We are located in San Antonio, Texas. Our business meetings are on the first Wednesday of the month.

We also have a dinner meeting every second Wednesday with the ladies.

If you are interested in joining us and meet the qualifications for membership, e-mail one of the officers listed below.



MARCH 2010
NEWSLETTER

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UPCOMING MEETINGS

Business Meeting, 3 March 2010, Meeting - 1200, Almost Everything Catering, 3915 San Pedro Avenue, San Antonio, TX.
Tthe meeting will begin at 1200 hours. Lunch will again be a buffet. We will be discussing the upcoming Corpus Christie Encampment. Come and enjoy good fellowship.

Dinner Meeting, 10 March 2010
, Ft Sam Houston Golf Course. Social hour - 1800; dinner at 1900. Menu will be Tossed Green Salad, Chicken Florentine, Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Southwest Mixed Vegetables, Rolls/ Butter, Iced Tea and Water, Coffee and Orange Sherbet. Price of the meal - $23.00. Make check payable to Ft Sam Houston Chapter #17.

Make reservations with Bob McConnell,
(210) 659-6813 or JMcconn529@aol.com not
later than Noon 8 March 2009. Come one and

Bivouac. 27 January 2010 at Grady’s BBQ, 6510 San Pedro. Put it on your calendar. Come dine at 1700 hours.

PICTURES

Meeting - Pictures

 

 

Tribute to Military

The Tribute to Military video file can be found at:

http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/memorial-day-2006-video.htm


OFFICERS

FORT SAM HOUSTON CHAPTER NO. 17
NATIONAL SOJOURNERS, INC.

President

Samuel Green

1st Vice President

James W. Griffith

2nd Vice President

Dennis Lafferty

Secretary/Treasurer

James R. "Bob" McConnell

Marshal

Albert L. Putnam

Chaplain

T. K. Anthony

Color Bearer

Dennis Lafferty

Surgeon Michael Jaffee
Staff Judge Advocate Benjamin Yudesis

Alamo Camp, Heroes of '76


Commander

Dennis Lafferty

Chief of Staff

Bob Tench

Asst. Chief of Staff

T. K. Anthony

Officer of the Day

Doc Dixon

Adjutant

James R. "Bob" McConnell

Musician

John H. V. Lorch

Chaplain

Knox Duncan

Surgeon

Michael Jaffee

Commander of the Guard

James Griffith

Senior Lieutenant

Albert L. "Al" Putnam

Junior Lieutenant

Ernest McKinney
Sentinel Merle Krueger



WHAT IS NATIONAL SOJOURNERS, INC.

National Sojourners, Incorporated, is a nonprofit, domestic, fraternal order, operating in accordance with a Certificate of Incorporation issued by the Commonwealth of Virginia. For a history of the National Sojourners, click here.


PURPOSES OF NATIONAL SOJOURNERS, INC.

The Purposes of National Sojourners shall be to organize Commissioned Officers, Warrant Officers and Senior Noncommissioned Officers of the uniformed forces (past and present) of the United States, and Honorary Members who are Master Masons, into Chapters, for the promotion of good fellowship among its members, for assisting such as may be overtaken by adversity or affliction, for cultivating Masonic ideals, for supporting all patriotic aims and activities in Masonry, for developing true Patriotism and Americanism throughout the Nation, for bringing together representatives of the uniformed forces of the United States (past and present) in a united effort to further the military need of national defense, and for opposing any influence whatsoever calculated to weaken the national Security.


MEMBERSHIP

Membership in National Sojourners shall be open to citizens of the United States who are Master Masons in good standing in any duly constituted Lodge of Master Masons recognized by and maintaining fraternal relations with a majority of the Regular Grand Lodges in the United States:

And, who are serving or have served honorably as Commissioned Officers, Warrant Officers, and Senior Noncommissioned Officers in the uniformed services of the United States

Or have served in time of war as a Commissioned Officers, Warrant Officers, Senior Noncommissioned Officers or the equivalent in an armed service of a nation allied with the United States

Or are regularly elected to Honorary Membership

 

RESERVE OFFICER TRAINING CORPS ROTC AWARDS

Every year the Order bestows upon a member of each unit of the ROTC and the Junior ROTC the Sojourners ROTC medal with ribbon and certificate. The award goes to the cadet who has, in the opinion of his or her superiors, done the most to encourage and demonstrate the ideals of Americanism by deed or conduct or both; and who has demonstrated potential for outstanding leadership. This award is available upon request to every ROTC and JROTC unit in America. Nearly 1500 of these medals are presented each year.


FLAG PROGRAMS

Throughout the Order, several historical and patriotic flag programs have been developed. One, in particular, had a Scottish Rite genesis. A member of the National Sojourners Chapter in El Paso, Texas, Hubert L. Koker, 32°, K.C.C.H., was chairman of a Scottish Rite committee tasked to prepare an Americanism program for presentation to the El Paso Scottish Rite Valley. He developed a program in which the American Flag was built, stripe by stripe and star by star with a narration giving the state or states admitted to the Union with the addition of each stripe and star. Another Brother, who was also a member of both the El Paso Scottish Rite and National Sojourners, saw the program and understood immediately the full significance of what he had seen. After getting proper permission, he brought the program to National Sojourners, Inc. The rest, as they say, is history. The program was refined again and again. More portable and reliable props were developed, and "Building the Flag" teams were formed throughout National Sojourners with their affiliated Order, The Heroes of ‘76, presenting it in colonial uniforms, often assisted by their ladies, also in colonial costume. This excellent patriotic and educational program has been performed thousands of times at schools as well as Masonic and non-Masonic gatherings of all kinds. It continues today as one of the most effective and popular patriotic programs yet invented. A "Historical Flag Program’ was written by National Sojourner, Byron C. Jenkins, 32°, K.C.C.H., of the Omaha, Nebraska, Scottish Rite Valley, for presentation during the U. S. Bicentennial celebration. Past Grand Master Jenkins’s program displays up to sixteen flags used by Americans from pre-Revolutionary times to the present. The presentation utilizes three or more "Heroes of ‘76" to display each full-size flag while a narrator gives the history of how the Masonic heroes who were serving under it contributed to our country’s birth, development, and fame. The programs cited here barely scratch the surface of the service performed by National Sojourners, Inc. This small but capable group of American Masonic leaders quietly serves our country and Masonry every day through their efforts to raise the loyalty and pride of every American by eulogizing and emulating the Masonic builder-patriots who preceded them. Click here to read "A Toast to the Flag" and "To the Colors."



History
of the
National Sojourners, Inc.
and the
Heroes of '76


 

NATIONAL SOJOURNERS LINKS

LINKS TO TEXAS' NATIONAL SOJOURNERS' CHAPTERS (Found on the National Sojourner's Homepage)
National Sojourner's Homepage
Heroes of '76 National Commander's Website

 





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(Visitors since October 29, 2001)