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The Regular The Official Newsletter of Sykes Regulars October Regular |
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| Brigade Schedule | Bugle Call | Reports from the Field Pry House and Torchlight Tour | From the Desk of the Vice President |
Field Commander’s Report D.M. Rivera VOTE!
Written by El Presidente Steve Hanson Steve Hanson
With this year’s activity winding down, I hope to see most of you in uniform at Gettysburg for the annual
Remembrance Day Parade and visit to the Regulars’ monument. Again this year, after the parade, we will
march to the monument and reflect on those whom we honor.
On Monday afternoon, October 11, Bill Ford and I, representing the Brigade, went to the Valley Academy
in Towson, Maryland and gave a one-hour talk to the children and faculty of the school. We briefly
discussed the history of the Regular Army from its inception to the end of the War of The Rebellion, and
formed them into ranks for a little drill. We ended by giving the students copies of a short history of the
Regulars. The session went very well, and in addition to a thank you from the school, we received for the
Brigade a personal check from Bill’s parents in the amount of $100. This is a very generous contribution
to the Brigade treasury, and we wish to publicly thank the publicly thank the Fords for their kindness.
It really is good to be a Regular.
Now, on to Gettysburg.
Field Commander, Sykes’ Regulars
November, 1999
Date: 20 November, 1999
Place: Gettysburg, PA
Event: Remembrance Day
Parade, an NR event
Uniform: Dress uniform for those who have one, i.e., white gloves, blackened leathers, polished brass,
Hardee hats, nine-button frock coats, dark blue trousers, and clean weapons. If you do not have a dress
uniform, four-button sack coat, kersey blue trousers, forage cap, blackened leathers, polished brass, and
clean weapons.
Form Up: We will begin to form up on the parking lot behind Shoney’s Restaurant at noon and march to
the parade starting point. After the parade, we will visit the Regulars Monument.
Directions: U.S. 15 to Gettysburg, Business 15 into town, park off of Steinwehr Avenue near Shoney’s.
Remember...The election of the 2000 Board of Directors of Sykes’ Regulars is upon us. Vote for the
members whom you feel will do the job that is needed. Get involved;
Report from the Field.
“Is there anybody on that bus!”
Pry House and Torchlight Tour
The Regulars assembled once again under the iron will of the mighty General Generic. The staff was ready.
All had prepared by going to group therapy in order to fortify themselves emotionally and psychologically
for the brow beating they were soon to receive. Some took copious amounts of tranquilizers. Some were
drunk. But all were ready. Unfortunately or fortunately as the case may be, the General likes to whittle
psyches away in front of an audience and soon the fun began.
Some of the busloads were light on the tourists so we were able to relax amongst ourselves. Surrounding the freshly painted Pry House were some fine companies who came to lend us a hand and interpret the battle.
The weather was beautiful all weekend and those lads had a nice easy weekend just hanging out on a great
part of the Antietam battlefield. The 1st PA Reserves brought along a fabulous luncheon which they
graciously shared with us. Bread, jam, apple butter, chicken and pickled eggs made for a grand gluttony
fest. One over enthusiastic diner was trying to pull out a pickled egg with a bayonet. He went right through
the bottom of the glass jar. Sounds like a Jonah to me.
The rest of the day we talked to any public that did show and milled about amongst ourselves. We also took
a picture of the entire staff and occupying forces on the front steps. See this photo on the main page.
There was a Jonah this weekend and it took place at the Pry House. One of the rangers came over to check
weapons. Eric S. was asked to perform inspection arms and he did so with excellent coordination. It must
have been the ranger that was standing too close. As Eric twirled his ramrod to insert it into the barrel he
whacked the ranger right in the Smokey Bear hat. It was a subtle Jonah but one that was not lost on the
surrounding soldiers. Well done sir.
Once our duties concluded at the Pry house we shuttled our way back to the battlefield to commence our
work at the Torchlight Tour. We were once again doing the scenario of the lost order 191. The cast was as
follows: Hutch as General Kymball, Don R. as Col. Colgrove, Jim W as the nosy reporter, Steve H. as Sgt.
Bloss and Jason as Private Mitchell who wanted his cigars back. The supporting cast was Craig M. as a
silent Gen. McClellan, Pete B as Major ? Eric Schlegel as the cooperative sentry, Adam Leaonard as the
sentry that went bang and Joe V. as clerk. If I forgot anyone. Apologies.
Once again we had large crowds passing through for many hours. The scene was the reporter coming up to
find the officers and asking them questions about a rumor of a lost order from Gen. Lee outlining marching
dispositions. Of course the officers foolishly believed the reporter when he guaranteed that all information
was ‘off the record’. He then asked pointed questions about how the order was found, who found it and
how it finally ended up in the hands of Gen. McClellan. He then asked about the General’s plans based on
the information and the General’s reaction to the serendipitous find of a lifetime. Once the reporter
finished his inquiry he was off like a shot for the telegraph office leaving the officers wondering if their
wisdom was sound in letting out such vital facts. So they sent armed men after the wiley newspaper man.
They lost him in the night.
Other than the usual sound projection (speak up) problems the amateur theatre was a rousing success as it
had been in past years. Other memorable moments were:
When the reporter asks the guard if he would introduce him to the officers the sentry replies “SURE!”.
Gen. McClellan took an excellent header over a tent rope.
The reporter forgets to ask a very relevant question.
The evening ended around 10:30 that evening and many of the lads repaired to the home of Pat and Bob
James where we took advantage of their gracious hospitality. We stayed up to the wee hours of the night
discussing the universe and found we had all the answers but we were too lazy to effect monumental
changes. After dragging ourselves back to the house we found some unoccupied floor space in the room
where Gen. Richardson bought the farm.
The next morning we all repaired to the customary Red Bird diner and held court over our cholesterol feast
of the weekend. This reporter had to return home early, but the report was the same as the day previous.
Low numbers on the magical mystery tour bus. There’s talk about having the staff meeting near the
visitor’s center next year so we’ll be a little closer to the public. Stay tuned to see if that comes about. For
now, adios from the Pry House.
An observer of all things military
Bugle Call
Regular
Excuse the crazy schedule for the Regular. Certain election info. had to be waited upon and soon we’ll have
a corrected schedule. You’ll be receiving the November Regular after Remembrance Day with the results
of the Election so be patient.
Jonah of the Month
Goes to Eric S. for whacking the park ranger on the hat with his ramrod. Read the report from the field for
more details.
Shirts
Polo shirts have arrived and those of you who have not retrieved them this past weekend will be receiving
them in the mail before too long. Sweatshirts will be on sale with the same logo. Look for the order form
in this Regular.
Reservations for Days Inn
Remembrance Day
The cutoff date for reservations is past. Those of you who didn’t send their reservation form will have to
bunk in with those who did. I will be making reservations for at least 4 rooms and those who need a room
can get a hold of me on Remembrance day.
Jim Wassel
Elections
By order of the Vice President
Members of Sykes' Regulars:
Well, here it is. Enclosed as the cover to this issue of the Snail mail Regular is the ballot with the candidates listed for each of the five positions for the Board of Directors. While you are reading this, please take an additional
moment to tear it off, fill it out, and send it in. It's already in your hands, so it shouldn't get lost of misplaced. For those of you who save every issue of the Regular for posterity, it has been cleverly placed on the cover, not only so your name is available for voting verification, but so you won't lose any of the fine articles, informative messages, and intellectual discussions that are the hallmarks of this outstanding publication.
The entire process is painless: All you need is a pencil (not necessarily a #2), or pen, or marker, charcoal,
crayon, Chinese calligraphy brush, or whatever is handy at the moment; you don't have to register with a
party; you don't have to be harangued by worker ants shoving advertisements into your hands; you don't
have to travel to some officially designated building, find a parking place, and wait in line for hours to
present your credentials to be checked off a list; you don't have dozens of names to read of people you never
heard of running for positions you never knew existed, and a myriad of switches to flip; you don't have to
feel guilty about not voting Party Lines; and you don't have to buy a bumper sticker saying "Don't blame me, I voted for XXX."
If you intent to attend the Remembrance Day event in Gettysburg, you don't even need an envelope and a
stamp. Just fold it up right now and put it in your dress pants pocket, and it will get there when you do. You
don't even have to sign your name or affix an address label - it is on the mailing address used to send the
Regular to you. Now how much easier can it be? Of course, if you won't be at Remembrance Day, an
envelope and stamp are a must - that's the price you must pay for missing the single most important major
dress-up event that we have all year.
For those of you who have to resort to the Post Office, my realmail address is:
740 Hollow Rd.
Oella, MD 21043.
The ballots must be in my hands by the end of the Remembrance Day weekend for those hand-carrying
them, and mail delivery to my house (about 4:30 pm) on Monday, Nov. 22, for those mailing them. I will
verify eligibility to vote with the Treasurer, count the votes, and present them to a disinterested third party
to verify the count. I will keep the ballots until the end of the year in case there is any dispute, and they will
be destroyed after that.
The winners will be announced in the November issue of the Regular, which is due to mail during the very
next week, as soon as I can get the results to the Editor.
No, I cannot accept E-mail ballots. The By-Laws, in their present form, specify a paper ballot. Maybe next
year the new Board can change that.
Make it your Board and tell them what you want to see.
Vice President
Sykes' Regulars
Mail the Editor with Submissions for the Regular or if you have a good picture you'd like to see on this site.