#15 February 16, 2023
Greetings Compatriots,
Many changes have been made to the 250th Anniversary Program website in the last couple of weeks. Some of the program information is new while other program areas have had changes or additional information has been added.
Scout Programs
The Boston Massacre program has been amended and the design for the official patch has been added. We will continue to add information to the Scout Programs tab as it is available. Several members are developing programs for Scouting on an ongoing basis, so I encourage you to watch for these changes. We are adding a series of Scoutmaster Minutes as you will see when you review the information under Revolutionary Times featuring Signers of the Declaration of Independence and George Washington’s Generals.
Revolutionary Times are short stories of the revolutionary period broadsheets written under a masthead that allows you to print one page, black and white hand out materials for any purpose other than commercial. Please print the whole page due to potential copyright restrictions. These brief stories are for use when introducing programs or other opportunities to address the public. We have expanded our original Revolutionary Times program of longer presentations to offer a series of historic notes that can be delivered in three to five minutes. These stories can be shared with anyone with whom you offer a presentation. Our goal is to provide at least 250 of these Revolutionary Times Broadsheets with new stories being added on a regular basis.
Signers of the Declaration of Independence
The 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence were a brave group of visionary men who staked their lives, fortunes and sacred honor on the future of a free America. As signers of the Declaration they knew the potential risk of standing up to George III and his Colonial Army. As you research this file you see the highlighted red names of the Signers whose stories have already been posted. Many more remain to be entered as an ongoing program that we will continue to expand until all of the signers have been posted.
George Washington’s Generals
George Washington was chosen Commander in Chief of the new Continental Army by the Second Continental Congress for his military experience; they also appointed four Major Generals to support and help lead the fledgling Colonial Army. An army made up of men who came to America from across the globe and spoke 38 different languages and were diverse in faith, education and military ability. These first generals had the seemingly impossible task of forming an army and defeating the strongest military force in the world. The following officers were these first Major Generals: Israel Putnam from Connecticut, Artemas Ward from Massachusetts, Charles Lee from Virginia, Philip Schuyler from New York. We will continue adding stories of Washington’s Generals throughout the 250th Anniversary period.
Precedence of Medals
On the 250th Anniversary Website you will find a pictorial display of SAR Medals and the description of their purpose and manner of award. In the last few months we have added new medals to this list and some of the place of precedence has been changed. As a result of these changes we have determined to revise this document each year following Congress. We know that these changes will continue to occur, so we will put a written list on our website as we see changes so that you have a better understanding of your medal placement. This is important information, because as we make more and more public presentations members will be wearing one or more of their medals and they will want to know the proper order in which to wear their medals.
250th Anniversary Memorial Bench
President General Pickett has asked that every SAR Chapter and State consider the opportunity to place a 250th Anniversary Memorial Bench in parks, playgrounds, public buildings, etc. I have included photos from the placement of two benches during the SAR National Congress in Savannah. Please review this information and consider how you can make the same impact in your community.
250th Anniversary Commissions
SAR Compatriots across America are working to help establish official State Commissions to recognize the 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. The following list will help you know if your state is participating; if it is, then get in touch with them and become engaged in their program of work and if it isn’t, get busy and help establish a 250th Anniversary
Commission in your state. The following states have 250th Anniversary Commissions:
Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin
Youth Protection Renewal
This is a reminder that as we work more closely with young people during our 250th Anniversary programs, I remind you that SAR and BSA Youth Protection training is required. You will find the tab for SAR Youth Protection Training on the 250th Anniversary website at the center of the page just below the block for Forms Download. The link to BSA Youth Protection Training is under the With Our Partners column on the Updated Scout Programs tab.
Please check your completion certificate to determine if it is time for you to renew this important training. You have to have completed the SAR Training for all youth activities and BSA Training for interaction with Scouts. The BSA training does not replace SAR Training if you are working with youth in non Scouting activities.
Medals and Awards are an important part of our program so we applaud everyone’s efforts to spread the word of the 250th Anniversary through participation in public events that celebrate our Patriot Ancestors, battles and events. Remember that the 250th Anniversary medals can also be presented to DAR and CAR members, Scouts and other community partners for significant service to the SAR, based on the same point schedule as used by members.
As of February 1, 2023 we have a total of 252 Gold Medal Applications.
The top ten states in number of approved applications are as follows:
Top 10 State Societies:
| Texas 41 | Virgina 26 | North Carolina 23 | Tennessee 23 |
| Missouri 20 | Ohio 19 | Washington 18 | Kansas 12 |
| California 11 | Mississippi 11 |
We have approved 250th Anniversary Gold Medal Applications for the following states:
| Kentucky 9 | Indiana 7 | Michigan 5 | Georgia 4 | Wisconsin 4 |
| West Virginia 3 | Oregon 2 | Montana 2 | Arizona 2 | |
| Delaware 2 | Nevada 3 | Iowa 1 | Florida 1 | |
| Oklahoma 1 | Pennsylvania 1 | South Carolina 1 |
Check page 15 in the Toolkit to set up your own medal program.
Congratulations to our SAR Chapters and the State Societies who have begun work to document their 250th Anniversary events and are earning the Bronze, Silver and Gold medals.
250th Anniversary Pin
SAR National currently has an excellent 250th Anniversary Pin available for use as a commemorative item or award. These pins are available on the america250sar.org website. Over 11,000 of the 250th Anniversary pins have been awarded to students, scouts, community members, SAR, DAR, CAR members, etc. Keep the message moving throughout the country.
America 250 SAR Historic Camporee Programs
This program consists of several Scouting activities that can be executed in a day camp, resident camp or other circumstances under the direction of SAR members with the support of Scout leaders. These events can take place at any time although the sequence of annual ceremony recommendations is shown below:
1773 Boston Tea Party
1775 Lexington & Concord
1777 Valley Forge
1779 Spain & France in the war
1781 Surrender at Yorktown
1783 Treaty of Paris
1774 Continental Congress
1776 Declaration of Independence
1778 George Rogers Clark captures Kaskaskia
1780 The Tory Fight in the South
1782 John Laurens and the skirmishes
The Boston Tea Party and Lexington and Concord Camporee Programs are included in this update.
Please send stories and photos of your programs so that we might share them with our Compatriots across America and find more and better ways to celebrate our 250th Anniversary.
Be sure to add all of your SAR Chapter and State Compatriots to our mailing list so that they can receive our Program Updates.
This is a reproduction of the update email sent and originally signed by
J. Howard Fisk JHFisk@america250sar.org