Compatriots,
Winter is almost over, and I am looking forward to Springtime. Especially the 147th Annual Spring Meeting of the membership, hosted by the Sacramento Chapter April 21 -24, 2022. There will be an add on NRA Certified Black Powder Training class on Sunday and Monday taught by Compatriot Russ Kaiser. This is a convenient and inexpensive way to get your NRA Muzzleloader Certification.
Thank you to all our Chapter Secretaries who completed their Chapter Reconciliation Reports for 2022. Our State Secretary Fred Schuster has completed the California Reconciliation Report and all three reports – Chapter, State, and National are all in agreement.
Thank you, Fred! The California Society begins the year with 1,648 members. Our challenge is to seek new members, improve our membership retention, and increase our member involvement at the Chapter and State level. Please consider submitting a photo of your Chapter activities to our Compatriot Editor Craig Anderson. I hope you have enjoyed the monthly format.
I hope that you have had a chance to visit the new CASSAR web page and experienced the ease of use and amount of information available. Thank you to our webmaster Greg Hill. In addition to the new design there is lots of new information including the CA Society Public Service Announcement produced by Compatriot David Gilliard. Plus, specific information from our America 250 Committee co-chair John Ferris on how you can assist the CASSAR celebrate America 250 in the Golden state. The new Chapter America 250 minute and the new America 250 Medal program are explained as well.
There is lots to be done in preparation for America 250. We anticipate an increase in patriotism and public awareness of the sacrifices made by our patriot ancestors to secure our freedoms and independence. Please join us as we capitalize on the opportunity this will provide to recruit new members.
Libertas et patria,
Brian Stephens
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Click the image to play the America 250 SAR Video |
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Compatriots
For the next 10 years, our prime objective as SAR members is to remember, learn and share those events from 250 years ago that resulted in our great nation, the United States of America. Every time we meet, we should be devoting some time to achieving that objective.
Recently, in the Compatriot, I spoke about the America 250 Minute Program. This is a great way to make each chapter meeting a 250 Event. This is where one of the chapter members presents a short (5 minutes?) story of a person, place, event, etc. that deals with that special period from 1763 to 1783.
But how does one go about presenting an America 250 Minute?
James Bunker, President of Harbor Chapter, Vice President of Membership, and a member of the CASSAR America 250 SAR Steering Committee has put together a great package for anyone interested in giving an America 250 Minutepresentation. By using the following link below, one is in touch with a multitude of resources accessing people, places, events, and topics from a multitude of curated historical resources. These resources range from the Library of Congress and the National Archives to biographies and battles as well as information that relates to Patriots of Color. This presentation and the curated resources associated with it, should be of interest to anyone who wishes to give a presentation as well as any CASSAR chapter that wishes to introduce this program to their members.
There are also professional tips for giving presentations as Compatriot Bunker is also a professional presenter and a professor of communication studies and speech. The curated speech resources range from introductory in nature to more advanced suggestions depending upon each potential America 250 Minute presenter’s familiarity and comfortability with public presentations. There is also a prepared PowerPoint presentation that explores five little-known facts about George Washington that anyone can use to present to their local chapter or other event. If one is uncomfortable with PowerPoint, there is a page and a half prepared script that one could also present and read that discusses the Battle of Alamance that took place on May 16, 1771. Each of these presentations is designed to be used by any chapter or person interested in giving an America 250 Minute presentation.
The CASSAR America 250 website is expected to have more pre-prepared material as members of CASSAR and others submit presentations to be included. Please review the site. Use it.
Contact James (jbunker74@yahoo.com) or myself (jrf1776@outlook.com) if you have any comments on how the site can be improved to better serve our Society. We are doing our best to make an America 250 SAR easy, memorable, and fun!
John Ferris
Co-Chair America 250 SAR
California Society
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Sacramento President Michael Hull presents Bronze America 250 Medals to Craig Anderson and Jim Faulkinbury |
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Executive VP Craig Anderson and Jim Faulkinbury presents Bronze America 250 Medals and Certificates to Donald Sparks and Robert Fitzgerald of American Legion Post 861 for their contributions to the SAR America 250 SAR program. |
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Spring Court of the Society of Colonial Wars
Joint Meeting with
The California Society, Sons of the American Revolution
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Compatriots,
America 250 SAR is one of the most important time in our organization since…celebrating America’s 200th almost 50 years ago. And, to fully celebrate we need to be aware of how fortunate we are to be in this wonderful country. We all know some of our founding history, but there are so many stories it is hard to know them all. That is why SAR has developed the 250th Anniversary of the American Revolution Recognition Program. The program is to increase our awareness of those countless events that, together, created this United States.
At our last BOM meeting in Riverside, I mentioned that CASSAR had partnered with the Society of Colonial Wars in the State of California (SCW-CA.) That partnership was created to help increase the knowledge of CASSAR members concerning the years of 1763-1775, the beginning of our Revolutionary War history.
SCW-CA has invited us to their lunch meeting on June 4th in Newport Beach, CA. The topic will be ”The Beginning of the End for the First British Empire: Colonial Resistance, 1763-1766.” I have attended a number of these luncheons and can promise you an informative and entertaining experience. For more details and the Registration, please click on the following link.
For those of you who have uniforms, I encourage you to wear them. Points in the SAR 250th Anniversary Program will be awarded for this event. If you have any questions about this, please contact me at jrf1776@outlook.com or Stephen Renouf, Governor, SCW-CA at usina@aol.com .
Looking forward to seeing you there.
John Ferris
Co-Chair America 250 SAR
California Society
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Congratulations! Welcome to the California Society, Sons of the American Revolution. We are honored that you have elected to join our society of descendants of those patriots and heroes who gave us our freedoms. The California Society conducts many patriotic, historical, and educational programs in our communities, and we rely heavily on our member volunteers to keep them strong and vibrant.
If you haven’t yet been, you will shortly be contacted by a representative of your chapter; I urge you to meet your fellow compatriots, join them in their chapter programs, and become an active member of your chapter and state society. I am looking forward to meeting and working with you in the future.
D. Craig Anderson, Executive Vice President, California Society
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Dr. James C. Bunker, VP Membership reports that fourteen potential members contacted him in December, twenty seven contacted him in January, and 29 contacted him in February. He provided them more information about CASSAR and referred them to individual chapter presidents and registrars Below is a breakdown on chapters with new member referrals during that time period. |
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CASSAR Secretary, Fred Schuster will host the last a series of virtual sessions for chapter secretaries and other interested chapter officers on March 9th at 6:30PM. The topic is "Let's make the Reconciliation Report Simple"
Fred will review some techniques that chapters can use that will make the year end reconciliation report much simpler.
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The 147th Annual Meeting will be held at the Holiday Inn Downtown-Arena on April 21st through 23rd 2022. Room rates are $129 per night and parking is $10/day. The Holiday Inn Downtown-Arena is located adjacent to Golden One Center and is within easy walking distance of shopping and historic “Old Town Sacramento”
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The National Society, requires that all members who participate in SAR youth and education programs that interface with students under the age of 18, successfully complete SAR Youth Protection Training. We had formerly utilized the training offered by the Boy Scouts of America, but subsequently, the SAR has developed its own training program that is geared specifically to the programs that we conduct. The process is very simple; the training can be taken on-line in about 20 minutes, and the certificate is valid for three years.
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RELEASE FORMS
As a reminder to all compatriots, if you submit photos or materials (e.g.youth program winners) for publication in the Compatriot, you must include a signed release form.
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Coachella Valley Chapter at the 27th Annual DAR/SAR joint meeting at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, on Friday, February 18th.
Back row: Chris Cerillo, Ray Allen, Curt Lane, Bill Haines, Ben Hobbins, Len Lyon, Ed Oehler. Front row: Victor Ranieri, Joan Sholl, David Grinnell, Milton Greenway, Christine Greenway.
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New Delta Chapter President Rev. Scott Elliot presents outgoing President Mel Howell with Past President's Certificate and pin. |
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New chapter officers were inducted by EVP Craig Anderson with Bill Van Valkenburg (Vice-President North); those sworn in included Dan Shurtz (President), Greg Owens (Vice-President), Stephen Renouf (Secretary), Bill Rood (Treasurer) and Derek Brown (Registrar)
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A Law Enforcement Commendation Medal was awarded to The Hon. James R. Reilly, Judge for Alameda County Superior Court; L-R includes Phil Stage (Sgt at Arms), Bill Van Valkenburg (Vice-President North), Craig Anderson (EVP), the Hon James Reilly, Derek Brown (Registrar), Greg Owens (Vice-President), Stephen Renouf (Secretary). |
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Sea Cadet Award
On Saturday February 12th Riverside Chapter President Roger Cooper presented the SAR Good Citizen Medal and Certificate to PO1 Juan Carlos Hernandez, USNSCC of the Col L Millett Division, USNSCC, Moreno Valley, CA. Photo by MIDN Lindsay Tiezen, USNSCC.
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PRESIDENT
BRIAN R. STEPHENS
briandi777@aol.com
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT
D. CRAIG ANDERSON
craigandersonsar@gmail.com
VICE PRESIDENT, SOUTH
JAMES KLINGLER
klingler@sbcglobal.net
VICE PRESIDENT, NORTH
WILLIAM VAN VALKENBURG
VICE PRESIDENT, MEMBERSHIP
James C. Bunker
jmbnkmailbox-californiaSAR@yahoo.com
SECRETARY
FRED SCHUSTER
schuster6789@aol.com
TREASURER
JOHN FERRIS
Jrf1776@outlook.com
REGISTRAR
OWEN R. STILES
ostiles45@gmail.com
CHANCELLOR
JOHN L. DODD, ESQ.
johnldodd@twc.com
GENEALOGIST
TERRY L. BRIGGS
tlbaia@comcast.net
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HISTORIAN
VACANT
CHAPLAIN
RT. REV. LOUIS V. CARLSON, JR.
loucarlson@sbcglobal.net
SURGEON
DR. MATTHEW BOWDISH, MD
matthewsbowdish@gmail.com
TRUSTEE OF THE INVESTED FUNDS
(2020-2023)
STEPHEN RENOUF
usina@aol.com
TRUSTEE OF THE INVESTED FUNDS
(2019-2022)
DR. M. KENT GREGORY
drkentgregory@earthlink.net
TRUSTEE OF THE INVESTED FUNDS
(2021-2024)
JOHN L. DODD, ESQ.
johnldodd@twc.com
PAST PRESIDENT
DONALD B. LITTLEFIELD
NATIONAL TRUSTEE
ROBERT TAYLOR
tartar-taylor@att.net
ALTERNATE NATIONAL TRUSTEE
BRIAN STEPHENS
briandi777@aol.com
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Cyber Scams
If you receive an email from a purported Compatriot in need of help that is unsigned, with no personal contact information seeking contributions to any type of fundraising site; or an email addressing you by name from another member of your Chapter requesting the expenditure of funds or the purchase of gift cards, consider it a hoax. These messages are getting more sophisticated and may even include the unauthorized use of the SAR logo and/or a pseudo SAR email address.
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The California Compatriot is the official newsletter of the California Society, Sons of the American Revolution. Unless explicitly stated, the opinions expressed herein are the opinions of the authors, and not necessarily those of the California Society SAR
Editor: D. Craig Anderson
craigandersonsar@gmail.com
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