Sons of the American Revolution

Texas Society

James T. Jones' Address to the 2010 State Conference

Thank you.  Many times this past year, Tom has told me it was time for me to take over for him.  Of course I knew he was not serious, but now that he has completed his year as State President, I would like to be the first to recognize him for his outstanding service.  Former State President Tom Lawrence please step forward.  Tom, this is the Past State President’s pin to be worn on your neck ribbon.  This is in recognition of your hard work and dedication as State President during the past year.  I know the entire Texas Society joins me in expressing our thanks and appreciation for your many accomplishments.

I am pleased to have members of my family here tonight and I ask that they briefly stand when I introduce them.  My sister in law, Dianne’s sister, Sherry Hall is here.  She lives in Madisonville with her dog Precious, works in College Station, and spends a lot of time with us. 

My son James is here.  When he played high school football, Ed “Too Tall” Jones played for the Dallas Cowboys.  You can see why he was nick named “Too Tall”.  I will assure you it had nothing to do with his playing ability.  My daughter Cindy Rimmer is also here.  She is a very loving, caring daughter.  Shortly after my Mother died, my Father broke his ankle.  Cindy moved in with him and cared for him until he was able to care for himself.  My granddaughters, Lauren and Kaitlin Rimmer, are also here.  Lauren was four years old when Dianne and I married.  She was our flower girl, and while the minister was saying the vows, Lauren was tapping Dianne on the backside, looking up at her and saying “Granny, Granny”.  I do not remember what she wanted, but she probably wanted to know what she was to do next.  Kaitlin was born after Dianne and I were married, and we both have had the privilege of spoiling her.  She is an animal lover and volunteers at the local animal humane society.  Lauren’s 2 year old son Anthony is not with us tonight, so his mother, grandmother, and great grandmother can enjoy the banquet.

Also here tonight is my cousin Thomas Taylor and his wife Linda.  Tom’s mother, Gladys, who is my Aunt, is the reason I am here tonight.  In the mid 1980’s she got me interested in the Cloud Family Association, which is a national organization of Cloud descendents.  Her mother and my grandmother was a Cloud.  This peaked my interest in Family History and she introduced me to Jim Boone, a member of the Independence Chapter in College Station.  Jim discussed membership and told me to contact Tom Green of the Paul Carrington and PineyWoods chapters (the one we call the original Tom Green).  With Tom Green and Kim Morton’s help, I became a member in 1997 through the use of my Aunt’s DAR application.  Aunt Gladys was always interested in my activity with the SAR, and I always shared new research discoveries with her.  She passed away last year at 93.  It is real pleasure to have Tom and Linda here tonight.

My wife Dianne is here.  She is my inspiration.  Many of you know her because she accompanies me to chapter, state, and national functions.  She is an active member of the Ladies Auxiliary, marches in the George Washington parade in Laredo in her period dress, helps raise money for the Patriots Fund, and supports me 100%.  She will do whatever she can to help the Texas Society.  She will make a great First Lady.  Thanks to Barbara Stevens and Marty Cox, she recently became a member of the DAR.  I might add her application was approved in 3 weeks.  Joe, that was three weeks.

Thanks to my family for being here tonight.  We have always been there for each other.

I appreciate President General Ed Butler and his beautiful wife Robin being with us tonight.  Thank you also to PG Nathan White for being here.  Nathan continues to be very active in the Texas Society and fills a number of leadership positions.

One of the many advantages of being State President is the opportunity to visit chapters and meet the local compatriots that make the Texas Society strong.  The local chapter is where youth are encouraged to participate, local public servants are recognized, school programs are presented, History teachers are honored, and state and national SAR leaders are developed.  Unless we visit the local chapters, we do not have the opportunity to visit with those Compatriots who are unable to attend state and national meetings.  Dianne and I plan to attend as many Chapter functions as possible, so please notify me of your functions so we can arrange our schedules to be with you.

We have had a great year under Tom’s leadership.  I plan to continue the efficient meetings that Harry and Tom started.  During 2009 our membership increased by 100 and donations to the Patriot Fund were greater than previous years.  There is no reason why we can not continue that growth in 2010.  We need to contact our non paying members and encourage them to pay their 2010 dues.  The Dallas Chapter is very effective in collecting dues from their delinquent members through the use of their “dues team”.  District VP’s can benefit from the Dallas Chapter’s system by contacting Ralph McDowell.  We need to continually identify potential members, encourage them to apply, and assist them with their applications.  The DAR is our greatest source of new members.  We need to continue to foster our relationship with the DAR.

We need to continue our Patriot Fund raising activity as in the past.  Charles Luna and his Patriot Fund Endowment and Fund Raising Committee have worked very hard to contact and solicit donations from corporations and foundations and develop fund raising packages.  The economy has prevented us from receiving donations, but with the turn around in the economy we are optimistic that donations will be forth coming.  David Bowles of the San Antonio Chapter took the initiative to contact a major San Antonio Corporation and a donation request was sent to them by our State Treasurer.  The Donation request was favorably received but the economic conditions prevented them from making a donation in 2009.  They did encourage us to send another request this year.  Charles and his committee need your help in contacting local corporations and foundations as David did in San Antonio.  Corporate and foundation grants can help us reach out to more youth and increase the number and amount of scholarships we provide.  They will provide more earnings to reward more History Teachers and to increase the number and amount of savings bonds for our Poster Contest winners.  We need more people like David Bowles to step out of their comfort zones and contact their local corporations and foundations and sell the Texas Society’s programs.

We also need to contact schools in our local community to encourage participation in our Youth Programs and the American History Teacher contest.  We need to recognize those public servants who help provide us a safer place to live with Public Service Medals and to recognize local businesses and individuals who properly fly Patriotic Flags with flag certificates.

Our Color Guard is one of our most visible assets.  We are fortunate to have Compatriots who devote considerable time to Color Guard activities through out the state of Texas and the Nation.  This is a fun group that provides significant name recognition to the SAR.  A good example is the annual George Washington parade in Laredo that was attended by over 20 Color Guard members and ladies in period dress during the past two years.  Many of them traveled from other States to participate in the largest George Washington parade in the world with 300,000 to 400,000 people lining the parade route.  Color guard members participate in school programs, naturalization ceremonies, parades, and many other activities.  If you do not belong to a color guard, think about joining one.

One of the tough decisions President Tom Lawrence and the Board of Managers made during 2009 was to provide the State Newsletter electronically.  The cost of mailing 2,700 copies of the newsletter was increasing and was requiring a significant part of our budget.  One alternative was to raise dues to cover the cost, but no one was in favor of a dues increase.  So, the decision was made to mail copies only to those Compatriots who submitted a written request for a mailed copy.  Copies are also mailed to each chapter and the chapters are encouraged to make the copy available to their members who do not have an email address.  At the recent National Leadership meeting, I learned, while attending the Council of State President’s meeting, that only one State (of those with Presidents attending) was mailing newsletters to all of their members.  Very few States mailed copies to any of their members.  We have an outstanding newsletter, thanks to Newsletter Editor Larry Stevens and his number one assistant Barbara, and we could not afford to mail that caliber of newsletter in color.  Communication is so important, so we must ensure our Chapters are making the newsletter available to their members.

In this day and time when many believe our freedoms are threatened and a small group of people are trying to remove God from our society, we need to take an active part.  Not partisan political involvement, other than casting our ballots for those we believe in, but delivering our message at every opportunity.  As a patriotic, historic organization we must continue to educate the public of the role of our Founding Fathers in shaping this great country of ours.  School programs and our Youth Contests encourage our school age children to learn about the American Revolution and understand the importance of the sacrifices of our Founding Fathers. 

In a speech to the New York Ratifying Convention in June, 1788, Alexander Hamilton stated:  It was remarked yesterday that a numerous representation was necessary to obtain the confidence of the people.  This is not generally true.  The confidence of the people will easily be gained by a good administration.  I repeat:  The confidence of the people will easily be gained by a good administration.  When was the last time we had a good administration in Washington D.C. that gained the confidence of the people?  Administrations include all political parties:  Democrats, Independents and Republicans.  As Tom Lawrence stated in his address last year “If we want to inspire and strengthen our succeeding generations to defend our freedoms we are going to have to do it the same way our founding fathers and mothers did, with sacrifice and hard work.”  It starts with each of us.

Thank you for electing me your President this year.  I am here to serve you.  God bless each of you.  God bless America and God bless the SAR.