On a picture perfect day in May, Fort Leavenworth Chapter No 154 gathered for barbecue along the Missouri River. A prominently perched pork over pitted petroleum roasted old Porky to perfection. As the saying goes, “It ain’t bbq unless you get some on ya.” After we consumed everything from apples to zucchini, a meeting broke out and we accidentally conducted a lot of business to further our aims and ideals of Americanism and Patriotism.
Lots of Flag Building events were placed on our schedule so all Heroes of ’76(R) are requested to contact Brother Richard and sign up for whatever fits in your schedule.
We also talked about giving lots of monetary prizes to students who participated in our Essay Contest and possibly sending a student to Valley Forge in July for the Spirit of America Youth Leadership Program. We need to do more outstanding Flag Building programs so we can accept more gifts toward these student-enhancing endeavors.
Next meeting will be held on Wednesday, June 1, 2016 at the Cafe, Abernathy Building, 1102 N 2nd St., Leavenworth, KS. Gather at 6:00 pm, Dinner at 6:30 pm, Meeting at 7:00 pm. Brothers, you are encouraged to bring your lady. Meetings are usually over well before 8 pm.
Dinner is $10 per person. Please let Brother Dick know you are coming so we have a meal ready for you. But, please, if you say you are coming, come. You are obligated to pay for the meal whether you show or not. Bring $US cash. The Cafe does not accept devil’s dollars (i.e. Euros).
At our next meeting, Rossie Best will show us how to cut flag stars with two snips of the scissors and sew a complete American Flag with only 63 stitches.
Holy Cow! If you missed this meeting, you missed one of the most well-attended, fun meetings so far this year. The Cafe treated us to ‘steak on the barbie’ with plenty of shrimp to round out a great repast. Prior to succumbing to the need to sleep off the great meal, we conducted the usual business and then proceeded to a great program presented by Professor Dick Richards who is a famous painter of colonial architecture.
Our newest Sojourners, who were initatied at the last meeting, received their official welcome packets which included their membership card, badge, medal, name tag, official coin of the National Sojourners, all the Sojourner booklets, and a complimentary print of the Governor’s Palace at Williamsburg, Virgina, painted by artist Richards.
At the next meeting, we will be hosting a pike-chucking demonstration. Yes, our colonial forefathers used pikes to help keep the ranks in line across the battlefield. Our two Seargents Major will be showing both the rank-closing techniques and the art of catching a pike while in flight … with their teeth… blindfolded. Should be interesting.
It promises to be an exciting evening when Bro. S. Nastee will explain the origins of the idea for the pencil sharpener.
Sojourners will NOT want to miss this one. Miss Roxie will be the featured kisser at our February 3, 2016 Valentine’s Month dinner-meeting. ‘Girder’, the man with lips of steel, will also be available for the ladies. (We couldn’t get The Rock).
The November 2015 meeting of Fort Leavenworth Chapter #154 included a turkey shoot in preparation for Thansksgiving. Using official black powder muskets from the Colonial era, the turkeys were knocked down like bowling pins. Our Camp Followers had the birds de-feathered and in the pot in record time. We had a feast! Brother William MacAnee remarked, ” These were the easiest turkeys to hunt. Maybe next year, we will try the non-frozen ones.”
Our curent chapter “preservationist” and certified arborist will be giving his first hand account, with pictures, of his latest encounter with Mother Nature. While clearing a triple-canopy jungle area near Camp Cook, our guest found himself 150 feet above the jungle floor with chain saws in each hand when he discovered he was standing on the distant end rather than the anchored end of a large limb when his saw completed the “critical cut”. While in free fall, our brother was able to fashion a make-shift parachute from airborne debris and went from terminal volocity to the equivenelt of a gentle 15 foot fall at the time he reached the end of allowable travel. He made one memorable remark before he went comatose; “That was a heck of a ride but that sudden stop at the bottom really sucks.”
Guest speaker is retired Admiral Swifty Bottomoffle, former riverboat commander, who will demonstrate the fine art of water skiing behind a PT boat while the river is near flood level.