THE TELEGRAPH KEY - .... . - . .-.. . --. .-. .- .--. .... -.- . -.—-

THE OFFICIAL DISPATCH FOR THE

MAJOR THOMAS J. KEY CAMP #1920KANSAS DIVISION, SCV

JOHNSON COUNTY, KANSAS ____________________________________________________VOL. 12, No. 11 __ ____ ___ _NOVEMBER 2011

DECEMBER CAMP MEETING125 Regular Meetingth

All compatriots are reminded that the next regular meetingof the Major Thomas J. Key Camp #1920 will be on ThursdayDecember 1 , 2011. We will be meeting at Zarda’s Barbecuest

located on the southwest corner of 87 Street and Quivirath

in Lenexa, Kansas. We will meet between 6:15 and 6:30 p.m.for dinner and start the official meeting at 7:00. In thespirit of the Christmas season there will be a special guestappearance by Santa Claus. The history of Jolly Old SaintNick goes back centuries and is from all over the world. Our ancestors celebrated four Christmases during the war –well at least they lived through four Christmases. Ourspeaker, Santa, will give us a look at how he was perceivedby our ancestors as they struggled through Christmas awayfrom home and family and in harm’s way. This lively look atthe past will be enjoyable and fun for all. With Christmasonly 25 days away what better visitor could we possibly? Don’t miss this awesome presentation. Be sure to bring yourwife or significant other as they are always welcome. Alsodon’t forget to bring that prospective recruit. See y’allthere!!!

PLEASE BRING A PROSPECTIVE RECRUIT!!!

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Editorial Byline and Stuff“The Telegraph Key” is the newsletter for the Major Thomas J. Key Camp #1920 of the Sons ofConfederate Veterans (SCV). The SCV is a non-profit organization with a patriotic,historical and genealogical orientation and is not affiliated with any other organization. Opinions in this newsletter reflect the views of the writers and are not necessarily astatement of the views of the SCV, the Kansas Division, the Kansas Brigades, nor any othercamp. Comments and articles are solicited.

Officers: Key Camp

Commander: James L. Speicher1 Lieutenant Commander: Lee Crutchfieldst

2 Lieutenant Commander: John Weir nd

Adjutant: C. Heath RolandChaplain: Carl LinckCommunications Officer: Steve CrawfordHistorian & Scrapbook: Dan PetersonWeb Master: John WeirNewsletter Editor: James L. SpeicherMedia Coordinator: Lane SmithCadet Member Coordinator: Lee Crutchfield

Key Camp On The Web

Key Camp: www.majorkey1920ksscv.orgSCV National: www.scv.org_________________________________________________________________

MEMBERSHIP LOSSES

Regrettably this happens every year. SCV dues need tobe paid by current members to remain on the rolls. Itseems we lose a couple of members each year becausethey don’t renew. This year we took the worst hit wehave ever had. We were up to 74 members and now we areat 65. We lost nine members or the equivalent of 13%of our membership. Retention is one of the biggestproblems the SCV has. It is not just the SCV but allnon-profit organizations go through the same crisisevery year. Two of our losses moved out of state sothat is valid. Two individuals were family members ofone of our members. He paid their dues for one year sothat they would at least be aware of their heritage. Neither one elected to stay with the camp. The otherfive I cannot explain. All of them have been with the

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camp for at least three years or more and I don’tunderstand why they dropped out. Granted, we did haveone member that passed away but he is not part of theloss I am talking about. As active as our camp is withspeakers, meetings, parades, headstone dedications, andour two perpetual projects we should be growing byleaps and bounds. We should be pushing 100 members notlosing nine. If any of you have any suggestions onwhat we can do to improve retention and improverecruiting please let any of the camp officers knowyour ideas. We need to work twice as hard this year torecruit new members to make up for our loss last year.

Obituary for Commander Scott Price

Major Scott Price, USA Ret, passed away on WednesdayNovember 16, 2011, at the age of 61. During hismilitary career, he served in the Military Police,retiring as an MP Brigade commander. Scott, a longtime SCV member, was well known in the Kansas Division. In June, at the Kansas Division Convention, Scott waselected Commander of the division. He was raring to goand he would have done a good job. Unfortunately hewas called away too soon. Scott loved history,especially the War of Northern Aggression. He authoredthree books on Kansas history and volunteered his timeto preserving history at the 1 Capital Building, atst

Fort Riley, and at Old Abilene Town. Scott, a memberof the Abilene Masonic Lodge, was an eloquent speakerand gave numerous presentations around the state. Hewas a member of the Abilene Masonic Lodge, and he andhis wife Fiona had three sons. A husband, father,philosopher, sage, and historian, Scott was also a goodfriend. The Kansas Division would have done well underhis leadership. Scott will be sorely missed in thecoming years. Please remember Scott and pray for hisfamily during his disastrous time for them. God blessyou Scott and tell our ancestors hello!!!

Ottawa Veterans Day Parade

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It was a great day for a parade. The temperature wasperfect and the wind unmerciful. The wind made theflags stand out so they could be seen but the membersof the Color Guard had to hold on tightly to the flagsas the wind gusted. We had a fantastic turnout withRick Bullock, Travis Bullock, Scott Lalumondier, MerleLeech, Carl Linck and his granddaughter Madelyn, EricMartinez, Carrie Martinez, Jacob Martinez, AaronMartinez, Jack Poynter, Christie Poynter, Mike Smith,Spike Speicher, and John Weir. Travis brought a friendwhose name I can’t recall but we put him in aConfederate coat and he helped Travis carry our bigbanner. We also had four unaffiliated Confederatereenactors fall in with us to swell our ranks. Ericbrought the 6-pounder field piece so with the cannonand the decorated trailer I must say we did look goodmarching down Main Street. In addition to the parade wehad activities at Forest Park. The cannon was deployedwith two other cannons (Yankee manned) for firingdemonstrations. The crowd loved it. We also had adisplay table...sort of. Again the wind was theculprit. I attempted to put up a tent cover and wassuccessful until the first big gust hit. The entiretent and frame went flying through the air almostbreaking the sound barrier. The result was one brokenleg on the frame. Oh well. The whole mess went backinto the car. We finally just put up our two tableswith all the weapons for display. We knew thosewouldn’t blow away. The weapons attracted manyvisitors with lots of questions. After a small but funreenactment between six Yankee cavalrymen and twocannon against two Confederate cavalrymen, fourinfantry, and one cannon, we packed up and called itday. It was a wonderful time and we were treated verywell as was our flag. We are already looking forward tonext year.

Leavenworth Veterans Day Parade

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Friday November 11 was the annual City of LeavenworthVeterans Day Parade. This parade is touted as thelargest VD (that’s not Valentine’s Day) parade in theentire mid-western United States. The Key Camp had agood turnout with Paul Allen, Jim King, Merle Leech,Carl Linck, Jack Poynter, Mike Smith, and SpikeSpeicher. Carl Linck had his 1983 Johnson Motor Company

Photo by Neal Hanley, BG William Steele Camp #1857

Presidential Rumble seat roadster, which is always a

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crowd pleaser. As in the past, we did a jointSouth/North Color Guard. We had three Yankees andseven Confederates. As you can see by the picture weevenly distributed the Union soldiers throughout ourranks. Notice in the background you can see Carl Linckdriving his Roadster with Jack Poynter standing in therear waving to the crowd. I believe that this year wereceived more applause than in any of the previous ninetimes we have been in the parade and more good commentsyelled to us. It was an awesome time and it got ourflag out before thousands of spectators. Congratulations on a job well done by therepresentatives of the Key Camp.

Holiday Candlelight Tour

Every year in November the Harris-Kearney Housepresents their Holiday Candlelight Tour. The tour isheld the Friday and Saturday evening afterThanksgiving, which means the 25 and 26 this year. th th

It runs from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. each day. The house islocated at 4000 Baltimore in the Westport area behindPryde’s. Folks buy tickets for a tour group (one groupleaves every fifteen minutes) and they are greeted bythe Harris’ who take the group on a tour of the house. The stage is set for Christmas time, 1861, and the warhas begun back east. In each room there are actors who“talk” about current events such as the start of thewar, local business, etc. Each actor portrays aspecific individual and talks as if he/she were that

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person. I have done this three or four times and it isfun. This year the Key Camp participants are Mr. andMrs. Kearney (Eric and Carrie Martinez), Mr. Philpot(Jim Thornton), and Mr. McCoy (Spike Speicher). Socome on by and see your fellow compatriots in theirroles.

Lee-Jackson Banquet

The 2012 Lee-Jackson Banquet is fast approaching. Thedate this year is Saturday 21 January and the NEWlocation is the barn at the Alexander Majors HistoricHome. We are going to have a professional auctioneerthis year (no more of me) and we therefore need someextremely good auction items. In the past we haverelied on members to donate items. The same will betrue this year. We need lots of items and they DO NOThave to be War of Northern Aggression related. If youhave a favorite restaurant ask them if they would bewilling to donate a gift certificate to a 501(C)3 non-profit organization. The same would hold true forstores, movie theaters, and hotels. Remember, this hasalways been our only real fund raiser for each year. This is what finances our camp for the next 12 months. Please help us make this a giant success. Thanks.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING FROM THE SPEICHERS TO YOU

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REMINDER!!

THE NEXT MEETING OF THE

MAJOR THOMAS J. KEY CAMP #1920

WILL BE ON THURSDAY

DECEMBER 1 AT 6:30 P.M.ST

BRING A FRIEND/PROSPECTIVE MEMBER

The Telegraph KeyMajor Thomas J. Key Camp #1920Sons of Confederate Veterans7325 Oakview StreetShawnee, Kansas 66216-5527

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