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Notes From the 121st National Congress July 9-13, 2011, Winston-Salem, North Carolina By Jim W. Faulkinbury, CG Saturday July 9th The events for the day included a tour of Bethabara, a Moravian settlement established in 1753 and Old Salem, established as a Moravian church town in 1766. The tour starting in Bethabara, took us thru the old church built in 1788 with its adjoining parsonage and a couple of the remaining original buildings. Bethabara's Moravian congregation is still active although the population is very small since most of the residents follow their original purpose of providing the agricultural support for the development of the larger church town of Salem where most of the Moravian craftsmen lived. In Old Salem, a box lunch was provided at the Visitor's Center. During lunch we were we were entertained by re-enactors portraying Gen. Nathaniel Green and Lord Cornwallis. We then toured some of the buildings built between 1769 and 1831. Docents in colonial dress provided information and demonstrated the various crafts that made Salem a center of trade during the colonial period. The Moravians were expert craftsmen and pacifists. They cared for the needs and tended the wounded of both the British and the patriots during the American Revolution. As a result, they suffered the confiscation of their goods from both British and patriots believing them to be in support of the opposite side. Interestingly, they were respected by the local Indians and during the French-Indian War, they were never attacked and the outsiders from other communities sought protection in their fortifications. The evening featured the North Carolina Host Society Reception. Sunday, July 10th For me, this day began with the Color Guard Breakfast where several proposals were brought up for consideration. The most heated debate was in regard to the wearing of medals on Color Guard uniforms. The final outcome was a decision to allow the wearing on medals for non-pubic events such as chapter, state and national meetings with the final decision for the wearing to be made by the Color Guard Commander in charge of the event. Jim Fosdick, the CASSAR Color Guard Commander, then proposed making the "Field of Honor" or "Healing Field" events now held in 20 states as National Color Guard events that qualify for points towards the NSSAR Silver Color Guard Medal. The proposal was adopted. Color Guard Commander Joe Dooley proposed a new Color Guard Medal to come between the Silver and the Gold Color Guard Medals. The National Von Steuben Medal would be used for those who have served in Color Guards for at least 5 years following the award of the Silver CG Medal and accumulated 500 points for their service in National CG events. The Gold CG Medal is only used for the Guardsman of the Year and the National CG Commander so this new medal would recognize sustained service following award of the Silver CG Medal. His proposal to present a recommendation for this new medal to the Medals and Awards Committee was adopted. Final approval rests with that committee. The annual Memorial Service was at 2:00pm at the 1st Baptist Church, one block from the Congress hotel. The combined Color Guards led the procession to the service and following the service, photos of the combined and the various state Color Guards were taken before returning to the hotel. That evening a group of the California delegates and their wives had dinner at a local restaurant and then returned to the California Society's hospitality room. Monday, July 11th This was the first official business day of the Congress. The Color Guard formed for the opening session and posted the National and State Colors for the 1st session. The morning session consisted of most of the National Officer and Committee Reports. The session was adjourned for the Youth Awards Luncheon where the recipients of the National youth contests and CAR were presented with their awards and recognitions. The winners of the JROTC Outstanding Cadet, Knight Essay, and Eagle Scout contests read their essays and the winner of the Rumbaugh Orations, gave his winning oratory entry. Following the luncheon, the 2nd session of the Congress began with the presentation of Public Service and Heroism awards to members of law enforcement, fire safety and EMS organizations. Following those awards, the business session continued with the remaining committee reports. After dinner on our own, the day ended with the annual awards program where the new class of Minutemen was presented. This was followed by the State and Chapter awards. CASSAR received awards for "CAR Activities" and the "Officers Attendance Award". Liberty Medal Awards for 1st line signers of ten (10) new members were presented. Members of the Sacramento Chapter receiving oak leaf clusters were Tom Chilton and myself. Tuesday July 12th This session of the Congress addressed new business. The major item of new business was the voting on Bylaw changes. NASSAR Bylaw #16 regarding the voting Trustees was the most controversial. It was pointed out earlier in the year that the 1906 Charter approved by the U.S. Congress required all the Trustees to be elected but Bylaw #16 designated the living past Presidents General and members of the Executive Committee as voting Trustees without an election. To conform to the requirements as stated in our Charter, two proposals were made, one to remove the past PGs and the Executive Committee from the Trustees for any vote, and the other to provide a mechanism for their nomination and election at this and future Congresses. After a heated debate, the second proposal with minor modifications was approved. The other Bylaw change removed all mention of the old Youth Registrant program from those Bylaws that still mentioned it since that program is no longer in existence and the remaining Youth Registrants will be converted to Junior Memberships. A resolution to require that both the Medals and Awards Committee and the Executive Committee must agree on the awarding of any future Gold Good Citizenship Medal also passed after some discussion. Once the new business was completed, nominations for the various General Officer positions were given. CASSAR's Larry Magerkurth was unopposed and elected as the next NSSAR President General. The offices of Secretary General, Treasurer General, and Genealogist General were contested and thus the office holder would be selected by ballot later in the day. That evening the 1st Banquet was held with the combined Color Guard once again presenting the Colors. Awards were made by the PG and it was announced that the balloting for the contested officers resulted in the election of Steven Leishman as Secretary General and Larry Cornwell as Genealogist General. There being three candidates for Treasurer General, none received a majority of the vote and a run-off of the two receiving the highest vote would be conducted the next morning before the final session. The day concluded with a formal Banquet. Following the seating of the General Officers, the first ceremonial act was the Changing of the Guard. NSSAR Color Guard Commander Joseph F. Dooley of Virginia turned over the command to J. Michael Tomme of the Georgia Society. The combined Color Guard presented the Colors. The speaker for the Banquet was a re-enactor of Capt. Jack James who read the Mecklenburg Resolves approved on May 31, 1775. Following their adoption, they were delivered by Capt. James to the Continental Congress riding by horseback from North Carolina to Philadelphia. Various awards were then made by the PG recognizing compatriots who provided significant assistance to him during the last year and for those who were responsible for coordinating the 121st Congress. Following the Banquet the California contingent held a celebration in our hospitality room for PG elect, Larry Magerkurth. Wednesday, July 13th The day began for me with the George Washington Fellows/1000 Breakfast. The polls were opened at 7:00am until 9:00am for the runoff balloting for Treasurer General. At 9:00am the final session of the Congress was held. The nominees for State Trustees were read off and their election by unanimous voice vote followed. The nominees for Vice President's General were then elected including CASSAR's Lou Carlson as VPG of the Western District (California, Nevada, and Hawaii). Then, in accordance with the newly changed Bylaw #16, the living PGs were nominated and elected as Trustees and the members of Executive Committee were named by PG-elect, Larry Magerkurth, and elected as Trustees. Following the General Session, the newly elected Trustees went into session where they were sworn in. At 11:00pm, the business of the Congress was concluded and I went with CASSAR President, John Dodd and Steve Renouf to visit the nearby Guilford Courthouse historic battle field. Following a tour of the battle site, we went to the Quaker Guilford College nearby and looked at some of the records in the Quaker archives housed there. The official proceedings of the day concluded with President General's Banquet. At this banquet, the newly elected General Officers were installed. The General Officers for 2011-2012 are:
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