Dept. of Iowa, SUVCW
Sesquicentennial Committee Meeting

Designed by Danny Krock, General Grenville Dodge Camp #75

The Sesquicentennial Committee met in Des Moines on January 9th for its preliminary meeting. The meeting was called to order at the Country Kitchen restaurant, 5030 NE 14th St., Des Moines, by interim chairman Mike Carr at 11 AM.

Roll Call:
Mike Carr, Kinsman Camp #23..........Chairman...................Present
Jim Braden, Kinsman Camp #23...........................................Present
Don Gage, Anderson Camp #33...........................................Absent
Court Stahr, Abernethy Camp #48.......................................Absent
Dann Hayes, Bates Camp #64..........Publicity Chairman....Present
Tom Gaard, Dodge Camp #75...........Vice Chairman...........Present
Danny Krock, Dodge Camp #75............................................Present
Kevin Pearson, Huntley #114...............................................Absent

The first order of business was electing a chairman. Bro. Carr was elected. It was decided that a vice chairman was needed in case something prevented the chairman from attending the meeting. Bro. Gaard was nominated and elected. Bro. Hayes accepted the appointment as publicity chairman.

A logo was chosen. Bro. Krock had several and there was a unanimous decision on which one we wanted. A picture of the logo will be placed on the Dept. web page. The logo was chosen due to its relative simplicity and ease to reproduce. The vote was unanimous.

Publicity guidelines were discussed. Bro. Hayes suggested that news articles should be as generic as possible and use quotes from either a Department or local SUVCW spokesperson. Suggestions for publicity include local and statewide newspapers, radio and TV spots.

A suggestion was made that we tie fund-raisers to our publicity via the possible sale of items such as cups, etc. printed with our logo, generic or personalized Civil War bracelets or children’s toy kepis or forage caps. No decision was made regarding what types of merchandise that might be suitable. The committee will be looking into possible suppliers and costs for these items. We would concentrate on items that are free or of small cost. Funds raised would be used to support sesquicentennial efforts, to assist in refurbishing monuments or to fund events of interest to the SUVCW.

A suggestion was made by Bro. Krock to have an ‘Iowa in the Civil War’ pamphlet printed up detailing Iowa’s contribution to the War effort. The pamphlet would also feature 2-3 pictures from Iowa re-enactments or actual period photos as a visual stimulus to entice people to read it.

A further suggestion by Bro.’s Gaard and Hayes was to make a list of Iowa’s Civil War monuments and have them listed with their GPS co-ordinates. We would start with the more prominent monuments and work through those that are lesser known until the list is complete.

Bro.’s Braden, Hayes & Krock discussed acquiring a website for the Sesquicentennial Committee where events, dedications, etc. would be publicized along with a schedule of recruiting, fundraising or other events, including dedications and re-dedications. It was suggested that the name be kept short for convenience of entering it. The domain site would be entitled something like Iowa and the Civil War with the full SUVCW title being on the actual site. Said title has not yet been chosen pending the final decision to acquire a domain and provider.

Bro. Stahr’s emailed report containing his suggestions for Dept. Committee guidelines and focus was read and accepted as written. The mission statement for the Committee will be discussed and voted on at the next meeting when more of the Committee may be present. Our thanks to Bro. Stahr for a well thought out document. Bro. Stahr has volunteered to write weekly articles on the Civil War starting the first week of April, 2011. The Committee accepts Bro. Court’s kind offer.

Bro. Gaard further suggested that a series of Medal of Honor winner articles be written and distributed for publication on the date of the action resulting in the winning of the Medal.

Due to the absences of Bro’s Gage and Pearson, the financial parameters were discussed in general terms. It was the consensus that if the Committee is asked to undertake such things as sponsoring events, the need for funds to do this may arise. The Committee will present legislation at the 2010 Dept. Encampment asking for a specific amount of funds to use as seed money so that we may acquire the items we wish to sell, thus making the Committee self-sustaining throughout the duration of the Sesquicentennial. Any funds remaining to the Committee at the end of its mandate (2015) would revert to the Dept. treasury. The set amount requested would also eliminate the need for Dept. approval of each transaction the Committee would make throughout the course of the year(s). Donations would also be solicited from camps or possibly from corporate sponsors.

A suggestion was made to contact Sheila Hanke or Jerome Thompson at the SHSI and request a copy of the Battle Flag video from 2006 as part of the SUVCW promotional material.

A motion was made by Bro. Krock, seconded by Bro. Hayes to ask the Dept. of Iowa to approve the 2010 Cedar Rapids re-enactment as an official SUVCW-sanctioned event, but not as part of the Sesquicentennial. The vote was unanimous in favor. Any Committee-approved event must fall between April 12, 2011 and June 23, 2015. This dates from the firing on Fort Sumter to the surrender of the last Confederate forces.

Bro. Gaard was asked to come up with a plan to dedicate any, all, or some of Iowa’s Civil War monuments both within and without Iowa. Discussion was centered around the number of monuments, including historical sites, that deserve to be visited and honored. It was decided that in most cases, each county would be visited by the SUV/SVR and a dedication would be held at the most prominent or historically significant monument or site in the county. In some cases, such as Polk County, multiple events would need to be held to do justice to the history therein. This schedule will be developed between 2010 and 2011.

In regard to monuments outside Iowa, such as Wilson’s Creek, Shiloh, or Vicksburg, those would be visited on the sesquicentennial date of the actions causing them to be erected. Due to cost and time, out-of-state venues would need to be discussed further to choose those we can/want to visit. A suggestion was made by Bro. Krock to ask the various camps or SVR units to ‘deploy’ to a site such as Vicksburg and carry out any dedications decided upon. A suggestion was made by Bro. Braden to possibly have schools ‘adopt’ a monument needing refurbishing.

The Sesquicentennial Committee was unanimous in choosing April 12, 2011 as the official “kickoff event” of the Sesquicentennial. Bro. Hayes suggested that we have several events as officially accepted on the SUVCW calendar. These would possibly include the Keokuk, Mason City, Marshalltown, Carson, and/or Lamoni re-enactment events, dedications that would include monument, GAR Hall and historical sites, including ceremonies on college campuses such as those at Hopkinton and Grinnell IA that contributed heavily from their student bodies. The calendar, other than the ceremony at the Soldiers and Sailors Monument and attendant events on April 12, 2011 has not been finalized. Input is welcome and needed from the general membership concerning this.

Bro. Braden presented his report on commemorating the mustering of all Iowa’s units. His suggestion, which was accepted by the committee, was to hold a commemoration ceremony at each place where regiments and batteries were mustered in during the sesquicentennial year where most activity in that place occurred. In places such as Davenport, the choice of year has many options, as it was one of a few sites that were active in mustering units throughout the War. The unit commemorations would possibly be tied to the countywide dedication ceremonies, where possible, in an effort to maximize our presence and reduce travel expenses.

Bro. Carr reported on the current schedule of known events that will take place during the period 2011-2015. This was only a preliminary document and contained lists of re-enactments, living history events and known dedications. This calendar will be under development well into the period it covers as many events are still in the planning stages, or are still being contemplated by communities.

The meeting was adjourned at 2:10. The next meeting will be held on Saturday, March 20, 2010 at the same time & location.

Submitted in Fraternity, Charity & Loyalty,
Mike Carr
Sesquicentennial Chairman