General Order #1
SERIES 2017-2018
30 April 2017
1. To all the Brothers in attendance at the 22nd Annual Encampment of the Department of Tennessee held in Franklin, TN, I most humbly thank you for your support and faith in me. I thank the Brothers of the Army of Tennessee Camp #64 for hosting an excellent encampment.
2. The Department Commander headquarters is hereby transferred to 4323 Near Shore Drive, Louisville, TN 37777. Mail for the Department Commander may be posted here. Electronic communications are the preferred method of communication and the preferred e-mail for department business is mcreyscope@aol.com. A secondary e-mail address that is directed to my attention is treasurer@suvcw.org. However, I use that address primarily for national SUVCW business. I may be reached by telephone at either 865-981-2854 (home) or 865-7893953 (cell).
3. A healthy department is driven by effective communication. I encourage Camp Commanders to not only establish excellent communication within their Camp but also between other Camps within our Department. Events involving more than one Camp are encouraged. In a comparable manner, I hope to establish better communication and interaction with the Departments that are our geographic neighbors to hopefully find ways to work together and produce larger events across Department boundaries.
4. As the Commander-in-Chief said in his General Order #1, SERIES 2016-2017, ANNOUNCE, ADVERTISE, PROMOTE everything you do. Be part of your community. Advertise your events. Establish relationships with local media to help ensure newspaper and IV coverage of what you do. But most importantly, act in a way that will grow your Camp. The success of our Department depends on continuous growth — continually adding new members, especially members under age 40.
5. Support the SUVCWs Eagle Scout and ROTC programs with great enthusiasm. We must have each of our Camps working with high schools and boy scout troops to recognize the next generation of leaders in our society. Every Camp should participate and report their participation through the Patriotic Instructor’s Annual Report.
6. The Patriotic Instructor’s Annual Report is an extremely valuable tool for the SUVCW to capture at all level activities that promote the tax-exempt mission of our organization. The position should go to someone at the Camp level that can commit to working all year to record what the Camp and its Members are doing. The report is a required report and must be filed with the Department Patriotic Instructor on time and in the manner prescribed in the Patriotic Instructor’s Handbook.
7. It is important that we assure that we have had our Camp histories preserved and added to each year. A Camp History should be on file with our National Organization.
8. We need to complete the Last Solider Project that was ordered by PCinC Darby’s General Order in 1995. Every Camp should place this activity at the top of the list and assure that the soldier’s grave has been identified, properly marked and rededicated by ritual ceremony in their geographic counties.
9. I would like to see as many of our Members as possible enroll in our new SUVCW Memorial University program and begin to take courses online and learn more about our organization as time permits.
10. I would like to see more Members of our Department volunteer for service at the National level in areas of personal interest to them. There are many opportunities to be involved that are not overwhelmingly time consuming but would add to the good of the order.
11. I would like the Special Committee on the possibility of hosting a future National Encampment to remain active. I would like the same membership in this committee as last year to at least keep continuity and we grapple with the obstacles that must be overcome.
Ordered this 30th day of April 2017,
David H. McReynolds
Commander
Department of Tennessee
Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War
Attested:
Michael P. Downs
Secretary
Department of Tennessee
Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War