Page 5 - Sojourner Newsletter-Fall

Vol. 98 Iss. 4 5

NATIONAL COMMANDER’S MESSAGE

Heroes and Ladies,

I realize that times are still tough for a lot of areas of our country and as we are not a
“young” group, we need to be very careful of our health. Some of the Chapters are still
meeting via Zoom as they are not allowed to meet in public. Therefore, this first quarter has
not seen a lot of events scheduled; but what I have been able to see has been outstanding.
The good ole Southern Hospitality is alive and well in Georgia! Lady Nancy and I just re-
turned from the Georgia Area Conference and Encampment held at the new Scottish Rite
Center in Savannah, Ga. It was a great event in a beautiful new building with fifty (50) reg-
istered attendees. Two new Heroes joined our ranks and we also added twelve (12) new
Camp Followers. In addition to the above, I had the privilege of installing the officers at
Militia 1776 Chapter #560 in Camden, NC. I attended our Youth Leadership Conference at
Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge, Pa. I was also able to participate in a Color Guard for the Virginia Hiram
Club’s annual meeting. This upcoming quarter we have scheduled several events including the creation of two new
Camps in Georgia; attending the North Carolina Area Conference and Encampment in Fayetteville; attending the
Grand Lodge of Virginia as a Distinguished Guest; and the Federal Area Conference and Encampment in Alexan-
dria, VA. Again, if your Chapter, Region, or Area has an event that you would like the National Commander He-
roes of 76 to attend, please let me know.

EIAR
Sincerely and fraternally,
Paul Pennybacker
National Commander
Paul24@cox.net

Camp Follower Update

Our National Den Mother, Nancy Pennybacker, has asked that the Camp Follower information be updated
and this news article be published to inform you about what has been updated, how to access this infor-
mation on our Website and what the website will contain. This effort is in support of the upcoming Heroes
of ’76 Centennial Celebration in 2022-2023. The Camp Follower Degree was last updated in 2017 and we have found a
few items that needed to be addressed. We also needed to find a web location with easier access to host the Camp Fol-
lower information for our members and the public. As soon as the website is updated, on the Camp Follower page, you
will eventually find:
1) Additional instructions to help you present a successful Camp Followers Degree
2) Updated pictures of our celebrated Camp Followers; Molly Stark, Martha Washington & Betsy Ross
The new Camp Follower information is on the National Sojourner website: nationalsojourners.org. Our Webmaster,
Brother Bill Hickey, has created a Camp Follower Page which you will find at the top of the page in the Tab listed as
“News and Events”. Inside this page you will find the new Camp Follower page. Once opened, all of the useful Camp
Follower information will be in one place. This Camp Follower page will contain primarily member access information,
but it will also contain information about Camp Followers which can be shared with the general public. Our Webmaster,
Brother Bill Hickey, will grant access to Heroes and Camp Followers who have asked for that access by emailing him at
webmaster@nationalsojourers.org. Brother Bill will also be adding to our library some research information he came up
with. When you access this new Camp Follower page you will eventually find, among other items:
1) Degree Cast Assignment List 6) Heroes’ Introduction
2) Ritual Poem 7) Helpful Hints
3) 5x8 Cards 8) Optional Introduction
4) New Slide Show with Pictures 9) Cards for Camp Followers
5) Membership Cards 10) Camp Follower Book Cover

Please note: The Camp Followers Degree is to be performed ONLY at an Encampment (but not during a Bivou-
ac). We hope this information will be useful for anyone preparing to host a Camp Follower Degree or explaining what
the Camp Followers are all about. If you have any questions, feel free to contact Carol Geck at cgeck@xecu.net or 301-
758-0748 (Cell).