its early success. Information on the makeup
of both armies was helpful and explained the British success.
Using a musket as a
prop, Jack was able to explain some of the details of the weaponry at the time
particularly as it related to the strategy used by British regulars in battle.
The Battle of
Cowpens was the first time an American force met an equally strong British
force and prevailed. Considering that the British were clearly the best
fighting force in the world at the time, this was an amazing feat. Morgan was
in command and was successful because of his effective use of the militia. The
strategy was to put sharp shooters out front with orders to shoot for the
officers. Next the militia was placed with orders to fire two good shots then
retreat behind the regular Continentals.
When the battle
began, each group did their job. As the militia retreat, the British commander was
convinced that the Continentals were fleeting the battle and a clear victory would
be his. The British raced after the fleeting militia and ran into the waiting
Continental regulars who had been reinforced by the retreating militia. Their
volley shot at the charging British was a decisive moment and the battle quickly
turned in favor of the Continentals.
Jack concluded with
a summary of the southern theater and then answered some questions from the
members.
The secretary
acknowledged our anticipation that the poster contest winners would be present
to receive their prizes. Since that didn’t work out, Luke Lloyd will take
charge of the awards and present them to the students at their school. Kevin
also announced that our chapter winner, Ty Woods, had
won the state contest and his poster would now be entered into the National
contest. Our chapter winners were:
Each will receive a
small trophy, certificate, and a cash award from the chapter. Ty will also receive an award and prize money from the
state society.
The secretary,
alas, forgot to bring the 50/50 tickets so the President asked that members
might consider an additional tip to our server.
The President led the recessional, Luke Lloyd gave the benediction, and
the meeting adjourned at
Respectfully submitted,
Kevin Yarnell
Chapter Secretary