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The Fall 2024 Edition of The Ordnance is now available! This is the official newsletter of the Washingtonburg Chapter, Pennsylvania Society, Sons of the American Revolution and includes highlights of the news and activities for the chapter. Download your copy below.
While visiting the shops in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, Compatriots Dale Leppard and Rev. Douglas Reagan discovered a Revolutionary War Tooth Key. These instruments were used for tooth extraction. Our first Commander-in-Chief and President George Washington would have been familiar with this device. Hero of the American Revolution Paul Revere was trained in Dentistry and would also have been familiar with this device. It was Paul Revere who identified the body of Dr. Joseph Warren based upon the dental work that he had performed.
Despite a few last-minute cancellations due to inclement weather and illness, approximately 50 members and guests of Washingtonburg Chapter gathered at historic Two Mile House in Carlisle on the 15th of December 2024 for the annual Holiday Dinner. The annual event encourages 18th century attire, which was worn by nearly half of those attending. The meal was catered by Chef Mark Little of New Bloomfield and featured an 18th century fixed plate menu, which was supplemented by hot and cold period punches prepared by Compatriot Brian Engle. Colonial era music was provided by Forbes Road Frolic, attired in 18th century clothing with period instruments. Carriage rides in the light snow were provided by Benchfield Farms of Newville, whose drivers and attendant were in colonial attire. A toast to His Excellency George Washington was made using Rye made at Mount Vernon according to the recipe of Our First President and Commander-in-Chief. Those attending signed the guest list in the form of a reproduction Revolutionary War Militia roster using a quill pen and ink well. Each setting included a souvenir program and menu as well as a tavern bill customized to Two Mile House. Reproduction newspapers dating from the period were circulated among the guests. The Two Mile House property was owned in the late 18th century by Ephrain Blaine, Commissary General of the Continental Army. The house is predominantly of Georgian construction, but a part of the kitchen dates to the late 18th century consistent with the ownership period of Blaine.
A photo gallery documenting the event may be found here: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1dVASb-gCCFQe2XHVG
Saturday, December 14th, 2024 marked the inaugural Washingtonburg Wreaths Across America ceremony.
The ceremony was held at the Middle Spring Presbyterian Church in Shippensburg, PA (https://www.middlespringpc.org/). In attendance were several local veterans, PA District 193 Representative Torren Ecker, Colonel Park Bierbower, Girl Scout Troop 80063, Washingtonburg compatriots Raymond Mowery, Captain Dennis Dyckman, Steven Messner, Douglas Cubbison, Colonel Jeffery “Tank” Patton, Rev. Douglas Reagan, Dale Leppard, Jeremy Winn, Theron Winn, Rev. William M. Sloane, William S. Sloane, and members of the public. 100 wreaths were sponsored through the program and these were placed on every veteran’s grave in the Lower, Upper, and Modern sections of the cemetery.
The Honorable Torren Ecker, PA District 193 Representative, and Colonel Park Bierbower spoke on the year’s theme, “Live with Purpose”, before laying the ceremonial wreath at the Soldier’s Memorial outside of the church.
The Washingtonburg chapter hopes to make this event a holiday tradition and plan to be back at Middle Spring Presbyterian next year on Saturday, December 16, 2025. Wreaths Across America will match every wreath sponsored at our location for next year’s ceremony from now through January 17, 2025. Please use the link below to sponsor wreaths:
https://www.wreathsacrossamerica.org/pages/181029/Overview/?relatedId=180890
Dear Washingtonburg Chapter,
As the cool, fall air and colorful leaves arrive, we must prepare for our inaugural Wreaths Across America event. The goal of Wreaths Across America is to place holiday wreaths on all veterans’ graves across the country. We will do our part to honor America’s veterans by hosting a ceremony on Saturday December 14, 2024, at 10:00 am, at Middle Spring Presbyterian Church and Cemetery, one of the oldest in Shippensburg (135 Middle Spring Road, Shippensburg, PA).
There are 100 veterans, including over one dozen Revolutionary War soldiers, buried in the church’s cemetery. Our goal is to place wreaths on all 100 veterans’ graves, but we need to have that number of wreaths sponsored at our location. Currently, we have 44 wreaths sponsored with seven weeks remaining in our campaign. For every two wreaths sponsored at our location, we get a third wreath for free. They are only $17 each. So, we only need to sponsor 37 more wreaths. If you would like to sponsor wreaths, use the QR code below, or contact Ray Mowery (raymondmowery@hotmail.com).
We are also looking for volunteers to participate in our ceremony. We are looking to fill these roles:
If you would like to participate in any of these roles, please notify Ray Mowery
(raymondmowery@hotmail.com). We hope for a big turnout from our members for this event.
Thank you,
Ray Mowery
Dear Washingtonburg Chapter,
I’m proud to be part of Washingtonburg Chapter because our chapter has completed many
fantastic projects this year, and we have many more planned for the coming months. Like many
organizations, we would like to remember the great work we do. Here is a token that can help you
do that.
We are creating our chapter’s first-ever challenge coin. We are working with an American
company from Texas, Lone Star Challenge Coins, to create our coin. The design is shown below.
The front has our newly created Washingtonburg logo; the back has the national SAR 250th
Anniversary logo. This design is beautiful and practical. Because it has the 250th anniversary logo,
it can be used for several years if we would like to give them as gifts to those who help with our
projects and events. Our challenge coin will be 1 ½ inches in diameter (for reference, a quarter is 1
inch in diameter).
We are accepting pre-orders for our challenge coin, selling them for $15/each, the same price as the SAR national challenge coins on the national web site.
We need 30 preordered coins to meet the minimum to order our first run. If you would like to purchase our first ever challenge coin, please respond to Ray Mowery (raymondmowery@hotmail.com) with the
total number of coins that you would like to purchase. Then, you can send payment to Steve Burd,
our treasurer at the address below. Please add “Challenge Coins” in the message line on your
check. As soon as we get 30 pre-ordered coins, we can place our order.
Thanks for supporting our chapter,
Ray Mowery
Steve Burd, Washingtonburg Treasurer
101 Tee Bird Lane
Newville, PA 17241
Stop by our booth! The Washingtonburg Chapter, SAR is present this weekend at this year’s Army Expo ‘24 at the United States Army Heritage and Education Center. Come visit us today or tomorrow (September 14th and 15th) between 9 A.M. and 5 P.M. each day. Past President Dale Leppard and President Jeff La Marca are present. Several Chapter members have already stopped by.
Washingtonburg Chapter PASSAR conducted a flag raising ceremony at the home of George Washington at Mount Vernon, followed by wreath laying ceremonies at the Tomb of George Washington and the Slave Cemetery to honor General Washington’s valet Will Lee and his fellow slaves. President Jeffry La Marca also represented Jockey Hollow Chapter NJSSAR, raising a flag for that chapter as well. Members of Washingtonburg also participated in tours of the grounds and concluded the visit with a group dinner at the restaurant at Mount Vernon.
Washingtonburg & Jockey Hollow Chapters arrived in Virginia this afternoon for tomorrow’s Flag Raising Ceremony at Mount Vernon. Earlier today, we visited George Washington’s Grist Mill and Distillery. It was a fascinating place!
As previously reported, the Washingtonburg Chapter held elections at our recent meeting; our new board consists of:
| President | Jeffry Peter La Marca, Ph.D. |
| 1st Vice President | Most Rev. William Martin Sloane, Ph.D., J.D., Ed.D. |
| 2nd Vice President | TSgt. Eric Nolan “Dutch” DeVries, USAF (Ret.) |
| 3rd Vice President | Steven Pearson Messner, Ed.D. |
| Secretary/Treasurer | Steven Scott Burd |
| Registrar/Genealogist | Dale John Joseph Leppard |
| Chancellor | Maj. James Bryan Oerding, USA (Ret.), Ph.D. |
| Chaplain | Most Rev. William Martin Sloane, Ph.D., J.D., Ed.D. |
| Sergeant at Arms | Douglas Reginald Cubbison |
| Historian | Douglas Reginald Cubbison |
| Past President | Dale John Joseph Leppard |
During the meeting, several members received awards, accolades, or kudos for their contributions to our organization; including the following:
President Dale Leppard presents the Bronze Henry Knox Achievement Medal to the Most Rev. William Martin Sloane.
