Welcome to the Civil War Roundtable of Gettysburg. "The most important Roundtable,
in the most important small town,
at the most important battlefield,
in the most important country in the world."
—Joe Mieczkowski, past president
      
|
May 23, 2019
PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
PORTRAIT OF A REGIMENT –
153RD PA REG. & The Battle of Gettysburg
Jeffrey Stocker
In his presentation, Mr. Stocker will give the background of the men and boys who served in the 153rd Pennsylvania, correct some misimpressions about the regiment and its make-up, and talk about the unit’s participation in the battle of Gettysburg, concentrating on several members of the regiment who suffered death or wounds during the fighting.
Jeffrey D. Stocker graduated from Muhlenberg College in 1980 with a B. A. in History, and is a 1983 graduate of the James Beasley School of Law at Temple University. Mr. Stocker is the editor of From Huntsville to Appomattox, Robert T. Coles History of the 4th Alabama Infantry Regiment, which was published by the University of Tennessee Press as part of its Voices of the Civil War series. Together with Edwin Root, he is also the author of “Isn’t This Glorious,” the 15th, 19th and 20th Massachusetts Infantry Regiments at Gettysburg’s Copse of Trees, winner of the 2006 Bachelder-Coddington award. His most recent book is We Fought Desperate, a history of the 153rd Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment, published in 2014. A past president of the Civil War Roundtable of Eastern Pennsylvania, Inc., Mr. Stocker resides in Center Valley, PA, with his wife Marliese Walter and several pets.
Our meetings are the Fourth Thursday of each month.
From September to May, we meet at the GAR Building, 53 East Middle Street. Light refreshments and conversation starting at 6:30 pm, the program starting at 7.
Whenever severe weather is predicted, program information can be found on the roundtable website and Facebook page after 3 PM or you can call Lynn at 717-398-2072.
You can now use your credit card or PayPal to securely pay for your Membership Dues. Please see the Membership page for the link.
 |
Join or Renew Your Membership |
 |
|
||
OFFICERS |
||
Bruce Davis ..............................................President Hilda Koontz............................................Vice President Eleanor Cingire Bilz...........................Recording Secretary Linda Seamon...............................Membership Secretary David Diner...................................................Treasurer Roger Heller .......................................Program Director Linda Joswick .............................................Webmaster Dave Joswick......................................Newsletter Editor Lynn Heller.................................Facebook Administrator |
402-686-6969
717.420.2183 717.359.7339 717.420.5730 717.398.2072 717.253.5477 717.877.3975 717.398.2072 |
|
BOARD MEMBERS |
||
Fred Hawthorne (5/20), Roger Heller (5/22), Joe Mieczkowski 5/22), Peter Miele (5/21) Dale Molina (5/20), Bill Myers (5/21) |
||
Next Board Meeting:Board Meetings are open to all members. Meetings begin at 6:00 pm at Perkins Restaurant in Gettysburg. If you would like to eat before the meeting, please arrive by 5:30 pm. Board meetings are the second Thursday of January, March, May, July, September, and November. |
||
|
||
COMMITTEES |
||
Plaque Committee: Book Award Committee: Field Trip Committee: If you are interested in more information, or joining, one the committees, please contact any Officer or Board Member. |
||
EVENT INFORMATION |
||
Thank you to all who signed up. |
||
Greetings to all...
My name is Bruce Davis and this is my first communication as the newly-elected President of the Gettysburg Civil War Roundtable. If you’re saying “Bruce Who?” I completely understand, as I only joined the group last fall. Sitting in the back row of the GAR Hall, I heard Lynn Heller asking for nominations of people to serve as president. I was too new to even know of anyone to nominate, though it did occur to me the job sounded like fun. I read a written notice to the same effect, then heard Lynn reiterating that the group still needed someone to step up as president. As the Civil War generation was not averse to speaking Biblically, neither shall I be: Like Isaiah, hearing the voice of the Lord, “Whom shall I send?”; I said, with no small amount of trepidation, “Here I am, Lynn, use me!”—quick to add that if a more veteran member—which would include most anyone else—stepped up, I would quickly withdraw my name from consideration. Well, here I am!
I like to think this is service to which I am well-suited. I recently retired after 44 years of United Methodist ministry, most of that spent leading large membership multi-staff congregations. My wife Nancy is herself an ordained Methodist pastor. We had been in Omaha, Nebraska, for thirteen years and had no intention of enduring another winter on the plains. With children and grandchildren spread out from the Mountain West to the Bordeaux wine region of France, we had our pick of places to retire—and chose Gettysburg. I first experienced Gettysburg in childhood, traipsing battlefields with my father, and had been a frequent visitor since. While Nancy’s interest in the Civil War is limited, she was very attracted to the town itself, the physical beauty of the region, and proximity to the great cities of the east. We count ourselves very blessed to be here.
I suspect one of the reasons no one was stepping up for the Roundtable presidency was full-knowledge that Lynn Heller would be a tough act to follow. Frankly, I told Lynn I thought the Roundtable would be best served if she continued in the job, but she explained that she was up against term limits which had already been extended. Happily, she’ll continue to serve on the board; as I understand it, most all the present board members will continue, which is incredibly welcome.
Lynn has kindly offered every encouragement, including coordination of the Christmas event. (Not being a party planner, myself, I am particularly glad of that.) I’ve told Lynn, I’ve told those Board members I’ve met, and I’ll tell you: Given my newness to the organization, I’ll be depending on a lot of input and suggestion. My preferred method of correspondence is e-mail, the address: brdgettysburg@gmail.com. I like putting names and faces together, and toward that end invite you to “Friend” me on Facebook. Please know that I will take stewardship of the Roundtable very seriously and that I look forward to serving with each of you.
- BRD |
SPEAKERS |
|
June 27
July 25
August 22
September 26
October 24
November 21
December 12
|
News Briefs
|
Like us on Facebook at Civil War Round Table of Gettysburg