The upcoming week will be one the busiest ever for our camp. We have three consecutive events scheduled for the latter part of this week. Our camp meeting, which was postponed for a week due to the Masters (and the unavailability of Sconyers) will be this Thursday, April 17th, at Sconyers Bar-B-Que Restaurant. On Friday, April 18th, Camp #158 is hosting a marker dedication & memorial service at Bath Presbyterian Church near Blythe in honor of Major Charles Whitehead. And then on Saturday, April 19th, we’re having our annual Confederate Memorial Day Service at historic Magnolia Cemetery.

I’m requesting that every camp member make attending our Confederate Memorial Day Service on the 19th a priority. This should be the event that has the largest attendance and participation of camp members of any that we have throughout the year. This service not only honors Confederate soldiers interred throughout Magnolia Cemetery, but its purpose is to honor your Confederate ancestor and all Confederate soldiers who served the Confederacy - tens of thousands of them making the ultimate sacrifice defending their home and country.

Camp #158 has one of the best Confederate Memorial Day Services put on by any camp, bar none. Brigade Commander Michael Mull, who attended our service for the first time last year, told me after the service that our camp had put on the most impressive Confederate Memorial Day Services that he has ever seen, and he has attended numerous services over the years throughout the South. That was quite a complement he gave our camp.

I want to thank all of the camp members, and their wives and children, who participated in the Magnolia Cemetery Workday on Saturday, April 12th, in preparation for Confederate Memorial Day on the 19th. And a big thank you also goes to the Old Men’s Crew for their work in the cemetery during the past month in preparation for the service on the 19th.

I’m very fortunate, and don’t take it for granted, to have such a large core group of dedicated camp members (and in some cases their wives, too) that contribute their valuable time performing various tasks that make this camp the effective and vibrant organization that it is today. I sincerely appreciate all of you.

I hope you’ll be able to attend our meeting this Thursday night. Our program speaker will be Mr. Ed Wolfe. He’s a member and Chaplain of Ogeechee Rifles Camp #941 in Statesboro. Ed will speak on a newly published book, Blood Money: The Civil War and the Federal Reserve. This is a very short book (only 75 pages + 16 pages of notes), but it gives a totally new and different perspective on another one of the many causes of the war against the South by Abraham Lincoln and the money-obsessed North. I’m really looking forward to Ed’s discussion on this subject and look forward to seeing all of you at Sconyers for an enjoyable night of Southern fellowship.

B/G E. Porter Alexander Camp #158: http://www.eporteralexander.homestead.com/Index.html

Georgia Division SCV Website: http://www.georgiascv.com/

SCV National Website: http://www.scv.org/

www.sonsofconfederateveterans.blogspot.com

¦ Thursday, April 17th – Brigadier General E. Porter Alexander Camp #158 will meet at Sconyers Bar-B-Que Restaurant at 7:00 p.m. Our program speaker will be Ed Wolfe, Chaplain of Ogeechee Rifles Camp #941 in Statesboro. He will speak on the recently published book, Blood Money: The Civil War and the Federal Reserve.

■ Friday, April 18th - A Marker Dedication Service will be conducted at 11:00 a.m. for Major Charles Lowndes Whitehead at the historic Bath Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Blythe.

Directions: Bath Presbyterian Church is located at 3910 Bath-Edie Road near Blythe, Georgia. It’s located just off of US Highway No. 1 approximately 2 miles North of GA Highway No. 88 and about 9 miles South of Exit #5 off of I-520 Bobby Jones Expressway. Church signs are located on US Highway No. 1 at Bath-Edie Road.

■ Saturday, April 19th – Brigadier General E. Porter Alexander Camp #158 Confederate Memorial Day Service at 11:45 a.m. at Magnolia Cemetery. The Heritage March from the Confederate monument on Broad Street to Magnolia Cemetery starts at 11:00 a.m.

■ Saturday, April 26th – At 10:00 a.m. the Major General Ambrose R. Wright Camp #1914 in Evans will have a Confederate Memorial Day Service at the Confederate monument on the grounds of the Columbia County Library located on 7022 Evans Town Center Boulevard.

Directions: The monument is almost centrally located behind the Columbia County Justice Center and between the Main Library and outdoor Amphitheater.

Monday, May 26th – A Memorial Day Observance Ceremony will be held at 11:00 a.m. at the "All Wars Monument" located at 4th & Broad Streets in downtown Augusta.

■ Year of Davis Events: The SCV has declared 2008 the Year of Davis to commemorate the bicentennial of his birth. There are two events that every Southerner will want to try and attend: The reopening of Beauvoir in Biloxi, Mississippi on Tuesday, June 3rd, and the Bicentennial Celebration in Fairview, Kentucky on Saturday, June 7th. To borrow reenacting parlance, these are "max effort events for the entire SCV. More details will follow, but mark your calendars now, begin organizing your carpools, etc. You do not want to miss out on these once-in-a-lifetime events.

■ Friday, June 13th - Sunday June 15th – The Georgia Division SCV 111th Reunion will be held in Villa Rica, Georgia. The business session will be on Saturday, June 14th.

2 Chronicles 7 - If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Romans 1:16 - For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

Romans 6:23 - For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Hebrews 9:14 - How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

"The democracy will cease to exist when you take it away from those who are willing to work and give it to those who would not."

"Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The people themselves are its only safe depositories."

"Merchants have no country. The mere spot they stand on does not constitute so strong an attachment as that from which they draw their gains."

"My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government."

"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty."

"I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that his justice cannot sleep forever."

1st Motion – Approval of combined expenses for our Confederate Memorial Day Service on Saturday, April 19th:

♦ Portable Services – $103.00 for Handicap Portable Restroom Unit

♦ Chair Rental – $82.50 for 75 Chairs

♦ Two Police Motorcycle Escorts for Heritage March from monument to cemetery – $120.00

♦ Donation to 32nd Georgia Artillery to help defray the cost of powder – $65.00

2nd Motion – Approval for reimbursement of "Calling Post" charges of $60.00 to member Fred Bussey.

3rd Motion – Approval of $100.00 for member Jack Bailie to purchase pool chemicals for treatment of the fountain’s water in the Confederate Dead section in Magnolia Cemetery.

Four years ago, I stood for election as Fifth Brigade Commander. I was elected without opposition. Two years ago, I offered for reelection and again was elected without opposition. My current term expires at the close of the annual Reunion and Convention in Villa Rica June 13th -15th.

During my four years as your brigade commander, I have met and got to know some of the finest men ever. We've disagreed on some issues, but we have behaved like gentlemen and remained friends.

When elected in 2004, I promised to be no stranger to the camps in the Fifth Brigade, be accessible and ready to assist any camp or member in any way possible. I feel I have lived up to those promises.

I have some health issues at the present that must be resolved, but all of my doctors tell me that I will only see a minor change for a brief period of time and the prognosis is for a 100% recovery. Therefore, I am offering for reelection for a third term at the SCV Division Reunion and Convention in June. I hope you will again honor me with your support and your vote.

For the South,

Michael A. (Mike) Mull

Commander

Fifth Brigade

Georgia Division

Sons of Confederate Veterans