[VAcourier] Message from Virginia Division SCV Commander Frank Earnest

[Virginia Division SCV Communication List]

 From The Commander:    
 
 
It has been a busy 22 months since this Administration began.  We have 
had some difficulties, but we have also made much progress.  Four new 
camps have been charted and we are currently in the process of 
reactivating The General William Mahone Camp of Wakefield.  We have also 
sent a strong message to the politicians and others that we will not 
give ground on the Defense of our Heritage.  Certainly, I cannot take 
credit alone for these accomplishments.  My thanks to the Executive 
Council, Committee Chairman and Members, and many others who have helped 
to carry the Division forward.   
 
I hope all of you are aware of the Division's Capital Monument Series of 
Ornaments.  It started with a special ornament commemorating the 200th 
birthday of General Robert E. Lee.  This was followed by the General 
Stonewall Jackson Ornament, and President Jefferson Davis's Ornament was 
released in January to mark the beginning of the year of his 200th 
birthday.  We will celebrate his birthday on June 7th in Hollywood 
Cemetery in Richmond.  You should plan to attend this once in a life 
time event. 
 
Some things that seem very obvious are not always that clear.  When 
members pay their annual dues, these dues are divided 3 ways.  Part goes 
to the Division, while another part is sent to National.   The rest of 
the money remains with the Camp.  This is not just a matter of money.  
Along with the dues goes a roster of the camp members.  Currently these 
rosters (Camp, Division, and National) do not match each other.  This 
has been a long standing problem.  There are members, and sometimes 
whole camps, not accounted for at  either Division, National, or both.   
At Convention, each camp gets one vote per 10 members.  A camp may have 
80 members and think they have 8 votes.  There Delegates will be 
surprised to find out at Convention that they only have 50 members 
listed, and therefore only have 5 votes.  If you do not receive the Old 
Dominion Voice or the Confederate Veteran Magazine, it may be that no 
one beyond your camp is aware of your membership.  A number of 
individuals and sometimes whole camps are bypassing the Division and 
only reporting to National.  A new billing system for the payment of 
dues has been implemented.  This system is not the cause of the 
confusion.  It has only helped to bring these problems to light.  
Division Adjutant Michael Rose has been hard at work getting the records 
straight.  He has been greatly assisted by Joseph Wright.  Our thanks 
should go to both these compatriots for their efforts.  Members found to 
be listed at National but not listed  with the Division will be 
transferred to the National Headquarters Camp in Columbia,TN.    Those 
who show no record of payment beyond  their camp level will be dropped 
from the roll altogether.  Camps not reporting to the Division will be 
considered inactive and requested to return their charter and all 
assets to the Division.   If you wish to remain in the Sons of 
Confederate Veterans and the Virginia Division, your dues must be 
current at all levels and we must have current and accurate contact 
information for you.  If your dues are not up to date, you must pay an 
additional $5.00 reinstatement fee at both Division and National to be 
reinstated.  If you have any doubt about your status, contact your Camp 
Adjutant and make sure that he is forwarding both your dues and your 
contact information to both the Division and National.  Under the new 
system you should be sending your dues directly to the Virginia Division 
Adjutant.  Hopefully, this will alleviate the problem. Obviously, some 
members will not receive this information for the very reasons 
stated. Brigade Commanders, Camp Commanders, and Camp Adjutants, please 
do all you can to get this information out to the membership.   We do 
not want to lose even one member.
 
On a final note, our Virginia Division Convention will be held in 
Richmond on the 4th, 5th, and 6th of April.  This is the year that 
we choose the men that will represent us for the next 2 years.   All 
camps need to be  represented by their Delegates.  This summer we will 
also meet in Concord, NC to choose our National Representatives.  Some 
of them will attend our Convention to inform us of their position on 
matters that concern us and our Heritage.  Come and speak with them.

Often I heard from Compatriots that they don't know anything about the 
events of the last Convention.  They state that they have no voice in 
the  decisions that were made.   When I ask them why they did not speak 
out at the Convention, their response is that they did not attend and 
that their camp did not send a Delegate. To that I say:  those who do 
not vote, should not complain.   We cannot know your concerns if you do 
not come and express them.  The convention will conclude with our Annual 
Heritage Parade.  We usually end the parade at Hollywood Cemetery.  
While this is both a beautiful and sacred place, no one beyond our 
members knows that we are there.  This year Past Commander Brandon 
Dorsey has offered to assist Chairman Robert Millikin and the Parade 
Committee to direct the Parade to the Capital Grounds.  Let us never 
forget that Richmond is not just the Capital of the Commonwealth of 
Virginia, it is also the Capital of the Confederacy.  Nearly 150 years 
ago, the yankees took much of our Freedom and most of everything else we 
had.  Let us take back our Capital! We will take their Battle Cry and 
make it our own:      "On to Richmond."
 
 
 
B. Frank Earnest, Virginia Division Commander and Southern Patriot