21st Department of Tennessee Encampment
20 February 2016
Commander Michael Downs declared the 21st Encampment of the Department of Tennessee open. Secretary Geoffrey Hintze, PDC called the roll of the officers. Absent were Senior Vice Commander Roger Tenney and Patriotic Instructor Eddie Evans. Commander Downs introduced our guests – Mark Day, Junior Vice Commander-in-Chief from Virginia, U. S. Grant (Dr. Kurt Fields), the Encampment’s host – Joe Burns and Cindy McReynolds.
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.
The Camps gave their reports as follows:
- Sultana #1 (See Attachment 1)
- Major General James H. Wilson Camp #1(See Attachment 2)
- Major William A. McTeer Camp #39(See Attachment #3)
- Richard Taylor Camp #53(See Attachment #4)
- Fort Donelson Camp #62 (no written report).
The Officers gave their reports as follows:
- Commander (See Attachment 5)
- Junior Vice Commander (See Attachment 6)
- Secretary/Treasurer (See Attachment 7)
- Signals Officer (See Attachment 8)
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 leading 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.
With the death of PDC Charles Henry Engle, Jr,, the Department of Tennessee, a number of Camps within the Department of Tennessee and a number of Brothers donated to the SUVCW Charitable Foundation in memory of Brother Engle. Certificates from the SUVCW Charitable Foundation were awarded to The Department of Tennessee, Fort Donelson Camp 62, Missionary Ridge Camp 63, Army of the Tennessee Camp 64, Brother Ted Sheldon and Brother Geoffrey Hintze.
Old Business:
The Central Regions Association meeting that will be held on September 30th and October 1st, 2016 in the Franklin – Fort Negley area. Commander Downs asked for the Department’s support in making the meeting a success while suggesting that their web site be checked for updates.
New Business:
A discussion concerning a change in the name of the Department was made. A motion was made to form a committee to report back before the next Encampment. The motion passed.
Before he died, Charles Engle, Jr. proposed that the Department look into hosting a National Encampment. However if it is decided 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 is needed is some creative thinking about a good fundraiser if it is decided to pursue this idea. Brother George Huttick, our Signals Officers, explained to those in attendance why our presence on the World Wide Web is needed to be upgraded. A motion was made to form a committee to study the feasibility of hosting a National Encampment. The motion passed. The committee members will be Michael Downs, Geoffrey Hintze, David McReynolds and Ben Jones. Commander Downs will be chairman. Brother Huttick made a motion to “Provide for a virtual special meeting in 2016 if required to address any needs of the committee exploring a National Encampment bid”. The motion passed.
As Department Signals Officer, Brother Huttick made two other motions.
Motion 1
Grant permission to the Signals Officer to overhaul the Department website. The changes to be made will include:
- Reducing the number of pages
- Removing old media content that is dead(not visited)
- Providing for others to be able to easily post to the site
- Developing ‘job aids’ to be used for training successors for maintaining the site.
Motion 2
Create a Department of Tennessee instagram account to promote SUVCW in a newer social media format. Align the posts to match National SUVCW promotion plan.
Both motions passed.
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 Huttick volunteered to add the Charlie Engle award to the Department bylaws.
A motion was made and passed to get a draft of the minutes within 30 days.
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 , a new charter was presented 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 there are currently 183 members in the Department of Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi.
Delegates to the National Encampment:
The National Encampment will be held in Springfield, IL from August 10-14. The following Brothers were elected as Delegates:
David McReynolds
Carl Addison
George H Huttick
George A Huttick
Roger Tenney
Chip Huffman
Michael Moore
Election of Officers:
The following Brothers were nominated as officers:
Commander: Michael Downs
Senior Vice Commander: Roger Tenney
Junior Vice Commander: David McReynolds
Secretary/Treasurer: Geoffrey Hintze
Department Council: Carl Addison and Ben Jones
PDC Sam Gant has one more year on the Department Council.
The officers were unanimously elected.
JVCiC Mark Day installed the officers.
Commander Downs announced that the Army of the Tennessee Camp 64 will host the 22nd Department Encampment and declared that the 21st Department Encampment was closed.