LA GRANADA the Order of Granaderos Y Damas De Gálvez – Founding Chapter APRIL 2014 SAN ANTONIO, TX
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
LA GRANADA The Order of Granaderos y Damas de Gálvez – Founding Chapter APRIL 2014 www.granaderos.org SAN ANTONIO, TX IN THIS ISSUE: SAPD Memorial Festival PG. SAPD Memorial Festival 1 On Saturday, March 1st, Michael Rojas, Maverick Library 1 Miaoyin Rojas and Joe Perez staffed a SA Genealogical Society 1 booth at the San Antonio Police Dept Next Meeting 2 Upcoming Events 2 Memorial Festival, which raises funds for Fife & Drum Corps News 3 the families of fallen officers. We had From our Friends in LA. 4 many visitors to the booth and several of Galvez Panels at San Jose 5 them got to fire the musket. Joe and Other Chapters 5 Miaoyin also marched in the short parade. Michael Rojas, Joe Perez and San Jacinto Symposium 5 Miaoyin Rojas staff the booth Thanks go out to Michael, Miaoyin & Joe. Internet News Roundup 6 March Meeting Minutes 7 San Antonio Maverick Library Genealogical On Saturday, March 8th, James Salinas, Joe Perez, and Historical Miaoyin Rojas and Michael Rojas gave a living history Society presentation at the Maverick Library. Despite the rain, On Saturday, March 15th, there was still a good sized Governor Joe Perez gave a audience to enjoy the living history presentation to the interactive presentation. San Antonio It started with a march Genealogical through the library leading to and Historical the meeting room where Joe Perez, James Salinas and Michael Society. He Rojas presented information about Gálvez and his Gulf Coast presented in- Campaign, the Spanish Milled Dollar and the Cross of Burgundy formation on flag. Miaoyin played Yankee Doodle and The Girl I Left Behind Spain’s covert Me on the fife and got applause after each tune. assistance to the American Colonists, the Texas cattle drives to Louisiana and Birthday Wishes General Gálvez’ Gulf Coast Campaign. He also spoke about Happy Birthday wishes go out to Dama Victoria the uniform and equipment and Thonhoff who celebrates her birthday on April 2nd. We all added information about the wish you a very happy birthday, Mrs. Thonhoff. Spanish milled dollar as the basis of our initial currency. Upcoming Events Saturday April 5 10:00 am–4:00 pm Next Meeting th 13 Annual Tejeda Middle School History Faire and Culture Fest. We Wednesday, April 2 will have a living history booth and our Fife & Drum Corps will play tunes of Royal Inn Oriental Cuisine the American Revolution. 5440 Babcock Rd Thursday April 10 12:00 noon Governor Joe Perez will give a Dinner at 6:30 Meeting at 7:15 presentation to the Green Mountain Boys Chapter of the National Society Guest Speaker: Daughters of the American Revolution Dr. Carolina Crimm Monday April 21 3:30 pm – 5:00 pm “Bernardo de Gálvez, We will participate and present a wreath as part of the Pilgrimage to the Man of the Enlightenment” Alamo from the Municipal Auditorium to the Alamo. Saturday April 26 9:00 am–4:00 pm We will participate in the King William Fair and Parade. We must be in the Our guest speaker for the April meeting is Dr. forming area for the parade by 8:00 am Carolina Crimm, who is a retired professor of history and our booth will be staffed from 9:00 from Sam Houston State University. She holds a Ph.D. in Latin American History from the University am to 5:00 pm. of Texas at Austin. Not only is she a prize-winning teacher, having been named Piper Professor for Texas, she is also an award winning author as her book De Leon: A Tejano Family History won the prestigious La Bahía Award from the Sons of the Republic of Texas in 2005. That same year, she was granted a Fellowship in the Texas State Historical Association for her “significant contributions to scholarship in Texas History”. In retirement she has begun work on a series of historical novels about Spanish Texas. Her current project is about Governor Bernardo de Gálvez. She is an excellent author and a dynamic public speaker. You won’t want to miss her presentation at our next meeting. See you there! Granaderos y Damas de Gálvez – Founding Chapter – San Antonio TX Governor (& Editor of La Granada): Joe Perez / (210) 386-5050 / [email protected] Deputy Governor: Roberto Flores / (210) 433-8971 / [email protected] Secretary: Briana Perez / (210) 412-4929 / [email protected] Treasurer: Elizabeth Perez / (210) 857-4742 / [email protected] Webmaster of La Revista (official website): Roland Cantu / [email protected] Granaderos de Gálvez Fife & Drum Corps We had some great practices in March and continue to improve in all areas. Our instructors, Fifer Kate Bolcar and Drummer Gerard Cortese are bringing us along very well and, as a group, we are sounding much better. We will have practices more often to master the tunes and expand our repertoire. We will also practice while marching to hone our skills necessary in that area from drum rolloffs to Drum Major signals. Every practice in April will be a rehearsal for the King William Parade. Our rehearsal schedule for April is as follows: Saturday, April 5 at the Tejeda Middle School History Fair, 2909 E Evans Rd. We will practice and perform in our display booth, at the open microphone area and even march around the grounds. This will give us great practice for the parade. Saturday, April 19 at the home of Kate & Gerard, 7113 Avery Rd in Live Oak. The music list is as follows: Yankee Doodle The Girl I Left Behind Me La Marcha de los Granaderos Yellow Rose of Texas King William (maybe) Drum Call: Chamade The following is taken from page 108 of the book “The Longest Siege of the American Revolution: Pensacola” by Wesley Odom, who is the Governor of the Pensacola Chapter of Granaderos y Damas de Gálvez. “Faced with the loss of more blood and with no hope of relief, Campbell, shortly before 3:00 p.m., ordered a drummer boy to the ramparts of Ft. George to beat the chamade, which was a certain drum beat that indicated that the commander wanted to discuss a proposition. The battlefield became quiet.” General Campbell wanted to discuss the terms of his surrender to General Gálvez. It was the fifth and final British fort Gálvez captured during his Gulf Coast Campaign, which returned control of both east and west Florida back to Spain. From Our Friends in Louisiana By Granadero Clifford Normand and Dama Lynda Normand George Washington Dedication The Louisiana Society Sons of the American Revolution purchased a bust of George Washington and had it installed on the State Capital Grounds in Baton Rouge near the Old Military Arsenal. Since the installation, the Baton Rouge General Philemon Thomas Chapter of the SAR has been holding a memorial service that has included a wreath presentation on Washington's Birthday. This year, the ceremony was conducted on February 22nd and, for the first time, the Canary Island Historical Society of Louisiana was invited to join in the celebration. Shown at left is a picture, taken by Greg Lindsly of this year’s ceremony and includes (L-R) Granadero Clifford Normand and Canary Island descendants Denise Lindsly, Joan Aleman, Stella Tanoos, John Hickey, Janell Hickey, and Dama Lynda Normand. Clifford Normand and John Hickey are Canary Islander descendants by marriage. First Gálvez Patriot Recognized by SAR The re-dedication of the grave of Miguel Dragon in St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 in New Orleans will be held April 5. The tomb was deteriorating and was recently rebuilt by contributions from the family and others. Dragon was the first Gálvez Patriot to be recognized by the Sons of the American Revolution. The application by Theodore Dimitry required the by-laws of the SAR to be changed to permit the Spanish Patriots to be recognized. Markers of Remembrance The Philemon Thomas Chapter of the SAR has voted to provide grave markings for three Patriots buried in the St. James Catholic Church Cemetery in St. James, Louisiana over the next three years. The Patriots are Lt. Michael Cantrelle (a soldier of the Revolution with the Gálvez Expedition), Marin Landry (recognized for his patriotic service in the American Revolution) and Nicholas Verret, Sr. (the Commandant at Cabahanoce on First Acadian Coast 1770-1775). They hope to have the first marker placed by Veterans Day of this year. Gálvez Panels on Display at Mission San Jose – San Antonio TX The Gálvez Panels are now on display at Mission San Jose in the Visitor’s Center and will remain there through the summer. Governor Perez is working with the mission to have Granaderos periodically serve as docents to explain the panels to visitors, as we did when the panels were on display at Texas A&M-San Antonio. This will be a great opportunity to actively teach the public about General Gálvez and Spain’s contributions to the American Revolution. The panels are sponsored by the Texas A&M-San Antonio Chapter of the Texas Connection with the American Revolution Association (TCARA). Other Chapters Around the Country In last month’s newsletter, we explained some of the things the Houston Chapter and Pensacola Chapter are doing to fulfill the mission of the Order. This month, we look at some things the Washington DC Chapter and Jacksonville Chapter are doing. Members of the Washington DC Chapter don the uniforms of the Louisiana Regiment that served under Gálvez and they participate in several reenactments throughout the year under the leadership of Governor Hector Diaz. In addition to reenactments, they march in parades and conduct living history presentations about General Gálvez.