C. Bruce Pickette’s Address to the 2010 ALSSAR State Convention
Honored Guests, Compatriots, and Ladies,
Compatriots, thank you for electing me as your State Society President. I’m looking forward to travelling around the state and hopefully having the opportunity to present some awards and certificates. I want to take advantage of that opportunity right now. Will former State Society President John Killian please step forward?
John, this is the Past State President’s pin to be worn on your neck ribbon. It symbolizes your hard work and all of the things you accomplished over the past year. Wear it with pride because you have certainly earned it. Second, on behalf of the Alabama Society I’d like to present you with this Liberty Bell in appreciation for all you’ve done. Finally, if I may ask President General Butler to come forward so he may present you with the Past State President Certificate. This certificate has been signed by him and is presented in recognition of your service and past year as State President.
I also would like to thank President General Ed Butler, particularly with all of the demands on your time, Vice President General Tom Jacks, and visiting State Presidents Bill Allerton, Bill Eubank, and John Taylor (along with his lady Jill), DAR State Regent Rita Horton, C.A.R. Senior State President Ann Lewis Boon, and C.A.R. State President Sara Beth Redmon, for being here. It’s an honor to have all of you and we appreciate the effort and time it has taken for you to be here and for all the many things you do for the SAR and your organizations. As we all know, volunteering is sometimes the hardest job of all!
Our thanks are also due to the members and ladies of the Birmingham Chapter for organizing and hosting this Annual Meeting and Convention. A lot of work went into it, I know, and I congratulate those members on a successful event. Please join me in applauding their terrific efforts.
I would like to thank my wife Rita for her support in my “SAR life.” My deep thanks also to all the Ladies and especially our Ladies Auxiliary. Thank you, Ladies and President Abby Alexander. Having our wives here supporting us and working to help us accomplish our goals has been important, I truly believe, to our success over the past few years.
I am both humbled and honored to serve this organization. To me, it is a great honor and a responsibility that I take very seriously. You can be sure that I will put my all into carrying on the traditions of the State Society, representing us wherever I can, and working tirelessly. I owe so much to the State Presidents who have come before me and to the mentors who gave me the benefit of their wisdom. And, I certainly would not be here if it weren’t for the encouragement and support over the years by members of the General Richard Montgomery chapter, and more recently by the members of the General John Archer Elmore chapter, and my good friend Larry Cornwell, who sponsored me eight years ago. I want to add my congratulations to Larry for having been awarded the State Medal of Distinguished Service by John Killian tonight.
Tom Lawrence, State President of the Texas Society, said: “We join organizations such as this one to do something significant, to make a difference, and to help people. We join the SAR in particular because we admire the men and women who fought in the American Revolution and because we share in their ideas and values.” He went on to say: “As we get older we also increasingly think of what we have accomplished in our life and what legacy we will leave for our descendents.” and that “You only have so many opportunities to leave your mark in this life but being in the SAR provides us with an opportunity if we will only take advantage of it.”
I enjoy going to our chapter meetings, eating lunch and hearing a good presentation. But our real “business” of the SAR is to bring the ideals and principles of our Founding Fathers to our fellow citizens. To do that we need to make contact with people and that happens through the programs and projects of the SAR and this State Society, and your chapter. As I go around the state this year, I will be emphasizing those programs and projects and asking chapters to focus on them. It is through our programs and projects that we will have a visible impact on the community and achieve our “business” goal. It is simply not enough to go to our meetings if we are to play our part in preserving our freedoms. So I will be challenging all of my Compatriots to do more and to not miss on their opportunity to help leave a lasting legacy for their descendents.
I hope each of you will support the efforts of the other State officers you have elected and the efforts of the State Committee Chairmen and Liaisons that I have appointed. Watch the website later next week for those names and assignments. I thank each of them for their willingness to serve and to volunteer.
Everyone plan to attend the next Board of Managers meeting in Columbiana on May 22nd. Let’s have a good year! Thank you.
Leanne Cornwell, Past President of the Ladies Auxiliary, will now announce the winning bids for the chapter baskets.
Chapter representatives should pick up their Elementary School Posters.
Please stand and I’ll ask the Chaplain Coker to give the closing prayer and then Senior Vice President Billings to lead us in the SAR Recessional. I would remind the State Officers to please come forward for a photograph together after the Recessional.
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