Greetings all:

The GAR marker ceremony has been rescheduled to Sunday, March 30, 2008 at 1:00 p.m.

On hand to help honor our three GAR marker recipients will be the 1st New Mexico Volunteer Infantry, Company, Co B and the 1st U.S. Infantry, Co. D. This ceremony will take place during an open house of the Pioneer & Military Memorial Park, 14 Ave & Jefferson in Phoenix. The open house is an opportunity to explore the cemetery with a guided tour from the volunteers of the Pioneer Cemetery Association. The open house starts at 11:00 a.m. and tours continue throughout the day. The volunteers are excited that we are able to have our GAR marker ceremony in conjunction with their event, which by the way will be publicized by the Association.

Please support your Camp by attending this event and help us honor three early Phoenix pioneers.

In Fraternity, Charity & Loyalty,

David A. Swanson, PCC
Picacho Peak Camp No.1
Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War

A quick note about the calendar on this site. It will occasionally appear to be broken. It's not. It can take a while for the calendar page to load because it gets its data from an external source. Please be patient.

Just a reminder of our upcoming camp meeting on February 16, 2008 at Coco's restaurant at 12:00 pm. If you plan on attending please send your reservations to Brother Gerald Bloom. Also a reminder to send in your dues for 2008.

Our guest speaker for the February meeting will be Dave Kampf. His topic will be Andersonville. Should be very informative like his past talks have been. Brother Jan Huber Our Graves Registration officer will be giving us an update on his project.

Unfortunately, the software powering our old site had severe server security issues. A site that I host for a video transfer company that uses the same software was hacked. The hackers exploited other sites on the server through the security hole in the video transfers site. I have begun migrating all of the sites that were powered by this software over to a new system. The upside to the new system is that it is less vulnerable to attacks and has many of the same great features. The downside is design. It is a very simple system that is limited on design controls. I will be improving the look of the site over the next few weeks and will be adding content again on a regular basis. Please check back soon for updates.

In F. C. & L.
Nathan Cups
Signals Officer

The January 2008 Camp Newsletter is now available for download through the site. Click here to get the PDF from our download page.

Fellow Brothers,
 
After a lot of hard work and a lot of time spent, The National Quartermaster Danny Wheeler and the National Webmaster Ken Freshley are proud to announce the completion of the National Quartermaster Merchandise Online Store! We have also kept the Order Forms for those who do not wish to use the online store.
 
Please, everyone enjoy and please pass this great news on to everyone. Read More...

Brother's Our Next Camp Meeting Will Be On November 17,2007 At Noon.At Coco's Restaurant. Please Send Your Luncheon Money To Brother Gerry Bloom Total($16.09)Also Camp Membership Dues Are Coming Up For 2008.Total($31.00).

Our Guest Speaker Will Be Brother John Conrad.His Topic Will Be ''The Appomattox Campaign''Should Be Very Interesting. Also We Will Have Officer Election And Installation.We Will Also Be Having Two Raffles.Brother John Conrad Has Donated A New Book Entitled''Distant Bugles,Distant Drums''Story Of The Union Response To The Confederate Invasion Of New Mexico.Also The Camp Will Be Giving Away A Free Luncheon For Our Next Meeting.Purchase Your Tickets At The Front Door When You Arrive.Other Topics Will Be Discussed.

Our next Camp meeting will be held on Saturday, August 18, 2007, at noon.
Location: Coco’s Restaurant
4514 E. Cactus Rd. (602) 953-9155

All Brothers, wives and guests are invited to the spring meeting of our Camp. Lunch will be ordered from a menu specially prepared for us. There will be a choice of seven different entrees, so there will be something for everyone. The cost is $16.09 per person, which includes lunch, soft drinks, tea, coffee, and gratuity. (Should you need to cancel, contact our Secretary/Treasurer and your money will be cheerfully refunded.)

Our next camp meeting will be held on May 19th, 2007 at 12:00 noon at Coco's Restaurant.

The meeting will feature:
Guest speaker Junior Vice Commander,Brother John Conrad. His topic will be The War In The West.
Free raffle. The winner will have the next luncheon paid for by the camp.
Open mic for Armed Forces Day. Anyone who would like to give a talk on this may feel free to do so. Just let me know before the meeting starts.
Please make sure to send in your reservations to attend the luncheon to Brother Gerald Bloom. Make check payable ($16.09) Sons Of Union Veterans,Camp Picacho Peak#1. This helps us to let CoCo's know how many guests to expect. Also, I wish to send my best wishes to those members who are ill, and hope for their speedy recovery.

If you have an ancestor that you would like to share with the rest of the camp you can email Brother Nathan Cups at ncups [Guess what goes here?] cox.net. He would be happy to add your ancestors information to the website.

Finally, I would like to thank some people for their contributions:

Brother Dave Swanson for the great job he does on our newsletter
Brother Mark Haynes (Our Chaplain) for the great job he does on the reservation up at Ganado, and for the great article he did in the newsletter.
Thanks To All.

Yours In F.C.&Loyalty
Bob Hannan Commander SUVCW Camp Picacho Peak#1 Camp At Large(Arizona)

Each year hundreds of spectators descend on Picacho Peak State Park to watch re-enactments of this Arizona Civil War skirmish and the New Mexico battles of Glorieta and Val Verde. This year the re-enactments take place on March 10 and 11 at Picacho Peak State Park. Read More...

  ....the soldiers hated sharpshooters. They had a feeling that sharpshooters never really affected the course of a battle: they were sheer malignant nuisances, taking unfair advantages and killing men who might just as well have remained alive. Read More...

Memorial Day Ceremony at Pioneer & Military Memorial Park, 14th Ave & Jefferson, Phoenix.
Monday May 29, 2006, at 9:00 am

General John A. Logan, Commander of the Grand Army of the Republic instituted Memorial Day on the 30th of May by his General Order NO. 11......


". . . The 30th day of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village and hamlet churchyard in the land. . . .It is the purpose of the Commander- in- Chief to inaugurate this observance with the hope that it will be kept up from year to year, while a survivor of war remains to honor the memory of his departed comrades."

While the national observance date has changed from the 30th (the SUVCW is trying to change that), Memorial Day has been observed since then; not just for those who died in service to the Union, but for those who have died in the service of our country in any war.
As Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War , it is our responsibility to ". . .honor all who have patriotically served our country in any war. . ." (Purpose and Objects of the SUVCW).

I urge you to fulfill this obligation by attending Memorial Day services with other Brothers of our Camp at the Pioneer & Military Park or attend services in your area.

Picacho Peak Camp #1, formed in 1996, is Arizona's only Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War Camp and is composed of members throughout the state.   It meets four times per year in Phoenix, on the third Saturday of the following months:   February, May, August and November.   By attending these luncheon meetings, Brothers share their common heritage as Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War. Read More...

Greetings All: Attached is a copy of our current by-laws, the revisions of which were recently approved by the Commander-in-Chief. I will be Emailing the by-laws to all Brothers who have Email capability next month (after the newsletter is sent out). I will also copy enough "hard copies" so they may be distributed at our May meeting for those who didn't get a copy via Email. Read More...