Coassement de la Grenouille
Journal of the Milice de Ste. Famille March 2001 Vol. 13, No. 2
March,
already. Where does the time go? The season is picking up. Look at the event calendar and there are
more things going on than you can go to.
Don’t forget about
a donation to the Frog Talk auction.
Also get your dinner reservations in.
This promises to be an event to remember.
Throughout the
newsletter you will see notes about Milice participation in past events. Congratulations to the team members who took
part.
In case you haven’t
figured it out, I don’t have a whole lot to say right now.
So rather than drag
this out --- Be safe. I look forward to
seeing all of you soon.
I remain,
Your most humble
servant
John Mefford, Capt.
By-Laws
of the
Milice
de Ste. Famille
April
2, 1989
Article 1: NAME
The
name of this organization shall be:
Milice de Ste. Famille, with a mailing address of 107 Elm Street,
Cahokia Il 62206.
Article 2: PURPOSE
The
Milice de Ste. Famille, a non-profit corporation, shall be an interpretive unit
for the French historic sites in Cahokia; a support group for the Cahokia
Courthouse; and other state-owned French site in Cahokia with the purpose of
promoting and educating the public about Cahokia’s French heritage by focusing
on the militia and civilian lifestyles of the French Colonial period.
The
Milice de Ste. Famille may associate or muster with other groups for this
purpose.
Article 3: MEMBERSHIP
Persons
joining the Milice de Ste. Famille shall undergo a one year probationary period
and be guided by a “sponsor” member.
Probationary
members shall have all rights of full membership with the exception of voting
and holding office.
There is no assessment of dues for membership. The Milice de Ste. Famille is open to men,
women, and their children and to persons of all former experiences and
expertise.
No
members shall have any proprietary interest in the funds or assets of the club. All income, dues, donations, and other funds
of the club shall be devoted to the objectives of the club as organized, and no
member shall ever receive any distribution thereof.
Article 4: OFFICE & DUTIES
The
CAPTAIN shall preside over al business meetings and act as lead officer over al
field activities.
The
SR. SERGEANT shall assist the Captain in his duties and take charge in his
absence. SR. SGT. shall act as training
officer.
The
SERGEANT shall aid and assist the Sr. Sgt. and act in his absence.
The
SECRETARY shall keep accurate minutes of meetings and make known to all members
any communications received and ensure a timely response to same.
The TREASURER shall be responsible for the safe
keeping and disbursements of all funds belonging to the club. Club funds will be deposited in a bank
account chosen by the Executive Committee.
In
the event that any officer or member of the Executive Committee shall fail to
attend three (3) regular meetings in succession without an excuse approved by
the Captain; or shall otherwise fail to fulfill the duties of his office, then
by two-thirds vote of the Executive Committee, or by the majority vote of the
members, such office shall be declared vacant and shall be filled for the
unexpired term by executive appointment.
Article 5: DUTIES OF BOARD OF DIRECTORS
The
Board of Directors shall hereinafter be referred to as the Executive
Committee. This Executive Committee
shall consist of the three (3) annually elected, ranking Officers (Captain, Sr.
Sgt., & Sgt.) along with two members of the Milice elected annually
at-large; this shall not total more
than five members. The duties of the
Executive Committee shall be as follows:
1) Shall annually audit the Treasurer’s
financial records and shall report this
audit
to the membership.
2) Shall annually file with the
Secretary of State any reports on club
incorporation
status.
3) Shall meet quarterly to conduct such
business and act to make advisory
recommendations
to the membership.
4) Shall review all matters of conduct
of Milice officers and members.
5) Shall have to decision-making power
over the membership except in situations
requiring
a decision prior t the unit’s next monthly meeting. Polling by phone of the
Executive Committee shall be considered appropriate in such
circumstances.
Article 6: REQUESTST FOR EVENT APPEARANCES
The
event organizer must first contact the Executive Committee or the site
office. They will be informed they must
make a request to Milice at the next monthly meeting. The request should be as specific as possible as to what is
required for the vent. An assurance
that the event organizer provides liability insurance should be provided.
Article 7: MEETINGS
Meetings
for the transaction of regular business shall be held on a monthly basis, at
such time and place as may be fixed by the Executive Committee.
The
Annual Meeting shall be held each year in December for the purpose of election
of Officers and Executive Committee who shall serve one year terms.
The
outgoing Executive Committee shall audit the Treasurer’s records and report
their audit to the Annual Meeting.
Article 8: QUORUM
A quorum shall consist of one officer and five voting members for transacting business monthly.
Four
members of the Executive Committee shall constitute a quorum for the
transaction of any regular or special meeting of the Executive Committee.
Ten
voting members shall constitute a quorum for the December Annual Meeting and
election of officers.
Article 9: AMENDMENTS
These
By-Laws may be amended by recommendation to the Executive Committee who shall
then act to notify the membership of the proposal of amendment change by
announcement at three (3) consecutive business meetings and by a single
notification of proposed By-Law change to the membership via U.S. Mail.
Article 10: SPECIAL COMMITTEES
In the event that the work of the club is better served by a Special Committee, the Presiding Officer shall appoint members to serve for such purpose as is necessary.
Respectfully Submitted,
Captain Dennis Nichols,
Sr. Sgt. Wm. Hoffstetter,
Sgt. Ron Stellhorn,
Member Donna Hoffstetter, and
Member Steven Short.
February 15, 1989,
March 5, 1989, and April 2, 1989.
AMMENDMENT TO ARTICLE 4:
“In
the field of events, officers of the Milice de Ste. Famille shall not
simultaneously be Officer of another unit or organization.”
(Article
4 CONTINUED WITHOUT FURTHER CHANGES)
Amendment passed by a quorum of voting members,
July 9, 1989.
WANTED
– PHOTOGRAPHER FOR THE SCHOOL OF THE SOLDIER
Someone who can be there for both days and take reasonably good pictures. Film wil be furnished. Also a complitmentary dinner for Saturday night. Contact Capt. John
Spring Thaw March 16, 17, and 18, 2001
Ladies of the Milice de Ste. Famille invite you to
a weekend encampment at Fort de Chartres.
We will be staying in the barracks with the BIG fireplace with firewood
being provided by the Milice.
You may be thinking, what will we do? If you wish, we can do nothing. There is a nice library to look through, a bread
oven to use (weather permitting), the BIG fireplace to cook in, and a cot to
take a nap on, and best of all, friends to chat with.
Well I think you are getting the picture, this is
an adult weekend away from husbands, kids, pets, housework and work. You may want to show us your new sewing
project or share your best find in a book, or demonstrate your best recipe we
can all enjoy. We can even try making
your duct tape corset form if you bring the supplies. There is not a set schedule of activities, so you can bring
something to share with everyone or sit back and eat, drink and be merry.
The Milice will furnish the meat dish for Saturday
night. Everyone is encouraged to bring
a dish to go with the meal. I will have
French toast for Sunday brunch (I know everyone will want to sleep in after the
Saturday night festivities.)
You may bring your brazier and if you have a
reflector over, please bring it along.
I want to do something a little different this year
(Yea, I know I will bend a few rules but…) I would like everyone to invite a
good friend, someone who never does anything like this but always wants to hear
about your weekend. Let’s see if we can
get them to dress and feel at home enjoying our hobby. If they do not want to dress, at least they
will have a good time and will better understand why their friends go off to
play in the 18th century every chance they get.
So to help me make this work, I ask everyone to
bring an extra set of simple dress clothing so we can try to fit anyone who comes. Anyone wanting to the spend the night, let
me know because I have some extra blankets and cots and I can bring extra
dishes also.
RSVP to
JOYCE MATSON frog@peaknet.net or phone
618-235-7268
Sunday Feb 25, a grand day for a woods walk at
Bullseye shooting club in DeSoto, Mo. A
few hardy souls braved the winds and trekked south. 14 teams took part in the competition. Your Captain graciously agreed to lead Le Grande Sacs du
Merde. The team consisted of John
Francis, Richard Kroener, Bluebutt, and Carl, a mercenary we picked up along
the way. Through wise guidance and
strong leadership and discipline, Capt John was able to guide le Grande Sacs to
a third place finish. Vive le Roi!!!
Woods Walk Feb
2001
It was a cold and blustery day – at least Friday
was. Boy was it cold. But the colder the temps the better the
story gets as time goes by. Russ and
Ned were the only Milice members brave(?) enough to stay the night on
Friday. My camp was set up, but I went
home Friday night.
Saturday was a much better day. The temperature rose and the day was
fair. The Milice fielded two teams and
finished 1st and 2nd for the event.
First place team was: Rush Wyatt, Tom Connor, Lyle Cubberly, Ned Brubeck, and Marshall
Meadors.
Second place team was: John Mefford, Ken and Jason Brigman, Dennis Lybarger, and Jim
Chestney.
Team ranking and point scores were as follows:
1) Milice – 36 points
2) Milice – 25 points
3) French Marines – 22 points
4) Starks (3 man team) – 18 points
5) Regiment du Guyone – 3 points (John Francis,
Richard Kroener, Gene Holt, Bluebuee & ???)
6) Jeager Battalion (4 man team) – minus 3 points
7) Le Oatra – minus 6 points
8) Ste. Anne (3 man team) – minus 16 ponts
Many thanks to Rockingham County Virginia Militia
for putting on a fine, well managed shoot.
The scenario dealt with a small pox breakout in the
Indian village and they blamed the fort for causing it. A trader was bringing supplies, but refused
to come close to the fort because of the pox.
So we had to go out and find his map, then locate the cache of
supplies. Only 4 teams managed to find
the cache. At one point on the course,
one of the team members was captured by the Indians and taken to their
village. All of the teams welcomed him
back after he escaped – bad move. He
was infected and brought the pox back to the fort and we all eventually died.
My team had only one fatality, Jim Chestney. Dennis Lybarger suffered a broken hand, then
a broken mainspring on his musket, then a broken arm. Jason Brigman drew a broken left hand.
A
note to the Widow Chestney:
I
am sorry for your loss. He was a fine
man and I am proud to have had him under my command. He died fighting. The day
before the ambush, Jim lost his should carriage cartridge box. The replacement cost of this item will be deducted
from any wages he may have had coming.
In the end we all had a good time and could not
believe we finished first and second.
Fortunately Le Oatra (Jason Duensing and friends) volunteered to put on
the shoot next year.
Until later,
I am your Humble Servant
Capt, John
Frog
Talk
Opening Colors for Frog Talk both days if at 9 a.m.
Reservations for the meal must be made in advance
by contacting either Lyle Cubberly at 618-624-9258 or e-mail: lachawk@apcpi.net or Tom Connor
618-632-2529 or e-mail: tufly@prodigy.net
Don’t forget to be working on some nice donations
for our auction
Commandant Stark
First Regiment of Infantry
Fort Madison
United States of America
My Dear Commandant,
It
is a pleasure to hear from you, but I am distressed to hear of your lovely
wife’s recent illness. I hope that she
has fully recovered by the time you receive this correspondence.
Your dispatches have
arrived. You indicate that war does not
go well for you and your post. We, too,
had much trouble from the British and their Indian friends. If I may be so bold as to direct your
attention to a possible problem with your armament, this may help your
situation. Included with your regular
dispatches was a paper entitled “Time Traveler.” This seems to be some type of fort newsletter. Someone has drawn an excellent sketch of a
young soldier standing next to a piece of artillery. If I recall correctly, it was a Sgt. Tripp. My eye was drawn to the cannon in the background. Sir, if this is an example of all your
artillery, you have a problem. I fear
that you will continual to have difficulty defending the fort. Sir, this is only one half of a cannon.
It may be possible, with
permission from my Most Holy Majesty the King of France, to send some of my
cannoneers with cannon to assist you.
Please share my well
wishes with your wife. To your health
and prosperity I bid you farewell.
Your
obedient servant,
Sergeant
Du Chestney
French
Colonial Artillery
Changes to
Mailing list (please make these changes
to your mailing list. If you need a new copy, contact Lynn
Cornelius, 1015 Genevieve Pl., Cahokia
Il 62206, 618-337-8382 lynnc@peaknet.net
Ron Stellhorn
541 Cemetery Rd.
Freeburg IL
62243 – 1715
Melanie Wilhelm – lark@accessus.net
Dave Wall
91 Brookshire Ln.
Camdenton, MO 65020
573-873-1218
Emma Jean Blythe
5043 Fleur-de-Lis Rd.
Coulterville Il
62237
618-758-2792
Jerome F. Lopinot
35 Oak Hill Dr., Apt 6
Belleville IL
62223
618-397-3561
Larry and Kathy Ring
Ann Wheeler
1263 Pin Oak Lane
Caseyville Il 62232
618-632-2995
Deborah Walther Aubuchon
Try these sites ----
Theriault Acadian Family: Acadian music
http://family.theriault.com/music/boule.htm#Music
table of contents http://family.theriault.com/tocwin.htm
www.indianpeacemedal.com covers Rev War period up to the last medals
The death of King George V of England. He was euthanized with morphine and cocaine
on January 20, 1936. The King was a
heavy smoker and was in the final stages of lung disease. His death was only a matter of time and the
date of the state funeral had already been set. But the doctor, Lord Dawson, say that the king’s lingering
condition of stupor and coma might last for hours, threatening to disrupt all
arrangements. So he decided to end
it. Dawson later admitted that the
moment of the king’s death was times to be announced in the respectable morning
papers rather than “the less appropriate evening journals.” The king’s last words as reported to the
media: “how is the Empire?” His actual last words: “Goddamn you!”
(submitted by Lyle –
just goes to show you that if the Brits treat their Kings this way, you can
imagine how they will treat others.)
from Francois Gousse –
“ After mass, Sunday 7,
March 1728, notary Barrette steps up to the church porch to read and publish a
King’s order ‘forbidding to use “indienne” in this colony’. At the same time, he is assailed by many
women, all in their forties, gathered at the church door to protest against the
publication of the edict which might, according to them, make them remove the
“indiennes” they were wearing. They
take hold of him, blindfold him without violence, nevertheless snatch the text
from his hands and one after the other, tear it in many pieces.”