Sixth Annual Sam Davis Youth Camp

Co-Ed Camps: The first camp will be held form Sunday June 29th to Saturday, July 5th at Three Mountain Retreat, 1648 FM 182 Clifton TX 76634. The deadline for applications is Monday June 23, 2008. The second camp will be held from Sunday July 27th to Saturday August 2nd at Magnolia State Park, Millen GA, between Waynesboro and Millen at a beautiful historic site.
The deadline for applications is Monday July 21, 2008. You may download an application at http://www.scv.org/pdf/2008SamDavisYouthCampApplication.pdf Scholarships are available for deserving youth whose parents or host SCV camp cannot afford the tuition; however, the camper, his family or host SCV camp must get the child to and from the camp site according to the camp schedule.

Nathan Bedford Forrest Boyhood Homecoming

The annual fund raising celebration will be held all day on Saturday June 21,2008 at the Forrest Boyhood Home near Chapel Hill TN. Please come to this event to see the progress on the restoration of this unique early 1830s structure, join the fun, and helped support the efforts to raise additional funds to speed up the restoration work. For more information, go to http://elmspringscsa.tripod.com/id18.html

Bank Ends Our SCV Credit Card Program

The Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV) and the Texas Independent Bank (TIB) have had a mutually beneficial affinity credit card arrangement for the past nine years. TIB has decided to not renew the contract and our business association will terminate on April 30, 2008 which they claim is due to the small number of SCV card holders. TIB further states they are unable to pro­vide the SCV names and addresses of current card holders. The SCV is seeking a new contract with a different bank. If you wish to continue to support the SCV through a new affinity card, please provide your name and address to SCV, P O Box 59, Columbia TN 38502-0059, by email to HYPERLINK "mailto:exedir@scv.org"exedir@scv.org, or phone (800) 380-1896 ext 207. TIB has promised to print a trun­cated version of this information on individual credit card statements during the period 4/15/08 through 5/13/08.

Poll Results: What is your camp's relationship with its brigade?

71 people responded to the latest poll question, seeing how much interaction there is from camp to brigade. 69% responded that their camp interacted with other camps in their brigade, 64% said their brigade commander had visited their camp in the last year, 52 % said their camp had participated in a brigade-level event (meeting, memorial, etc.), 15% said they know who their brigade commander is, but that commander hasn't visited their camp, 14% said they knew their brigade commander, and he had been to their camp, but their camp had not participated in a brigade-level event, 8% reported that their camp wasn't in a brigade, and 7% said they didn't know who their brigade commander was. While the ideal is for brigade commanders to visit each camp in their brigade once a year, a report of 64% success in that area is a solid start, and the fact that more than 2/3 of camps are interacting with other camps, and more than 1/2 of camps are participating in brigade-level events is also very encouraging. Connectivity is the theme for the brigade level of administration. The brigade commander in most divisions is a voice on the division executive council for his brigade, and brigade commanders are often relied on by division commanders in carrying out projects, and in two-way communications with local camps since many divisions now have more camps than a division commander can physically maintain regular visits and contacts with.

Group marks every known Confederate grave in county

By Jean Cole
jean@athensnews-courier.com

Confederate soldiers rested with a little more distinction this Memorial Day.

Members of the Thomas Hubbard Hobbs Camp No. 768 of the Sons of Confederate Veterans have spent the last two years placing 493 stones at the graves of every known Confederate soldier in Athens and Limestone County.

“This involved many hours of research to identify each soldier, document his service and then locate his gravesite,” said SVC member Buzz Estes of Athens. “Some of the private cemeteries were on land that had changed hands, and the present owners did not have as much motivation to maintain the cemetery.”

Led by Commander Jimmy Hill, the members placed 150-pound footstones and a few headstones in 93 cemeteries scattered across the county. Some were easy to find, others were grown over and forgotten.

“It is unclear whether this it the first camp to accomplish this task in the entire country, but it certainly is among the first,” Estes said.

The SCV celebrated Confederate Memorial Day April 20 with a ceremony dedicating the last stone and a marker at the Hobbs Street entrance to Athens City Cemetery. Civil War re-enactors made the dedication ceremony come alive. The SCV were joined by Order of Confederate Rose, Daughters of the Confederacy, state and national officers of the UDC and SCV, and local dignitaries.

The monument stone at Athens Cemetery is dedicated to all of the soldiers still sleeping in unmarked graves in family plots throughout the county and for all of the graves of Confederate soldiers yet to be found, Estes said.

Civil War fought again as history lesson

Saturday, May 24, 2008
BY Malcolm Hall
REPOSITORY STAFF WRITER

LOUISVILLE Standing a few feet away from a roaring cannon, eighth-grader Hayden Perreault and his classmates got an up-close look at America's bloodiest conflict. As a part of their history curriculum, Louisville Middle School eighth-graders spent time outside the school observing encampments staged by Civil War buffs who are part of enactment groups.

"This is way better," Hayden, 14, said. "You are doing stuff instead of listening. I like seeing all the weapons and stuff."

And presenting students with a chance to experience the Civil War on Friday was the purpose of the middle school's Annual Civil War Day. The event featured table displays of weapons and bullets used by the Union and Confederate forces during the war, which raged from 1861 to 1865.

History teacher Ray Klein is the prime organizer of the event, which aims "to bring history alive for the kids," he said. "Instead of me lecturing them or watching a video or books, they get a hands-on experience, see the artifacts, handle them."

See Full Story;
http://www.cantonrep.com/index.php?ID=413705&Category=9&subCategoryID=0

“Complicity: How the North Promoted, Prolonged and Profited from Slavery”

The SCV merchandise operation and book store currently sells a book called, "Complicity: How the North Promoted, Prolonged and Profited from Slavery" which was written by three New England journalists and accurately tells the rest of the story about Slavery and the North’s part in it. This is a hard bound book which you will want for your library, and it may be purchased new from the SCV for $25.95 plus shipping and handling.

Additionally, Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) carries a TV show entitled Tony Brown’s Journal on which he interviewed one of the authors during a segment that was most recently aired on Sunday May 18th. Part two of this show will be aired on Sunday, May 25, 2008 at 12:30 PM on the East Coast. The title of this week’s segment is "Southern Slavery A Northern Lie?" You should check your local listings to find the correct time to watch this interesting and informative show.

Confederate group trying to save historic Mahone's Tavern

By Linda McNatt

The Virginian-Pilot©

May 17, 2008

COURTLAND

Harwood "Woodie" Watkinson will tell you that the stately white house on Main Street is just a home.

But give him an opportunity, and he'll take you on a tour. Heart pine, handmade timbers in the attic and on the floors, names and dates etched on window glass.

He'll point out the hill, where, less than a quarter-mile away, Nat Turner was hanged after his insurrection of 1831. Metal latches to bar the doors are still on the entryway in the front parlor. Historic Williamsburg has tried to buy the detailed crown molding.

Watkinson grew up there, and so did Gen. William Mahone, known as the "Hero of the Crater" during the Civil War and a founder of the Norfolk and Western Railroad. Dr. John Kindred, a U.S. senator from New York and a national pioneer for mental health care, lived there as a child.

When Watkinson decided to marry his longtime love and move to Madison County, he and his siblings grappled over what to do with the family home, designated earlier this year as a national and state historic landmark.

See Full Story;

http://hamptonroads.com/2008/05/confederate-group-trying-save-historic-mahones-tavern

Confederate flag flies over park near Ridgefield

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

By SCOTT HEWITT, Columbian staff writer

RIDGEFIELD — Add another attention grabber to the stretch of Interstate 5 north from Vancouver.

Sure, the Trojan nuclear cooling tower is gone. But the Uncle Sam billboard that’s been trumpeting right-wing messages for decades lives on. There’s Gospodor Monument Park, where statues atop steel-pipe towers memorialize Jesus, Chief Seattle, Mother Teresa and victims of the Holocaust. Closer to home, there’s the palatial Seventh-day Adventist Church headquarters in Ridgefield.

Now add to all that grandiosity two modest flags standing side by side in a tiny private park just south of Ridgefield, on the west side of the freeway, just south of the Gee Creek rest area.

One is the American flag. The other is a Confederate flag that’s sure to cause double takes.

See Full Story;

http://www.columbian.com/news/localNews/2008/05/05142008_Confederate-flag-flies-over-park-near-Ridgefield.cfm?newsletter=1

Jefferson Davis Park in Oregon

Gentlemen:

It's been a labor of love, to be sure, but the Jefferson Davis Park is almost done. I am so proud of what has been accomplished in a short time! I just wanted to share a couple of photos with you from the day of our dedication to give you an idea of what the new park looks like. Interstate-5 is immediately behind the photographer, not 40 feet from the front entrance to the park!

Drop me a line, let me know what you think or if you have any questions. I can send photos of the Pacific-Northwest Convention and Ball as well, if you're interested.

Thanks for your support,

Brent Jacobs-- Col. Isaac W. Smith Camp #458 - Portland, OR

Oregon Division Commander

"Let no personal prejudice interfere with good of the Cause."Brig. Gen. M. Jeff Thompson, CSA

Remembering a heritage of honor

A local group recently hosted a memorial service to honor 13 Confederate veterans from Chickamauga, as well as the widow of a Confederate soldier.

“During Confederate Memorial Month each local camp (of the Sons of Confederate Veterans 599) try to do something special,” said John Culpepper, sergeant major of the 37th Georgia Infantry, a reenactment group. “We are here today to honor the 13 Confederate veterans buried here, plus the widow Glenn.”

The widow Glenn is best remembered as the owner of the property where Wilder Tower stands in Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park.

“General Rosecran (of the union Army) used her farm house as his headquarters during the Battle of Chickamauga,” Culpepper said. “It was located where Wilder’s Tower is now. It burnt during the battle and she never came back. She settled out here.

See Full Story:

http://news.mywebpal.com/news_tool_v2.cfm?show=localnews&pnpID=730&NewsID=899860&CategoryID=3511&on=1

Rebuilding a resting place

by Harper Scott Clark - Telegram Staff Writer
Published May 8, 2008

BELTON - As a breeze stirs through the limbs of trees and rustles around the fallen tombstones and unkempt graves one can almost hear the whispers of ghosts from a long-ago era lingering in the hot air.

Buried here are the veterans of conflicts going back nearly 200 years. They fought in the War of 1812, the Mexican War, the Creek Indian War, the Texas War of Independence, the Texas frontier wars and the Civil War, referred to by some Southerners as the War Between the States.

Less honorable men also claim this honored ground as their last resting place. Eight men charged in 1874 as horse thieves and one man charged with killing his wife never made it to trial, history tells us. Some 250 masked men on horseback shot them dead in their jail cells. They are buried in unmarked graves.

See Full Story:

http://www.temple-telegram.com/story/local/2008/05/08/49200

Sons of Confederate Veterans Placed Confederate Flags at Old Bayview

Richard Longoria
Story Created: May 3, 2008 at 2:15 PM CDT
Story Updated: May 3, 2008 at 2:28 PM CDT
May 2, 2008
Confederate flags on grounds of historic Old Bayview Cemetery were flying for a while this week, but were taken down sometime on Friday by City of Corpus Christi workers. A representative from the city said the flags were removed because some of them were on graves of people who were not Confederate soldiers and thus the action did not follow proper procedure.

This is a story that has stirred lots of emotions from both points of view. The people who live around the cemetery are largely African Americans and they say they find the flags offensive and hurtful. They say for them the flag is a symbol of racial hatred and slavery.

The flags were placed at the cemetery last weekend on Confederate Heritage Day by members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. Mac Morris of the organization said their group placed the flags there to honor the ones who served in the Confederate Army and meant no offense to anyone and not to promote any agenda of racial hatred.

It's unclear right now if the Confederate organization will take any action against the city for removing their flags.

See Full Story and Video;

http://www.kiiitv.com/news/local/18547429.html

IRS Rules on Charitable Gaming

The SCV GHQ recently disseminated information requiring camps and divisions to immediately cease holding any SCV sponsored raffles for fund raising. It is believed some additional information will help to clarify the IRS situation in which the SCV finds itself at the moment. Please understand this is not an IRS agenda against the SCV nor has the SCV GHQ created this dilemma. When the SCV’s old Mississippi Corporation was merged into a new Texas Corporation in 2005, the SCV was required to complete a new 501 c 3 application which was approved in August 2007 with the effective date made retroactive to 2005 when the corporate merger took place. The SCV has now had to reapply for its Group Exemption approval, and as a part of this effort we have been specifically informed by the IRS that the gaming prohibition includes raffles and bingo. SCV subordinate units must immediately cease conducting any raffles. Camps and divisions who wish to continue to have raffles may do so; but, only if they opt out of the SCV’s group exemption in writing, obtain a new tax ID number for their organization, then complete their own 501 c 3 application, and the IRS subsequently APPROVES the application. Even after this is accomplished, it is possible that your state may prohibit raffles. It is questionable whether or not it is worth the effort to do this at the camp level rather than camps coming up with alternative ways to raise funds. This 501 c 3 application process is onerous and additionally encumbered by the fact that there is a $750.00 fee that accompanies the application, and it does not appear to be refundable if the application is rejected.

Poll Results: What types of projects has your camp taken on in the last year?

This was a question that allowed multiple answers, in order to get an idea of the depth and breadth of SCV camp activities. Overall the poll showed that generally our camps are active in a number of areas: 80% said that their camp had held a memorial service, 72% had cleaned or repaired a cemetery, 62% had placed a grave marker, 62% had set up a recruiting booth, 28% had registered grave sites, 24% had sponsored a re-enactment, 24% had sponsored an educational forum, 24% had participated in a heritage defense battle, 16% had erected a monument, 16 % had participated in community service (like highway cleanups), 14% sponsored or did published research, 36% said they had done other types of projects not listed, and only 8% said that their camp wasn't active.