The First Foot Guards
We are a Revolutionary War
reenactment group based in Boston MA,
accurately portraying the royal household regiment that is now known as
The Grenadier Guards
Winston Stone, President
Chris Kone, VP
Bill Sherburne, Treasurer
Doug Ozelius, Secretary
Peter Pechulis, At-large
Barry Brown, Senior Serjt - 1st Coy
Don Parsons, Senior Serjt - Gren. Coy
Winston opened the meeting after the usual banter and
passing around photos of the recent Saratoga event.
We commented on that spectacular event, thanks to all
of you.
Bill Sherburne reported that the Guards have a
healthy treasury. By his record-keeping, we have
$5,714 in our account with only one bill yet to pay;
our 2003 insurance.($450) Peter Pechulis commented
that the Guards have done very well finacially, and
wanted to thank everyone for their fine effort!
A summary of the 2003 budget as folows:
Brand-new Trailer $1,650
Colours $700 (Regimental, King's and camp)
Mess supplies $500
Insurance $450
Powder, 50 lbs. $410
Drill Hall - Quincy $150
Printing - Brochures $100
Mailings - Guardsman $100 (quarterly printing)
Web site hosting $72.00
Budget discussion:
Trailer - 5' x 8' to replace our current trailer.
This trailer will be new, have roof-racks, and all
bills related to this trailer (tax, registration,
etc.) will be paid by the unit.
Colours - Our regimental is starting to tear. We will
spend sufficient funds to purchase enough cloth and
hardware to sew a new stand of Colours. The King's
Colour will be all Crimson with a Union canton and a
"GR" badge in the center. The Regimental will look
exactly like the one we have now. The camp colour
will be for #9 Company (the Light Infantry). Graeme
Marsden has generously volunteered to paint the
Colours after we get them sewed together.
Mess - Bill Sherburne reported paying out between $400
to $500 for mess related items. He admitted that his
record keeping for this could be better, no fault of
anyone but him, he said. Items could have included
hardware, food supplies, or gas (hauling trailer). In
the future, we will all try to keep Bill organized! A
form for all expenditures will be used. [More on this
later as it does not only pertain to mess items!]
Insurance - What more needs to be said, we all need to
pay it. Please remember, however...if an event is not
one that our unit has agreed to attend you are not
covered under our unit insurance policy. For example:
if I attend Guilford Courthouse event in NC, since it
was not discussed, or listed as a 1st Foot Guards
event, I am not covered by the policy.
Powder - Based on last year's estimates, we have
budgeted for 50 lbs. The unit subsidizes the purchase
of each can. You may purchase powder from the unit
for $6.00/can. If you need powder, contact Winston.
Drill Hall - We voted to donate $150 to the hall.
Printing - Graeme makes the beautiful brochures for
the unit. They are used for recruiting and education.
Mailings - Don and Beth Parsons have agreed to become
the editors of a quarterly GUARDSMAN. This will be a
forum for the membership. When you receive your copy,
stick it on the fridge! Thanks Don & Beth!
Web hosting - In order to get rid of the ad banners on
our tripod hosted site, we pay a small monthly fee.
Thanks, Graeme!! A few folks asked if we could add a
MEMBERS ONLY site link to the web page for posting
critical info for just the members.
EVENTS:
Please note that the 2003 schedule is still being put
together. Exact times and dates are not always
available at this point. We will post them as we know
them.
The 2003 campaigning season will be the 225th
anniversary of the 1778 battles. We expect that the
big battles will be at Monmouth NJ (June 28-29) and
Rhode Island (Aug 30-31/ Labor Day) Also, the British
Brigade is having a great event at Niagara next year
too! See www.BritishBrigade.org
Paid events - Lexington Parade, Harborfest, Lee
parade, Everett parade??
Local events - Lexington rehearsal, Battleroad,
Barrett House, Ft Revere??, Hartwell??
Other business:
There was discussion on whether or not we should
require that Guardsmen get dress uniform items for
events such as Harborfest. Many are for it, but it
comes at an expense to the membership. What is dress
uniform:
Grenadiers: Bearskin, breeches, long white gaiters
w/garters. Coat neat and clean, brass polished and
belts white. Musket shiny!
First Company & Light Infantry: Cocked hats, breeches,
long gaiters w/ garters. Coat neat and clean, brass
polished and belts white. Musket shiny!
NOTE: The Guards had no Light Infantry in England.
The Light Infantry was created to go on campaign in
America as part of the Brigade of Guards. Therefore,
the dress uniform for the Light Infantry would be the
uniform of the Battalion companies.
We did not set another date for the next meeting.
However, please be thinking about your nominations for
the Board for 2003. A likely date for the election
will be in February.
Doug Ozelius
Secretary, 1st Foot Guards