WELCOME!
Upcoming Meetings and Events
MESSAR April Member Event & Annual Meeting
When: Saturday, April 13, 2013. 10:00am-1:30pm
Where:Seasons Grille: behind Howard Johnson Plaza Portland, 155 Riverside Street I-95 Exit 48 Portland, ME 04103 Phone: (207) 775-6536
Hotel Rooms are available at a reduced price if you need to stay overnight. Reserve at: 207-774-5861
What:
- Annual Meeting begins promptly at 10:00 AM. See Attached Absentee Voting Ballot for use by those who cannot make the annual meeting.
- Presentation begins appx 11:30 am to 12:00pm see below for details
- Buffet Lunch: begins appx 12:00pm. A cash bar will be available.
- Cost: $18.95 per person
- Reservations: Please reserve a place by sending the filled out sheet and a check made out to MESSAR to: Court Dwyer, MESSAR Treasurer, 84 Nash Ln., Jefferson, ME 04348
Presentation prior to lunch by MESSAR member and Past President and Past New England District SAR Regional VP General, Renny Stackpole.
The presentation topic is: The unlikely hero who restored the birthplace of John Paul Jones.
Lt. Alexander B. Pinkham, USN, collateral ancestor of Renny Stackpole, is credited with saving the cottage where Jones was born. How it came to pass is the subject of Mr. Stackpole's upcoming book.
Renny Stackpole is the retired director of the Penobscot Marine Museum in Searsport. He has served the SAR as MESSAR past president and former Vice President General for New England. He is past president of the General Henry Knox Museum and now an honorary trustee. In the early 1980's he directed the restoration of the historic schooner BOWDOIN, now Maine's official historic ship that continues to serve as a training vessel for the Maine Maritime Academy
The Maine Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (MESSAR) is the state affiliate for the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (NSSAR). It was organized in Portland in 1891. The preliminary meeting was held February 21; a proposed Constitution and By-Laws were presented for consideration February 28, and were adopted March 14. The election of officers followed March 28.
Any man shall be eligible for membership in the Maine Society Sons of the American Revolution who: Being of the age of eighteen years or over and a citizen of good repute in the community, is the lineal descendant of an ancestor who was at all times unfailing in loyalty to and rendered active service in, the cause of American independence, either as an: officer, soldier, seaman, marine, militiaman or Minuteman, in the armed forces of the Continental Congress, or of any one of the several Colonies or States; or as a Signer of the Declaration of Independence, or as a member of a Committee of Safety or Correspondence; or as a member of any Continental, Provincial, or Colonial Congress or Legislature; or as a recognized patriot who performed actual service by overt acts of resistance to the authority of Great Britain.
Maine's Role In The Revolutionary War
Maine In 1776- At the time of the American Revolution, Maine, not a State until 1820, was part of Massachusetts. Because of Maine's remoteness from the authorities in Boston and the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, the inhabitants received little military support despite the proximity of the British across the border in Canada and constant pressure from the Royal Navy along the coast. Apart from Benedict Arnold's ill-fated expedition to Quebec through the wilderness of western Maine, most military action took place up and down the vulnerable coast.
CALLING ALL WWII VETS
The SAR is asking all WW II Vets to complete a survey on the National Web Site so SAR can recognize and inform the national membership of their WW II service.
To complete the survey WW II vets are asked to complete the "SAR WW II Veterans" survey on the national site.
Clicking on the link below will then present the form to be filled out on-line and submitted to the National Society SAR. You may click the below link to go directly to the Survey.
http://www.sar.org/NSSAR-Forms/Webform/WW2_Survey
The Maine State Society SAR is planning on presenting certificates to those who have completed the on-line survey, and have been acknowledged by NSSAR, at the Maine State Annual Meeting in April 2012. If you are a WW II vet please complete the form on the National Site a.s.a.p. so certificates can be made up for the April Maine Society Meeting. And plan to attend meeting in April so your compatriots may recognize your service. Watch your mail or this site for more detailed information about the April Meeting.
The memorial above was placed at Valley Forge by the Maine Sons of the American Revolution in the early part of the 20th century.
Please look at some links regarding the Revolutionary War in Maine.
Also visit our Facts page for more information about the Revolutionary War in Maine
News
Highlights from April 21st Member Event and Annual Meeting:
The April 21st Annual Meeting and Member Event and Board of Managers meetings of the Maine Society of the Sons of the American Revolution were held at the Seasons Restaurant in Portland. The day's events were separated into 4 major sections: (1) the Board of Managers Meeting, (2) a ladies event, (3) the Member Event Presentation prior to Lunch by Dr. James S. Leamon, Professor Emeritus at Bates College whose main research interest focuses on Maine in the American Revolution and (4) a luncheon.
The Board of Managers met for over two hours attending to the business of the society. Officers of the Society and Committee Chairs gave reports. During the time Board members met, any ladies or drivers of attending MESSAR Board of Managers members were treated to a private tour of Portland's Victorian Mansion, a National Historical Landmark and "America's premier museum of pre-civil war opulence". The ladies program was provided free of charge.
The Board of Managers wants all members to know that the next Member Event is tentatively (subject to locating a suitable venue) scheduled for August 11th, 2012. This will be an opportunity, the Board hopes, for members who normally spend winters elsewhere to attend a Member Event held during the summer months. Watch this web site and the mail for further information.
After the Board of Managers meeting was adjourned the Managers joined other members for the Annual Meeting of the Society and then the Member Event. Of note for the Annual Meeting was the resolution brought by the Board of Managers to change the Constitution and By-Laws such that there are both an Assistant Secretary and an Assistant Treasurer to the Secretary and Treasurer positions and that the President does not take over the positions of Secretary or Treasurer should either position become vacant for any reason. The Assistant positions are anticipated to take over should there be a vacancy in either position.
Prior to the presentation new members were inducted into the society. Nominations for FY2012 Board of Managers were then presented by the Nominating Committee, represented by Paul Salisbury. Nominations from the floor were opened and closed when no nominations were forthcoming. Mr. Salisbury then called for a vote, and, after counting the absentee ballots, declared the Nominating Committee's slate was voted in for FY2012. FY 2010 and 2011 President Court Dwyer turned over the President's medallion and gavel to FY 2012 newly elected President Lance Weddell and wished him well.
President Weddell and Medals Committee chair Ron Newton then presented outgoing President Court Dwyer with the Past Presidents Medal and Certificate of Appreciation and the NSSAR Medal and Certificate for Meritorious Service to the SAR.
Board members joined other members and guests and were then treated to a presentation by Dr. James S. Leamon, Professor Emeritus at Bates College whose main research interest focuses on Maine in the American Revolution.
James S. Leamon received his PhD from Brown University. He is currently Professor Emeritus at Bates College. His main research interest focuses on Maine in the American Revolution. Relevant publications include "Revolution Downeast: The War for American Independence in Maine" (1993); Co-editor with Charles Clark and Karen Bowden, and contributor, "Maine in the Early Republic" (1988); contributor, "Creating Portland," ed., Joseph Conforti (2005); contributor, "In Debt to Shays: The Bicentennial of an Agrarian Revolution," ed., Robert A. Gross (1986). His current research is on Reverend Jacob Bailey, a Maine Loyalist. Relevant publications on this topic include "Jacob Bailey and the Ladies," Dublin Seminar for New England Folk Life, Annual Proceedings, 2006/2007, pp. 139-148; "The Parson, the Parson's Wife, and the Coming of the Revolution to Pownalborough (Dresden), Maine," The New England Quarterly, LXXXII, No. 3 (September 2009): pp. 514-525. In progress is a book length manuscript tentatively titled, "For God, King, Country, and for Self: Rev. Jacob Bailey, Maine Loyalist."
After the presentation Mr. Leamon joined the members and their guests and they all dined on a plated lunch of Crispy Lemon Chicken Breast with Lemon Buerre Blanc Sauce or Roast Stuffed Pork w/apple walnut stuffing and Madeira gravy. There was a cash bar available from the Senator Inn and a dessert of strawberry shortcake. The food was a hit as was the presentation.
Please plan on joining us at the next Member Event scheduled for the Augusta area on August 11th, 2012. This will be a rare, and depending on participation hopefully a repeated, summer Member Event to give those of our summer-only residents an opportunity to attend a MESSAR event. PLAN TO ATTEND AND SHOW YOUR SUPPORT FOR A SUMMER EVENT. And please think about getting involved in starting a local chapter!!!
Court Dwyer (now a) Past President