La Societe des Quarante Hommes et Huit Chevaux Grand Voiture du Texas OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE GRAND du TEXAS Winner of the Arthur McDowell Award 1991 – 1992 – 1993 – 1994 – 1995 – 1996 for the Best Grand Voiture Publication in the Nation without Advertising
November 2014
From the Grand Chef… I must apologize for not getting out any editions of the TVN since May. Part of this edition is from the edition which should have gone out in July but I got side tracked with everything else going on this year. I would like to say Thank You to both Voiture 1031 and Cabane 1031 for their hard work in hosting our Grand Promenade in June. Quite a lot had to be done with limited resources as several of their active members were unavailable or unable to help so “hats off” to the dedicated members who helped make the promenade a success. The Fall Cheminot was held by Denton County Voiture 1601 in Lake Dallas. Although a small locale with fewer than 10 members they did a good job in hosting the Cheminot and we had a great meal for the banquet. Thanks to all who helped from the locale and American Legion Post 88. We are set to have our Spring Cheminot in Austin on February 6-8, 2015. We had to move to the 1st weekend of February this year due to a scheduling conflict with the hotel. All will remain much the same with the Dames meeting in the hotel and the Voyageurs meeting at American Legion Post 83 for the Cheminot on Saturday afternoon which is where we will hold the banquet on Saturday night. More information is enclosed in the TVN and also available on the Grande du Texas website at www.texasboxcar.org David Knutson Grand Chef de Gare
GRANDE DU TEXAS HISTORY BOOK TAKES 1ST PLACE AT PROMENADE NATIONALE Along with some other recognition at Promenade Nationale, the Grande Voiture du Texas won first place in the History Book competition. A very big Thank You to the talents of Deborah Knutson who put the book together in short notice. I assisted with some of the event cataloging but all the creativity and skills are to her credit. The book covers the past year and included several events from around the state, the 2014 Grand Raffle, Promenade Nationale, the move of the Merci Boxcar and Grand Opening of the Merci Boxcar exhibit at Camp Mabry, and other events. It will be out for everyone to look through at Merci Boxcar 2015. I would like to thank those who sent me photos and information about events they participated in so we could include events from several locals within the Grand du Texas. Deborah is already started to work on the 2015 Grand History Book so if your locale is involved in any events – take a photo or two and send them to Deborah so she can work on some pages as the year goes on and we can have another great entry to Promenade Nationale 2015. Send photos and a description of the event including date, event, and names of people in the photo to Deborah via email: dlbrom@yahoo.com
VISIT THE GRANDE DU TEXAS WEBSITE AT WWW.TEXASBOXCAR.ORG
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La Societe des Quarante Hommes et Huit Chevaux Grand Voiture du Texas
Membership Report
Membership Totals November 20, 2014
We are off to a good start for 2015. The final totals for 2014 are shown as goal as well as current numbers for each locale. One problem that has been discussed and we are pushing to eliminate is to have all current members renew their membership as early as possible. Some locales are offering “early bird” incentives and some do not have any problem getting their members to renew early. Failing to renew early does create a problem as time that can be dedicated to other activities ends up being spent on contacting and pushing to get current members to renew their membership. I have discussed this with our Grand Chef and after attending Promenade Nationale for a second year in a row and seeing the many good things people in our organization are doing I cannot understand why renewals are so difficult for some. If there is a problem – address it. Many organizations welcome their members identifying problems but you should also have a reasonable solution to the problem. The Grand Chef and I have discussed some issues with membership, but there are no significant problems with our organization that I am aware of which would prevent members from renewing their membership early in the year. Every member in La Société was recognized for their high character and dedication to helping others. Even if that was years ago – we need your continued support and early renewal is one way to show that support. I ask each Voyageur Militaire to renew as soon as possible so your locale can then concentrate on gaining new members or solving other problems vs. wasting this time and energy on renewals. We currently have four locales at or above 100% and they are commended for the great job they are doing. Keep up the good work!
Division / Locale 1st Division 939 1123 1185 1601 Total
Sous Chef de Train Ron Mick Wichita Falls Longview Ft Worth Lake Dallas
2nd Division 163 266 312 980 1031 Total
George Murphy Houston
3rd Division
George Alexander Austin La Feria
175 231
Copperas Cove
Beaumont Willis Killeen
Current
Goal
Percentage
6 10 11 4 31
9 13 24 9 55
67% 77% 46% 44% 56%
26 28 10 6 35 105
34 28 16 21 77 176
76% 100% 63% 29% 45% 60%
18 16
17 15
106% 107%
542
San Antonio
17
39
44%
1077
Edinburg
6
13
46%
1134 Total
Kingsville
3 60
15 99
20% 61%
4th Division 605
Dan Barman El Paso
27
26
104%
1055
Kerrville
14
24
58%
Total
41
50
82%
Grand Total
237
380
62%
Joseph McCullough Grand Chef de Train
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La Societe des Quarante Hommes et Huit Chevaux Grand Voiture du Texas
40 & 8 PROGRAMS With the awards given out in the Fall Cheminot and the reports submitted and not submitted it is apparent that this is an issue needing work. Most of the problem appears to be how to work the programs and how to document our work. Many of our programs are worked and just not reported. We will address some programs in this issue and other programs in subsequent issues. We plan to have all reports sent to the same person in Grand who will coordinate with the Grand Directeurs of each program. One reason for this is after the Grand Promenade in June – the positions of Grand Directeur sometimes change so this should make it easy for each Locale Directeur to submit their report. The Grand Directeur of each program is the primary contact for questions and guidance for that program. Each locale should have Program Directeurs for each program. If there is no Locale Directeur then the responsibility falls on the Locale Chef de Gare and Locale Correspondant. There is a lot of information on most of the programs at Voiture Nationale website. Another excellent source is the monthly Voyageur Briefs put out by Voiture Nationale. There is a link to Voiture Nationale on the front page of the Grand du Texas website: www.texasboxcar.org or you can go to it directly at www.fortyandeight.org/ and look under the “Programs” tab and “News and Notes” tab.
We Don’t Work Some Programs We commonly believe that we do not participate in many of the programs, but if you look at the program report forms you will find that our regular activities do fall into one or more programs. See “keep track of your activities” below. If you actually do not work a specific program – that is okay. It is better to do what you can on one or two programs then do poorly on all programs. When reporting time comes; just indicate that you did not do any work in that program (called a negative report) and there should not be any judgment or backlash for not doing something in all areas. Again - it is better to do what you can on one or two programs then do poorly on all programs The can be a problem if your locale does not participate in at least ONE program. If you are not doing anything – then the locale charter can come under jeopardy and you are asking for a big problem if audited by the IRS.
Keep Track of Your Activities Keep a monthly Activities Report to help you keep track of your contributions to our community, state, and nation. Many of us wear several hats and our participation in these many events is also related to your activity as a 40 & 8 member. Keep track of a few simple things to help you report your activities: Date, Description of the Event, Number of Voyageurs present, Miles travelled, Hours spent, Money spent. These reports should be maintained at the locale level and then used to complete the annual reports by each Locale Directeur. This has been one of our problem areas and more information will be put out to help streamline this proce
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La Societe des Quarante Hommes et Huit Chevaux Grand Voiture du Texas TAX EXEMPT ISSUES
AMERICANISM Our Americanism Program activities are very frequently under reported as many of the events we participate in are directly related to Americanism. Here are several examples of activities that you should report Americanism Awards: awards given to schools, college, ROTC, community organizations, citizens (private), fire prevention, law enforcement, others. Americanism Speeches and Flag Activities: presentations, flag raising ceremonies, and/or retirement ceremonies.
flag flag
Youth Activities: band support, baseball, Boys & Girls State, oratorical contests, scouting (Boy & Girls Club), Valley Forge Freedom Foundation, child ID programs, driver training, FFH, 4H, PTA, etc. Community Activities: blood donor, community services, “Get out and Vote”, national security, political action, senior citizens, hunter safety programs, poppy sales, Special Olympics, meetings/promenades/wrecks, activities in other fraternal organizations. Holidays and Memorials: Calvin Kain memorial service, grave decoration, Memorial Day, Memorial Services: funerals, memorial dedications, parade participation, patriotic events, installations, Veteran’s Day. Veterans: veterans home activities, transportation to hospitals/doctors, veteran’s employment.
I have asked Voyageur James Baca, our Grand Commissaire Intendant, to learn exactly what needs to be done and then we will get the information to everyone. If documents need to be filed we will assist each locale to make sure everything is filed correctly. I took a look at the requirements and in addition to being confusing – like most of the tax code – it is not just that simple so Thank You to James in advance for taking on this challenge. From what I did see – if someone is not doing the correct paperwork then you could end up in very hot water with the IRS. We had one locale who got rung through and had to pay a hefty amount to the IRS to make things right.
GRANDE RAFFLE Thank you to Don Taylor, V-266 who is heading up the Grand Raffle this year. See the attached flyer and there is also an order form if you would like tickets you can send to him to get your tickets. We again have an opportunity to make a good profit for our Grand to support our programs and other activities. Locales can buy tickets as well and then use the prize to do their own fundraiser. Thank you for your support.
CENTRAL STATES PROMENADE 2017 TO BE HELD IN AUSTIN
Flags for First Graders Program.
Grande Voiture du Texas will be hosting the 2017 Central States Promenade. This will bring in Voyageurs Militaire from 8 other states. Grand Chef de Gare David Knutson will be the President of the 2017 event which will also be the 100th anniversary of the US entering WWI. This is a Grand function and will take help from others from within the Grand to make successful. More information will be coming at our next Grand Promenade in June 2015. VISIT THE GRANDE DU TEXAS WEBSITE AT WWW.TEXASBOXCAR.ORG
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La Societe des Quarante Hommes et Huit Chevaux Grand Voiture du Texas
VISIT THE GRANDE DU TEXAS WEBSITE AT WWW.TEXASBOXCAR.ORG
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La Societe des Quarante Hommes et Huit Chevaux Grand Voiture du Texas
Grand Raffle Ticket Order Form Number of Tickets Name:________________________ ____ x $5 per ticket: _____ or 6 tickets for $20
Address:_______________________
____ x $20 books: ______ Total:$_______
Make checks payable to Grand du Texas Raffle and mail to: Don Taylor 3271 Colonado Dr Copperas Cove, TX 76522 VISIT THE GRANDE DU TEXAS WEBSITE AT WWW.TEXASBOXCAR.ORG
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La Societe des Quarante Hommes et Huit Chevaux Grand Voiture du Texas
VISIT THE GRANDE DU TEXAS WEBSITE AT WWW.TEXASBOXCAR.ORG
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La Societe des Quarante Hommes et Huit Chevaux Grand Voiture du Texas
VISIT THE GRANDE DU TEXAS WEBSITE AT WWW.TEXASBOXCAR.ORG
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La Societe des Quarante Hommes et Huit Chevaux Grand Voiture du Texas
VISIT THE GRANDE DU TEXAS WEBSITE AT WWW.TEXASBOXCAR.ORG
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La Societe des Quarante Hommes et Huit Chevaux Grand Voiture du Texas
VISIT THE GRANDE DU TEXAS WEBSITE AT WWW.TEXASBOXCAR.ORG
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La Societe des Quarante Hommes et Huit Chevaux Grand Voiture du Texas
Voiture 175 New Year’s Eve Fundraising Raffle 1st Place: Samsung Tablet 2nd Prize: Yeti Cooler 3rd Prize: Samsung DVD Player 4th & 5th Prize: $25 gift cards. Tickets $5 each or 3 for $10 To support our Locale charities and activities. Please order tickets using the below order form. Thank you for your support.
V-175 Raffle Ticket Order Form Number of Tickets Name:________________________ ____ x $5 per ticket: _____ or 3 tickets for $20
____ x $10 books: ______
Address:_______________________
Total:$_______ Make checks payable to Voiture 175 Raffle and mail to: David Knutson
1904 Rutherford Drive Leander, TX 78641 VISIT THE GRANDE DU TEXAS WEBSITE AT WWW.TEXASBOXCAR.ORG
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La Societe des Quarante Hommes et Huit Chevaux Grand Voiture du Texas Grand Promenade held June 2014 Hosted by Bell County Voiture Locale 1031
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La Societe des Quarante Hommes et Huit Chevaux Grand Voiture du Texas FALL CHEMINOT IN LAKE DALLAS, TEXAS OCTOBER 18, 2014
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La Societe des Quarante Hommes et Huit Chevaux Grand Voiture du Texas FALL CHEMINOT IN LAKE DALLAS, TEXAS OCTOBER 18, 2014
VISIT THE GRANDE DU TEXAS WEBSITE AT WWW.TEXASBOXCAR.ORG
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La Societe des Quarante Hommes et Huit Chevaux Grand Voiture du Texas
Trophy and Awards Grand du Texas 2014
_____________________________________________________ Ronnie Wheeler Award for Americanism (Voitures with 25 members and over) Winner: V-605 2nd Place: V-266 3rd Place: V-1031 Milton Chatham Award for Americanism (Voitures with under 25 members) Winner: V-175 2nd Place: No Award 3rd Place: No Award Jim Fowler Award for Nurses Training (Voitures with 25 members and over) Winner: V-1185 2nd Place V-266 3rd Place: V-605___ Lanny Givens Award for Nurses Training (Voitures with under 25 Members) Winner: V-312 2nd Place: V-231 3rd Place: V-175___ Daniel Thompson Award for Membership (Voitures with 25 members and over) Winner: V-605 2nd Place: V-1031 3rd Place: V-542___ Jerry Brady Award for Membership (Voitures with under 25 members) Winner: V-1055 2nd Place: V-1134 3rd Place: V-175___ Rick Overturf Award for Child Welfare Winner: V-1031 2nd Place: V-266 3rd Place: V-605___ Gabe Cina Award for Youth Sports Winner: V-605 2nd Place: V-175 3rd Place: V-266___ Bob Nagle Award for Box Car Winner: V-1031 2nd Place: V-175 3rd Place: V-605___ Don Barfield Award for POW/MIA Winner: V-542 2nd Place: V-1031 3rd Place: V-175___ David Knutson Award for Carville Stare Winner: V-1077 2nd Place: No Award 3rd Place: No Award John Powell Award for Ritual Winner: V-605 2nd Place: V-1031 3rd Place: V-1055__ Jim Shannon Award for Voiture Activities Winner: V-1031 2nd Place: V-266 3rd Place: V-605___ Darrel Gibbs Award for VAVS Winner: V-1031 2nd Place: V-266 3rd Place: V-175___ Lowell Mix Award for Public Relations Winner: V-605 2nd Place: V-1031 3rd Place: V-175___ Paul Chevalier Award for Law Officer of the Year Winner: Not Awarded______________________________________________ Grand Voiture Award for History Book Winner: Not Awarded______________________________________________ Grand Voiture Award for Hero of the Year Winner: Not Awarded______________________________________________ Grand Voiture Award for City of the Year Winner: Not Awarded______________________________________________ Grand Correspondant Award Winner: Douglas Pendleton V-266___________________________________ Grand Voyageur of the Year Award Winner: David Knutson V-175______________________________________
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La Societe des Quarante Hommes et Huit Chevaux Grand Voiture du Texas
La Grande Voiture du Texas La Societe des Quarante Hommes et Huit Chevaux P.O. Box 170074 Austin, Texas 78717
Affix 1st Class Postage Here
Addressee
ADDRESSEE: Please notify sender of name/address correction Chef de Gare – David Knutson
Correspondant – Milton Chatham
Commissire Intendant – Tom Larsen
L’Editeur – Dave Knutson
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