Page 3 - Sojourner Newsletter-Winter 2023 Final revised

Volume 100, Issue 1 3

NATIONAL COMMANDER’S MESSAGE

Lady Carol and I hope that you and your families have enjoyed your very Merry
Christmas and a Happy New Year. We are truly enjoying a wonderful 2023 as we
continue our celebration of the Heroes of ’76 Centennial.

We completed our fall travels with three Encampments and two Wreath Laying
Ceremonies as reported in my previous National Commander’s Message. We
enjoyed the Central Area Encampment in Omaha, Nebraska where we initiated the
Grand Master of Nebraska into their Hero’s Camp. This part started with a visit to
Paducah, Kentucky for the celebration Wreath Laying honoring Brother E.B.
Jones and to Princeton, Kentucky honoring Brother Thomas J. Flournoy. Next, we
enjoyed the Tennessee Area Encampment where they initiated a Brother
Sojourner into our Heroes of ’76 family. Our National Den Mother, Lady Carol,
provided an interesting and useful description of what our Camp Followers are,
and more importantly, not. Lady Carol and I returned to Brother Caleb Atwater’s
grave to permanently mount a Heroes of ’76 medallion on his headstone, which
made us very proud. Then we traveled to Milwaukee, Wisconsin to enjoy the Great Lakes Area Encampment,
where they brought two Brother Sojourners into our Heroes of ’76 fold. Lady Carol, National Den Mother,
again provided a nice talk about what our Camp Followers are and are not. This concluded the first part of our
Term and prepares us for our second part, starting in January 2023, which will see us traveling to:

1) The Mid-Winter Meeting in Raleigh, North Carolina from January 9-11 January 2023
2) The Gulf Area Encampment in Pensacola, Florida on January 28, 2023
3) The Georgia Area Encampment in Savannah, Georgia on February 11, 2023
4) The Conference of Grand Masters of North America in Alexandria, Virginia from February 19-22, 2023
5) The North Carolina Regional Encampment in Lafayette, North Carolina on March 4, 2023 where our
National Chief of Staff, Brother Brian Coffey, will represent our National Heroes ’76
6) The North California Area Encampment in Monterey, California on March 11, 2023
7) The South Central Area Encampment in Austin, Texas on March 18, 2023, and finally
8) Our Annual National Convention and Encampment and Bennington Banquet Celebration in Harrisburg
Pennsylvania from June 12-16, 2023

We have so much more Heroes of ’76 Centennial celebrating to do and I encourage everyone to get involved
and get engaged in all this fun. Please thoroughly read and understand the Toolkit prepared for you with all the
information that you need and to know what you need to do to become a Centennial Hero, Camp and Chapter.
This is your year and it is a once in a lifetime opportunity to celebrate with your Heroes, Sojourners and
Camp Followers to make the most of this great time together. We look forward to seeing each of you during
our travels to close out this wonderful Heroes of ’76 term. May God Bless you.

EIAR
Randy Geck
National Commander (2022-2023)