Encampment Report
Department of Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama, S.U.V.C.W.
Michael Downs, Commander
Our Tennessee Department meeting was held on February 20th in Memphis. We had a great turnout with over twenty Sons in attendance, representing five of the seven camps in the Department. The membership met at the Tennessee Genealogical Society building with a great “BBQ” lunch provided by the Commissary while many of us stayed at the beautiful Marriott Courtyard Collierville. We also had a special “Encampment Ribbon” to wear in honor of our event. The representatives of the camps along with all of the department officers presented their reports. Brother Hintze gave the Secretary -Treasurer’s report and while we certainly do not have a great deal of money in hand we are showing a surplus. Some of the most important news coming out of the meeting was the possibility of a name change for the Department and the formation of a committee to look into the possibility of the Department hosting a National Encampment. However if we decide to make an offer sometime in the future we will need, on hand, at least $2500.00 “seed money” to get the event going although, we were led to believe, this would be reimbursed to us after a final accounting of our expenses by the National organization. What we need here is some creative thinking about a good fundraiser if we decide to pursue this idea. Brother George Huttick, our Signals Officers, explained to those in attendance why and how we needed to upgrade our presence on the World Wide Web. His ideas were accepted in a motion and we eagerly await to see his proposal become reality. Brother Fidler also suggested that we recognize a member of the year in the name of Charlie Engle, to honor his hard work and devotion to the Sons; his motion was accepted unanimously. Brother Hintze also had to announce that the David Farragut Camp #6 was turning in their charter due to a drop in the membership below the minimum level. On the other hand, late in 2015 I had the honor of presenting a new charter to the Army of the Tennessee Camp #64, which is located in the Murfreesboro area, and is the first new camp in the Department since 2010. Overall we currently have 183 members in the Department of Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi.
One item of interest that I presented was the information about the Central Regions Association meeting that will be held on September 30th and October 1st, 2016 in the Franklin – Fort Negley area. I asked for the Department’s support in making the meeting a success while suggesting that their web site be checked for updates.
The National Junior Vice Commander-in-Chief, Mark Day, traveled from his home in Virginia to spend the day with us. He also discussed the health of our National Commander-in Chief Eugene Mortoff, who recently suffered a stroke. It would seem that a full recovery is expected. Brother Day also presented the latest status report concerning the Banner magazine and told us we should be expecting a copy to arrive soon. We also had a very special guest when General U. S. Grant (Dr. Curt Fields) made a presentation to the membership.
Several “Certificate of Commendations” were handed out to members for outstanding service over the past year. These included one to Brother Ben Jones for his overall organizational abilities in making the Encampment a success, Brother Sam Gant for his efforts in the preservation of the Franklin Battlefield and Brother Geoffrey Hintze for his work as our Secretary – Treasurer. Special recognition was given to the McTeer Camp and its Commander, David McReynolds, for their excellent work which led them to being awarded the Abraham Lincoln Commander-in Chief’s Award at the 2015 National Encampment. Brother Doug Fidler, also of the McTeer Camp, was presented the Grant Cup for his excellence in recruiting. My thanks also goes out to all the Department members who have helped me to make this a successful year.
After discussing the possibilities of running for an additional term as Department Commander with several individuals I determined that I had strong support to continue my work for another year. The current slate of officers was presented and no other nominations were offered from the floor. As a result the current officers were reelected by a unanimous vote by the members of the encampment. I would only ask that you continue to support my efforts in the same manner that you have done in the past and I know we will have a successful future.
Finally I announced that the 2017 Department Encampment would be hosted by the Army of the Tennessee Camp.
Yours in Fraternity, Charity and Loyalty
Michael Downs