Meetings and Classes 

January 10, 2012
6:30 PM

Speaker: Jack Bolen, Past President of the Tampa Chapter, Son's of the American Revolution (SAR)

Mr. Bolen will also be our guest speaker on Tuesday June 12, 2012 to talk about the Mt. Vernon Plantations of VA

Bio: A native of Atlanta, he and his wife, June have lived in Brandon since 1979. After 34 years of service, he retired 6-1/2 years ago as Vice President and General Manager of the Cameron & Barkley Company's Tampa office. They have one child, Dr. Robert Bolen; four granddaughters and one grandson. They are members of First Baptist Church of Brandon. He served on the Board of Directors of Buckhorn Springs Golf & Country Club in Valrico as Treasurer. His hobbies are golf and history.

Several of his ancestors fought for independence from Great Britain. One was on "the other side". Both his father's and mother's families pioneered in Georgia after serving in the American Revolution in the Carolinas. He is a member of the Orangeburg German-Swiss Genealogical Society of South Carolina.

Three of his great grandfathers served in the Confederate Army. Two of them received the Southern Cross of Honor. There is a family cemetery outside Atlanta where some 25 Confederate veterans are buried and are all just one side of his mother's family.

He is past president of the Tampa Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution and currently serves as Chaplain and on the Board of Management. He is also a member of their Hillsborough River Camp of The Sons of Liberty, a Revolutionary War Militia Color Guard which is part of the SAR.

He is a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans and past Commander of the Tampa Chapter of the Military Order of Stars & Bars, a group of descendants of Confederate officers. He is the Senior Recruiting Officer of the General's Barton & Stovall Brigade a national group of descendants of the "Georgia 7000". He is also an honorary member of the Tampa Chapter 113 of the United Daughters of the Confederacy as well as a "HODAR" (husband of the DAR) Alafia River Chapter.

Currently he is attempting to establish a Civil War Round table for the Tampa area. He sees the Round Table as a way to reach out to young people in our area and encourage their interest in American history. The first meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, January 25th. At the Tampa Bay History Center.

Speaker: Rodney Kite-Powell, Tampa Bay History Center
Topic: Passing on genealogical and historical information, when the time comes.

Rodney Kite-Powell is the Saunders Foundation curator of history at the Tampa Bay History Center. Kite-Powell, who started working at the museum in 1994, is also editor of Tampa Bay History, a regional history journal published through a partnership between the center and the University of South Florida. He also teaches a course on the history of Florida at the University of Tampa.

Mike Woodfin - Ghost Town Proctor, NC
http://www.ghosttowns.com/
mwoodfin1@juno.com

Mike is a retired band director who has taught over 3000+ students in his 32 years. He is married to Debbie Woodfin, retired chorus director Burns Middle School. He has a married daughter who is a homemaker and a son who also is a band director in Lecanto Florida. His passion has been photography, baseball, & ghost towns for quite some time. The ghost town interest began in South Dakota and has been the subject of at least 3 newspaper articles in the past few years. He has had an ongoing affiliation and major contributor to the website, ghosttowns.com. He now owns a vending machine business in the Tampa area.

4th of July Party -- We would like to invite you and your guests to attend our "4th of July" picnic which is not held on the 4th of July nor is it quite a picnic in the traditional sense. We have a covered dish dinner on our regular meeting date at the Bloomingdale library. We also have no flies, ants, rain or heat to deal with as the traditional outdoors picnics do. BAGHS furnishes the fried chicken and those attending are asked to bring a covered dish to share. Utensils, drinks, etc., are provided by our society.

We do not have a formal program at this event, but this year we are asking anyone who wants to do so to share an oral family tradition that has been passed through the generations. You may have found the story to be true, partially true, or false. Our June guest speaker is the inspiration for this topic.

We really would like to have you join with us even if you are not able to be a member of our society. You are still our friend.

Our annual Christmas party, bring a guest.

We will provide ham and members are asked to bring a complementary dish. We especially need vegetables and casseroles as we tend to have plenty of desserts. Plates, cups and utensils will be provided.

Remember, this is the time when you are encouraged to bring your spouse, adult children or anyone else as your guest. We look forward to having you spend this time with us. If anyone has a poem, song or any other seasonally appropriate item to share, please don't hesitate to let us know.