President Bill Schwetke attend the Federation of Genealogical Societies Convention in San Antonio, TX, 27-30 Aug 2014.  The Texas Society of the SAR had a large booth in the exhibit hall that was manned by volunteers including TXSSAR President Bob Cohen.  They did a great job of recruiting members for not only the Texas Society, but the SAR nation-wide.  They kindly allowed Culpeper Minutemen literature to be distributed from their table as well.  In return President Schwetke filled in to help their volunteers during the lunch hour. 

NSSAR shared the TXSSAR Booth and was represented by Rick Kincaid, a member of the NSSAR permanent staff and program director for Operation Ancestor Search.  In this program the SAR team with Ancestry.com to work with wounded soldiers using genealogy as therapy. 

President Schwetke was not the only Culpeper Minuteman helping at the TXSSAR Booth.  Dual-member and Past President General (2009-10) Judge Ed Butler was also there doing his part.  It was great to see so many compatriots working to promote the SAR.

Our Board of Managers met at Pepper's Grille in Culpeper to plan future programs and efforts.  The most important addition to your calendar is the grave marking for Francis Lay at the Lay Family Farm, 3:00pm, Saturday, 11 October (immediately following the Chapter Community Awards Meeting at Prince Michel Winery).  Map and details will be furnished closer to the event.
Other notable decisions by the board include:
* We will award Public Safety and Teacher Awards in each of our five counties, but still only forward one to VASSAR.
*  We established a committee to plan a suitable marker to inform visitors and to celebrate Cap Gabriel Long who was a Minuteman and also commanded a rifle company in the 11th Virginia during the Revolution.  Lon Lacey will chair the committee and so far Bill Schwetke is a member - looking for more.
*  We approved the purchase of a Culpeper Minutemen Battle Flag to be presented to the Culpeper Minutemen Chapter of the DAR.
* We approved Lon Lacey's proposal to plan for an enhanced program for next Independence Day in Culpeper to include a banquet on the evening of the 3rd featuring a George Washington reenactor.  When Lon presents his plan we will vote on moving forward with it.  Jim Bayne and Bill Schwetke will be assisting Lon - more participants in the planning are welcome.
It was very encouraging to have prospective member Price Martin attend the BOM meeting.  Price's application should be ready for submission in a couple weeks or less.

On the evening of the first of August President Bill Schwetke and his wife Cat joined Paul Chase from the Col William Grayson Chapter to distribute Liberty Sprigs and Culpeper Minutemen Chapter literature in downtown Warrenton during the monthly First Friday festivities.  The sponsors cancelled First Friday based on a forecast of storms, which never occurred.  Without the the outside booths those gathered headed indoors at places such as Molly's Irish Pub, where we joined them.  CMM literature was handed out to a few prospective members that we attracted with our "unusual" clothing.

The next First Friday in Warrenton will be on Friday September 5th.  We have a booth reserved that should be close to the court house so that we can support the Fauquier Court House Chapter, DAR, in their ceremony celebrating our Constitution.  Join us in September.

* Liberty Sprig Booth at Warrenton First Friday, 1 Aug, 6-9pm
* Mid Altlantic States Assoc., Hunt Valley, MD, 8-10 Aug
* CMM BOM Meeting, Peppers Grill, Culpeper, 16 Aug, 09:30am
* Liberty Sprig Booth at Warrenton First Friday, 5 Sep, 6-9pm
* Bugles Across America, Culpeper, 11 Sep, time TBD
* Semi-Annual, Hyatt Fair Lakes, Fairfax, VA,  19-20 Sep
* Fauquier Heritage Days Parade, Warrenton, VA, 20 Sep, 9:00am
* Fall Leadership Conference, Louisville, KY, 26-27 Sep
* Slaughter Grave Marking by DAR, Sunday, 28 Sep, 2:00pm
* Liberty Sprig Booth at Warrenton First Friday, 3 Oct, 6-9pm
* Point Pleasant, WV, 3-4 October
* King’s Mountain, Blacksburg, SC, 7 Oct
* Chapter Community Awards Meeting, Prince Michel Winery, 11 Oct, 11:30am
*  Francis Lay Grave Marking, Lay Family Farm, 11 Oct, 3:00pm (following Chapter Meeting)
* Constitution Day at Montpelier, 17 Oct, time TBD
* Yorktown, 19 October, time TBD
* Veteran’s Day, 11 Nov
* Chapter Awards Meeting, Prince Michel Winery, 15 Nov, 11:30am
* Great Bridge, Chesapeake, VA, 6 Dec, time TBD
* SAR/DAR Christmas Party, Prince Michel Winery, 6 Dec, time TBD
* Wreaths Across America, Culpeper National Cemetery, 13 Dec, time TBD

Compatriots and Friends,

The first chapter event of August is the Board of Managers Meeting, which by our constitution and by-laws includes most of the active members.  Any other members who would like to join us will be very welcome to not only observe, but to participate, in a non-voting status.  We will meet, as we did in January, at Peppers Grille in the Culpeper Best Western, at 9:30am on Saturday August 16th.  We will be eating the breakfast buffet.

What I would like us to begin thinking about is the sestercentennial of our struggle for independence.  “Sestercentennial”, or alternatively “semiquincentennial”, “bicenquinquagenary”, or “quarter-millennial”, are terms for the 250th anniversary.  We are 250 years removed from events that shaped our nation.  On August 1st 1764, our patriot ancestors were enjoying peace after years of war.  The French and Indian War had ended on February 10th of the previous year.  That war, however, had sown the seeds of a future conflict.

On April 5th 1764 Parliament passed the Sugar Act, also known as the American Revenue Act.  Great Britain was in debt from the recently concluded war, and now faced increased costs in defending the colonial frontier from Indian attacks.  Parliament leveed the tax to offset the cost of defending the Colonies.  Our patriot ancestors found much wrong with such a tax; Samuel Adams expressed his opposition with the following words in May of 1764:

      "For if our Trade may be taxed why not our Lands? Why not the Produce of our Lands & every thing we possess or make use of? This we apprehend annihilates our Charter Right to govern & tax ourselves – It strikes our British Privileges, which as we have never forfeited them, we hold in common with our Fellow Subjects who are Natives of Britain: If Taxes are laid upon us in any shape without our having a legal Representation where they are laid, are we not reduced from the Character of free Subjects to the miserable State of tributary Slaves."     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar_Act

The tension between the colonies and the Mother Country were rising.  This was the world of our patriot ancestors 250 years ago.  As their sons we should be sure that the events of their lives are remembered, for they are the events that formed our great country.  Let us prepare to remember them as the 250th anniversaries of earth changing events approach.

Your Servant,
Bill Schwetke, President