PENNSYLVANIA SOCIETY OF SONS OF THE REVOLUTION
MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF MANAGERS MEETING
10 June 1999
President Lloyd called the meeting to order promptly at 4:00 p.m. in the Grant Room of the Union League of Philadelphia.
PRESENT: Messrs. Byrne, Clattenburg, Di Stefano, Fenstermacher, Flood, Frick, Gordon, Graham, Gresh, Lewis, Lloyd, Moore, Morris, Proctor, and Ward.
READING OF THE MINUTES: President Lloyd noted that he had not completed editing the minutes of the May meeting of the Board of Managers. They will be published and distributed before the next meeting of the Board.
SECRETARY’S REPORT: Secretary Clattenburg reported that eleven members of the Board had regretted their absence from the meeting. They were Messrs. Burke, Cheyney, Groff, Hoyt, Lincoln, Loughran, Morgan, Salisbury, Van Gulick, G. Wood and H. Wood.
The current membership of the Society, as of 1 June 1999, stands at 1,089 active members. This number includes 18 Life Members and two annual members for whom the Society has no current address. Total membership also includes 23 Junior Life members, raising the sum of all names on the roster to 1,112.
The Secretary further reported that there were no requests pending for resignation, re-instatement, transfer to Old Guard status or transfer to other State Societies.
Three members of the Society have become Life Members. The first is John LaCour Ashburner (PA #4754, elected 8 February 1968), whose Life Membership is a gift of General President Thomas Clifton Etter, Jr. The other two are brothers, Robert Pike Fooskas (PA #5948, elected 13 May 1999) and Stephen Perry Fooskas (PA #5949, also elected 13 May 1999), whose life memberships are the gifts of their parents.
President Lloyd asked if there were any comments or questions of the Secretary. Treasurer Ward moved that the Secretary’s report be adopted as presented. Mr. Morris seconded the motion and on vote, it carried unanimously.
TREASURER'S REPORT: Treasurer Ward distributed copies of his Profit and Loss Budget Comparison report for the period ending 31 May. The Treasurer drew the attention of the Board to three unusual items in the report. The income from the Rorer Trust reflects an overpayment by the Mellon Bank on its second quarter distribution. The income for the quarter is therefore much greater than budget. The Society’s office reports that Mellon Bank officials are aware of the overpayment. Secondly, the budget lines of the Independence Day Committee and the Saratoga-Yorktown Committee reflect an expense of $237.50, which represents their proportional share of the cost for restocking the embossed stationary needed to print the invitations to those events. Lastly, in response to a question from Vice President Frick, the budget line for the Board Discretionary Fund shows income of $5,000. This transaction reflects the return of principal funds from the Lancaster County Chapter. This amount had been advanced to the Lancaster County Chapter in 1997 in order to meet expenses associated with hosting the General Society’s 1998 Board of Managers meeting. Income from that event had slightly exceeded expense and the $5,000 advance has now been returned to the Society.
Treasurer Ward also noted that the Society’s investment portfolio had increased in value by $152,938.15 during the month of May.
President Lloyd asked if there were any comments or questions on the Treasurer’s report. Hearing none, he ask that the Treasurer’s report be accepted, subject to audit. Vice President Di Stefano moved the same. Vice President Frick seconded the motion and on vote, it carried unanimously.
REGISTRAR'S REPORT: In the absence of Registrar Fitzgerald, Secretary Clattenburg reported that the office has not received notice of any deaths among the members of the Society in period since the last meeting of the Board.
HISTORIAN’S REPORT: In the absence of Historian Groff, there was no report.
PRESIDENT’S REPORT: President Lloyd began his report by presenting an overview of the Society activities scheduled for Independence Day. He has spent a considerable amount of time over the past month coordinating the public portion of the Society’s program. He was pleased to announce that Albert E. ("Ted") Wolf, Chairman Emeritus and Member, Board of Directors of the National Constitution Center, would be the keynote speaker and General President Emeritus James Thorington, II would be the reader of the Declaration of Independence. He noted that he had invited two members of the Sunoco Welcome America organization to make a presentation to the Board at that point in the meeting when the Board would hear the report of the Independence Day Committee.
Derick Dreher, Director of the Rosenbach Museum and Library, has sent the Society a very pleasant letter of thanks, extending his appreciation to President Lloyd, Captain Salisbury, and the Officers and Managers of the Board for their support of "Becoming George," the exhibition commemorating the 200th anniversary of Washington’s death.
The Society has also received a handsome letter from the McNeil Center for Early American Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, thanking the Sons of the Revolution and the State Society of the Cincinnati of Pennsylvania for our continuing support of the dissertation fellowship at the McNeil Center.
The President also called the Board members attention to the information distributed by the Executive Secretary. The wallet-sized directory of Board members’ telephone and fax numbers has been revised, as has a standard letter-sized complete directory of Board members’ surface mail and e-mail addresses. The President asked Board members to advise the Executive Secretary of any changes, in order that the directory information remain current.
ADMISSIONS COMMITTEE: Vice-President Di Stefano stated that the Admissions Committee had an unusually productive meeting on Wednesday, 4 June 1999. The Committee reviewed and approved the proposal for membership of Morris Corfield Swope, III.
In addition, the Committee reviewed ten applications for membership approved by the verifying genealogist, Robert Barnes. The Committee recommends these men for admission to membership in the Society. They are Peter Morgan Adams; Raymond Ranck Buckwalter; Charles Minot Dole, Jr.; Franklin Ross Grove, Jr.; Richard John Hoffman; Erik Lafayette Johnson; Howard Randall Morgan, Jr.; Orville Anderson Petty, III; Joseph Henry Pool, V; and Craig Jay Stearn. Chairman Di Stefano moved that these ten candidates be elected to membership in the Society. Mr. Moore seconded the motion and on vote, carried unanimously.
Chairman Di Stefano continued his report by noting that the number of candidates for membership whose papers remain outstanding stands between 25 and 30. This, he believes, is a reasonable number. He thanked the members of his committee who have worked very productively to enhance the Society’s membership rolls. He asked if any members of the Board wished to join the Admissions Committee and if so, that they make their interests known to President Lloyd for his consideration.
BUDGET COMMITTEE: Vice President Frick stated that the Committee had no report.
FINANCE COMMITTEE: In the absence of Vice President Johnson, there was no report.
RESOLUTIONS COMMITTEE: In the absence of Counselor Cheyney, there was no report.
AMERICAN HERITAGE COMMITTEE: In the absence of Chairman Walkup, there was no report.
INDEPENDENCE DAY COMMITTEE: President Lloyd asked that the Board welcome Melissa Coopersmith and Ira Rosen of Sunoco Welcome America, who would join the meeting briefly to explain in more detail the Society’s partnership with their organization.
President Lloyd stated there are several important benefits to this Society that come as a direct result of its participation in the Welcome America sponsor program. Ms. Coopersmith has reported to him that of a total of approximately 100 cash sponsors of this year’s event, the contribution of the Pennsylvania Society and its Color Guard ranks 30th in size. As a result, all the publicity published by Welcome America prominently features the Society and its Color Guard among the official sponsors of the citywide July Fourth celebration. The single most important form of publicity is the vest-pocket size pamphlet which details each of the events that take place in conjunction with July Fourth. Sunoco Welcome America prints 500,000 copies of this pamphlet and distributes them both regionally and nationwide. A World Wide Web edition of the pamphlet is also available and Sunoco Welcome America prominently credits the Society and its Color Guard by that means as well.
Sunoco Welcome America also works with the Society to create news releases on our public program, Let Freedom Ring, and then distributes them to 3,200 media outlets nationwide. The result is that the Society’s national bellringing ceremony, now in its 30th year, is a full participant in the City of Philadelphia’s nationwide publicity effort. The City works to create a festival-like invitation to the nation in anticipation of large numbers of tourists on the occasion of July the Fourth. In Welcome America’s media source book, not only is Let Freedom Ring publicized, but also the commitment of the Society and its Color Guard to "the proper celebration of prominent events connected with the War of the Revolution."
In addition, Welcome America hosts a number of "sponsors-only" events, to which the Society and its Color Guard receive a limited number of invitations.
In sum, the Society is well positioned to celebrate as successful an event as ever before.
President Lloyd then turned to Chairman Byrne, who reported that invitations to the Independence Day luncheon have already been mailed and that the first responses have been received in the Society office. President Lloyd asked the Board if there were any comments or questions for Ms. Coopersmith and Mr. Rosen. Hearing none, he thanked them for participating in the meeting and excused them from the room.
President Lloyd then asked that the dual report as presented by Chairman Byrne and the representatives of Sunoco Welcome America be adopted. Upon motion made, seconded, and unanimously carried, the reports were adopted.
NEW CITIZENS’ RECEPTION: In the absence of Chairman Hoyt, the Executive Secretary reported that a reception is planned for June 30th immediately following the naturalization ceremony at the U.S. District Court.
SARATOGA-YORKTOWN ANNIVERSARIES COMMITTEE: In the absence of Chairman Morgan, President Lloyd reported that in response to many requests for change, the Committee is planning to book a new orchestra for this year’s event.
SPECIAL PROJECTS: In the absence of Historian Groff, there was no report.
VALLEY FORGE COMMEMORATION: President Lloyd reported with pleasure on behalf of Chairman George Wood that the Society’s new Chaplain, Rev. Proctor, preached well at the Annual Church Service and that the reception afterwards at the Merion Cricket Club was both well attended and within budget. The Committee’s final report will be given in the fall, when all financial figures are in hand.
WASHINGTON’S BIRTHDAY PARTY COMMITTEE: Chairman Morris reported he has confirmed the Society’s reservation of the Union League for 19 February 2000 and is also exploring the possibility of new musical accompaniment for the event.
YOUNGER MEMBERS: In the absence of Chairman Bowden, there was no report.
THE COLOR GUARD: In the absence of Captain Salisbury, Vice President Di Stefano reported that the Color Guard held a drill on 3 June in preparation for the Society’s public program on Independence Square on July 4th. At the request of President Lloyd, the Color Guard will prepare brief descriptions of certain revolutionary flags which may be read to the audience by the Master of Ceremonies during the first half of the program. President Lloyd has recently learned that this practice was the norm in the early years of the Independence Day program, has not been followed for more than two decades.
MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE: In the absence of Chairman Harvard Wood, President Lloyd read the Committee’s report. The roll of members currently includes 508 life members, 13 of whom have become life members in the first five months of this year. Of the remaining 592 annual dues paying members, 430 have responded with payment to the first dues notice. A second dues notice will be mailed at the end of June. The Chairman is also very pleased with the marked improvement in the average time required to shepherd a candidate for membership through the application for membership routine. The total time, from proposal to admission, is now averaging just six months.
NEWSLETTER COMMITTEE: In the absence of an editor, there was no report. President Lloyd did say that he hopes Chaplain Proctor will agree to become the new editor.
OPERATIONS COMMITTEE: In the absence of Vice President Burke, there was no report.
TECHNOLOGY INITIATIVE: Vice President Lewis distributed a report which presented a chart showing the number of World Wide Web visitors to the Society’s web site over the past six months. He noted that LibertyNet, the Society’s internet host, reports that the Society’s site ranks among the most visited sites for its kind. The report included a detail sheet for the month of April, showing the number of visits, the state and country of origin of the visitors, the number of times specific pages on the web site were visited, and other pertinent information. The web site has also generated four new membership inquiries in recent weeks.
Chairman Lewis also reported that he is personally working on posting to the site the database files of the roll of members and the roll of ancestors printed in the Centennial Register. In addition, Jefferson Moak is adding to the databases the names of all new members since 1988 and the ancestors by whom they derive eligibility. The Committee plans to meet and review the responsibilities connected with keeping the site current, as well as posting interesting and inviting new information. Otherwise, Vice President Lewis warned, the number of visitors to the site will decrease with time as interest wanes.
REPORT OF LANCASTER COUNTY CHAPTER: Regent Moore reported that of the ten new members just elected to the Society, two will also be members of the Lancaster Chapter. The Chapter has a member who is an historian interested in working with local history teachers to promote the education of the Revolutionary War period among school age children in Lancaster County. The Chapter has also published its current list of officers and membership directory.
REPRESENTATIVE TO THE GENERAL SOCIETY: In the absence of Vice President Johnson, President Lloyd stated he was not aware of any report with regard to the General Society. President Lloyd offered high praise for General President Etter’s generous gift of a life membership to John Ashburner. In his letter to the Society’s Secretary, President Etter stated that he and Mr. Ashburner have been friends since childhood and attended Episcopal Academy together. President Etter was Mr. Ashburner’s proposer many years ago and now he wanted Mr. Ashburner to enjoy the benefits of life membership.
There was no OLD BUSINESS.
NEW BUSINESS:
President Lloyd noted that the minutes of the brief meeting of the Board, held just prior to the Annual Meeting on 8 April, had been distributed to all those present. He asked if there were any additions or corrections to the minutes. Hearing none, he asked that they be adopted as published. On motion made, seconded, and unanimously carried, the minutes of the 8 April 1999 meeting of the Board of Managers were adopted.
President Lloyd reminded the members that June is the time of year when new appointments are made for committee chairs. He will be calling the managers and board members before month end to ascertain their committee interests and discover how they can participate most productively in the work of the Board.
President Lloyd then announced that he was seeking three volunteers to act as escorts for the Bell Tappers and their families on Independence Day. This responsibility includes acting as host at the family’s luncheon table, joining them on the podium, and escorting them to and from the Liberty Bell Pavilion.
President Lloyd concluded by noting that the Board does not customarily meet in September and that the next meeting would likely take place on Thursday, 14 October at the Union League of Philadelphia.
There being no further business to come before the Board, President Lloyd adjourned the meeting at 5:20 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Theodore Clattenburg, Jr.
Secretary