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

Meeting date: April 25, 2024

SPEAKERS

Board Meeting Minutes

The Civil War Round Table of Gettysburg Board Meeting
March 21, 2024
Perkins Restaurant, York Road, Gettysburg

Present: Bruce Davis, Michele Hessler, Rip Engel, Roger Heller, Lynn Heller, Dave Diner, Linda Joswick, Jaimee Umstattd, Veronica Brestensky

Bruce called the meeting to order at 6pm.

Dave Diner reported that we have a net income of $71.76 for the year. He noted that the full year of rental fees for the meeting room at the Adams County Historical Society as well as a down payment of approximately half of the $1300 total required for the next group of Civil War Building plaques has been paid. He informed us that we are in a good financial position overall, with paid memberships continuing to roll in.
Rip Engle next addressed the upcoming elections. We were informed that one candidate withdrew his name, but, to date, we still have 3 candidates who have put their names forward for at-large board seats. At this juncture, Bruce mentioned that he has been in contact with one of the candidates in hopes of lining up a successor to Webmaster Linda Joswick. The positions up for election this term will be announced for one more month during the next general membership meeting as well as in an email. Anyone wishing to be considered for a position will have until the time of the election during the April meeting to put their name forward.
Further discussion turned to how the election will be conducted. It was agreed that paper ballots will be handed out to all dues paying members upon their arrival at April’s meeting. The ballot will contain the names of the known candidates as well as space for write-in votes, should anyone wish to be considered at the last moment. The paper ballots will be used for all contested positions, while a voice vote will be held for all unopposed positions. Paper ballots will be tabulated by the Nominating Committee and announced during the April meeting. The oﬃces of President, Treasurer, and Corresponding Secretary, as well as 2 at-large board seats are up for election.
Additional discussion was held about making one more announcement of the proposed by- laws amendment that would create the position of Events Coordinator. That announcement will be made via email and then a voice vote will be held during the March general membership meeting.
Jaimee Umstattd updated us on the progress of Newsletter #3, expected to be emailed to the members in April. Jaimee has lots of good stuﬀ in store for us, including a follow up on the “5 Good Minutes” segment, a member contribution by Richard Snyder, coverage of the grand opening of the newest museum in town, and much more!
Lynn Heller showed us the completed plaque that will be awarded to Wendy Allen, recipient of the Cal Doucette Award. The presentation of the plaque will occur during our May general membership meeting. Linda Joswick mentioned that an updated write-up regarding Cal and the award named after him will be included on our website in the near future.
Roger Heller put forward the idea of making a Preservation Fund award to the new Thaddeus Stevens museum. After some discussion, a decision was made to table the motion until after the grand opening of the museum in April so that we can evaluate the accessibility and need of the museum. Also, it was discussed that we wouldn’t have a chance to present any award until our fall meetings due to other special events and presentations during our upcoming meetings, so all agreed that there was no need to rush a decision at this time.
Roger further informed us that nearly every speaker through 2025 has been booked. As always: Great work, Roger! A flyer outlining our summer programs will be available soon.
Circling back to the upcoming elections, it was decided that Rip will read a brief candidate biography of each of the candidates before the votes are cast. He will also attempt to get candidate photos that can be included in an email blast and on the screen at the ACHS prior to the vote.
Bruce adjourned the meeting at 6:43pm.

Respectfully submitted: Veronica Brestensky Recording Secretary

The Civil War Round Table of Gettysburg Board Meeting
January 11, 2024
Perkins Restaurant, York Road, Gettysburg

Present: Bruce Davis, Rip Engel, Roger Heller, Lynn Heller, Dave Diner, Linda Seamon, Linda Joswick, Jaimee Umstattd, Abbie Hoﬀman, Ted Hirt, Veronica Brestensky

Bruce called the meeting to order at 6pm.

Bruce opened with a brief recap of the CWRTG activities in 2023. All agreed it was a wonderful year for the organization. Likewise, all agreed that the move to the Adams County Historical Society for our monthly indoor meetings has been a resounding success. And Bruce also pointed out that all of the speakers, programs, and the holiday banquet were big hits.
There was brief discussion about whether we should oﬃcially announce limits to the number of guests a member can bring to the annual holiday banquet. It has been generally accepted, but never oﬃcially adopted, that each member is limited to bringing one guest to the event, especially due to seating limitation concerns. All agreed that the policy should be a limit of one guest per dues paying member going forward.
Bruce called special attention to Jaimee Umstattd and her amazing Signal Station newsletter. In spearheading a rebirth of a periodic newsletter, Jaimee contributed and continues to contribute a huge beneﬁt to our membership. Thanks, Jaimee!
Dave Diner reported a “banner year” for the organization’s ﬁnancial situation. Paid memberships are signiﬁcantly higher than pervious years; the Reynolds Wood Pen Set sales added to a very comfortable ﬁnancial situation that will allow us to cover increasing fees for event rental space, insurance, online presence, and the like without having to increase dues. Dave also noted that Historic Plaque Chairwoman, Deb Novotny, has indicated that more plaques will need to be purchased and Dave explained how the plaques not only pay for themselves, but actually generate a small sum for the CWRTG.
Lynn Heller updated us on the recently held holiday banquet. She noted that she sent thank you notes to all 14 donors. Lynn speciﬁcally recognized Board Member Ted Hirt for his tireless work in securing the donations. Thanks, Ted! Moreover, Jaimee made sure that each donor was recognized in the latest newsletter. A collective “Thank You” from the board to all the donors was extended.
Discussion was held regarding the possibility of reinstating a paid raﬄe for prizes at the banquet. The most recent format for door prizes has been simply handing each attendee a ticket when they check-in at the door. Ted pointed out that he was speciﬁcally asked by a donor this year where the money that is generated from the donations goes. He suggested that we could actually sell raﬄe tickets and speciﬁcally earmark proﬁts for the Preservation Fund, thus, perhaps incentivizing additional donations. Lynn pointed out that doing so would add substantial additional work. A motion was made by Roger to keep the door prizes as-is. Dave seconded the motion. A majority voted in favor. Motion passed.
Lynn conﬁrmed that the menu for this year’s banquet will be the same as the last. She noted that there will be a slight increase in the cost per meal in 2024. In 2023 we were charged $22.75 per plate. In 2024, each plate will be $23.50. After taxes and gratuity, the total per plate will be $29.34. CWRTG pretty much breaks even in charging $30.00 per attendee. This year’s banquet will be held on December 5, 2024 (the 1st Thursday of December).
The Cal Doucette Award winner will be announced at the January membership meeting. Pursuant to the winner’s request, the oﬃcial presentation of the award will be made during our May membership meeting.
Bruce announced that Rip will serve as this year’s Nomination Committee Chairman. He selected Ted Hirt and Linda Seamon to serve as his committee members.
A new opening to our membership meetings was announced by Bruce. Having concluded the successful “Chronicles” series in 2023, Bruce plans to do a monthly “Member Spotlight” to open our meetings. January will feature veteran member Dale Molina.
Upcoming elections were discussed. Bruce has oﬀered to put his name in for consideration for President and, since Michele Hessler was unable to attend our meeting, he will check with her about her willingness to put her name forward for Vice President. In addition, 2 at-large board member positions will be open. An announcement will be made during our January and February membership meetings to inform the members of a possible change in our by-laws that would add “Events Coordinator” to our oﬃcial positions. Per the bylaws, after these announcements and a notice in writing (perhaps an email to members and/or an announcement in the Signal Station), there will be a vote on this measure during March’s membership meeting. Likewise, announcements calling for anyone who is interested in serving on the Board will be made during the January and February meetings. A slate of candidates will be published at March’s meeting and the elections will be held during April’s meeting.
Conversation circled around to the holiday banquet and a question was raised about perhaps accepting PayPal as a payment method for the 2024 banquet. Dave explained that there was a glitch with not receiving conﬁrmation from PayPal of paid registrations previously, so the 2023 banquet was cash or check only so that he could send a speciﬁc confirmation directly to the registrant. However, he said that we can attempt to accept PayPal for the 2024 registrations.
Linda Joswick announced that this will be the last year that she will serve as our Webmaster. She informed the Board that the domain name, web hosting, and PayPal accounts are all in her name and suggested that they be placed in Dave’s name for easy transition. Also, she oﬀered to help anyone who steps up to volunteer. An announcement will be made to see if any member would be willing to take over. The Board extended a sincere “Thank You” for all that Linda has done for our organization over the years. Thank you, Linda!

The meeting was adjourned at 6:58pm.

Respectfully submitted:
Veronica Brestensky
Recording Secretary

The Civil War Round Table of Gettysburg
Board Meeting
October 19, 2023
Perkins Restaurant, York Road, Gettysburg

Present: Bruce Davis, Michele Hessler, Rip Engel, Roger Heller, Lynn Heller, Dave Diner, Linda Seamon, Linda Joswick, Jaimee Umstattd, Abbie Hoﬀman, Veronica Brestensky

Bruce called the meeting to order at 6pm.

Dave Diner reported that we have a net income of $6,031 so far this year and noted that dues collections and pens set sales are the primary reasons.
Discussion turned to our upcoming Holiday Banquet. It was noted that last year’s banquet was too crowded. This year’s gathering will be limited to 90 people. Dave said there is a problem with PayPal and it will not be an option for payment. All attendees will be required to add an email address on their registration form so that Dave can email conﬁrmation of registrations as they come in. It was highlighted that the banquet ﬂyer will include a reminder that this year’s event will be held on a Wednesday. Doors will open at 6pm. The keynote speaker will be Dr. Jill Ogline Titus and her presentation will be: “A Grand Patriotic Spectacle: The Battle of Gettysburg at 100.” The cost is set at $30.00 per person. Lynn will announce the banquet information at the October general membership meeting (October 26).
The Preservation Gift will be presented to Jean Green at the October 26th meeting. She will be accepting the funds on behalf of the Lincoln Cemetery Project Association.
Michele, Jaimee, and Veronica attended the recent Civil War Congress Sustainability Conference from August 25-27. Jaimee and Michele put together a short presentation for our membership and will present many of the recommendations gleaned from the conference at our upcoming meeting. There was a ﬁrm consensus among Board members that our CWRT is doing very well in sustaining a healthy membership and event/speaker calendar. However, it is always a good idea to be thinking of ways to retain existing members and engage in outreach to potential members. This presentation will highlight some suggestions that members of other CWRTs successfully implemented in their organizations. We’d love to hear feedback about how these diﬀerent ideas could be incorporated to beneﬁt our group.
Lynn oﬀered to reach out to Main Street Gettysburg, Destination Gettysburg, and Facebook pages/groups Gettysburg Alive and Gettysburg Connections to gauge interest in publishing notices about our meetings and upcoming events. Bruce suggested that a 2 or 3 person Marketing Committee be considered.
There was a discussion about ﬁeld trip events. Roger noted that they were suspended due to Covid and further observed that they are a lot of work and often can end up costing the CWRT money if buses aren’t ﬁlled. The Board collectively agreed that there are a lot of options for tours available outside of our organization and decided that ﬁeld trips would not be revived at this time.
Circling back to the Holiday Banquet, Lynn moved that we hire Gettysburg Print to provided color copies of the registration ﬂyer. Michele seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously. Further, discussion arose about concerns over turning people away once we hit the 90 person threshold. It was commented that last year was simply too crowded. Members suggested looking into other options that would allow for more seating. Suggestions included the Eisenhower/Aspire, ACHS, The Pub, Savorhood, The Wyndham, the Rec Park Meeting Hall, local ﬁrehalls, church meeting halls, and Fireman’s Woods near Oakside Park. It was even mentioned that our organization had previously held very successful summer picnics. Pros and cons were brieﬂy touched upon for each suggestion. We will evaluate how this year’s event goes and re-evaluate next year’s options in the future.
Roger noted that only 6 Reynold’s Wood Pen Sets remain available for sale: 3 at the Seminary and 3 at Mr. G’s.

Bruce adjourned the meeting at 6:54pm.

Respectfully submitted:
Veronica Brestensky
Recording Secretary

*** (On a personal note, I wish to thank Lynn for taking notes at the beginning of the meeting as I was late due to work.)***

The Civil War Round Table of Gettysburg
Board Meeting
August 10, 2023
Perkins Restaurant, York Road, Gettysburg

Present: Bruce Davis, Michele Hessler, Roger Heller, Lynn Heller, Dave Diner, Ted Hirt, Jaimee Umstattd, Abbie Hoﬀman, Therese Orr, Veronica Brestensky

Bruce called the meeting to order at 6pm.

Prior to the meeting, we were informed that 2 Board members would not be present for tonight’s meeting due to medical/health issues. Collectively, the members present extend our colleagues well wishes for speedy recoveries and quick returns to good health.
Dave Diner presented an update regarding financials. He was happy to report that the number of people who have paid for memberships this year is up substantially from last year. (Our membership is growing! This is particularly impressive in a time when other CWRTs are dismantling and others still are struggling to maintain their membership numbers.) Moreover, upon inquiring with our bank about a special CD rate, he was informed that the rate was only available for “new money.” As a result, the money in our Reserve Fund was simply moved into our Operational Fund (checking account).
The Board discussed the issue of Civil War Building plaques. The committee for the plaques is headed by Chairwoman Deb Novotny. Prior to our meeting, Deb sent Lynn Heller an email with an update on her committee’s work. In summary, although there have been approximately 5 applications requested in the last several months to a year, none of the applications have been completed/returned. Abbie Hoﬀman indicated that the newly opened Adams County Historical Society has fielded a few inquiries about the plaques and those individuals were advised to contact the Round Table. The CWRTG has 5 plaques in its possession. The most recent activity involved the sale of a replacement plaque due to the theft of the original plaque. The Board discussed the plaque project and concluded that it is worthwhile to continue and a reminder was made about the plaques being available for historic buildings county-wide; not just limited to the Borough of Gettysburg. Finally, Dave informed the Board that the last purchase of plaques occurred in 2017 and that the business that makes them for us is still in business, should we need to order more.
Regarding funds in the Preservation Fund, Veronica Brestensky informed the Board about 2 potential non-profits: the Gettysburg Black History Museum and Gettysburg’s Lincoln Cemetery. She reported visiting each and gathering information about the missions and operations of each organization. The Gettysburg Black History Museum is located in Valentine Hall on Seminary Ridge. Staﬀed by volunteers and charging no admission, the museum’s vision is to “educate visitors of the trials, struggles, and contributions of Black families in American history” by preserving and exhibiting artifacts and oral histories. The museum periodically rotates its exhibits to highlight diﬀerent aspects of life experiences and contributions made by the African American community here in Gettysburg. Gettysburg’s Lincoln Cemetery is situated in the Borough of Gettysburg between South Washington Street and Long Lane, just north of the hospital grounds. When it was established, existing laws, customs, and practices required the segregation of Blacks even in death. Since its establishment in 1867, approximately 400 people have been interred there, including 30 United States Colored Troops (known as USCT) who served during the the Civil War and veterans of subsequent wars. Due to a lack of funding, the cemetery fell into disrepair over the years, but a newly organized Board is making great strides in improving the condition of the cemetery grounds as well as the headstones and rostrum located within its gates. Veronica moved that $1000 be awarded to Gettysburg’s Lincoln Cemetery and $250 be awarded to the Gettysburg Black History Museum. The motion was seconded by Roger Heller and passed unanimously. Bruce will reach out to Jean Green, President of the Lincoln Cemetery Project Association, and request that she attend an upcoming general membership meeting to accept the donation and make a brief presentation.
Michele Hessler addressed the Board about moving the summer outdoor tours start time from 6pm to 6:30pm beginning next year, citing the diﬃculty that some members are having in making the earlier start time particularly due to work. Roger noted that tour guides have been asked to limit their tour to 90 minutes, so pushing back the start time should not prevent us from being finished before dark. Everyone agreed that next year’s summer programming should begin at 6:30pm.
Michele also explained that she recently attended the Richmond CWRT and that their members had name tags which made socializing much easier. Bruce asked that Michele look into the feasibility of getting some sort of name tags for our members to wear during our events.
Linda Seamon sent a report prior to the meeting indicating that we have 227 individuals “on the books” with 200 of those being paid-in-full members in good standing.
Chairwoman Therese Orr addressed the Board to update us on Book Award Committee. The CWRTG has oﬃcially taken over the Bachelder-Coddington Book Award from the now defunct Robert E. Lee CWRT. As such, beginning with this year’s award winner, the name of our annual book award will be: The Bachelder-Coddington Distinguished Book Award of the Civil War Round Table of Gettysburg. Therese informed us that this year’s award winner has been chosen by the committee and the announcement of the winning book will be made in September, with the award being presented to the author during the November general membership meeting. In coming years, Therese indicated that she hopes to be able to announce the winner prior to the anniversary of the Battle (perhaps at the May general membership meeting) with the presentation of the award being made during our November meeting. She will meet with her committee and see if that timeline is feasible given how many books must be read and evaluated by each committee member.
Chairwoman Lynn Heller informed the Board that the most recent recipient of the Cal Doucette Award has been chosen by her committee. She went on to explain a bit more about the award named after long-time CWRTG member and selfless volunteer Cal Doucette. She explained that since the award was created after Cal’s untimely passing in 2012, 5 individuals have been selected for the award. This year’s recipient will be the 6th and will be announced during an upcoming general membership meeting.
Bruce called the Board’s attention to the fact that since the passing of Dave Joswick, the CRWTG hasn’t had a newsletter. He passed around a copy of the Richmond CWRT’s newsletter as an example of something that we can again undertake for our own CWRT. Jaimee Umstattd has volunteered to spearhead the eﬀort to revive our newsletter. Several ideas were bounced around regarding names, content, and frequency of publishing and all agreed that Jaimee should decide many of the details, as almost all of the responsibility will fall on her shoulders. All present oﬀered to help in any way we could. It is anticipated that the newsletter will be published via email to our members and linked on our website. Calls for member submissions are likely to be forthcoming.
Roger Heller updated us on the Reynolds Tree Pen Set project. Of the 198 sets, only 68 are left. Roger has 51 of them and the remaining 9 sets are on consignment at Mr. G’s. Michele,
Jaimee, and Veronica will attempt to sell sets during the upcoming sustainability conference being presented by the Civil War Congress.

Bruce adjourned the meeting at 7:05pm.

Respectfully submitted: Veronica Brestensky
Recording Secretary

The Civil War Round Table of Gettysburg
Board Meeting
May 11, 2023
Perkins Restaurant, York Road, Gettysburg

Present: Bruce Davis, Michele Hessler, Linda Joswick, Rip Engle, Roger Heller, Lynn Heller, Dave Diner, Linda Seamon, Ted Hirt, Jaimee Umstattd, Veronica Brestensky

Bruce called the meeting to order at 6pm.

The Board was unanimous in its assessment of the 1st general membership meeting held at the Adams County Historical Society and Event Center in April — it was wonderful!
A request by last month’s speaker, Jim Hessler, was made. He wishes to use the video of his presentation on his own social media platforms. Everyone concurred that the request be granted.
Bruce expressed pleasure about the ease of use of the electronics at the ACHS. Michele mentioned perhaps having more tables available for attendees for upcoming meetings, as many members utilized the ones set up around the perimeter of the room during last month’s meeting.
Bruce noted his appreciation for all the hard work of the Board in getting the organization through the Covid pandemic and making the transition to the ACHS successful.
Treasurer Report:
Dave Diner, provided the ﬁnancials and noted that rent will not appear in this year’s tabulations as rent was paid last year. Also a note was made of the increasing cost of insurance.
Programs:
Roger went over all the upcoming programs for 2024. He also noted that May’s special tour of McAllister’s Mill by Kendra Debany was held last Saturday and 21 people attended, including a relative of the McAllisters who became a new member, and Dean Schultz.
Roger noted that of the 198 total pen sets from the Reynolds Tree Pen Set project, only 69 remain available for sale. He personally has possession of 55 sets, and 14 are out on consignment as follows: 5 at the Seminary, 5 at Mr. G’s, and 4 at the Heritage Center.
Bruce spoke about the upcoming Civil War Roundtable Congress Sustainability Conference which will be held in Gettysburg from August 22-24, 2023. He opined that our organization send representatives and speciﬁcally suggested Michele and Veronica. After conﬁrming that the attendees could select from the conference only registration option at $100/ticket or the entire weekend package which includes a welcome event and dinner at $175/ticket, a motion was made by Roger to pay for 2 conference only tickets so that 2 Board members could attend and represent the CWRTG. The motion was seconded by Rip. The motion passed unanimously. Veronica indicated that she was willing to purchase her own ticket so that another Board member could also attend, using one of the tickets paid for by the CWRTG. Jaimee expressed interest in attending. Ultimately, the organization will be represented by 3 Board members during the conference: Michele, Jaimee, and Veronica.
Bruce inquired about interest in producing merchandise for sale to include hats and t-shirts or the like with the logo that appears on our banner. After brief discussion about where we could get orders ﬁlled, the Board seemed to be interested in this as an upcoming project. Additionally, Lynn oﬀered to go to the ACHS to view the speaker’s podium to see if there was some way to hang our banner during meetings.
A discussion of the preservation fund was held in an attempt to identify possible recipients of the upcoming donations. Ted suggested something in the Shenandoah Valley such as New Market Battleﬁeld. Roger noted that we had historically donated to more local organizations and that led to the suggestion of the Monterey Pass Battleﬁeld. Veronica noted that recent eﬀorts to clean up and rehabilitate the Lincoln Cemetery in Gettysburg had been documented on social media. Also, the Gettysburg Black History Museum unveiled its new home on the Lutheran Seminary campus recently. Discussion was held about trying to identify exactly where the money from a possible donation to either of these organizations would go and Veronica was tasked with following up and reporting back during the next Board meeting.
Lynn reported that there was a small mix up in scheduling with the Dobbin House that will result in our annual holiday banquet being held on a Wednesday this year.
Also, Lynn and Michele informed the Board that the Robert E. Lee CWRT in New Jersey is dissolving. John Zervas served as their book committee chairman and reached out to see if our organization would have any interest in using the “Bachelder-Coddington Literary Award” title for our annual book of the year award. The signiﬁcance is that the Bachelder-Coddington Literary Award is held in high regard among Civil War historians/enthusiasts and is a coveted prize by authors in the ﬁeld. Discussion was held about a general interest in possibly adopting the name. However, some eﬀorts to signify the speciﬁc connection with our CWRT was deemed appropriate, such as the “Bachelder-Coddington Literary Award of Gettysburg” or something similar. Since this seemed to be an informal inquiry by Mr. Zervas simply gauging interest, a ﬁrm decision on a possible name was deferred to a future meeting. Roger and Bruce noted the signiﬁcant number of CWRTs that have dissolved in recent years and Bruce again pointed out how fortunate our organization is to be alive and thriving!
New Board members, Jaimee and Ted, were welcomed during the meeting and each spent a little time sharing some of their backgrounds with the group.
An inquiry was made about reviving the book raﬄe and/or “show and tell” and both were rejected for various reasons. An inquiry was made about reviving the “Cal Doucette Award” in the spirit of a good citizen award and the Board enthusiastically showed interest in doing so.

Next Board meeting will be July 13, 2023 at Perkins (5:30pm to eat; 6pm meeting start).

Bruce adjourned the meeting at 7:05pm.

Respectfully submitted:
Veronica Brestensky
Recording Secretary

The Civil War Round Table of Gettysburg
Board Meeting
March 9, 2023
Perkins Restaurant, York Road, Gettysburg

Present: Bruce Davis, Rip Engle, Roger Heller, Lynn Heller, Dave Diner, Linda Seamon, Bill Myers, Jaimee Umstattd, Veronica Brestensky

Bruce called the meeting to order at 6pm.

The late Dave Joswick was remembered by President Bruce Davis. Bruce recalled that the last time the Board met at Perkins prior to Covid, Dave was still with us and sharing his gifts with the organization. Dave was renowned for his amazing newsletter and contributed to the CWRTG in countless ways. Dave is sorely missed and fondly remembered by his friends here on the Board. Bruce also took the opportunity to recognize Linda Joswick’s continuing contributions to the CWRTG and especially expressed gratitude for her latest eﬀort in creating an eye-catching and informative ﬂyer that will be used to promote our ﬁrst meeting at the Adams County Historical Society’s Event Center on April 27, 2023.
Those present went around the table introducing ourselves and welcoming Jamie Umstattd. Jaimee and Ted Hirt are being put forward by the Nomination Committee for consideration in the upcoming Board elections that will be held during the April meeting.
Treasurer, Dave Diner, provided the ﬁnancials and reported that he has served in this capacity for approximately 8 years. He noted that the organization is very stable ﬁnancially. He further explained that each of the past 8 years have seen a slight increase in the year-end balance.
Bruce then addressed the suggestion that the CWRTG show its sincere gratitude to the United Methodist Church for their generous hospitality in hosting our monthly meetings during our time of need post-Covid. A motion was made by Dave Diner to donate $500 to the Church. The motion was seconded by Lynn Heller. The motion passed unanimously.
Roger Heller then informed the Board that only 15 of the original 100 Reynolds Tree Pen Sets remain available for immediate sale. He further noted that there are approximately 75 blocks of wood that have not been engraved yet. In order to receive the lowest possible price for the engravings, a minimum of 50 sets must be ordered. As a result, discussion was held about the practicality of have the remaining 75 blocks engraved at the same time. A motion was made by Rip Engle that the entire amount of remaining blocks (estimated to be 75) be engraved in one order. The motion was seconded by Bill Myers. The motion passed unanimously.
Lynn Heller reviewed the list of program committees and updated assignments were noted.
Bruce shifted the attention to our upcoming April 27, 2023 general meeting. Excitement remains high about our move to the ACHS Event Center. Board members were encouraged to “dress up” for this historic meeting. Additionally, the promotional ﬂyer that Linda Joswick made is to be circulated far and wide. Linda Seamon graciously oﬀered to take copies of the ﬂyer around to local business for posting in their windows. Bruce encouraged all members to share the promotional literature on social media. Additionally, Linda Seamon, Lynn Heller, and Rip Engle volunteered to serve as greeters on April 27.
Bruce went on to note that slight tweaks were made to the previously announced speaker line up for 2023 to allow for Licensed Battleﬁeld Guide, author, podcaster, CWRTG member, and all-around local star James Hessler to be the inaugural speaker at our new home. Jim will present on George Armstrong Custer: From Gettysburg to Little Bighorn. Additionally, ACHS Executive Director Andrew Dalton will begin the meeting with a welcome and short presentation about the new facility. Board elections will be held during the April meeting. (Nominations from the ﬂoor will be accepted during the March and April general membership meetings.)
Lynn closed out the meeting by informing the Board that the Dobbin House will again be our host for the 2023 Holiday Banquet. Due to overwhelming demand for seats at the 2022 Holiday Banquet, it is expected that the 2023 Banquet will be capped at 100 tickets (ﬁrst come, ﬁrst served once they go on sale).

Meeting was adjourned at 7pm.

Respectfully submitted:
Veronica Brestensky
Recording Secretary

The Civil War Round Table of Gettysburg
Board Meeting
January 5, 2023

Present: Bruce Davis, Peter Miele, Roger Heller, Lynn Heller, Michele Hessler, Rip Engle, Dave Diner, Linda Seamon, Abbie Hoﬀman, Linda Joswick, Bill Myers, Veronica Brestensky

Meeting began at 7:00pm in the Seminary Ridge Museum Lydia Ziegler Room.

Bruce introduced Bill Myers and informed the Board that Bill has agreed to serve as Chairperson of the Nomination Committee for the upcoming election cycle. Lynn Heller and Linda Seamon will serve on the Committee, as well. (It should be noted that Rip Engel was also prepared to serve on the Committee, but the By Laws call for a Committee numbering three. Rip was thanked for his willingness to serve.)
Webmaster Linda Joswick provided the Board with an update about website-related fees that will be coming due soon. Security Certificate, Web Hosting, and Domain Name renewals will all be coming due in March, March, and September, respectively. Linda provided a spreadsheet detailing price comparisons for one, two, three, and five year renewals. Linda also informed the Board that she is willing to commit to continue serving as the Webmaster through the end of 2024 and will re-evaluate her situation at that point. Bruce led the Board in thanking Linda for her important service to the organization. Everyone agreed that we have one of the best websites for a Civil War Roundtable and the site is important as many members get updated information and member services via the website as opposed to Facebook.
-After some discussion on the necessity of having a website, Dave Diner moved that we renew the services for a three year term (which he indicated will easily be covered by our current finances). Michele seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously.
Linda Joswick also updated the Board on the reworked Certificate of Appreciation that will continue to be given to speakers. She oﬀered samples of 4 new layout options, all fantastic.
-After passing around all 4 samples, a motion was made by Lynn to accept the first option which depicts images of Rickett’s Battery and the CWRTG Banner at the bottom left and right corners, respectively. The motion was seconded by Pete. Motion passed unanimously.
Prior to the meeting copies of the By Laws were emailed to each of the members. Lynn pointed out that the version circulated appeared to be out-dated in that the section addressing Terms of Service for the Vice President had been previously updated to mirror the wording of the Terms of Service for the President, specifically, an initial term of 2 years (not 1 year).
Dave distributed final financials for 2022. The Round Table’s income was $12,839.93 and expenses were $11,156.77. Overall total was +$1,683.16. Dave noted that the profit can be attributed to the Reynolds Witness Tree Pen Set sales — a wonderful fundraiser, indeed!
Roger informed the Board that 37 finished pen sets are still available. At this point, sales of these sets will be pure profit for the organization. Roger oﬀered to spearhead an initiative that would allow select local businesses an opportunity to sell the sets, as long as the CWRTG received $50.00 for each (the amount they were oﬀered for by our organization directly).
-Bruce moved that Roger oversee the sales of the Pen Sets outside of the CWRTG as long as the price per set that the CWRTG receives is $50.00. Pete seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
Dave noted that the Board may want to consider using the Reynolds Pen Sets that go unsold as awards for organization-sponsored activities such as the Book Committee Award. This way the CWRTG would not need to actually incur an expense in obtaining some other award, trophy, etc. This suggestion was roundly accepted. It was also noted that more unfinished blocks exist and another round could be processed if needed.
Lynn made a suggestion that we begin thinking about where to spend our preservation funds for the upcoming year.
Abbie updated the Board on the progress of the new Adams County Historical Society Museum. She was happy to report that everything is on track for an April 2023 opening. She also oﬀered to allow Board members an option to do a site visit with her prior to our April board meeting.
Board openings were discussed next. The oﬃces of President, Vice President, and two At- Large (3 year term) Board seats are up for election in April 2023. Bruce indicated that Bill Myers, as Chairperson of the Nomination Committee, will begin making announcements at the January general meeting requesting nominees. At this point, it appears that four current Board members are willing to put their names up for the four seats, but any other members in good standing are welcome to “throw their hats in the ring.”
A brief discussion of the current By Laws was held and it was concluded that the plain language meaning of the “Oﬃcers/Elections Article” allows for the President to serve an initial two year term, and an additional yearly term, not to exceed a total of four yearly terms. In other words, Bruce can seek re-election as President for four single years (re-elected yearly) after his initial two year term. Bruce humbly oﬀered to seek re-election to the Oﬃce of President, citing the diﬃculties that the past several years of Covid restrictions presented and a desire to preside during a return to “normalcy” at our new home at the ACHS building.
Bruce asked that the Board consider several issues including bringing back “show and tell” and the book raﬄe at general meetings. The Board agreed that neither of these should be brought back for various reasons. Also, the suggestion was made that we renew meeting at Perkins Restaurant for our Board meetings (ceased during Covid). This idea received hearty endorsement and the group looks forward to the social aspect of breaking bread together before addressing business.
Roger wanted to acknowledge and thank Rip for spearheading the mailing of the Pen Sets. No complaints at all were received about damage or delay in receipt by purchasers. Kudos, Rip!

The next Board meeting will be March 9, 2023 at Perkins Restaurant at 6pm.

A motion to adjourn was made by Bruce and seconded by Pete with all in favor at 8:16pm.

Respectfully submitted:
Veronica Brestensky Recording Secretary

The Civil War Round Table of Gettysburg
Board Meeting
October 13, 2022

Present: Bruce Davis, Roger Heller, Lynn Heller, Michele Hessler, Rip Engle, Dave Diner, Linda Seamon, Leon Reed, Terese Orr, Veronica Brestensky

Meeting began at 7:08pm via Zoom.

Update on Reynolds Tree pen set sales by Roger and Dave. 38 sets so far have been paid for. 2 more sets are sold but remain unpaid. 1 set was damaged and will be sold for $30 to a friend of Linda Joswick. 1 set is being saved for a special purpose. Remaining 8 sets of the initial 50 will be brought to the next general membership meeting and oﬀered for sale.
20 blocks of the Reynolds Tree Wood were purchased by Eric Doerr at full price, although he doesn’t want engraving, nor pens. Roger noted that this $1000 transaction is pure proﬁt, as it cost the Round Table nothing.
50 more sets will be sent to the engraver and cost $1000 for engraving. These will also be sold for $50.
To date, the pen sets have cost the Round Table $1533.80 and have sold for $2970.00, netting a proﬁt of $1436.20. Dave pointed out that this successful fundraiser alone will mean no increase in dues will be necessary and payment of rent for monthly meetings for several months will be covered.
Rip noted that the USPS is charging $10.40 for box shipped, rather than the advertised $10.00 ﬂat-rate. Speculation about an increase in price was discussed, but ultimately it was agreed that the diﬀerence is negligible as not all sets will require shipping.
An issue with the numbers aﬃxed to the previously sold pen sets was brought to the Board’s attention. Roger conﬁrmed that the original pen sets could have been sold throughout the 1990s, however, there are no Round Table records that positively conﬁrm this. The ﬂyer we are currently using speciﬁcally says that “between 1987-1989 the Round Table sold 163 pen sets.” It makes no assertions that those were the only years the sets were oﬀered for sale, nor does it state that those were the only sets sold. To avoid any issues regarding numbering for these “new” sets being oﬀered now, the sets will be numbered using indelible ink (beginning with 001) to diﬀerentiate between the older sets that had their numbers engraved.

Lynn and Dave updated us about the Holiday Banquet. Lynn conﬁrmed that we are all set with the Dobbin House. Dave indicated that he has received payment for 30 reservations to date. He noted that the last year that we held the Holiday Banquet saw 87 paid reservations. Lynn and Dave anticipate several more reservations to be made before the deadline. Lynn said 3 members have donated items for the raﬄe so far. Roger added that speaker Kent Masterson Brown’s topic will be: Meade’s and Lee’s Armies during the Gettysburg Campaign: A Study in Contrasts.

Lynn said she contacted Deb Novotny (Plaque Committee) today and conﬁrmed that the Committee has been rather inactive, however, 2 applications have recently been requested and mailed out.

Terese updated us on the Distinguished Book Committee, conﬁrming that this year’s book award winner has been selected and will be announced at the Holiday Banquet. She also requested that members of the Book Committee each be allowed to keep one of the books that they read as a “thank you” for their hard work. A motion to this eﬀect was made by Michele and seconded by Leon. The motion passed unanimously. The remaining books will be oﬀered as raﬄe gifts during the Holiday Banquet.

Roger updated the Board on Gettysburg College’s silence regarding their willingness to host our monthly meetings.
At this point Roger moved that the Board execute a contract with the Adams County Historical Society to use their event space at $135 per meeting, beginning in April 2023 and establish the facility as the new home of The Civil War Round Table of Gettysburg provided that the contract contains a clause that prohibits the ACHS from hosting competing events at the same time as our monthly meetings. Rip seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
Bruce said that he and Dave will meet with Andrew Dalton, Executive Director of the ACHS, to execute said contract as soon as possible. An announcement to our members will be made at the October Membership Meeting.

Lynn suggested that a special eﬀort to welcome new members and visitors at our meetings be made by each of us. Bruce suggested that everyone be given a name tag sticker as they enter the meetings.

Bruce oﬀered to serve an additional one year term if the Board felt that the transition to the new facility would be unfair to drop in the new President’s lap. (Election slated for April 2023 meeting — our ﬁrst at the new facility at the ACHS.). He further noted that this would require an amendment to the by-laws as terms are strictly limited. Lynn noted that the Board is well positioned to help the new President make the transition smoothly. Discussion was had about needing members for the Nominating Committee. It is anticipated that Richard Mancini will again be willing to serve on the Nominating Committee. Bruce left the oﬀer open if needed.

Lynn reminded us to seek raﬄe donations from local merchants/businesses for the Holiday Banquet.

Meeting adjourned at 7:55pm.

Respectfully submitted:
Veronica Brestensky
Recording Secretary

The Civil War Round Table of Gettysburg
Board Meeting
September 8, 2022

Present: Bruce Davis, Roger Heller, Lynn Heller, Peter Miele, Michele Hessler, Abbie Hoﬀman, Rip Engle, Dave Diner, Veronica Brestensky

Meeting began an 7pm.

Roger presented an update on the Reynold Witness Tree pen sets and passed around a sample order form that Linda Joswick created. The pen sets will be oﬀered for $50 and can be shipped for an additional $10. Dave will collect forms/payment and Rip will ship.
Michele won’t be present for the October meeting, so someone will need to run the tech for the live stream.
Bruce noted that this is the first in-person board meeting since March 2020 (due to Covid).
This meeting was primarily called to discuss the possible contract with the Adams County Historical Society (ACHS) to use their group meeting room once their new facility is oﬃcially opened in April 2023 for our monthly membership meetings. Prior to the meeting, Bruce forwarded information to the Board members regarding a $150 per meeting fee that the ACHS would charge us for use of their facility. Bruce updated the Board that he had a subsequent discussion with Andrew Dalton, ACHS Executive Director, in which Andrew extended an additional discount of $15 per meeting, bringing the price per meeting down to $135. Per Andrew, the full charge for renting the room at ACHS will be $300, so the $135 price is a large discount and primarily covers the cost of the 2 ACHS staﬀ that will be on-site during the meetings.
Bruce noted that Board Member Abbie Hoﬀman is employed as the Program Director at the ACHS and she oﬀered to recuse herself from this meeting, however, he believed her added input could be beneficial and requested that she participate in the meeting today.
Pete indicated that he had spoken with the Seminary President and believes Valentine Hall on Seminary Ridge would be oﬀered as another possible option for meetings at $100 per meeting. (For the record, the Seminary Museum and the Seminary are separate entities.) A Seminary Museum staﬀ member would have to be present to man the building during the meeting. The location oﬀers Wi-Fi, projector and screen, and wireless microphones. Live- streaming is not built in, but there could be a work-around for that. One suggestion for the work-around would be hosting the meeting on Zoom and recording that for posting to Facebook. Michele indicated a Zoom account for this purpose would be $15/month and 2 Board members oﬀered use of their accounts if need be.
Roger added that he had been in communication with Dr. Peter Carmichael from Gettysburg College a couple years back and Dr. Carmichael had indicated that the College might be able to oﬀer space for our meetings for free. Recently, Roger reached out to Dr. Carmichael about this option and, although Dr. Carmichael is on a sabbatical this semester, he began to float the idea up to administration via email. As of tonight’s meeting, Roger had not heard anything definitive. Initial concerns about the College as a venue included parking proximity to the meeting location, cost, and available technology for live streaming.
At this point, Michele suggested that we oﬃcially take the GAR Hall oﬀ the list of options. Based upon issues with limited space, poor restroom facilities, and limited parking, all present agreed that the meetings would not be returning to the GAR.
Michele also wanted to extend specific appreciation to the Methodist Church for their hospitality and graciousness in hosting us recently. All Board members present echoed this sentiment. It was noted that the Church has not indicated an unwillingness to continue hosting us, however, there are drawbacks to the location such as no “show and tell” with weapons and no games of chance (to include the book raﬄe). Finally, Bruce noted that some members have expressed displeasure with the meetings being held at a non-historic location.
Dave provided a detailed financial report dating back 5 years. Based upon the numbers, Dave indicated that from a purely financial point-of-view, all rental facilities are able to be considered. Even the ACHS, as the highest priced option currently being considered, is not cost prohibitive based upon historical income/expense numbers.
Dave noted that insurance likely will not change regardless of where we meet. He also pointed out that membership has remained fairly steady over the last 3 years.
An issue of concern from the Board was the Thursday evening programming that the ACHS has been presenting during COVID and continuing to date. Frustrations and displeasure were expressed by many about the conflict the ACHS’s choice of Thursday evening presented to our organization’s long-standing Thursday meeting. Abbie assured us that, if we contracted with the ACHS for their event room, there wouldn’t be any other event held at the same time, simply because there isn’t a second event space in the new facility.
Abbie shed more light upon the ACHS’s facility: the event center is on the 2nd floor and accessible via stairs or elevator, seating for 150, restrooms nearby, plenty of parking, livestream capabilities with a single click, ability to hold show and tells and raﬄes on-site.

At this point in the meeting, each Board member shared a few thoughts/concerns:

Bruce read a few notes from Linda Seamon (who could not be present):
-noted favorable parking proximity at the Methodist Church.
-fear of an increased rental fee impacting our preservation eﬀorts
-does not want to see an increase in dues
-excited about possible renewed partnership between ACHS and the Round Table
Dave:
-Valentine Hall oﬀers historic location
-Valentine Hall is cheaper and oﬀers a central location with plenty of parking
-his preference at this time is Valentine Hall
Roger:
-“torn” because he volunteers at the ACHS and doesn’t think $135 is too much
-everything will be brand new at ACHS
-Valentine Hall is also a fine option
-College is also a possible option and he would like to hear back from Dr. Carmichael before making a final decision, but if pressed, he would lean to Valentine Hall at this moment.
Rip:
-would like to see membership increase and believes the new facility at ACHS is the way to facilitate this.
-wouldn’t be opposed to a minimal increase in dues, perhaps $5
-quality zoom presentations/live stream capabilities at new facility could draw new interest in our group
Abbie:
refrained from comment/“vote” due to her job with ACHS
Lynn:
-initially worried about cost at ACHS, but is eased by Dave’s financial report
-doesn’t see anything wrong with Methodist Church
-noted that cost of holiday ticket increased and does not want to see a membership fee increase
-Valentine Hall is ok, too, but has some concerns about parking and out-dated/ missing technology
-ACHS is her vote
Michele:
-has gone “back and forth” about ACHS.
-initially concerned about cost, but seeing financials has alleviated her concerns because she’s a numbers person
-appreciates oﬀer of Valentine Hall, but has concerns about technology
-expressed specific frustration about having to frequently explain to people who asked why we hold our meetings the same night as the ACHS holds its programming, that, in fact, our meetings were held on Thursday long before ACHS began holding theirs on Thursdays.
-all of this considered, she votes ACHS
Veronica:
-coming into meeting, cost was a huge concern for ACHS options, but financial report painted a full picture of income/expenses
-excited about the new facility’s oﬀerings
-possible co-marketing benefit from renting from ACHS: something like “Home of the Civil War Round Table of Gettysburg”
-votes ACHS
Pete:
-believes a vote is premature until we hear from college
-we don’t need to make a decision tonight
Bruce:
-noted that for the last 2.5 years all we’ve talked about is the new facility at ACHS
-initially distressed about per meeting cost, but relieved to learn not cost prohibitive
-believes it is in the best interest of CW community in Gettysburg to have a plan asap (would like to tell membership at the September meeting what our plan is going forward)
-believes it will be easier raising funds at ACHS
-reduction in amount of stress over technology issues is invaluable
-votes ACHS
Roger:
-at this point Roger expressed that his mind had been changed based upon all the input and he now would support ACHS option, but agreed with Pete that we don’t need to make a decision tonight.

At this point, discussion was held about how quickly ACHS would expect/need a commitment. Abbie oﬀered to inquire of Andrew Dalton a drop-dead date about when the contract would need to be signed if we are going with ACHS.
Pete and Roger suggested waiting until October meeting to vote so that we can get a final response from the College, unless ACHS needs a response immediately for some reason.
Roger will update us on any response from Dr. Carmichael/the College and would like to see a tentative Zoom meeting once he receives any response.
Bruce asked Abbie to relay to Andrew at the ACHS that we are strongly inclined to go with the ACHS, but by October 15th we will have a definitive answer as we need a little more time to fully vet all of our options.

Meeting ended at 8:34pm

Next Board Meeting: October 13.

Respectfully submitted: Veronica Brestensky

The Civil War Round Table of Gettysburg
Board Meeting via Zoom
08/04/22

In Attendance: Dave, Michele, Abbie, Rip, Roger, Linda S., Bruce, Lynn, Linda J.

Meeting begins 7:03 pm

Good turnouts for both summer walks to date. The final walk of the summer will be Thursday, August 25 (rain date August 29) with Therese Orr doing Benner’s Hill.
We are expecting to return to the Methodist Church in September.
We continue to be interested in utilizing the new Adams County Historical Society once it opens in February 2023. Per Abbie and Roger who have spoken with Andrew Dalton, they have not yet set rates for their rental space yet. We were previously paying $600 for eight meetings per year to the GAR building.

Committee Reports

Dave Diner gave a treasurer’s report. We have $17,677 in assets, for calendar year 2022 we have had $3,376 in income and $1,479 in expenses. For reference, in 2015 our assets were $10.874. We have $1,800 in the preservation fund.
The Holiday Banquet is on the calendar for Thursday, December 1. It will be in person at the Dobbin House and feature Kent Masterton Brown speaking about Meade. Masterton Brown will also be speaking at the Gettysburg Visitor Center that weekend. His visit to Gettysburg is the result of a joint venture between the GCWRT, the park, and the UNC Press. Lynn to contact the Dobbin House to confirm our reservations for the banquet room. Bruce to send an email asking for donations for the raffle table at the banquet.

New Business

Roger and Lynn recently visited the Children of Gettysburg 1863 museum located in the Rupp House with their grandson. They were very impressed with it. Roger is suggesting that we donate some money from the preservation fund to the museum. Roger made a motion to donate $500, Rip seconded it. Motion carried, nobody opposed.
While moving items at the Wolf House last year, Tim Smith of the ACHS came across some wooden blocks stamped with the Gettysburg Civil War Roundtable and let Roger know what he found. Further research determined that a witness tree at Reynolds Woods fell in 1967 and that the Round Table subsequently purchased wood from that tree. They made several numbered pen sets with the wood and sold them for $35 each. These wood blocks, of which there are approximately 200 left, are from that same witness tree. Roger has been speaking with Crown Trophy in Hanover to try and recreate the pen sets. Crown Trophy suggests that they can recreate the engraving on the front for $20 apiece and provide pens for $4 each. We could then sell them for $45 each to the membership. Michele and Dave suggested we sell for $50. Roger was instructed to ask Crown to engrave 50 of the wood blocks in hopes of having them ready to sell by Christmas. Linda J. will design a pre-order form to be passed out at the September meeting to guage interest.
Our Fall speakers will be Mary Turk-Meena in September on the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, Tom Vossler in October on Leadership on the Gettysburg Battlefield, and Brian Lusky in November on Mercenaries: Union Bounty Men.

Meeting adjourned at 7:57 pm.

Submitted by: Michele Hessler

The Civil War Round Table of Gettysburg
Board Meeting via Zoom
April 7, 2022

In attendance: Bruce Davis, Chair, Eleanor Bilz, Recording Secretary, Veronica Brestensky, David Diner, Treasurer, Rip Engle, Lynn Heller, Michele Hessler, Leon Reed, Linda Seamon, Membership
Linda Joswick, Webmaster

Chairman Bruce Davis opened the meeting at 7 p.m. He thanked Eleanor Bilz for her services as she steps down in May. Upon her election, Veronica Brestensky will take over as Recording Secretary. Bruce then made kind comments about each of the Board members as he introduced them. He asked Veronica and Rip for a brief bio and a Rip for a photo.

Committee Reports

Treasurer’s Report: David Diner reported a balance of $17,933.98 with income of $2,122.98 ($1900.00 from dues). Expenses included $50.00 for fees and supplies.
Bruce then asked for $50.00 to purchase a projector for streaming at the United Methodist Church. We have been having issues with the current equipment. A motion was made and accepted to allow the purchase.
Lynn Heller reported on behalf of Roger on pen sets that we will soon have available. When the Reynolds Tree fell, slabs were given to various organizations, including our Round Table. Excess wood was made into pen sets. Roger has been in touch with Crown Trophy to have the slabs stamped and will be used for fundraising.
Historical Society might be able to accommodate our meetings, perhaps next fall. However, we will continue to meet in the United Methodist Church until such time as another decision is made. We will donate $500 to the Church in May.
Membership: Linda Seamon will send out an updated membership list next week. Bruce commented on how we have flourished during the pandemic thanks to the “organizational nimbleness” of our Board.
Speakers: April 28th is Mike McDonnell on Canadians in the Civil War; May 14th Larry Korczyk will give a tour of Day’s Hill (Saturday morning, outdoors, 9:30-noon.) Outdoor meetings during the summer are for members only and will not be streamed. It was suggested that a notice be added to our website so that we don’t lose our viewership in September.
Before the pandemic, we were meeting in Perkins for dinner and a meeting but now everyone seems to like meeting via Zoom. Meetings will be every other month unless additional meetings become necessary.
Holiday Banquet: Lynn said we have reservations at the Dobbin House for December 1st.

All business being complete, Bruce closed the meeting at 7:50 p.m. Our next Board meeting will be on June 2th at 7 p.m.

Respectfully submitted by Eleanor Bilz, Recording Secretary.

The Civil War Roundtable of Gettysburg
Board Meeting (via Zoom)
January 6, 2022

On call:
Bruce Davis, Chair, Eleanor Bilz, Recording Secretary, David Diner, Treasurer, Fred Hawthorne, Lynn Heller, Roger Heller, Program Director, Richard Mancini, Nominations Committee, Peter Miele, Leon Reed, Linda Seamon, Membership

Chairman Bruce Davis called the meeting to order at 7 p.m.
Roger reported that speakers are lined up for 2022 and we will continue to have our in-person meetings at the United Methodist Church. However, going forward, we wish to have future meetings at the Adams County Historical Society building when it is completed, assuming it will be wired for Wi-Fi. Roger will let the Society know of our interest and said we will have a better idea of things in the spring. We will give the United Methodist Church an honorarium of $500 in May. We will continue to use their hall as they have an air filtration system and room for social distancing. Masks will be required. We will also ask that non-vaccinated member use our live steaming option. We will not be going back to the GAR Hall as it is too small for social distancing.
Linda Seamon reported that there are 35 renewed members, 56 lifetime members and 77 2021 members who have not yet renewed.
Richard Mancini will chair the nominating committee. We need a recording secretary and three people for a three-year term on the Board. Richard can be reached via email at willoughbyrun@icloud.com or 717-321-3822. Lynn and Linda volunteered to be on the committee with Richard.
Bruce wishes to elevate the position of Program Director to the same level as secretary and treasurer. (These are lifetime positions and not subject to re-election.) Lynn said it will become a By-Law issue and must be presented to the membership for a vote.
We have income of $4119.05 and total assets of $15,780.56. David said the books are now closed and available for audit review. This will be done by Linda, Lynn and Hilda. David said there is some confusion on the membership flyer and asked for it to be modified. He also said there is an outstanding check not cashed by one of our past speakers and Lynn will follow up.
Peter will be unavailable to run the live streaming for the next few months and Leon, Michele and Larry will take care of it.
The Plaque Committee has two applications which have been elevated to level 2, which means that they are scheduled for an on-site visit to evaluate the building.

All business being complete, the meeting ended at 7:50 p.m. The next meeting will be March 3 at 7 p.m.

Respectfully submitted by Eleanor Bilz

The Civil War Round Table of Gettysburg
Board Meeting (via Zoom)
October 7, 2021

On Call:
Eleanor Bilz, Bruce Davis, David Diner, Lynn Heller, Roger Heller, Michele Hessler, Linda Joswick, Peter Miele, Leon Reed, Linda Seamon

Chairman Bruce Davis opened the meeting at 6 p.m. He announced that he and Lynn made the decision to cancel this year’s holiday banquet due to the uncertainty of COVID. Roger is in contact with our December speaker who will give his presentation via Zoom or live streaming.
Our first indoor meeting was held at the Gettysburg Methodist Church and Bruce felt that it went well. The church had plenty of room for social distancing, clean facilities, free parking, and excellent video equipment for streaming the talks. Long term, it is a good consideration as a new home for our meetings. Bruce suggested a $500.00 yearly donation would be appreciated by the church. However, David pointed out that we will have to amend our insurance policy to reflect the new location. Also, Roger pointed out that the new ACHS building will have an auditorium, video equipment and parking and so is also an option for holding our meetings.
Roger noted that our September speaker was happy to speak face-to-face with real people. Our next speaker, Brad Gottfied, is also glad to be able to speak in person.
Roger asked if our purchase of technical equipment has been tabled. The short answer is that we do not know what equipment we will need going forward. At present, equipment for inside speaking is covered by the church’s equipment. Our problem was our outdoor programs and as has been pointed out, those programs were meant as a perk for members only. We do not have to live stream these summer programs. Since equipment will cost in the neighborhood of $1,000.00, we will hold off for now

New Business

Presently, we have $2400.05 in our Preservation Fund. Andrew Dalton, Executive Director, of the Adams County Historical Society, is requesting all civil war round tables nationwide to make a donation to its building fund and that it is fitting that we should be the first civil war round table in the country to make this donation. Roger made the motion that we donate $500 to the building fund for the ACHS. After some discussion that the ACHS is, in fact, a preservation facility for historical relics and papers, the motion was passed with one abstention.
Bruce asked if we wished to resume meeting at Perkins or continue meeting via Zoom and it was agreed that Zoom is more convenient, but that the meetings start at 7 p.m.

All business being completed, the meeting ended at 6:45 p.m. Our next meeting will be January 6, 2022 via Zoom at 7 p.m.

The Civil War Roundtable of Gettysburg
Board Meeting (via Zoom)
July 8, 2021

On call:
Bruce Davis (Chairman) Eleanor Bilz, Fred Hawthorne, Roger Heller, Lynn Heller, Abbie Hoffman, Peter Miele, Linda Joswick (Webmaster)
Excused: David Diner, Michele Hessler, Therese Orr, Leon Reed, Linda Seamon

Chairman Bruce Davis opened the meeting at 6 p.m. He commented that the summer programs are going well. We had 35 people at our first outdoor speaker program and many streaming on line. Bruce and Peter will not be here for the July program but Roger will oversee it. Peter commented that we need to be more mindful of camera placement to pick up the voice and face of the outdoor speakers. The September meeting will be at the GAR and he and Roger will make sure everything is in place for streaming.
Bruce is no longer concerned about overcrowding at the GAR Hall in September, as some people will continue to stream from home. A question was asked if we are paying for the use of the Hall. We paid $600.00 in 2020 and only used the hall twice. Since we only need to use it three times in 2021, we are assuming there will be no additional charge. In Oct/Nov, we will go back to raffling 3-4 books.
Show and Tell was brought up. The way it is run now, a presenter has five minutes to present and usually goes over. Eleanor suggested that Show and Tell be set up at 6:30 and anyone can stop by to look at that time. This was voted on and accepted. Another suggestion was that in 2023, we designate one meeting to three specific Show and Tell items at 15 minutes each.
Lynn was asked about the Holiday Party. She has no commitment as of yet from the Dobbin House. When it is finalized, it will go into the bulletin on the website. At that time, we will also solicit door prizes.
Our next speaker is Therese Orr on Frances Irsch and the 45th New York. She will speak on July 22 or rain date July 29. Our August 26 (31) speaker is Stuart Dempsey on the 11th Corp. Parking directions will be on the website.
Fred mentioned that the new Park Superintendent is very by the book and regulations that were previously ignored are being implemented including parking, permits and insurance policies.
Peter noted that viewership via streaming has increased by 25% since last March.

Next Board meeting is September 2nd, 6 p.m.

The Civil War Round Table of Gettysburg
Board Meeting Minutes via Zoom
May 6, 2021

Members: Eleanor Bilz, Bruce Davis, David Diner, Lynn Heller, Roger Heller, Michele Hessler, Abbie Hoffman, Peter Miele, Leon Reed

The meeting was called to order by President Bruce Davis at 6 p.m. with Board members introducing themselves to our newest member, Leon Reed. Leon is a former teacher, historian and publisher. He has lived here in Gettysburg for the past six years.

Treasurer’s Report: David Diner reported $1,607. in income and $558. in expenses. He noted that we are continuing to received membership dues from new members who are watching our meetings on line.
Bruce noted that this month will be our last Round Table Zoom meeting. Thanks to Roger for having choice speaker this year and thanks to Peter that we will be able to continue streaming when we are outdoors this summer. Bruce will ask participants to continue to wear masks and social distance on our outdoor walks.
We hope to be back to the GAR Hall in September. Other venues were then discussed as the GAR Hall is small and social distancing will not be possible. Peter suggested the Seminary Chapel as having more space and built in A/V equipment. There will be a charge for using this space. Destination Gettysburg has a conference room and they do not charge. The Seminary auditorium seats 110 and also has a built in A/V system. Bruce and Peter will meet and look over the auditorium. The cost is comparable to the GAR Hall and includes free parking. Dave asked about insurance coverage through the Seminary. That might be an additional savings for us. Roger mentioned that the new ACHS building will have an auditorium and free parking.
Speakers Program: Roger has 2023 2/3 filled with some nice surprises in store for us.
Bruce expressed his astonishment that we were able to keep our programs going via Zoom as well as we have and that we have reached people all over the country. He noted that even when he recently visited other Civil War battlefields, they ask about Gettysburg.
Michele suggested that our next Board meeting be held on July 8th as there are many activities here in early July.

All business being complete, meeting ended at 6:50 p.m. Next meeting will be on July 8th.

The Civil War Round Table of Gettysburg
Board Meeting Minutes
March 4, 2021 (via Zoom)

On call:
Members: Eleanor Bilz, Bruce Davis, David Diner, Roger Heller, Abbie Hoffman, Michele Hessler, Hilda Koontz, Peter Miele, Linda Seamon
Linda Joswick, Web Master

The meeting was called to order by President Bruce Davis at 6 p.m.

Treasurer’s Report: David Diner reported balance of $15,888. Net income $1040. Expenses $358 and income $682 which included refund of canceled field trip expenses.
We received an application for a plaque request. Our Plaque Committee will research the property which must have a certain percentage of original structure to be considered a Civil War property.
Roger Heller canceled the field trip as it was not a good idea to have 27 people on an enclosed bus right now. We received refunds. Instead, on June 5th Dean Shultz will take members to Lost Avenue on Wolf Hill.
The Summer Program will not be at the GAR so Pete Miele will use his phone to broadcast the outdoor presentation.
GAR asked for rental fee of $600. We only met two times last year and will only come back in September so we will have further discussions.
Hilda and Pete both mentioned museums that are doing very well with increased membership in the virtual society. To that, Bruce talked about purchasing the necessary equipment to bring to the GAR Hall in order to continue our live streaming for out-of-state members. The start-up cost will be approximately $200.00 and $15.00 per month for a ZOOM subscription. Pete will need a back-up and we have a potential new Board member who is very technically inclined. Membership dues will help defray the cost of this equipment.
Thanks to Michele for her help in setting up these on-line Board meetings.
Linda J. said the security certificate for our website has been updated. She also asked that she be informed of any upcoming events to be listed on our website.
Bruce is hoping Lynn Heller will be able to set up a 2021 Holiday Party.

Our next meeting will be May 7th

The Civil War Round Table of Gettysburg
Board Meeting Minutes
January 7, 2021 (Via Zoom)

Members: Eleanor Bilz, Bruce Davis, David Diner, Fred Hawthorne, Lynn Heller, Roger Heller, Michele Hessler, Peter Miele, Linda Seamon
Linda Joswick, Web Master

The meeting was called to order by President Bruce Davis at 6 p.m.

Committee Reports

Treasurer: David Diner reported that money is coming in for membership and donations. David sent out financial reports prior to the meeting showing income of $4,418.71; expenses of $3,954.83, overall total $463.88. Total assets $15,206.21.
Membership: Linda Seamon reported that we are having a good showing of membership.

New Business

Bruce asked if we could set up a goal of meeting in person by September 2021 and perhaps in-person gatherings during the summer on the battlefield. A question was raised if we have outgrown the GAR Hall, although most speakers and members prefer to meet there. We paid $600.00 for the hall last year but did not use it. A question was raised if we would have to pay again this year. We will address that question when and if the time comes. If we are all vaccinated on schedule April/May, we should be okay for September. We will send the hall a letter of intent when we know for sure what our plans are.
Wayne Motts, who spoke in December, wanted a donation to the Civil War Museum, in lieu of a personal honorarium. He thought he was going to receive $250.00. The usual rate is $100.00. We are also committed to a $500.00 donation to the Flag Lab in Harrisburg, if the field trip takes place in the Spring. Since we have enough money in our Preservation Fund to cover this, David made a motion to give Wayne the $250.00. Roger seconded and it was approved.

Election

Bruce said that we have two options for the election. One is to stick with the By-Laws and try to do it via electronic communication in the Spring; the second is to wait until September/October for an in-person election. Richard Mancini agreed to serve as Nominations chairperson. After much discussion on who is running and how to do the election, it was agreed that we will use the website/Facebook/email to get the information out to the membership. Michele offered to set up the actual voting process and monitor the process, and voting can also be done via our Post Office Box. Linda Seamon and Michele will be on the Nomination Committee with Richard.
Hilda suggested that since the Vice President has no formal duties, that the job of program director become part of the job. Roger pointed out that it used to be that way and no one wanted to be Vice President because they weren’t confident in doing that job. Roger said the program director has to want to do that job in order to get good speakers. He wishes to keep on doing this job and not have it become an elected position. It should be an ex officio position. The Program Director and Book Committee Chair should be members of the Board as long as they wish to hold that position. It was suggested that the Vice President could coordinate the yearly field trip. Hilda will be asked if she has any ideas as to what else the Vice President could do besides covering for the President.

Program Director

Roger said that our Canadian speaker, Mike McDonnell, does not wish for his first US speech to be over Zoom. He’d rather come to speak in person when it is safe to travel again. Therefore, our April speaker will be Carolyn Ivanoff on the topic of Clara Barton and the Lost Soldiers Project.

A suggestion was made to recognize Larry Plymire for his past work as Chair of the Book Award Committee. After some discussion, it was suggested that we give him the wooden cannon award that we give to the winning author each year. Will ask Theresa Orr for some ideas.

Bruce talked about the possibility of continuing The Angle newsletter column. However, it was the graphics which made the column so special and with the passing of Dave Joswick, it will not be the same. We have many means of getting the Roundtable information out to our membership via email, Facebook, and our website page.

Lynn will update the list of standing committees and send out.

All business being completed, meeting ended at 7 p.m. The next meeting will be March 4th at 6 p.m. via Zoom.

Respectfully submitted by Eleanor Bilz

The Civil War Round Table of Gettysburg
Board Meeting (via Zoom)
November 5, 2020

Participants: Eleanor Bilz, Bruce Davis, David Diner, Lynn Heller, Roger Heller, Michele Hessler, Abbie Hoffman, Linda Joswick, Peter Miele, Linda Seamon

Bruce opened the meeting offering remembrance to Dave Joswick and condolences to Linda. Dave left a large gap in our organization on many levels. As Bruce looked through the archives of our Round Table, he noted that Dave edited the newsletter for 18 of the 20 years of its existence.
Bruce, with Hank Seamon’s help, sent out test emails in anticipation of sending out the newsletter via email. Bruce is asking for someone to step up to take over communications. However, Bruce will take up the task of the Newsletter with Hank’s help. To this end, we need a good email system in order to send inserts and photos. We are looking to send the newsletter via email only. No more USPS mailing. To do this, our new membership forms will have a place for family members to insert all emails. FYI: Dave Diner said the cost of postage this year is $66.00 and printing and copying expenses were $141.00.
On November 21st at 9 a.m. there will be a dedication at Evergreen Cemetery for Allen Frazer, a 13 year- old boy who was killed during the Civil War. Michele will pick up a wreath.
Larry Plymire is stepping down from the Book Award Committee. Bruce is in the process of finding a new chairman.
Bruce is also looking for a Zoom-friendly chair for the nominations committee.
It was decided that a mailing would go out to the membership asking for renewal of membership. The letter will include a membership form with space for family emails, financial highlights, a speakers list for 2021 and a letter from Bruce.
Bruce is looking forward to meeting in person again. However, we are now committed to also streaming our meetings to those new members from other states. Peter is not sure if the GAR Hall has WIFI but it is agreed that the membership has out-grown the space in the Hall, especially with social distancing. We are looking at space at the College and perhaps the auditorium at the Seminary. Pete will look into that option.
Dave brought up the matter that we prepaid the rent for 2020 and have not used the hall since February. If we go back in 2021, we will not pay for that year’s rent. He gave the Treasurer’s report:
Balance: $13,648; Income: $2700; Expenses: $3794. Minus the Preservation Fund monies, we have $11,000 in our account.
Roger gave an update on our speakers. November 12th will feature Gene Barr discussing letters from a Union Officer and his lady. December 2nd is Wayne Motts with a program which has never been discussed before. Our own Peter Miele will be speaking in January on Dr. W. W. Keen and the Union Army. There will probably be some changes in 2021 due to travel restrictions due to COVID-19.
Peter and Hilda Koontz will be streaming a program this Saturday on Mental Health in the Civil War. Peter said Hilda suggested that at future meetings, Peter shuts down the video of the Zoom participants while the speaker is presenting.

All business being complete, Bruce ended the meeting at 6:50 p.m. There will be no Board meeting in December and the next meeting is scheduled for January 7, 2021.

Happy Thanksgiving

Respectfully submitted by Eleanor Bilz

The Civil War Round Table of Gettysburg
Board Meeting (via Zoom)
October 1, 2020

Participants:
Bruce Davis, Chairman
Eleanor Bilz, Recording Secretary
David Diner, Treasurer
Michele Hessler
Abbie Hoffman
Hilda Koontz, Vice President
Peter Miele
Linda Seamon, Membership Secretary

Chairman Bruce Davis opened the meeting at 6 p.m. He said Roger is doing well with field trip.

David Diner gave the Treasurer’s Report:

Balance: $13,620.00
Income: $1822.00
Expenses: $2944.00
Loss: $1122.00
Donations: approximately $300. A suggestion was made to put a PayPal link on our webpage for donations to our Round Table.
Membership dues: $1388.00
David brought up the need for insurance for Board’s Director and Officers. Cost $750.00 This would protect individual members for some kind of action, not negligence, against claims and defense up to $1 million. Our liability insurance increased by $200.00 and with limited income, this new insurance would be a strain on our budget. Eleanor made a motion to buy this insurance, Hilda seconded and all approved. An anonymous donor offered to pay for the first year’s insurance.
The Holiday Banquet will not take place. However, Wayne Motts still wishes to broadcast his talk on December 3rd. We assume future in-person meetings will be on hold until the end of the year and all presentations will be via Zoom and Facebook.
We are getting members from out-of-towners who are watching our meetings via Facebook. In order to accommodate them when we return to in-person meetings, all speakers will be live-streamed as they make their presentation.
November 21, at 9 a.m., we will dedicate the headstone for Alan Fraser, a Civil War casualty at Gettysburg, at Evergreen Cemetery, with masks and social distancing.
Linda Seamon recommended reading Lincoln on the Verge: Thirteen Days to Washington, by Ted Widmer.

Next meeting will be November 5th, 6 p.m. via Zoom.

The Round Table of Gettysburg
Board Meeting via Zoom
September 3, 2020

Attendees via Zoom: Bruce Davis, Chairman, Eleanor Bilz, Lynn Heller, Roger Heller, Michele Hessler, Abbie Hoffman, Linda Joswick, Hilda Koontz, Peter Miele

Chairman Bruce Davis opened the meeting at 6 p.m.

The following Treasurer’s Report was sent via email as David Diner was unable to participate in this meeting.
1. I submitted the insurance application for Officers and Directors coverage to Hockley and O'Donnell. They will notify me when they have a price quote and we can decide what we want to do.
2. I'll check the PO Box for any mail in votes.
3. Our financial position is:
  Assets: $13,643.45
  Income: $ 1,745.45
  Expenses: $ 2,844.33
  Net Loss: $ 1,098.88
  We will make up the loss once we begin collecting dues for 2021.
Bruce reiterated that the September and October meetings will be on line. He asked about resuming our Show and Tell. Roger said it is better when it’s done in person and Lynn said there can be a problem when presenters go over the five-minute allowed time.
Bruce reminded us that we have not yet dedicated the gravestone for Alan Fraser at Evergreen Cemetery. He would like to do this on November 19th or 20th and asked if we would be willing to participate. Most agreed to come to this. Folks are still leery about social distancing while the coronavirus is still infecting people.
Lynn was asked about the Holiday Party but has no comment or commitment yet.
Election: Peter is monitoring the on-line voting and has 24 yeses so far.
Roger said the newsletter has just gone out. There might be mailed in voting and since the newsletter has the voting link, there will probably be more votes coming in.
Programs: Roger said the field trip is scheduled for Saturday, June 5th, 2021. The Civil War Around Harrisburg, Pa. The speaker will discuss the fortifications around the city, two small battles and a visit to the flag lab. Roger said the flags are ragged and the staffs broken but it is an “eye-opening” experience. Roger also reminded everyone that our scheduled June speaker, Joe Mieczkowski, has asked to be removed from the Speaker’s Program and will be replaced by Larry Korczak, who will speak on Chapman Biddles Brigade. The April speaker is from Canada and we hope he will be able to join us in person.
Hilda made an observation that she read in an article that 1,000 soldiers died every 48 hours for four long years during the Civil War and we have been losing people to the coronavirus at the rate of 1,000 every 24 hours.
Peter wanted us to know that the speaker for September 24th does not Zoom but will speak from his friend’s home.
Abbie said the Visitor’s Center An Evening with the Painting program is still on.
Linda J said she was having issues with the voting link but has sent out a new version of the link. If there are any questions, Linda J. will email the link to members. This information has been posted on the website.
It has come to Bruce’s attention that when families sign up for membership, only one email was requested and therefore, the spouse was not getting the newsletter via email. Linda Seamon will have to get both addresses and add them to the mailing list.

All business being complete, Bruce asked for a motion to end the meeting. Motion made, seconded and passed. The meeting ended at 6:25. Next meeting is October 1st.

Respectfully submitted by Eleanor Bilz

The Civil War Round Table of Gettysburg
Executive Board Meeting (Via Zoom)
August 6, 2020

In attendance: Eleanor Bilz, Bruce Davis, David Diner, Lynn Heller, Roger Heller, Michele Hessler, Linda Joswick, Hilda Koontz, Peter Miele, Linda Seamon

Chair Bruce opened the meeting at 7 p.m. with condolences to Michele on the loss of her brother-in-law.
Bruce asked everyone to introduce themselves on-line which led to a brief discussion on trains.
Treasurer’s Report: David reported a total balance of $14,338.26, expenses to date $404.07. We are on target and in good financial shape.
Insurance Liability: David spoke with an agent and we will have a new policy in September which will not exclude COVID issues, as long as we follow government guidelines. The policy excludes claims for damage of property. We trimmed down the coverage on our policy in 2014 due to the poor financial condition we were in. Most coverage of this type is for violation of labor laws, but since we are not employees and do not have employees, we are only concerned with being sued personally by a member of the Round Table for acts of negligence or potential acts of negligence or if we exceed authority of the By-Laws or incorrectly elect a Board of Directors or collect monies for preservation and someone does not agree. If this happens, the insurance company would have to defend us in court. David will fill out the application and find out the cost.
Election Issues: After much discussion, it was decided that Peter would set up a Google forum and email to our membership to vote for the Board slate, with a small mailing for those members who do not use email. Elections should have been in April.
Bruce wishes to establish contact with our membership via phone calls. He asked for help and Hilda, Lynn and Ellie volunteered to help make the calls.
We need to get the word out that membership dues are expected. Even though we are not holding live meetings, we are broadcasting our speaker program and we pay our speakers. That is the largest expense. It was suggested that we ask the speakers to waive their fee, but after a discussion, it was decided that we pay little enough to them and we should not withhold it.
Roger has the speaker list for 2021 and will distribute it to the Board. It will go to Linda J for publication on our website when the list is finalized. A brief discussion followed on whether to have the speaker appear in the GAR Hall or Gettysburg Presbyterian Church with the minimum 25 persons in attendance, but it was decided to continue to have the speakers broadcast from their home.
Holiday Banquet: Lynn spoke with the Dobbin House but since we have 80-90 people in attendance and the current maximum for indoor events is 25 people, we have no firm answer on whether or not we will have the party. It was suggested that Lynn contact the Dobbin House and ask them to make up “to-go” packages and add a few dollars onto the cost as a fund raiser for the Round Table. Members can order ahead, pick up the package and eat at home while the speaker is presenting on-line.
Confederate Monument Issue: Bruce wished to involve the Round Table in preserving the Confederate Monuments here in Gettysburg as we are an outdoor museum. David and Roger cited concerns with this as we are assuming that every member agrees that these monuments should stay. Bruce agreed to stick to the facts in the newsletter and any personal opinions can be written in the editorial column of the Gettysburg Times. Roger noted that if our monuments actually come under attack, then perhaps we can speak out against it.

All business being completed, the meeting ended at 7:15. Next meeting is September 3, 6 p.m. via Zoom

Respectfully submitted by Eleanor Bilz

The Civil War Round Table of Gettysburg
Board Meeting (via Zoom)
June 4, 2020

Attended: Eleanor Bilz, Bruce Davis, Lynn Heller, Roger Heller, Michele Hessler, Peter Miele, Linda Seamon

President Bruce Davis opened the meeting at 6 p.m. via Zoom.

Old Business

Bruce is pleased with how the meetings and programs are working well on-line. People who missed the program can view it at their leisure on our website. Peter said he will put a notice on our website reminding people that the programs are being save for future viewing.
The summer presenters will put their presentation on video so no one need show up in person and risk exposure to the Coronavirus. We get many spectators for our summer outdoor programs and it would be difficult to keep social distancing.

New Business

Regarding using our normal venue, the GAR Hall, it is too small for the 55 or so members who usually attend to social distance. Therefore, Peter was asked if he could secure a larger room at the college or perhaps the Chapel at the Seminary for our meetings. Hopefully, the cost would not be so high as we are an established entity in Gettysburg. One of the problems mentioned is that most organizations seem to like a Thursday night for their meetings and we are in competition. On an aside, Bruce congratulated Peter on his promotion to Executive Director at the Seminary Ridge Museum.
The Civil War Trails Sign program asked us for a $200.00 sponsorship for a sign in Littlestown. This money can come out of our Battlefield Preservation Fund. Roger made a motion to do this, and Lynn seconded. All approved

Speaker Program, Roger said the 2020 program is going well. The sooner we get back to in person meetings, the better. Virtual option will be available for those who cannot attend

Regarding the Field Trip which was cancelled this year, Roger said the funds paid will be held over for next year’s trip.
Holiday Party. Given the unknowns of the virus, Bruce asked Lynn if the Dobbin House has a “drop dead” date by which we would need to confirm if we are having the party in December. She has been unable to speak to anyone due to the closures caused by the virus. As we approach the Green Phase and restaurants are opening again, Lynn should be able to make contact.

Treasurer’s Report. Dave Diner said we are financially stable. Membership money is trickling in. We paid the rent on the GAR Hall for the year. Since we have not yet received the insurance bill, it has not yet been paid.

All business completed, Bruce ended the meeting at 6:35. Our next meeting will be August 6th, via Zoom, at 6 p.m.

Respectfully submitted by Eleanor Bilz

Civil War Roundtable of Gettysburg
Board Meeting Minutes from ZOOM
May 7, 2020

Attended: Bruce Davis, Linda Seamon, Michele Hessler, Abbie Hoﬀman, Peter Miele, Linda Joswick, Dave Diner, Hilda Koontz, Roger & Lynn Heller.

Bruce called the meeting to order at 6 PM and thanked all who attended for tuning in.

Treasurer’s Report: Dave Diner: Revenue: $1596.15; Expenses $1497.33; Assets; $14,841.15. Net income: $98.00.

Bruce thanked Linda Joswick for updating the security issue with Go Daddy on the Web Page. The cost was $150.00. There will be an annual cost for this service of $200.00.
Bruce reminded us that our May 28 roundtable meeting will be online. Peter will post the link one week prior to the meeting. We all agreed that the online April meeting was very successful, and thanked Peter for setting it up and moderating it.
Much discussion followed concerning how we will conduct our summer “on the ﬁeld” meetings, and scheduled indoor meetings in the foreseeable future. It was concluded that trying to have a summer outdoor ‘on the ﬁeld’ meeting, even if the Park would allow it, would be diﬃcult in maintaining social distancing, etc. All agreed that the best & safest option would be to have a Live Stream with the speaker and put it on Facebook. Peter will provide the link on Facebook and the web page.

Programs: Roger: Our May speaker Dr. James Broomhall is on board for a Live Stream presentation. Peter has been given his contact information and will set it up.

For our ﬁrst ‘outdoor program’, June 25. LBG Richard Goedkoop is willing to do a Live Stream presentation with Power Point on Culp’s Hill Memorials. 7 PM.
Roger will contact the speakers scheduled for the rest of the summer , and rest of the year, to determine their ability and willingness to present by Life Stream. If any are unable, he will contact other potential speakers who can hopefully replace them.
We agreed that the start time for the 3 summer Live Stream presentations will be 7 PM.
Bruce determined that we will plan on Live Streaming all our programs for as long is necessary in these uncertain times.
Lynn said she would contact the Dobbin House regarding the December Holiday Banquet, to let them know we may have to cancel for this year.
Lynn said she is putting the Cal Doucette Award on hold for now, and asked members to please oﬀer suggestions of potential candidates.
Bruce brought up the topic of the elections, which were unable to be held in April. Bruce stated he is making an Executive Decision to add Michele Hessler and Abbie Hoﬀman to the open Board seats. All were in agreement. Dale and Joe have left the Board. Ellie & Dave Diner have renewed their oﬃces, and Fred has renewed his Board seat.
Bruce would like to continue having monthly ZOOM Board meetings the ﬁrst Thursday of each month, so that we may stay in touch with each other and be aware of any updates. The next meeting will be on Thursday, June 4th at 6 PM. Michele will post the link.
Peter suggested perhaps we can continue to have some Live Stream presentations, even after life gets back to normal.
Linda Joswick let everyone know that the Church of the Brethren on the Biglerville Road is broadcasting music for all to hear every Sunday from 9 - 10 AM.
We all agreed that our virtual Board Meeting went very well. Ain’t technology grand? It’s very helpful to have techies Peter and Michele in our midst.

With no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 6:45 PM.

Respectfully submitted,
Lynn Heller for Eleanor Bilz.

The Civil War Round Table of Gettysburg
Board Meeting Minutes
January 9, 2020
Perkins Family Restaurant

Members Present: Eleanor Bilz, Bruce Davis, David Diner, Al Ferranto, Fred Hawthorne, Lynn Heller, Roger Heller, Hilda Koontz, Larry Plymire, Peter Miele, Dale Molina, Bill Myers, Linda Seamon
Linda Joswick, Web Master
Dave Joswick, Newsletter
Rip Engle, Guest

The meeting was called to order by President Bruce Davis at 6:00 p.m.

Committee Reports

Treasurer: David Diner reported our overall balance is $14,642.33. He also said that when he opened our safe deposit box, he found the papers of incorporation for our Round Table. We were incorporated in 1989 as a Domestic Non-Profit Corporation. We are officially The Civil War Round Table of Gettysburg. On a side note, it was also decided that going forward, we are a Round Table, not Roundtable as previously agreed to, as our incorporation papers list us with Round Table being two words. David was concerned that we have never filed a tax return but had been informed that it is not required of us to do so. David asked for a copy of the By-Laws and Bruce will get a copy to him.
Holiday Banquet: Lynn Heller said the event went well and sent out thank you notes for the donated door prizes.
Programs: Roger Heller said that speakers for 2020 are lined up with back-ups in case of cancellation. He did swap out the March and September speakers and the new line-up is available on the website. He is starting work on the 2021 speakers. Peter Miele will work with him on this.
Nominations: Al Ferranto asked for information on terms ending and was told that we need three Board members. Joe M. resigned as of the end of December 2019 and we need someone to finish out his term and Dale and Fred are coming off the Board as her term ends this year. We have one person, Rip Engle, who is interested in running for Board membership.
Show and Tell: Al Ferranto said he has speakers lined up for January and February and a tentative person for March.
Book Award Committee: Larry Plymire passed out a list of past Book Award Winners. We are in need of someone to make the trophy and Larry has a friend who does wood-working. He is willing to make six such trophies for us at a cost of $240.00 total. It will be in the same style as the former trophies but not made of “witness wood” as there is not presently a supply of said wood available. Fred made a motion to engage this supplier and Rip seconded it. Motion was passed by the Board.
Plaque Committee: Lynn Heller said that no one has applied for a plaque. Deb Novotny will do a history of the Plaque Committee this year.
Membership Committee: Linda Seamon said we have ten new members and renewal is doing well. Also, we agreed to change the membership survey. Bruce suggested that we should ask two questions: Are we doing well? and What can we do better? This will be put on-line for responses and printed out for handouts at our meeting. Bruce asked if anyone wanted to establish a Survey Committee. There was no interest.

New Business

Bruce asked about updating the Welcome sign-in form. He cannot read the scripted names. A new form is being made up asking people to print their name.
A suggestion was made to limit the number of books offered in our book raffle as less people are buy raffles and the same people are winning the books. It was suggested and agreed that we would offer only 3-4 books.
Bruce brought up the issue of the GAR Hall not having enough chairs for our meeting. The balcony is off limits and he was told he could use the chairs in the basement. Al informed him that those chairs are the property of the Sons of Union Veterans and we would need their permission to use them as they are over 100 years old and cannot be replaced if damaged. Unless Bruce hears otherwise, he will go with what the HGAC originally communicated. David then brought up the issue that perhaps we have out-grown the GAR Hall. Peter Carmichael from the College offered us a room with no rent. Hilda said that the GAR hall is so special a location for our meetings and that our last meeting was so well attended due to the fact that it was a major re-enactment weekend and so many of the re-enactors attended. It was agreed that Al will inquire about the use of chairs, if needed, and that we have not yet actually out-grown the space. Also, we will check to see if there is a posted maximum capacity sign as we do not want to jeopardize our lease as a result of breaking a fire ordinance.
New E-Mail address: Members of the Board have, in the past, received e-mails from someone claiming to be Bruce and asking for gift cards for veterans. It was decided that we should have a dedicated mailbox which only Board Members could utilize so that our personal e-mail addresses would no longer be listed on the website. Also, the address can then be passed on to new Presidents with no interruption of messages. Peter offered to do this. Our new e-mail address is GettysburgCWRT@gmail.com. The password will be sent in a separate email.
Fred Hawthorne up-dated us one the headstone we made a donation for, Allen Frazer. He is buried in the plot of Solomon Powers. There will be a dedication ceremony at Evergreen Cemetery on Remembrance Day. He asks that our Round Table members be involved.
David Diner noted that there is $2400.00 in our preservation fund. We have used this money to donate to the host’s institution for our Field Trips, $500.00. This year, it is a college student who will lead the trip and he asked for a personal donation of $200.00. It was agreed that money from this fund be used only for preservation and we will pay our host from the general fund. David asked for other suggestions and Roger suggested that we make a donation to the Adams County Historical Society which is fund-raising for a new building. They will soon be opening up a capital fund campaign to build a new “home” for the Society on Carlisle Road on the old prison land. Rip suggested a donation to the Gettysburg Trust, which wants to buy property on Baltimore Pike. No motions were made at this time.

All business being concluded, the meeting ended at 7:07 p.m. Next meeting will be March 5th at Perkins.

Civil War Roundtable of Gettysburg
Board Meeting Minutes
November 14, 2019
Perkins Family Restaurant

Members Present: Eleanor Bilz, Bruce Davis, David Diner, Lynn Heller, Hilda Koontz, Joseph Mieczkowski, Peter Miele, Dale Molina, Bill Myers, Larry Plymire, Linda Seamon

Guest Visitor: Rip Engle

The meeting was called to order by President Bruce Davis at 6 p.m.

Bruce started the meeting by introducing a visitor to our Board meeting, Rip Engle. Mr. Engle is a new member of the Roundtable and was interested in how our meeting is governed. Mr. Engle expressed interest in joining the Board.
Bruce then asked everyone if they did anything exciting since our last meeting.
- Joe M talked about the Battlefield sights
- Hilda gave a lecture on CW PTSD
- Bill went to a football game at the College. It was quite cold.
- Lynn went to Frederick Douglass lecture
- Dale went to see Harriet (Tubman) movie
- Ellie went to Armistice Ball in Morristown, NJ
- Dave, a veteran, got a 10% Veteran’s Day discount on socks
- Pete hosted a lecture on medicine during the CW by a speaker who is documenting all surgeons in Gettysburg during the battle.

Committees

Plaque Committee: Lynn said Deb N. had no requests for plaques. She is writing a history of the Plaque Committee and is looking up many of the plaque recipients.
Holiday Banquet: 53 guests so far have responded. We can accommodate 100 people. We need people to walk door to door, asking businesses to contribute to the door prizes. Lynn has the list of stores to be asked.
Cal Doucette Award: It was mentioned that the award ceremony at our last meeting took up too much time and didn’t allow for Q&A session after our speaker was finished and perhaps the award should take place at the Holiday Banquet. Bruce noted at the award ceremony only took 20 minutes and our speaker started on time. However, she went well over her allotted time and we are to vacate the Hall by 8:30. After much discussion, it was decided that Bruce will speak to future speakers regarding a 45 minute limit to allow time for questions and book sales; the Cal Doucette Award is too important to share time at the Banquet; the Book Award author should be given center stage at the Banquet and not share time with another award winner; and finally, we agreed that the winner could get an honorable mention at the Banquet. On a side note: Peter made a clever statement when he said that the speaker should be a Lincoln and not an Everett (two minutes vs. two hours).
Treasurer: Dave noted that our balance is $781.01 which includes $1428.00 in funds for Holiday Banquet. Membership dues are down this year, $500.00 less than last year. Our Preservation Fund is high. Our actual overall total is -$646.00
Book Committee: Larry said they are in the new reading cycle. He is concerned that the trophies are running low and we could possibly have a duel-authors winner, requiring two trophies. We do not have any witness tree wood and Bill Hewitt is no longer making the trophies. Larry will ask around, particularly where he lives, as they have a wood-working shop on the premises.

Old Business

We will have a relationship with the Gettysburg Times. An article on the Roundtable will appear on the third Saturday of every month.
Allan Frazier grave marker update: Richard Mancini to put together a dedication ceremony. We will be informed.

New Business

Reminders will be sent out to membership and mentioned at the next meeting regarding the Holiday Banquet, Membership dues and the date of our next meeting. Lynn will speak regarding the Banquet, and Dave will mention the Membership dues.
The Board members are receiving scam emails purportedly from Bruce. He will never ask any of us for money or gift cards. However, to avoid this in the future, our email addresses will be removed from the website and Peter will set up a dedicated “presidents” email address which can be used by Bruce and future presidents.
Lynn has transferred all files and information to Bruce. The earliest records we have only go back to 1967. However, our Roundtable was established in 1957. Bruce wants to put together a narrative history of our Roundtable and would appreciate any information available to be given to him, i.e. it was mentioned that in 1958, new members had to be recommended in order to join. Hilda said that a good source to ask is Gerry Bennett. Also, the Historical Society might well have the earlier records. Bruce will check it out.
Lynn handed Bruce a copy of a membership survey form that could be used to solicit suggestions on ways to improve our meeting.

All business be completed, a motion was made and accepted to close the meeting at 6:50 p.m. Next meeting will be January 9th at Perkins.

Civil War Roundtable of Gettysburg
Board Meeting Minutes
September 12, 2019

Members Present: Eleanor Bilz, Bruce Davis, David Diner, Fred Hawthorne, Roger Heller, Larry Plymire, Peter Miele, Bill Myers, Linda Seamon
Linda Joswick, Web Master
Dave Joswick, Newsletter

The meeting was called to order by President Bruce Davis at 6 p.m.

Old Business

Bruce asked around for a regional Roundtable mailing list and has been successful.
Roger had purchased a computer and it is working perfectly. He installed a copy of PowerPoint.
Note: The November Roundtable meeting will be held on November 21st, one week earlier due to the Thanksgiving Holiday.
Bruce asked if any improvements could be made to our summer outdoor field meetings. We had one rain-date. Inclement weather could not be predicted as it rained after we arrived at meeting place. The following week we had a good turnout and the program proceeded without incident. It was noted, however, that it starts to get dark earlier in August and perhaps we would hold August meeting earlier in the evening

Committee Reports

Treasurer: Dave reported that our overall total is at a negative $985.30 due to purchase of computer equipment and that we had to pay rent for the GAR hall. Last year a donor made a $600.00 donation to cover the cost of the rental. However, we have an Operational Fund of $8,493.92 and a $2500.00 C/D. Dave mentioned that the bank wants to charge us $2.00 per month for the mailed bank statement. David prefers not to set up on-line banking and will speak to the bank, as we are a non-profit, and ask for a waiver of this charge. Dave also noted that we only have one key for our safe deposit box and upon surrender, we would have to turn in two keys. We have no plans to surrender the box, and will deal with it if and when the time comes.
Book Committee: Larry reported that he is shy of three reviews. He is getting new books for the next cycle and took on one new reader. Linda reported that she does not plan to read in the next cycle
Membership: Linda said we have 203 members.

New Business

Bruce asked if there is any interest in walking in the Remembrance Day parade. There wasn’t any interest as it is mostly the reenactors who march and no other groups march in this parade.
Bruce asked if we had plans to reinstate refreshments. We stopped providing refreshments due to a lack of a committee. There has been no help with clean-up, putting things back in order or providing refreshments. We have even reimbursed people who brought in the refreshments but there is little interest in signing up for each respective month.
Roger suggested that we have a spokesperson who will get information to the Gettysburg Times on our upcoming meetings and events. Bruce will handle this. Linda gave a contact name: D. K. Thomas at the paper. Linda J. suggested that we do not give out our summer program information as it draws tourist and our members do not enjoy the program. There was no decision made on whether or not we will hold back summer information.
Holiday Banquet, December 5th. Lynn signed the contract and selected the menu. Dave J will make a flyer for October meeting and put info in November newsletter. A request will be made for door prizes and for volunteers to solicit prizes from local stores. A letter of explanation will be provided to give to the stores.
Cal Doucette Award has been purchased by Lynn. There will be an article on the recipient in the November newsletter and after the presentation in October, we will submit an article to the Gettysburg Times.
Al Ferrante will begin addressing the nominations in 2020 and the slate will be announced in May.
Bruce asked if we mention when a member of the Roundtable passes. We don’t, but Linda S. sends a sympathy card on our behalf.
Bruce asked for continuity in the spelling of the word “Roundtable.” It has been agreed that it will be one word.
Weather issue: In the event of inclement weather, it was suggested that we be guided by school closings. This is due to the fact that the speaker might not be able to show up (some travel here from out of town) and that we have to use public parking and the lots might not be plowed out. Bruce will make the final decision and Dave J. will put any cancellations on the website and via email notification.

With no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 6:40. Our next meeting will be held on November 14th at Perkins.

Respectfully submitted,
Eleanor Bilz, Recording Secretary

Gettysburg Civil War Roundtable
Board Meeting
July 11, 2019

Members present: Bill Myers, Linda Seamon, Hilda Koontz, Linda Joswick, Dave Joswick, Bruce Davis, Lynn Heller, Roger Heller, Larry Plymire, Joe Mieczkowski

The meeting was called to order by President Bruce Davis at 6 pm.

Old business:

Where are we with the Allen Frazier gravestone at Evergreen? Bruce has received the information needed from Fred Hawthorn, and contacted Dave Diner, who will mail our donation.
What’s going on with the plaques? Lynn reported for Deb Novotny that there are no applications pending
What’s the process Al uses for lining up Show and Tell? Do we advise as to suggested length of presentation?
Lynn reported that Al arranges for the 5 minute presentations, and if there is a month with no speakers, Al will provide the Show and Tell.
How is the new projector/laptop working out? Roger reported that he will be meeting with his “tech team” in 2 weeks, to learn how to operate the equipment.
Dates for the November meetings; Board meeting November 14; Monthly meeting November 21 (Thanksgiving is the 28th)
Update on GoDaddy website: Linda Joswick reported that the contract and domain name are paid until 2023, when they will have to be renewed. At that time we will discuss our options.
Update on Holiday Banquet: Lynn reported that she will meet with the Banquet coordinator in August at The Dobbin House, sign the contract, and select the menu.

Committee Reports:

Treasurer: Bruce for Dave Diner: Jan.1, 2019 - May 9th 2019: income: $3,501.08. Expenses: $3,050.23. Overall total $450.85: Cash and Bank Accounts: Investment Fund: $2,500.00: Operational Fund: $9,214.22: Preservation Fund: $2,1912.61: Total Cash and Bank Accounts: $14,363.46.
Book Committee: Larry Plymire: Al Ferranto has joined the Book Committee and will start next year. They are currently evaluating 4 or 5 books and will hold their Discussion, Discernment, and Decision meeting on October 8th. Linda Joswick will distribute the reviews electronically to the committee members.
Membership: Linda Seamon: Life and 2019 members total 191. 16 new members have joined in the last few months.
Cal Doucette Achievement Award: Lynn Heller: A recipient has been chosen and will be presented with the trophy award at the October meeting. She has received a bio, and has contacted those people who may like to oﬀer comments. She contacted Crown Trophy who will be making the plaque. There are a number of plaques available, and Lynn will stop by choose one and will provide the information for the inscription.
2020 Program Lineup: Roger reviewed the speakers list for 2019 and 2020.
-- For the upcoming Peach Orchard Tour on July 25 ( rain date August 1) we will park on Sickles Avenue and meet at the Excelsior Monument.
-- For the August 22 East Cavalry Field Tour, ( rain date August 29) we will meet at the intersection of Baltimore Pike and White Church Road, and will car caravan from there.

New Business:

Hilda brought up the idea of presenting a Certiﬁcate of Appreciation to those who have served on the Board, once their term has ended. She will conﬁrm with Dave Joswick regarding the inscription on the certiﬁcate.
Hilda also announced that in April, 2020, she will be the Keynote Speaker at The Association of Sultana Descendants and Friends in Springﬁeld, Illinois.
Bruce asked for a short “around the table” conversation about summer of ’19 Civil War related opportunities that have made a particular impression:
-- Bruce attended a Civil War Gospel Church Service at the Re- enactment, which he enjoyed very much, especially the hymns.
-- Lynn, Roger, and Bruce were speakers at the Rupp House “Courtyard Chat” to speak about the history of Civil War Roundtables and the Gettysburg CWRT.
-- Lynn and Roger attended several Author Talks at the Heritage Center, Baltimore Street.
Joe informed us :
1. the Strawberry Hill Nature Preserve will present 3 programs this summer at the battleﬁeld amphitheater entitled “Nature of the Battleﬁeld. 8:30 pm. More information can be found on the NPS Web Site.
2. The ALBG’s will present a seminal on November 8 & 9 “Gone But Not Forgotten”. NPS web Site.
3. Monterey Pass Battleﬁeld, where he is a Docent, has a very nice museum and visitor’s center.

With no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 7 pm

Respectfully submitted,
Lynn Heller, for Eleanor Bilz.

Gettysburg Civil War Roundtable
Board Meeting
May 9, 2019

Attendees:
Bruce Davis, President
Hilda Koontz, Vice President
David Diner, Treasurer
Eleanor Bilz, Recording Secretary
Linda Seamon, Corresponding Secretary
Board Members: Fred Hawthorne, Lynn Heller, Roger Heller, Joseph Mieczkowski, Peter Miele, Dale Molina, Bill Myers, Larry Plymire
Dave Joswick, Newsletter Editor
Linda Joswick, Web Master

President Bruce Davis opened the meeting at 6 p.m.

Old Business:

The Roundtable had previously decided to donate $500.00 to the Evergreen Cemetery Association to erect a gravestone on the unmarked grave of Allen Frazier. We are awaiting information on where to send the check. Fred Hawthorne will pursue this with Brian Kennell.
As previously approved, Roger Heller purchased a laptop and projector. The purchase price was $496.06.
Lynn is the new Chair of the Cal Doucette Achievement Award Committee. She took a moment to explain what this award is for. They have someone in mind for the award but have yet to contact that person.
The Audit Committee has reviewed the financial books and presented their findings at the last Roundtable meeting in April.
Roger had a meeting with Peter Carmichael to discuss ways to collaborate between the Roundtable and the Civil War Institute. Some ideas were to share speakers, the Institute would finance the travel expense of an out-of-town speaker, and perhaps have non-Gettysburg topics. The students would attend our meetings but are not interested in the business portion of the meeting.
Lynn confirmed our reservation at the Dobbin House for our Holiday Banquet which will be held on December 5th. Lynn will meet with them in September to set up the menu and confirm the number of members attending. Our speaker for this event is Benjamin Dixon, on the Park and Its History.

At this time, President Bruce asked everyone to introduce themselves and share a brief history of their interest in the Civil War.

Peter Miele: Moved here 2013 from Bergen County, New Jersey. Yankee fan. He is Chief Operating Officer and Director of Education of the Seminary Ridge Museum.
Fred Hawthorne: Joined roundtable in 1980, is former President, Vice President and Secretary. Lived in Adams County all his life. Is a guide and on the board of the Evergreen Cemetery.
Larry Plymire: Was a Pastor; lived the last 10 years at Cross Keys. He was an American History teacher. In order to pass his history class, had to memorize the Gettysburg Address.
Joseph Mieczkowski: Lived in Carroll Valley last 20 years. Worked 40 years at Social Security Administration. Is also a Licensed Battlefield Guide and is a member of the Harpers Ferry Roundtable.
Linda Seamon: Moved from Upstate New York in 2005. Treasurer of Cumberland Township Historical Society. Was a hygienist for 35 years.
Dale Molina: Moved here from Alexandria, Va. Worked for 30 years at the Postal Union in Washington, D.C. Originally from South Carolina. Had relatives in the Civil War, one from the 13th South Carolina was wounded here in Gettysburg. Historian for the Gettysburg Presbyterian Church. Volunteers at the Visitors’ Center and Adams County Historical Society.
Ellie Bilz: Move to Gettysburg in 2014. Introduced to Civil War history by husband, Rick Bilz. Mostly interested in the fashion and dancing of the era. Enjoys participating in activities from Rev War through WWII.
Dave Diner: Worked 30 years as Army Judge Advocate Council; upon retirement, had one year to determine “home of selection.” He and his wife decided on Gettysburg after taking many trips here. He became Treasurer of roundtable in 2015.
Hilda Koontz: Past President and current Vice President of our roundtable. Had over 100 relatives who served in the Civil War. Her family goes back to 1680 in Maryland. Lectures on the Civil War and mental health issues. She is an 18-year member.
Bill Myers: Born in York, Pa. Has moved around a lot, so lived in many places. He is a ballroom and Latin dancer, and loves history.
Roger Heller: Born and raised in Gettysburg. Moved to Biglerville and graduated from Westchester University. Had been a teacher for 30 years. Presently volunteers at the Gettysburg Historical Society.
Lynn Heller: Moved here from the Jersey Shore and was a registered nurse for 45 years. Met Roger in 2004 and married in 2008. Volunteers at Seminary and is a gifted photographer and paints beautiful water colors. Was the first girl in her town to parachute jump.
Linda Joswick: Moved here twenty years ago from Michigan where snow is measured in feet, not inches. Is the Web Master for our roundtable.
Dave Joswick: Laughs at our so-called “snow days” (see comment above). He is a graphic designer, loves American history, especially Rev War and Civil War. Is our newsletter editor.
Bruce Davis: Former Pastor, moved to Gettysburg this year, opting this region over Omaha, Nebraska. Has a passion for history. As our new President is open to all suggestions and can be best reached by email.

Committee Reports:

Treasurer, Dave Diner: Net Income: $450.85. We paid the GAR for use of hall but insurance bill is due. We will break even on income and expenses.
Program, Roger Heller: Our field trip is this Saturday. We will leave at 8 a.m. and visit Aldie, Midddleburg and Upperville, Va. With Kevin Pawlak. Our speaker program list is filled through most of 2020. We have 10 of the 12 months accounted for. Our summer schedule is almost set and a flyer will be handed out shortly with programs and rain dates.
Book, Larry Plymire: They are one book ahead on the next reading cycle. Added one new reader reviewer.
Membership, Linda Seamon: 186 members, seventeen have not renewed and nineteen new members. She sends out a welcome letter to new members. We do not recruit more members due to size of hall. If we out-grow the hall, we could possibly rent space at the college for less rent but everyone, including the speakers, like the idea of being in an historical building.
Recording Secretary, Eleanor Bilz: Minutes are posted on the website.
Plaque Committee, Deb Novotny: Not present but nothing in the works at this time.
Cal Doucette Achievement Award Committee, Lynn Heller: Will reach out to possible recipient over the summer.

Unfinished Business:

Evergreen Cemetery updated under Old Business. However, Linda Joswick asked for information on the stone for article in newsletter. No further information is available at this time.

New Business:

Roger brought was the date of the November 2020 Board and Roundtable meetings. Due to conflict with Thanksgiving and November 19th Remembrance Day falling on a Thursday, it was agreed that the Board meeting will be November 5th and Roundtable meeting on November 12th.
Lynn asked for update on our GoDaddy website. Linda will get back to her.
When one of the members on the wait-list for our field trip was told that there will be no available seat, he graciously said to keep the payment as a donation to the Roundtable. Lynn will send a thank you note acknowledging this contribution.

All business being finished, the meeting was ended at 7:05 p.m. Next meeting will be at Perkins on
July 11.

Gettysburg Civil War Roundtable
Board Meeting
March 14, 2019

Attendees:
Lynn Heller, President, Eleanor Bilz, Recording Secretary, Linda Seamon, Corresponding Secretary, Fred Hawthorne, Roger Heller, Hilda Koontz, Dale Molina, Bill Myers, Larry Plymire

President Lynn Heller called the meeting to order at 6 p.m.

Old Business

Hilda Koontz and Linda Seamon volunteered to join the Program Committee.
Hilda suggested that we have a framed certificate for service to be presented to outgoing Board Members and Officers. Approved by all. Dave Joswick has agreed to make certificates for outgoing members. Lynn will provide information.
Lynn met with Bruce Davis, who is interested in being nominated for President.
Deb Novotny has agreed to take over the Book Raffle in September.
Joe Miezekowski has agreed to take Larry Plymire’s open Board seat. Larry will remain on the Board as Chair of the Book Committee.
Deb Novotny is in the process of writing the history of the Plaque Committee.

Committee Reports

Nominating Committee: Al Ferranto: Bruce Davis was interviewed and will run for President of the Gettysburg Civil War Roundtable. Hilda Koontz agreed to run as Vice President. Linda Seamon will stay on as Membership Secretary. Roger Heller will run for Board member as will new Board members, Peter Miele and Joe Miezekowski.
Show and Tell: Al Ferranto: Al has lined up the following: March: Dan Orr; April: Kurt Kramer; May: Hilda Koontz
Treasurer: Dave Diner absent: Our total income for 2019 which includes field trip receipts is $2761.03. The balance at present, after expenses, is $1879.86. It was noted by Roger Heller that the field trip receipts will be paid out for trip expenses in May. Total assets balance, which includes investment fund, operational fund and preservation fund is $15,792.47.
Program Committee: Roger Heller: The Field Trip is full with a waiting list. Reminder: lunch is on our own. A menu will be provided on the bus and if weather permits, we will eat in an outdoor pavilion. The speaker for May has been changed due to illness of our scheduled speaker. Our new speaker will be Jeffrey Stocker who will speak on the 153rd Pennsylvania.
Book Committee: Larry Plymire: Larry is looking for books published in 2018. The book publishers are slow in responding to his repeated requests.
Membership/Corresponding Secretary: Linda Seamon: We have 66 life members; we have 78 members for 2018--ten people renewed. We had 40 in 2018.

Unfinished Business

Discussion on use of our Preservation Fund money. Al suggested the American Battlefield Trust. Fred made a suggestion to donate money to place a gravestone on an unmarked grave at Evergreen Cemetery, specifically a $500.00 donation to the Evergreen Cemetery Association for Allen Frazier’s grave. Roger made a motion for Dale seconded. All in favor.
A Chair is still needed for the Cal Doucette Achievement Award. Lynn asked Board members to please think about it.

New Business

Roger Heller suggested that we may need to purchase a new projector and lap top. The approximate cost is $400.00 for projector and laptop. Roger made the motion, Bill Myers seconded it and all in favor.
Linda and Hilda reviewed the financial records of the CWRT and all is in order.
Roger mentioned talks with Dr. Carmichael, Civil War Institute at the Gettysburg College, how can we collaborate to help each other, maybe bringing in younger people to our membership.
Suggested idea: Jim Hesler does a Sickle Murder Case in Washington, D.C.

Gettysburg Civil War Roundtable
Board Meeting Minutes
January 10, 2019

Attendees:
Lynn Heller, President, Eleanor Bil, Al Ferrant, Fred Hawthorn, Roger Heller, Hilda Koont, Dale Molin, Bill Myer, Linda Seamon

Meeting was called to order by President Heller at 6 p.m.

Old Business:

As the By-Laws require that the Program Committee consists of three members, Hilda Koontz and Linda Seamon volunteered to join the Committee.
Mary Diner made and donated a banner for our podium at the GAR, which was unveiled at the December Holiday Banquet.
The first three volumes of Busey and Busey having been already donated to the ACHS, the fourth has now been donated, completing the set. We received a gracious thank you letter.
Lynn and Linda S. wrote thank you letters to the businesses and members who donated to our Door Prize table at the Holiday Banquet.
In January or February, Deb Novotny will write up a history of our Plaque Committee.
Lynn reserved the Dobbin House for our Holiday Banquet for December 5, 2019.

Unfinished Business:

None

New Business:

In our March newsletter, Dave J. will publish name of the businesses that donated to our Holiday Banquet and Dave D. will submit a financial statement for 2018.
Hilda suggested and made a motion that we have a framed certificate of recognition for service to be presented to outgoing Board members. Bill seconded it and it was approved by all.
Roger brought up the fact that we have $2200 in the Preservation Fund that should be contributed to an appropriate foundation. Five Hundred Dollars will be donated to the host of our Spring field trip for the cause of his choice. Al Ferranto suggested the American Battlefield Trust which is in the process of purchasing Seminary property. Nothing had been decided.

Committee Reports:

Program Committee: Roger Heller: He handed out a list of the 2019 speakers and announced the field trip to Middleburg, Upperville and Aldie will cost approximately $45.00, plus lunch on your own. Our outdoor programs for the summer are also in place. He is already getting leads for the 2020 speakers’ program.
Treasurer: Lynn for Dave Diner: We are in very good shape, especially as compared to this time last year. Financial report will be in March newsletter.
Membership: Linda Seamon: Linda sent out emails to the 18-19 members who have not rejoined for the past few years or so. Those who did not respond have been purged from the newsletter mailing list. We have 183 members, which includes lifetime members.
Nominating Committee: Al Ferranto: This year we will need a new President and Vice President. A discussion ensued on whether the by laws should be changed to remove term limits. There is concern that we could have a continuing ineffectual president. Lynn does not wish to run again but will consider being Vice President. Al will make some further inquiries into possible replacement candidates. Lynn will advise Al Ferranto of those Board seats coming open in May 2019.

All business having been discussed, Bill made a motion to end the meeting and Hilda seconded. Meeting ended at 6:35 p.m.

Gettysburg Civil War Roundtable
Board Meeting Minutes
September 13, 2018

Attendees:
Lynn Heller, President; Eleanor Bilz, Recording Secretary; Linda Seamon, Corresponding Secretary; Roger Heller; Hilda Koontz; Dale Molina; Bill Myers; Dave Joswick, New Letter Editor; Linda Joswick Web Master

President Lynn Heller opened the meeting at 6:10 p.m.

Old Business

Dave Joswick made up new 2018 Membership Forms with current information; this form was included with the Newsletter.
Per suggestion by Fred Hawthorne, Deb Novotny has agreed to write a history of our Plaque Committee.
Lynn and Roger Heller were elected to represent us at the 2018 Roundtable Congress in Harrisburg. There was a strong emphasis on recruiting members. To that end, we will add a line for email addresses on the sign-in sheet, when a new guest comes to our meeting. We will then follow up with them. We will continue to give them our welcome letter. While at the Congress, Roger made contact with a potential future speaker regarding the USCT and cemetery connection to the Civil War. One “problem” with recruiting new members is the possibility of out-growing the space we have at the GAR Hall.
Bill Hewitt made two book award trophies; it has been discussed previously as to what we should pay him. We voted to give him $25.00 for each trophy.

Unfinished Business

We still need a chair for the Cal Doucette Achievement Award.

New Business

Lynn Heller submitted our October meeting information to be publishes in The Gettysburg Experience and will continue to do so on a monthly basis.
Suggestions for obtaining door prize donations from the local businesses for our Holiday Banquet resulted in a conversation about asking members to volunteer to be assigned to specific streets in town, asking the businesses if they would like to donate a gift certificate, or coupons, etc. Lynn will draw up a sign-up sheet and ask for volunteers at the meetings. Linda S. has volunteered to canvas Steinwehr from the Heritage Center to the intersection with Taneytown Road. Linda Joswick suggested having a letter to give to those businesses explaining our roundtable's mission and what their donation will be used for.
Linda Seamon contacted some businesses to see if they would be interested in giving our members discounts. She has three in agreement, so far and will continue to contact some businesses. Members should show their membership card to receive the discount.
Paul Shevchuk, who led our August field walk about Camp Colt, has donated his honorarium to the Dwight David Eisenhower Society. The society sent us a gracious thank you note, and has made our roundtable a member.
Mr. Charles Pike, not a current member, passed away and in lieu of flowers, requested donations to our Roundtable. We have received two checks for $50.00 each. We wrote thank you notes to each donor.
Barbara Finfrock had suggested we have a banner with our name on it displayed at our meetings. Lynn suggested we have a banner made that will hang from the podium. She will go to Staples for prices once we determine the size, and we will revisit at the next Board Meeting.
Larry and Roger would like to donate the Book Committee’s copy of the Busey and Busey, four volumes of Confederate Dead at Gettysburg to the ACHS. Everyone was in agreement.
Larry sent in a request for two items: All books submitted for award consideration are considered property of the roundtable and thus subjected to any action by the Board and that the Distinguished Book Award Committee be established as a required committee, thus making the Chair an ex officio member of the Board. The motion to approve was made by Hilda, seconded by Dale and approved.

Committee Reports

Treasurer: Dave Diner (Excused): Investment: $2500.00; Operational: $7,157.34; Preservation: $1,920.39. Total: $11,577.73
Membership: Linda Seamon: 67 lifetime members; 88 members in 2018. Linda will send out information to 2017 members who did not rejoin and will ask them if they wish to renew for 2019.
Programs: Roger Heller: The 2019 speaker schedule is in place, and March’s speaker will be the Book Award winner. Subjects for the talks have similar but distinct themes focusing on soldiers’ and civilians’ diaries and letters and two talks on Gen. Meade. May 11 is the date for our field trip. We will meet at 8 a.m. and return at 5:30.
Plaque Committee: Kendra Debany (Excused): A check was received from John Buchheister, The Maryland Suttler, for $106.00 to replace his original plaque which was apparently stolen.
Book Committee: Larry Plymire (Excused): Book Committee meeting is Tuesday, October 9.
Nominating Committee: Al Ferranto (Excused):
Show and Tell: Al Ferranto: Sept. Ted Hirt, Oct. Dick McGeary and Nov. Kurt Kramer

Adjournment:

Next meeting is November 8, 2018.

Respectfully submitted
by Eleanor Bilz, Recording Secretary

Gettysburg Civil War Roundtable
Board Meeting Minutes
July 12, 2018

President Heller opened the meeting at 6 p.m.

Old Business

Switched website host to GoDaddy.
No volunteers came forward to form Refreshment Committee therefore, we will not offer refreshments for our upcoming meetings at the GAR Hall.
No volunteers have yet come forward to chair Cal Doucette Achievement Award Committee. Lynn has the information binder from Ron Rock, former chair. The Board will conduct this committee as a group until a volunteer comes forward to chair this committee.
Lynn contacted Bill Hewett to confirm agreement to make Book Award trophy for 2018 book award. Not sure if it will be made of witness tree wood or not.

Committee Reports

Treasurer, Dave Diner: We are in good shape. Account numbers are similar to last year. Present overall balance $12,497.54.
Membership, Linda Seamon, absent, no report. Brief discussion followed later in meeting on confusion over the cost of membership; some folks are sending in checks for incorrect amount because they have the old form. Lynn will ask Dave Joswick if he can make a new form for 2019 indicating the current amount is $30 individual/$45 family.
Programs, Roger Heller: Speakers for 2019 almost complete. Summer outdoor programs will come together with possible visit to the cannon shop.
Plaque Committee: Kendra Debany, absent. A later discussion, initiated by Fred, was that we should write a history of how the plaque committee started. It could be an article for the newspaper or a handout at meetings and at the Visitors’ Center. Lynn will ask Kendra, and Deb Novotny, if they would be willing to write this.
Book Committee, Larry Plymire: New reader, Ted Hirt. Larry is looking for more people but they are in pretty good shape.
Nominating Committee, Al Ferranto, absent: Al will begin attending meetings in January as we begin to address the need for candidates for the offices of a new President and Vice President.

New Business

It was voted that Lynn and Roger Heller will represent our Board at the 2018 CWRT Congress. This is a conference for roundtable leaders to discuss ways to increase recruitment and retention.
Lynn Heller will make Facebook page announcement at each monthly meeting.
Bill spoke of a little-known bookshop, the Rock Top Book Bindery, in Cashtown. It has great CW books. He will “share” this info at the September meeting.

Adjournment:

President Lynn Heller closed the meeting at 6:30
Next meeting is September 13.

Respectfully submitted
by Eleanor Bilz, Recording Secretary

Gettysburg Civil War Roundtable
Board Meeting Minutes
May 10, 2018

Call to Order: 6:05 at Perkins Restaurant

Present: Lynn Roger, President; Kendra Debany, Vice President; David Diner, Treasurer; Eleanor Bilz, Recording Secretary

Board Members: Roger Heller, Hilda Koontz, Bill Myers, Larry Plymire

Dave Joswick, Newsletter,
Linda Joswick, Web Master

Lynn introduced our new Board Member, Bill Myers.

Unfinished Business:

Fred Hawthorne has not yet spoken with Bill Hewitt regarding the cost of woodworking a mounted cannon for the Book Award winner.

Old Business:

A check for $500.00 from our Preservation Fund was given to Scott Mingus on April 28, as a donation to York County History Center, in lieu of payment to him for leading our Spring Field Trip.
Our Field trip was a success and yielded a slight profit. Two participants missed the bus due to a misunderstanding of the departure time. Scott Mingus offered to take them on a private tour at no additional cost.

New Business:

After receiving a $150.00 bill from Wide Open (our website host), and the difficulties in dealing with that company, it was decided to pay the bill and switch hosts to GoDaddy. A motion was made by Roger Heller to pay the bill and switch companies. Kendra seconded the motion and all approved.

Committee Reports:

Treasurer: Dave Diner reported a balance of $12,743.17. We received a $100.00 donation from the Shultz’. The field trip was a money maker. We have a slight deficit in our preservation fund but future donations at our scheduled meetings will be coming in during the year.
Membership: Linda Seamon was not at meeting. Lynn Heller reported that membership is coming along. Some people do not know the correct amount of our membership dues and David Joswick said he would mention it in the newsletter.
Programs: Roger Heller reported that the field trip was a success. We had three no-shows, which he was aware of and two who missed the bus. As noted above, they will be escorted on the trip at a later date by Scott Mingus. Roger also reminded us that the summer outdoor programs will begin at 6 p.m. and last approximately one hour to one and one-half hours.
Plaque: Kendra Debany had nothing new to report.
Book Committee: Larry Plymire expressed concern over the lack of readers for the 2017 books under consideration. A small committee of readers would not make the award valid. We presently have six readers. Dave Diner asked if the required feedback was too daunting for the average reader. Bill Myers said he thought the feedback required was reasonable. Larry said there is an evaluation sheet for each book in order to keep everyone’s evaluation consistent but that he would look at the sheet to see if it could be less burdensome to the evaluator.
Nominating Committee: Al Ferranto was not present at this meeting. Roger noted that there are a number of positions to be filled, specifically, President and Vice President. Also, a Refreshment Committee needs to be formed or we will consider eliminating the coffee and cookies available at each meeting, starting in September. The lack of volunteerism also brought up the issue from Hilda that there is a waning interest in the book raffle. It might be that most of our members may have read the books being offered.
Cal Doucette Achievement Award Committee: No chair at this time. Larry suggested that since we have no one offering to chair this committee, perhaps it should be a Board effort since any nominee will have to be screened through the Board.
Show and Tell: Al Ferranto was not present.

Next Board Meeting: July 12, 6 p.m.

Gettysburg Civil War Roundtable
Board Meeting Minutes
March 8, 2018

Call to Order: 6:00 at Perkins Restaurant

Members Present: Lynn Heller (President), Eleanor Bilz (Recording Secretary), Dave Diner (Treasurer), Ron Rock (Nominating Committee), Larry Plymire (Book Committee), Roger Heller (Programs), Linda Seamon, Corresponding Secretary
Board Members: Dale Molina, Fred Hawthorne, Hilda Koontz
Dave Joswick, Newsletter

Reports:

Treasurer- Dave noted that our budget is in good shape. We have an income of $2687.22, which includes funds collected for the Field Trip and Preservation Fund.
Secretary- Linda reported that we have 206 members which includes 66 lifetime members.
Programs- Speaker list unchanged. Roger announced the April 28 Field Trip has 16 people going so far. The trip to Wrightsville and Columbia will be led by Scott Mingus, who is waiving his fee. It was suggested that we instead make a donation to the York County History Center. Since our usual donations are $500. Roger made a motion to give that amount, Larry seconded it and it was approved. At the last meeting, when Roger mentioned our summer trip on the Gettysburg streets, Fred reminded us that Gettysburg ordinance prohibits walking groups of more than 25 persons. It was suggested to Roger that we alert the police about our activity and it will probably be okay. Roger also mentioned that 2/3 of the speakers for 2019 have been scheduled. The Spring Field trip to Middleburg, Aldie and Upperville, Va. Will be led by Kevin Pawlak.
Plaque Committee- Kendra, absent. No report.
Book Committee- Larry nothing to report
Nominating Committee- Ron reported that Bill Meyers is taking over Ron’s position on the Board when it expires in April. Al Ferranto has volunteered to take the Chair of the nominating committee if no one else steps up. Nominations from the floor will be taken at the March meeting if anyone else is interested. We need someone to Chair the Cal Doucette award committee. Ron will write up a job description and make available all his past documents regarding this committee.
Show and Tell: Lynn for Al. A friend of Larry Sherfy, Jim Roth, will bring a piece of the old Cyclorama painting for the March meeting.

New Business:

A question was asked as to what we should reimburse Bill Hewitt for the two Book Committee trophies. Fred will check out the cost of the wooden cannons.
The Audit of the Roundtable has been reviewed by Hilda and Linda and they will officially comment at the April meeting.
Chuck Teague made suggestion that we use money from our Preservation Fund to clean up the monument in front of the GAR. Lynn contacted President Anne Zabawa of HGAC, who in turn contacted Lucas Flickinger of the NPS for suggestions on who could do the work. He said he and his team will clean the monument, the cannon, the lions, the gravestones and the monument in the back for free as a community service. Lynn asked Anne if they were working on any projects for the GAR Hall and they have a fund set up to repair the windows on the street side of the Hall. Fred made a motion to donate $500. and Ron seconded it and it was approved.
Lynn asked for a short bio our of board members in order to introduce us at the Roundtable meeting. Fred ‘s will be read next if he is at the meeting.
Lynn added the list of all the current standing committee to the president’s binder.

Adjournment:

All business being covered, President Lynn Heller declared the meeting adjourned at 7:00 p.m.
The next meeting of the Board is May 10 at Perkins at new time: 6 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Ellie Cingire Bilz, Recording Secretary

Gettysburg Civil War Roundtable
Board Meeting Minutes
January 11, 2018

Call to Order: 6:30 at Perkins Restaurant

Members Present: Lynn Heller (President), Kendra Debany (Vice President), Eleanor Bilz (Recording Secretary), Dave Diner (Treasurer), Ron Rock (Nominating Committee), Larry Plymire (Book Committee), Roger Heller (Programs)
Board Members: Dale Molina, Fred Hawthorne, Hilda Koontz
Linda Joswick, Web Master
Dave Joswick, Newsletter

Preliminaries:

Reports

Treasurer- Dave noted that our budget is in good shape. We have a profit of $619.39 which includes funds collected for the Holiday Banquet and Preservation Fund.
Secretary- Lynn reported on behalf of Linda Seamon that we have 198 members and expect more members in 2018. Dave Diner asked Linda J. to amend the PayPal site to note if someone is a new member or a renewing member.
Programs- Roger announced the Field Trip is April 28. There will be flyers at the February meeting and in the March newsletter. The trip to Wrightsville and Columbia will be led by Scott Mingus. When Roger mentioned our summer trip on the Gettysburg streets, Fred reminded us that Gettysburg ordinance prohibits walking groups of more than 25 persons.
Plaque Committee- Kendra reported that there is an application awaiting approval and hopefully they will visit the house on Monday. It is an 1844 house on Company Farm Road, in Aspers.
Book Committee- Larry see Unfinished Business
Nominating Committee- Ron reported that Bill Myers is interested in taking over Ron’s position on the Board. He promised to keep up with his email at the library. We also need a new chair for the Nominating Committee and the Cal Doucette Achievement Award Committee.
Terms of office: Lynn and Kendra 2019; Linda 2018-19; Ron 2018; Ellie 2020; Dale and Fred 2020; Roger and Larry 2019; Bill Myers 2021; Hilda 2021.

Unfinished Business:

A question was asked as to whether we needed specific Book Committee awards. Lynn will ask Bill Hewett if he is still making the wooden cannons we have been using (but without witness wood). A lengthy discussion included: is an award from a trophy book sufficient not to embarrass us. Can a plastic award measure up to our usual wooden cannon award? Lynn feels there are appropriate awards in the catalogue. Roger asked if the cannon could be made of other materials. Another Roundtable gives out a plexiglass trophy and it seems to be agreeable to the recipients.
Discussion between Larry and Linda Joswick will take place regarding the issue that some of the book committee members do not use the computer to forward their reviews causing Larry to share the reviews with everyone on the committee by making copies and mailing out the information.

New Business:

Change in By-Laws regarding Vice President’s term of office to mirror that of the President was approved.
There are no more Book Award Trophy’s and frames for speakers. Three frames for awards were purchased by Lynn at Walmart.
Thanks to Ron’s suggestion, Roger is using the College for our printing of newsletter and any required flyers at considerably lower costs.
The Audit of the Roundtable is being reviewed by Hilda and Linda and they will officially comment at meeting.
Lynn and Roger Heller will be away in January and should the meeting be called due to snow, David J will send out emails.
Lynn asked for help with the set up of refreshments. Hilda and Kendra agreed to help set up and break down.
Kendra suggested moving up our Board meeting to 6 p.m.

Adjournment:

All business being covered, President Lynn Heller declared the meeting adjourned at 7:00 p.m.
The next meeting of the Board is March 8, 2018 at Perkins at new time: 6 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Ellie Cingire Bilz, Recording Secretary

Gettysburg Civil War Roundtable
Board Meeting Minutes
November 9, 2017

Call to Order: 6:30 at Perkins Restaurant

Members Present: Lynn Heller (President), Kendra Debany (Vice President), Eleanor Bilz (Recording Secretary), Dave Diner (Treasurer), Ron Rock (Nominating Committee), Larry Plymire (Book Committee),
Board Members: Dale Molina, Fred Hawthorne, Hilda Koontz
Linda Joswick, Web Master
Dave Joswick, Newsletter

Preliminaries:

Lynn noted that our budget is in good shape. See Treasurer’s report below. And, that the cost of the Holiday Banquet remains at $32.00, the same as last year. Also, we received a thank you letter for our $500 donation to the ACHS.

Reports:

Treasurer- Dave We have a balance of $12,004.37 which includes funds collected for Holiday Banquet and Preservation Fund.
Secretary- Lynn reported on behalf of Linda Seamen that we have 203 members for 2017.
Programs- Lynn reported for Roger that our next speaker is David Dixon on “The Other Gettysburg Address.”
Plaque Committee- Kendra reported that there are four applications pending, but have been ongoing for some time.
Book Committee- Larry will announce the Book Award recipient at the Banquet.

Unfinished Business:

Proposed amendment to our By-Laws: The Vice President will serve a two-year term with an option for renewal on a year-to-year basis for no more than four years. This will be voted on at the November 16th meeting.

New Business:

We will include a year-to-date financial statement in the January newsletter.

Larry Plymire spent $120.00 of his own money on materials for the Book Award Committee. A motion was made to reimburse Larry for this expenditure.
Discussion: Some of the book committee members do not use the computer to forward their reviews. Therefore, in order for Larry to share the reviews with everyone, he makes copies and mails out the information.

A motion was made by Eleanor Bilz to reimburse him and seconded by Ron Rock. However, next year if computers are not used, Linda Joswick will do the scanning and all reviews will be sent out by email to the Book Committee members.

Email address has changed: ljply37@gmail.com

There are no more Book Award Trophy’s and frames for speakers. This will have to be added to the budget. We will look at trophy catalogues. A question was asked as to whether we needed frames. Lynn will continue to purchase frames as our budget remains in good shape.

Adjournment:

All business being covered, President Lynn Heller declared the meeting adjourned at 7:00 p.m.

The next meeting of the Board is January 11, 2018 at Perkins.

Respectfully submitted,
Ellie Cingire Bilz, Recording Secretary

Gettysburg Civil War Roundtable
Board Meeting Minutes
September 14, 2017

Call to Order: 6:10 at Perkins Restaurant

Members Present: Lynn Heller (President), Kendra Debany (Vice President), Eleanor Bilz (Recording Secretary), Dave Diner (Treasurer), Ron Rock (Nominating Committee), Roger Heller (Program Committee)
Board Members: Dale Molina, Linda Joswick, Web Master, Dave Joswick, Newsletter

Reports

Treasurer - Dave: We have a balance of $11,130.46. We are $700.00 ahead due to the Preservation Fund. Our Operational Fund is ahead due to monies from the Antietam Trip. Our budget for the year is $3,000.00 and we are at $2400.00.

Secretary - Lynn reporting for Linda: 189 members for 2017, including 65 lifetime members.

Programs - Roger:

Our September speaker is Kathleen Thompson – “How Mental Trauma and Insanity were Treated during the Civil War.”

Speakers for 2018 are confirmed and Dave will include the list in the newsletter. If no book is awarded, Roger will provide an additional speaker.

Our next field trip is April 28.

Our summer program is lined up, including rain dates for each of the outdoor programs.

Plaque Committee - Kendra reporting for Deb: There is nothing new to report.

Cal Doucette Achievement Award-Ron will present Barbara Finfrock with the award at the September meeting.

Nominating Committee - Ellie will run again as recording secretary for a two-year term, Dave will run again as treasurer for a two-year term and Hilda will run as board member for a three-year term.

Ron will not return to board seat nor committee heads for the Cal Doucette Achievement Award Committee or the Nominating Committee.

Unfinished Business:

Al Ferranto has a volunteer for our five-minute Show and Tell segment at September meeting.

New Business:

The cost of our Christmas party will remain the same as last year, $32.00 per person, which will include a ticket for a chance for a door prize.

New meeting start time is 7:00 p.m. with refreshments at 6:30.

Adjournment:

All business being covered, President Lynn Heller declared the meeting adjourned at 6:40 p.m.

The next meeting of the Board is November 9 at Perkins.

Respectfully submitted,
Ellie Cingire Bilz, Recording Secretary

Gettysburg Civil War Roundtable
Board Meeting Minutes
July 13, 2017

Call to Order: 6:30 at Perkins Restaurant

Members Present: Lynn Heller (President), Linda Seamon (Correspondent Secretary), Eleanor Bilz (Recording Secretary), Dave Diner (Treasurer), Ron Rock (Nominating Committee), Larry Plymire (Book Committee), Roger Heller (Program Committee)
Board Members: Dale Molina, Fred Hawthorne,
Linda Joswick, Web Master
Dave Joswick, Newsletter

Preliminaries

Lynn thanked Dave Joswick for donating laptop to our Roundtable.

Reports

Treasurer- Dave We have a balance of $12,320.67 which includes funds remaining from our recent field trip.

Secretary- Linda said we have 186 members for 2017, including 65 lifetime members.

Programs- June’s on the field program was with Sue Boardman.

July 27th’s on the field program will be John Hoptak, the 12th New Hampshire. Meet at the Pennsylvania Monument.

August 24th’s on the field will be with Caitlin Kostic Brown, discussing Berdan’s Sharpshooters.

Roger contacted and confirmed our September and October speakers and is putting together the 2018 schedule.

Roger is considering our next field trip. The guide would be Scott Mingus to talk about Early’s Division in Wrightsville, with lunch on our own. Further on he is considering a rip to Monocacy and the Civil War Medical Museum in Frederick, Md.

Plaque Committee- Kendra was absent—no report

Book Committee- Larry said members are reading their books and nothing further to report.

Cal Doucette Achievement Award-Ron will present Barbara Finfrock with the award at the September meeting.

Unfinished Business:

At our last meeting, Roger made a motion to donate monies as follows:

Bill Hewitt had suggested making a contribution to the Foundation towards the construction of a trail from the Visitor’s Center to the George Spangler Farm. Discussed and tabled for the time being.

Roger then made a motion that the monies might go to the ACHS museum capital campaign. To ensure that this project gets enough financing to go forward, it was suggested that we specify that this $500 donation is ear-marked only for the capital campaign. If the project does not go through, we can then determine if this donation can be used for another purpose. Dale seconded this motion. Dale Molina will ask Ben Neely if it would be convenient for him to attend the October meeting to receive the donation.

After some discussion Larry made a motion to change the bylaws regarding the term of the Vice President; it was decided that the bylaws should mirror that of the President. The Vice President will serve a two-year term with an option for renewal on a year-to-year basis for no more than four years. Roger seconded this motion. This will be brought up at the September and October meetings and voted on at the November meeting.

Lynn announced that Bill Hewitt may not be able to provide the roundtable with witness tree frames. After we have used our existing supply, the frames will be store bought.

Adjournment:

All business being covered, President Lynn Heller declared the meeting adjourned at 7:00 p.m.

The next meeting of the Board is September 14 at Perkins.

Respectfully submitted,
Ellie Cingire Bilz, Recording Secretary

Gettysburg Civil War Roundtable
Board Meeting Minutes
May 11, 2017

Called to Order: 6:30 p.m. at Perkins

Members present: Lynn Heller (President), Kendra Debany (Vice President), Linda Seamon ( Corresponding Secretary), Eleanor Bilz ( Recording Secretary) Ron Rock ( Nominating Committee & Award Chair), Larry Plymire (Book Committee), Roger Heller ( Program Committee)
Board Members: Dale Molina, Hilda Koontz, Fred Hawthorne. Linda Joswick ( Web Master) and Dave Joswick ( Newsletter).

Preliminaries

Lynn welcomed back Fred Hawthorne, former President, Vice President, and most recently Secretary of the roundtable.
Lynn ran through a review of Agenda items from the last Board meeting:
- Our roundtable will donate $500.00 to “Save Historical Antietam Foundation” on our May field trip.
- Financial audit for 2016 completed. All in order. Budget on target. Treasurer’s report was passed out.
- Al Ferranto will be contact person for Show and Tell starting in September.
- Need for a designated laptop discussed. Hilda donated a laptop which is being checked out by Hank Seamon to see if it will meet our needs. Dave Joswick reported that he has one that we may be able to use. Roger will contact him if necessary.

Reports

Treasurer: Dave was not at the meeting but Lynn presented his report. We have a balance of
$13, 260.64 from all funds, which includes funds for our upcoming trip.

Secretary: Linda said we have 182 members for 2017, including 67 lifetime members; thirty three former members from 2016 have not renewed and therefore, will no longer receive newsletters.

Programs: Roger said our May speaker is Dr. Brian Jordan, “Marching Home”. Our June “in the field” program will be presented by Sue Boardman who will conduct a tour on Culp’s Hill.
Roger announced a switch in our July and August summer programs: July’s program will be the 12th New Hampshire presented by John Hoptak August will be Caitlin Kostic Brown, discussing Berdan’s Sharpshooters.

Field Trip: We will meet on May 20th at 7:30 a.m. at the Walmart parking lot.
We are going to Antietam and Roger has contacted Tom Clemens, Chairman of the “Save Historical Antietam Foundation.” He will meet us at Antietam to receive a
$500.00 donation from our roundtable.

Plaque Committee: Kendra is working on a number of applications. She ordered ten plaques at a cost of $933.00.

Book Committee: Larry and members are reading their books and had nothing further to report.

Cal Doucette Achievement Award: Ron announced that Barbara Finfrock will be the recipient and has been notified. The award will be presented in September.

Unfinished business: No unfinished business.

New Business:

Lynn suggested two projects for consideration for preservation donations:

Bill Hewitt has suggested making a contribution to NPS towards the construction of a trail from the Visitor’s Center to the George Spangler Farm. Fred Hawthorne raised the
issue that the land might in fact belong to the Foundation and our donation could end up in the NPS general funds instead of used towards the trail. Lynn will investigate who indeed owns the land through which the trail will be built, before any donation is made.

Route 30 Mural preservations fund sought. An effort to preserve the art work at Gettysburg Shopping Center on West Street, as the paint is peeling. This is in the early stages and we are not sure if the work will actually take place. Further investigation is needed.

Roger made a motion to table consideration for donations to these two projects until more information is obtained. Ellie 2nd.

Lynn brought up the upcoming “Show and Tell” which will take place at our monthly meetings. It should last no longer than a couple of minutes; 5 minutes tops. All were in agreement.

Kendra brought up the fact that some believe that too much time is spent at the beginning of the meetings on business reports. It was decided that only those committee chairs with pertinent information to share will be called upon to make a report. Also the number of books for raffle will be reduced to save time.

A discussion also arose about changing the start time of the meetings. After discussion, Roger made a motion that refreshments will be ready at 6:30 p.m. and the meeting will begin at 7:00 p.m., starting in September. Ellie 2nd. and all voted approval. Kendra will announce this at the May meeting, and Lynn will announce at the 3 summer programs. It will be published in the July and September newsletters, and posted on the web page.

The term of President Heller’s was clarified: Lynn will serve for a 2 year term, with the option of renewing on a year to year basis for no more than a total of four years.

After some discussion on changing By-Laws regarding the term of of the Vice President, (from one year, renewable for one year,) to be up for discussion at the July meeting, proposing the Vice President will will serve a two year term with an option for renewal on a year to year basis for no more than a total of four years. This will sink up the President’s and Vice President’s terms of office. It will be announced at the September and October meetings and voted upon at the November meeting. It will be published in the November newsletter.

Adjournment:

All business being covered, President Lynn Heller declared the meeting adjourned at 7:30 p.m.

The next meeting of the Board is July 13th at Perkins.

Respectfully submitted,
Ellie Cingire Bilz, Recording Secretary

Gettysburg Civil War Roundtable
Board Meeting Minutes
March 9, 2017

Called to Order: 6:30 p.m. at Perkins

Members Present: Lynn Heller, (President), Roger Heller (Program Chair), Linda Seamon (Correspondent Secretary), Dave Diner (Treasurer),
Eleanor Bilz (Recording Secretary).

Board Members: Dale Molina, Larry Plymire, Larry Korczyk (last meeting as Board member)

Al Ferranto, Guest

Preliminaries

Lynn briefly reviewed business issues from last meeting.

PayPal was set up for field trip

Larry gave out book review guidelines

Reports

Treasurer- Dave passed out financial statement. We have balance of $13,097.47. Additional funds are due to monies deposited for our upcoming field trip.

Secretary- Linda said she emailed or called delinquent members. We have 90 paid members and just added 7 new members for a total of 97 paid members for 2017. We have 37 from 2016 who have not renewed their membership.

Recording Secretary: Ellie had nothing to report.

Programs- Roger handed out the speaker list for the remainder of 2017. All of them are confirmed save the October speaker. If he cannot do his talk due to work commitments, Roger has a back-up speaker. Roger mentioned that in considering speakers and topics, he wishes to hear not just about the battle, but about people. He also wishes to see more women speakers. For our summer speakers, he set up rain dates, due to a history of inclement weather at past summer meetings.

Plaque Committee- At the last meeting, Kendra said the cost of the plaques is $933 for 10 plaques plus a one-time charge of $85 to remake the mold which disintegrated over the years.

At that point, Dave suggested using the preservation fund monies for the plaques and then reimbursing the fund as the plaques are sold and a motion was made to table the discussion of whether is use the monies in the preservation fund to pay for the plaques. However, at this meeting, Dave said he and his wife decided to make a donation of $1,000 to cover the cost of the plaques. Larry made a motion to use income from the sale of the plaques to go into the preservation fund to be used for purchase of future plaques. Linda seconded the motion and it was passed by all.

Book Committee- Larry put together and distributed a guideline for the book award program. He has 11 books and possibly three more will be forthcoming. He has 10 readers in his committee. It was noted during this discussion that there may not be any more “witness wood” available for future trophies.

Cal Doucette Achievement Award-Ron was absent but there was nothing to report.

Nominating Committee- Ron was absent but Lynn announced that Chuck Teague put forth his name as President. Lynn suggests that we not announce Chuck’s name to the membership yet, in the hope that others may step forward for this position.

Unfinished Business:

Items listed on the agenda as unfinished business were mostly covered under the committee report section.

Lynn will put together an updated list of Committee Chairs and members for the President’s Binder.

As part of our field trip, $500.00 of the Preservation Fund monies will be used as a donation to the Save Historical Antietam Foundation.

Linda reported that the Audit Committee did a financial review of our books and complimented Dave on a fine job of keeping track of our finances. She provided a written report to Lynn and will give an oral report at the April meeting.

New Business:

Al Ferranto asked to address the Board. He proposed reinstating the Show and Tell portion of the meeting with a maximum of 10 minutes to discuss the item(s). He offered to be the contact for such requests and to put an ad in the Gettysburg Times. If there is no presenter for a particular meeting, Al will bring in items of interest that he possesses.

Roger brought up the need for updated equipment for our speakers. He purchased a new cable for the laptop and a remote for switching PowerPoint slides while speaking. He is absorbing the cost as a donation to the Roundtable. However, he mentioned the need for a designated laptop so that speakers need only bring a flash drive to our meetings. A discussion followed on ways to achieve this. Purchase outright? Ask for monies to be donated? Ask for a used laptop in working condition? No decision was made at this time.

Roger mentioned that there might only be one seat left on the bus for our field trip.

At this time Lynn thanked all the Board members for their hard and dedicated work, and that it was a pleasure to work with them all for the past two years.

Adjournment:
All business being covered, President Lynn Heller declared the meeting adjourned.

The next meeting of the Board is on May 11th at Perkins.

May 23
Lisa Samia
The Nameless & Faceless of the Civil War in Poetry

June 8 (Saturday 9:30 am to noon)
Fred Hawthorne
Places Every Guide Should Know: Hancock Avenue Edition

June 27 (Rain date June 28)
Jasan Hileman
Red Carroll's Brigade

July 25 (Rain date July29)
Larry Korcyzk
The Wheatﬁeld — Part 2

August 22 (Rain date August 26)
Ralph Seigel
11th Corps Program TBA

September 26
Derek Maxfield
General William T. Sherman's Civil War

October 24
Carolyn Ivanoff
We Fought at Gettysburg: the 17th CT Regiment

November 21
John Heiser
The George Rose Farm of Gettysburg

December 5 - Holiday Banquet
Charles Fennell
Culp's Hill "Rediscovered"

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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

Meeting date: April 25, 2024

SPEAKERS

Board Meeting Minutes

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Read the complete issue here.

You can view videos of past meetings on FaceBook at https://www.facebook.com/CivilWarRoundTableOfGettysburg/live/

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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