FUTURE MEETINGS

The March meeting will be in the Southern Heritage Complex at 7:00 (NOTICE A NEW TIME). If you have any questions about the meeting time or location, call Commander Sam Price (638-2676) or any other camp officer. As shown in his last presentation, Joe Gerache is a first rate Story Teller”, do not miss this one.   Visitors lead to new members and are always welcome. Place our monthly camp meetings, first Thursday of each month, on your schedule.

Date                                         Speaker                                                           Topic

March 3                       Joe Gerache                             How I became interested in the War

April 7                          Warren Grabau                        TBD

 

FUTURE CEMETERY PLANS

Do not forget we have about 25 headstones on the way to set in the ground.

Past Commander McMaster has located four Confederate VA headstones at the Marble Works that need to be set.  It appears they were ordered by someone, delivered and never picked up for setting. 

Jeff Gambrione has found the name in an old diary of a Georgia soldier who fell in defense of Vicksburg at Chickasaw Bayou. The camp is working with Jeff to order a stone.   

 

SUMMER CONVENTIONS

The 2005 Mississippi Division Convention hosted by Sam Davis Camp 596 will be held the first weekend in June (3 and 4). Registration fee is $28 per member. The hotel is the Holiday inn Airport on Hwy 49 in Gulfport. The telephone number for motel reservations is 1/800/327-0200 (ask for SCV rate $65 per night). For information go to www.mississippiscv.org

The 2005 SCV General Convention will be held July 20-23, 2005 at the Sheraton Music City Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee. . For information go to http://www.scv2005.com/

For more information about conventions contact Eddy Cresap at 638-5973

 

WEB SITE

Thanks to William Fryer for being the webmaster for the John C. Pemberton Camp. A good website puts a positive face on our cause.  You will find our website at www.canufly.net/~river/SCV/SCV1354.html.  This newsletter is also posted on the website. Good job William.

 

WORKSHOP

The annual Billy Ray Hankins workshop will be held in Jackson on March 5.  The meeting will start at 10:00 PM in the War Memorial Building. This is always a time to have fellowship with old friends and meet new ones. The information in the workshop is always timely and useful.

MEETING LOCATION

Our present meeting location is in one of the old classrooms in the old Saint Francis School Building. Thanks to Doctor Edney, we have use of one of the old classrooms.  Thanks to Wayne McMaster and  Mary Nell for organizing the move and decoration.  Thanks to Joe Garache for donation of a set of mounted artifacts and to Doctor Edney for donating books to start a library.  It is well worth attending a meeting just to visit the Southern Heritage Complex.

 

   

A CONFEDERATE MUSEUM FOR VICKSBURG

Members of our camp, Bobby Armstrong and Joe Gerache,  are in discussions with the city of Vicksburg to open a Confederate museum in downtown Vicksburg. The camp has a committee headed by Wayne McMaster to assist these Southern gentlemen in getting this project under way.


BEAUVOIR ACTIVITIES

Beauvoir is owned by the Mississippi Division Sons of Confederate Veterans.  Membership in the Division should support the Last home of Jefferson Davis by attending events that are sponsored, by joining “Friends of Beauvoir” and donating to the Capital campaign (see article latter in newsletter).  Below is a list of activities scheduled for 2005. 

 

CONDOLENCES

Long time member of our camp, Wesley  Hanks, passed away in  January.  Keep his family in your thoughts and prayers.  Please send memorials to Adjutant Joe Strahn. 4350 Mount Alban Road, Vicksburg Ms 38183   All donations will be made in memorial to Beauvoir.

 

MEMBER ON MISSION TRIP

Dr. Dan Edney, an internal medicine physician at the Street Clinic in Vicksburg, and long time member and past commander of the John C. Pemberton Camp spent two weeks during February in Indonesia on a medical relief mission to tsunami victims.

BEAUVOIR DEVELOPMENT

By Phil Gunter

During our capital campaign of 1998, “Giving the Past a Future” was our theme. That campaign was only moderately successful. However, that moderate success funded the Beauvoir Development Account. Those donors of six years ago provided the means for much of the success that Beauvoir has had in obtaining grants in the current Capital campaign to fund the Gulf Cost Botanical gardens t Beauvoir. Money and securities donated by you are the “seeds” that were planted (invested) and carefully managed and matured.  Those seeds have grown and have been essential to our efforts to give Beauvoir‘s past a future.  Without those resources, our current success in obtaining grants would have been severely limited. In order to continue the mission of Giving the Past a Future” Beauvoir needs your help with the current Capital Campaign. 

Meeting our goals in the current Capital Campaign is critical to the long term success of Beauvoir in Giving the Past a Future.  Through your support much has already been accomplished for the benefit of Beauvoir.  The next and most crucial element of the Capital Campaign is the funding of the re-creation and construction of the Historic Davis Garden immediately to the North of Beauvoir house.  When the Davis Garden is complete, it is reasonable to expect the remaining portions of the Master Plan to come to fruition.  Thanks to your generosity, we have the schematic diagram for that garden.  Now we need the money to build and endow the operation of that garden.  At this time of year all non-profit organizations are seeking additional funding. Sometimes it feels like a “feeding frenzy” as we are struck from all directions by pleas for support for many excellent causes.  The Historic Davis Garden project is one of those worthy causes.  Beauvoir needs your support and needs it now!

It is important that you mark your gifts as “restricted for the Botanical Garden Account” In lieu of cash donations, please consider the income tax advantages to you of gifting stocks or mutual funds that have appreciated in value.  Cash, stocks, bonds, mutual funds ect are all welcome gifts in support of this endeavor.  If you wish to contribute securities, pleas call Beauvoir Business office for instructions on how to complete the transfer. 

 

NEWS LETTER ECONOMICS

The cold hard facts of this newsletter are that it cost the camp more per year than camp dues support.  This deficient has been occurring for several years with the deficient covered by one time surplus money. (Is this story beginning to sound familiar)?  It cost about $840 a year ($70 a month) for copy and postage to send out the newsletter.  The camps portion of the dues you send in is $7 per year.  If you assume a membership of 45 members, the income from dues is $315. This leaves a yearly deficient of $525 per year. There are some ways of saving money and the executive council is looking at them.  If you have any money saving ideas please send them to the editor (Eddy Cresap 638-5973)   or commander (Sam Price, 638-2676). 

To increase the revenue, to support this newsletter as it exists, the executive council is asking for donations to offset the deficit.  Donations to the newsletter can be sent to Joe Strahan 4350 Mount Alban Road, Vicksburg Ms 38183 with the checks noted as newsletter donations.  If you desire a dedication, a dedication will be inserted in the newsletter for your ancestor.  Please send dedication info to Eddy Cresap 707 Timberlane drive, Vicksburg Ms or cresap@canufly.net

 

DISCOVERY TRAIL 2005

The 2005 Discovery Tour will be a bus tour of Mississippi’s First State Scenic Byway, the Grand Gulf-Raymond Scenic By-way.  This beautiful and historic road  served Grant as his supply line during the May 1863 phase of the Vicksburg campaign. This tour will cover the entire 50 mile route from Grand Gulf to Raymond,  will include a visit to Grand Gulf Park and Raymond Military Park, and a guided tour of the history along the road. A picnic lunch will be served at Rocky Springs.

The tour will depart from in front of the Hinds County Court House in Raymond at 9:00.

And will conclude back in Raymond at 4:30.

The cost is $20 per person payable upon boarding the bus.  This is a fund raising event for the friend’s organization. Seats may be reserved by contacting Parker Hills, 119 Lake Forest lane, Clinton Ms 39056, 601-924-5666, Parker@BattleFocus.com