Camp Activities 2010
Department Encampment April With a Delegation of 9, our Camp enjoyed the Department Encampment last April in Lansing. We were very pleased to have one of our Grave Registration Officers, Tom Jenkins elected to serve on the Department Council. We are also pleased to have Department Commander Don Shaw appoint Camp 14 Commander Dale Aurand as Department Guide. We are especially pleased because this is the first time in recent history that this has happened. We are also happy to have two of our Camp serving on the Michigan Department’s Special Sesquicentennial Committee.
Memorial Day May 25th Memorial Day found our Camp Members and Associates spread out over the 11 Counties we represent. Actually, we went outside our boundaries as GRO Tom Jenkins was asked to participate in the Ceremony at Hart, Michigan where his ancestors are buried. Our main contingent and Colors participated in the Ceremonies in Traverse City, but we were also in Manistee, Lake Ann(the Morse Family from our Camp actually conduct the Ceremony there), Boyne City, Petoskey, Ludington, and those are the only ones I know of at this moment. Our Ladies Auxiliary join us at as many of these events as they can.
Independence Day July 4th Camp 14 was active during the Independence Day celebrations throughout the region. In Traverse City, Brothers talked with visitors about the original volunteers from the Grand Traverse Region, while others manned computers to reunite them with their long-lost Civil War ancestors.
Klein-Looze family’s Remembrance - Charlevoix August 7th On August 7th, fifteen Brothers of Camp 14 traveled to the shore of Lake Charlevoix to participate in the Klein-Looze family’s remembrance of their ancestor; Private John Baptiste Looze; who served with the 14th Wisconsin Infantry and homesteaded the land on which he is buried (now Eveline Township cemetery).
Dedication of the Leelanau County Veterans Memorial August 14th On Saturday August 14, 2010 Camp 14 joined the American Legion and VFW for the dedication of the Leelanau County Veterans Memorial. Attending were Brother Neal Breaugh, Frances Finch Auxiliary President Emily Breaugh and Chaplain Judy Jenkins. GRO Tom Jenkins was Officer of the Day; the Honor Guard comprised of Brothers Ted Mattis, Jim Morse Jr., Skip Bryant, and Alan Werdehoff. Camp 14 contributed a commemoratory brick for the Memorial walkway.
Presentation to the Kalkaska County Genealogical Society August 16th On August 16th, GRO Tom Jenkins, Brother Jerry Grieve and Judy Jenkins of the Frances Finch Auxiliary Chapter gave a presentation to the Kalkaska County Genealogical Society. The program featured an overview and history of the Sons followed by a slide/video feature of the Sgt. John Sinclair grave re-dedication last fall. The Kalkaska County Genealogical Society has been working with Brother Grieve in accumulating the locations and names of the Civil War veterans buried in that county for the Camp grave registration project.
Headstone Dedication for Private John H. Waters, Co B, 1st Michigan Sharpshooters September 18th On September 18th, CC Aurand and an Honor Guard comprising of Brothers Ribby, Dyle and Skillman traveled to the ‘sunrise side of the State’ to join CC Don Londo and Brothers of Lockwood Camp 139 to commemorate a new headstone for Private John H. Waters, Co B, 1st Michigan Sharpshooters (a comrade of Robert Finch). The Rifle Squad ranks were bolstered by SVR members Bill Morris and Lloyd Lamphere. During lunch, John Dyle and his wife, Julie, entertained guests playing a selection of ‘Top 10 Civil War Hits’ on their hammer dulcimers. Former Harrisville High School history teacher and guest speaker, Ray Herek, entertained the crowd with anecdotes from his book These Men Have Seen Hard Service, the history of the First Michigan Sharpshooters.
Veterans Day parade November 6th Camp Commander Aurand, Grave Registration Officer Jenkins and Secetary-Treasurer Breaugh joined with other SUVCW camps and Civil War reenactors to participate in the Veterans Day parade in downtown Detroit. Some Camp 14 Brothers participated in a ‘double-header’ during the Veterans Day festivities. Commander Aurand, Grave Registration Officer Jenkins, Secetary-Treasurer. Breaugh drove to Boyne City to attend that community’s Veteran’s Day observance. Sunny skies and mid-sixties temps brought nearly 100 citizens and veterans to the new waterfront Veterans Park. In the evening, Camp 14 joined the Grand Traverse Veterans Coalition and 350 citizens at the newly completed Veterans Park on 11th Street and Elmwood. The new park features a circular arrangement of stones listing the wars and names of local citizen-soldiers who lost their lives, with plenty of room for visitors to reflect, walk or picnic.
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