VIRGINIA SAR COLOR GUARD
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LATEST NEWS
Virginia Guardsmen, I trust this message finds you and your family staying well and safe during this unusual time. As of this writing, we've just been informed that the 2020 Congress has been canceled. And, as this latest news indicates, our Society has experienced unique challenges however I'm proud to observe that we've innovated equally unique approaches and solutions. By now, VASSAR Chapters have held a number of virtual - only and, more recently combination of virtual and live events as Virginia begins a phased return to normalcy. Thank you all for your creativity, and Patriotic endeavors as we continue our VASSAR Color Guard mission! Fraternally, Ken
Virginia Guardsmen, I trust this message finds you and your family staying well and safe during this unusual time. As of this writing, we've just been informed that the 2020 Congress has been canceled. And, as this latest news indicates, our Society has experienced unique challenges however I'm proud to observe that we've innovated equally unique approaches and solutions. By now, VASSAR Chapters have held a number of virtual - only and, more recently combination of virtual and live events as Virginia begins a phased return to normalcy. Thank you all for your creativity, and Patriotic endeavors as we continue our VASSAR Color Guard mission! Fraternally, Ken
Compatriot Paul Chase, with the Col William Grayson Chapter, was the guest speaker at the January 16, 2020 Annual Manassas Volunteer of the Year Dinner at the Red Barn Galleria, attended by 93 community and business leaders from the area.
He spoke on the contributions of American women to the success of the Revolution.
VASSAR Color Guard Change of Command Semi-Annual Meeting 14 September, 2019 |
Brett Osborn of the Colonel James Wood II Chapter was unanimously voted the Virginia SAR Color Guardsman of the Year for 2018
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Gary Green of North Carolina, a dual member of the Virginia Society, was selected as the NSSAR Color Guardsman of the Year at Spring Leadership.
COLOR GUARD SCHEDULE
July 18, 2020 Saturday (11 am) - 246th Commemoration of the Signing of the Fairfax Resolves
Location: Pohick Church, 9301 Richmond Highway, Lorton, VA 22079 (US 1 & Telegraph Road)
Details: This Chapter-level event honoring the memory of the signers of the Fairfax Resolves. POC is Dave Cook, 1st VP Fairfax Resolves Chapter, 1stvp@fairfaxresolvessar.org.
Weather: Hot and sunny - classic 4th of July!
Attendees: Bonner
Location: Pohick Church, 9301 Richmond Highway, Lorton, VA 22079 (US 1 & Telegraph Road)
Details: This Chapter-level event honoring the memory of the signers of the Fairfax Resolves. POC is Dave Cook, 1st VP Fairfax Resolves Chapter, 1stvp@fairfaxresolvessar.org.
Weather: Hot and sunny - classic 4th of July!
Attendees: Bonner
August 8, 2020 Saturday (10 am) - Atlantic Middle State Association (AMSA)
Location: This event is now a virtual event held Saturday August the 8th, from 10:00 am - 12:30 pm. Linkage to the virtual meeting will be posted to the AMSA and SAR web sites before the end of June. I will also post the link(s) here when I receive.
Details: This is a Mid-Atlantic Region event, hosted locally by the DC Society NSSAR. The virtual meeting will also include General Officer candidate Presentations and state president updates. Registered attendance at the virtual meeting counts towards the AMSA Silver Membership Medal.
Weather:
Attendees: Bonner, Schwetke
Location: This event is now a virtual event held Saturday August the 8th, from 10:00 am - 12:30 pm. Linkage to the virtual meeting will be posted to the AMSA and SAR web sites before the end of June. I will also post the link(s) here when I receive.
Details: This is a Mid-Atlantic Region event, hosted locally by the DC Society NSSAR. The virtual meeting will also include General Officer candidate Presentations and state president updates. Registered attendance at the virtual meeting counts towards the AMSA Silver Membership Medal.
Weather:
Attendees: Bonner, Schwetke
August 15 - 16, 2020 Saturday - Sunday - 32nd Annual Nansemond Pow Wow - CANCELED
Location: 1001 Pembroke Lane, Suffolk, VA
Details: Date, time and agenda to be confirmed. This Chapter-level event hosted by the Nansemond Indian Patriot Chapter, VASSAR.
Weather:
Attendees:
Location: 1001 Pembroke Lane, Suffolk, VA
Details: Date, time and agenda to be confirmed. This Chapter-level event hosted by the Nansemond Indian Patriot Chapter, VASSAR.
Weather:
Attendees:
September 5, 2020 Saturday - 239th Commemoration of the Battle of the Capes
Location: Norfolk, VA
Details: Date, time and agenda to be confirmed. The Battle of the Chesapeake, also known as the Battle of the Virginia Capes or simply the Battle of the Capes, was a crucial naval battle in the American Revolutionary War that took place near the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay on 5 September 1781. The combatants were a British fleet led by Rear Admiral Sir Thomas Graves and a French fleet led by Rear Admiral Francois Joseph Paul, the Comte de Grasse. The battle was strategically decisive, in that it prevented the Royal Navy from reinforcing or evacuating the besieged forces of Lieutenant General Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown, Virginia. The French were able to achieve control of the sea lanes against the British and provided the Franco-American army with siege artillery and French reinforcements. These proved decisive in the Siege of Yorktown, effectively securing independence for the Thirteen Colonies.
Weather:
Attendees: Schwetke
Location: Norfolk, VA
Details: Date, time and agenda to be confirmed. The Battle of the Chesapeake, also known as the Battle of the Virginia Capes or simply the Battle of the Capes, was a crucial naval battle in the American Revolutionary War that took place near the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay on 5 September 1781. The combatants were a British fleet led by Rear Admiral Sir Thomas Graves and a French fleet led by Rear Admiral Francois Joseph Paul, the Comte de Grasse. The battle was strategically decisive, in that it prevented the Royal Navy from reinforcing or evacuating the besieged forces of Lieutenant General Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown, Virginia. The French were able to achieve control of the sea lanes against the British and provided the Franco-American army with siege artillery and French reinforcements. These proved decisive in the Siege of Yorktown, effectively securing independence for the Thirteen Colonies.
Weather:
Attendees: Schwetke
September 12, 2020 - President General Wreath Laying at ANC
Location: Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Arlington National Cemetery
Details: This is a National - level event. Date, time and agenda to be confirmed.
Weather:
Attendees: Bonner, Schwetke
Location: Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Arlington National Cemetery
Details: This is a National - level event. Date, time and agenda to be confirmed.
Weather:
Attendees: Bonner, Schwetke
September 12, 2020 Saturday (10 am) - The Gathering at Sycamore Shoals
Location: Sycamore Shoals State Historic Park, 1651 W Elk Avenue, Elizabethton, TN
Details: This is a National - level event, hosted by the Kings Mountain Chapter TNSSAR. The year was 1780. The tide of the Revolution had turned against the colonists. The British, forced out of New England, gained new allies in the divided South and won victory after victory in a bloody civil war. Charleston had fallen, and American forces had crumbled at the battle of Camden. But then the impossible occurred…The frontiersmen of the western mountains began a long march, gathering an army along the way, from the highlands of Virginia to the hills of South Carolina. At a place called King’s Mountain, they destroyed British forces and opened the way for the final American victory at Yorktown. The point-of-contact is David Carr, and he can be reached at choirboy44@live.com.
Weather:
Attendees:
Location: Sycamore Shoals State Historic Park, 1651 W Elk Avenue, Elizabethton, TN
Details: This is a National - level event, hosted by the Kings Mountain Chapter TNSSAR. The year was 1780. The tide of the Revolution had turned against the colonists. The British, forced out of New England, gained new allies in the divided South and won victory after victory in a bloody civil war. Charleston had fallen, and American forces had crumbled at the battle of Camden. But then the impossible occurred…The frontiersmen of the western mountains began a long march, gathering an army along the way, from the highlands of Virginia to the hills of South Carolina. At a place called King’s Mountain, they destroyed British forces and opened the way for the final American victory at Yorktown. The point-of-contact is David Carr, and he can be reached at choirboy44@live.com.
Weather:
Attendees:
September 18 - 19, 2020 Friday - Saturday - VASSAR Semi-Annual Meeting
Location: Berry Hill Plantation Resort & Conference Center, 3105 River Road, South Boston, VA
Details: This is a State - level event, hosted by the Virginia Society SAR. Among the agenda, we will conduct a Color Guard Workshop Friday evening, followed by the President's Reception and, I understand, a fireworks display. If you plan to attend, please send me an email at ken.l.bonner@gmail.com for planning purposes. More details to follow.
Weather:
Attendees: Bonner, Schwetke
Location: Berry Hill Plantation Resort & Conference Center, 3105 River Road, South Boston, VA
Details: This is a State - level event, hosted by the Virginia Society SAR. Among the agenda, we will conduct a Color Guard Workshop Friday evening, followed by the President's Reception and, I understand, a fireworks display. If you plan to attend, please send me an email at ken.l.bonner@gmail.com for planning purposes. More details to follow.
Weather:
Attendees: Bonner, Schwetke
October 3 - 4, 2020 Saturday - Sunday - 246th Commemoration of the Battle of Point Pleasant
Location: Point Pleasant, WV
Details: This is a National - level event, of interest to the VASSAR.
Weather:
Attendees: Bonner, Schwetke
Location: Point Pleasant, WV
Details: This is a National - level event, of interest to the VASSAR.
Weather:
Attendees: Bonner, Schwetke
October 7, 2020 Wednesday (11 am) - 240th Commemoration of the Battle of Kings Mountain
Location: Kings Mountain National Military Park, 2625 Park Road, Blacksburg, SC.
Details: This is a National - level event, of interest to the VASSAR and co-hosted by the SCSSAR and NCSSAR. The Battle of Kings Mountain was a military engagement between Patriot and Loyalist militias in South Carolina during the Southern Campaign of the American Revolutionary War, resulting in a decisive victory for the Patriots. The battle took place on October 7, 1780, 9 miles (14 km) south of the present-day town of Kings Mountain, North Carolina in what is now rural Cherokee County, South Carolina, where the Patriot militia defeated the Loyalist militia commanded by British Major Patrick Ferguson of the 71st Foot. The battle has been described as "the war’s largest all-American fight".
Weather:
Attendees: Schwetke
Location: Kings Mountain National Military Park, 2625 Park Road, Blacksburg, SC.
Details: This is a National - level event, of interest to the VASSAR and co-hosted by the SCSSAR and NCSSAR. The Battle of Kings Mountain was a military engagement between Patriot and Loyalist militias in South Carolina during the Southern Campaign of the American Revolutionary War, resulting in a decisive victory for the Patriots. The battle took place on October 7, 1780, 9 miles (14 km) south of the present-day town of Kings Mountain, North Carolina in what is now rural Cherokee County, South Carolina, where the Patriot militia defeated the Loyalist militia commanded by British Major Patrick Ferguson of the 71st Foot. The battle has been described as "the war’s largest all-American fight".
Weather:
Attendees: Schwetke
October 9 - 11, 2020 Friday (9 am) - Sunday (3 pm) - Wildnerness Road/Raid at Martin's Station - Rescheduled!
Location: 8051 Wilderness Road, Ewing, VA
Details: This is a National - level event sponsored by the VASSAR and hosted by the Friends of Wilderness Road State Park. Saturday the 9th events begin with the raising of colors and wreath laying at 10 am. Re-enactment battles are held at 1 pm and 8:30 pm. Parking is $10 per vehicle admission on Friday and Saturday and $4 on Sunday.
Weather:
Attendees: Bonner, Schwetke
Location: 8051 Wilderness Road, Ewing, VA
Details: This is a National - level event sponsored by the VASSAR and hosted by the Friends of Wilderness Road State Park. Saturday the 9th events begin with the raising of colors and wreath laying at 10 am. Re-enactment battles are held at 1 pm and 8:30 pm. Parking is $10 per vehicle admission on Friday and Saturday and $4 on Sunday.
Weather:
Attendees: Bonner, Schwetke
October 17, 2020 Saturday - 239th Commemoration of the Battle of Yorktown
(9:15 AM) - Yorktown - Wreath Laying at Nelson's Tomb;
(10:30 AM) - Yorktown Day Parade
Location: Yorktown, VA
Details: A National Level Event sponsored by the VASSAR. Muster at 8:45 for wreath laying - stakes for flags. Picture will be taken immediately following wreath laying. For parade muster as soon as the wreath laying is over at assigned muster location that will be provided that morning. Another picture, of all parade participants, will be taken just to the left of where we fall out from the parade. Included below are overhead and ground pictures of the muster sites for the Nelson tomb Grace Episcopal Church, and I plan to be at site by 8:30 am. Cmdr, VASSAR Color Guard.
Location: Yorktown, VA
Details: This is a National - level event.
Weather:
Attendees: Bonner, Schwetke
(9:15 AM) - Yorktown - Wreath Laying at Nelson's Tomb;
(10:30 AM) - Yorktown Day Parade
Location: Yorktown, VA
Details: A National Level Event sponsored by the VASSAR. Muster at 8:45 for wreath laying - stakes for flags. Picture will be taken immediately following wreath laying. For parade muster as soon as the wreath laying is over at assigned muster location that will be provided that morning. Another picture, of all parade participants, will be taken just to the left of where we fall out from the parade. Included below are overhead and ground pictures of the muster sites for the Nelson tomb Grace Episcopal Church, and I plan to be at site by 8:30 am. Cmdr, VASSAR Color Guard.
Location: Yorktown, VA
Details: This is a National - level event.
Weather:
Attendees: Bonner, Schwetke
October 24, 2020 Saturday (2 pm) - 41st Anniversary of the Fairfax Resolves Chapter
Location: Historic Fairfax County Courthouse, Fairfax, VA
Details: This Chapter-level event commemorates the founding of the Fairfax Resolves Chapter, SAR. POC is Dave Cook, 1st VP Fairfax Resolves Chapter, 1stvp@fairfaxresolvessar.org.
Weather:
Attendees: Bonner, Cook
Location: Historic Fairfax County Courthouse, Fairfax, VA
Details: This Chapter-level event commemorates the founding of the Fairfax Resolves Chapter, SAR. POC is Dave Cook, 1st VP Fairfax Resolves Chapter, 1stvp@fairfaxresolvessar.org.
Weather:
Attendees: Bonner, Cook
November 11, 2020 (Wednesday) - Veterans Day Commemoration
Location: George Washington's Mount Vernon.
Details: This is a National - level event, organized locally by the George Washington Chapter, VASSAR.
Weather:
Attendees: Bonner, Schwetke
Location: George Washington's Mount Vernon.
Details: This is a National - level event, organized locally by the George Washington Chapter, VASSAR.
Weather:
Attendees: Bonner, Schwetke
November 21, 2020 Saturday - Patriot Grave Markings - SAVE THE DATE!!
We will be doing two significant Grave Marking events on November 21, 2020. One day in Loudoun County to recognize the final resting place for 27 Revolutionary War Patriots and 55 Veterans of the War of 1812.
1st Grave Marking - 10:00 am.
Location: Old Ebenezer Baptist Cemetery, 20421 Airmont Road, Bluemont, VA 20135
Details: This Chapter - level event, also a VASSAR Presidential initiative, is sponsored by the Col William Grayson Chapter, VASSAR. We will mark the graves of Revolutionary War Patriots and 24 War of 1812 Veterans.
Attendees: Bonner, Schwetke
2nd Grave Marking - 1:30 pm
Location: Ketoctin Baptist Church, 16595 Ketoctin Church Road, Purcellville, VA20132
Details: This Chapter - level event, also a VASSAR Presidential initiative, is sponsored by the Col William Grayson Chapter, VASSAR. We will mark the graves of Revolutionary War Patriots and War of 1812 Veterans.
Attendees: Bonner, Schwetke
Weather:
We will be doing two significant Grave Marking events on November 21, 2020. One day in Loudoun County to recognize the final resting place for 27 Revolutionary War Patriots and 55 Veterans of the War of 1812.
1st Grave Marking - 10:00 am.
Location: Old Ebenezer Baptist Cemetery, 20421 Airmont Road, Bluemont, VA 20135
Details: This Chapter - level event, also a VASSAR Presidential initiative, is sponsored by the Col William Grayson Chapter, VASSAR. We will mark the graves of Revolutionary War Patriots and 24 War of 1812 Veterans.
Attendees: Bonner, Schwetke
2nd Grave Marking - 1:30 pm
Location: Ketoctin Baptist Church, 16595 Ketoctin Church Road, Purcellville, VA20132
Details: This Chapter - level event, also a VASSAR Presidential initiative, is sponsored by the Col William Grayson Chapter, VASSAR. We will mark the graves of Revolutionary War Patriots and War of 1812 Veterans.
Attendees: Bonner, Schwetke
Weather:
December 5, 2020 (Saturday) - 245th Commemoration of the Battle of Great Bridge
Location: Chesapeake, VA
Details: This is a State - level event, of interest to the VASSAR and commemorating the Battle of Great Bridge was fought December 9, 1775, in the area of Great Bridge, Virginia, early in the American Revolutionary War. The victory by colonial Virginia militia forces led to the departure of Royal Governor Lord Dunmore and any remaining vestiges of British power over the Colony of Virginia during the early days of the conflict. Following increasing political and military tensions in early 1775, both Dunmore and colonial rebel leaders recruited troops and engaged in a struggle for available military supplies. The struggle eventually focused on Norfolk, where Dunmore had taken refuge aboard a Royal Navy vessel. Dunmore's forces had fortified one side of a critical river crossing south of Norfolk at Great Bridge, while rebel forces had occupied the other side. In an attempt to break up the rebel gathering, Dunmore ordered an attack across the bridge, which was decisively repulsed. Colonel William Woodford, the Virginia militia commander at the battle, described it as "a second Bunker's Hill affair". Shortly thereafter, Norfolk, at the time a Loyalist center, was abandoned by Dunmore and the Tories, who fled to navy ships in the harbor. Rebel-occupied Norfolk was destroyed on January 1, 1776 in an action begun by Dunmore and completed by rebel forces.
Weather:
Attendees: Bonner, Schwetke
Location: Chesapeake, VA
Details: This is a State - level event, of interest to the VASSAR and commemorating the Battle of Great Bridge was fought December 9, 1775, in the area of Great Bridge, Virginia, early in the American Revolutionary War. The victory by colonial Virginia militia forces led to the departure of Royal Governor Lord Dunmore and any remaining vestiges of British power over the Colony of Virginia during the early days of the conflict. Following increasing political and military tensions in early 1775, both Dunmore and colonial rebel leaders recruited troops and engaged in a struggle for available military supplies. The struggle eventually focused on Norfolk, where Dunmore had taken refuge aboard a Royal Navy vessel. Dunmore's forces had fortified one side of a critical river crossing south of Norfolk at Great Bridge, while rebel forces had occupied the other side. In an attempt to break up the rebel gathering, Dunmore ordered an attack across the bridge, which was decisively repulsed. Colonel William Woodford, the Virginia militia commander at the battle, described it as "a second Bunker's Hill affair". Shortly thereafter, Norfolk, at the time a Loyalist center, was abandoned by Dunmore and the Tories, who fled to navy ships in the harbor. Rebel-occupied Norfolk was destroyed on January 1, 1776 in an action begun by Dunmore and completed by rebel forces.
Weather:
Attendees: Bonner, Schwetke
RESOURCES
COLOR GUARD WORKSHOPS - Download the files below for information on suitable Color Guard uniforms and supplies
Information from the 15 Sep 2017 & 09 Feb 2018 Color Guard Workshop. Includes how to join the Color Guard, uniform options, basic drill, weapons & safety, and medals.
PowerPoint
| 2017-color_guard_workshop_pp-2.pptx |
| cg_workshop_9feb18.pptx |
Keynote Version
| cg_workshop_9feb18.key |