I sincerely hope that all of you had a very blessed and Merry Christmas, and wish you a fruitful and Happy New Year. We are now at the threshold of our third year as the Isle of Wight Soldiers' Aid Society, and I am looking forward to us having another productive year. Joy and I have been diligently working on trying to put together an interesting and fun schedule for the coming year. As far as the events for this year, we are planning on attending some of the same events as Mahone's Brigade, but are also hoping to attend some events that are for the Society. The scheduled events for the Brigade are as follows: Chancellorsville (April 4,5, and 6), Dixie Days (June 14,15), Gettysburg (July 4,5, and 6), Cold Springs New Jersey (September), Cedar Creek (October), and the Isle of Wight Christmas in the Field (December). The details for the proposed events for the Society are still in the planning stages. When we are informed of the exact date and location of the events, we will pass this information on to all of you.
This year we are hoping to be a little more productive in the activities that are planned for the times that we are all together. Proposed activities include making homemade butter that will be used for a pancake breakfast meal, offering clothes washing for the soldiers during the Summer events, and mending, which is an ongoing projects for all events. If you have any suggestions or ideas for new projects, please feel free to let us know. For those of you who would be interested in participating in piecing a quilt and quilting it, we would like your help in making a quilt that will be raffled off at this year's Christmas event. The quilt will be a simple one that will not require a vast knowledge of patchwork and quilting to complete it. At the first event of the year, which should be the Chancellorsville reenactment (April 4, 5, and 6) we will have samples of the type of reproduction fabrics that can be used in the quilt. Those who wish to participate in the making of the quilt will be responsible for providing their own fabric. The required information for the making of the quilt blocks will be given to you as soon as possible. Although the 2008 Isle of Wight Christmas in the Field event is several months away, we would like to encourage each of you who would like to write a letter to your soldier or to a soldier friend of yours, to think about what you would like to write and begin composing a letter for the Christmas Mail Call.
At this time, I would like to thank each and everyone of you for your
attendance at the events during the 2007 reenactment year. We would
especially like to say thank you to the ladies who provided the deserts for the 2007 Christmas meal. Also, we would like to thank Jeannie Booth, her lovely granddaughter, and Karen Sales for the wonderful tea social that they prepared for the ladies of the Society on the Saturday of the Christmas event. Not only was the tea service and the table setting lovely, the fare was delicious.
At the Christmas event, we held a meeting of the Society, and several things were discussed. Among the subjects discussed were the introduction of By-Laws for the Society, and also a yearly dues of $12.00 for membership. A copy of the Society By-Laws will be mailed to you soon. In the very near future, we will be requesting you to fill out a personal information form that will be used only for Society purposes. If there is certain information that you do not wish to share with other members of the Society, you can highlight those items on the form. A updated members' listing will be devised from the information you wish to share with other members.
I do have some special information I would like to pass on to all of you. I'm not sure if all of you know that Mark and Missy Doughty are in the process of adopting a baby girl from China, but we have had word from Missy that they will be heading off to China on January 12th to be united with their new daughter, Ginny Gia. They are to be returning to the States on January 25th a new and happy threesome. We would like to wish them much love and happiness in the years to come.
Until we are together again, take care and be well.
Sincerely,
Kathleen Dufresne
IWSAS