(included in the 1998 Newsletter dated November 15, 1998)
We are having an exciting and productive year for our Society. We have many new members, luncheons and events throughout the U.S., two Educational Tours, and produced considerable information on our Web Site which is available for our members and viewers throughout the world.
Our Society can undertake the following: 1) implement our purposes with combined cooperation of our membership; 2) enhance the sense of community, linked by an ancestral bond, among our membership; 3) provide Instructional and Guidelines for our Divisions, Chapters and Colonies; 4) communicate our mission as much as possible; 5) secure the future of the Society by asking for contributions to operations and endowment; and 6) arrange for operations of the Society.
You can do the following: 1) participate in Society activities - attend your local meetings and form a local chapter if there isn
=t one nearby; 2) contact your local college or university to encourage involvement in our educational programs; 3) propose new members who will continue the Society=s traditions; 4) research your immigrant ancestor for the WebSite; 5) make a contribution to the Society to enable our programs to continue and succeed; 6) participate in an Educational Tour; and 7) suggest ways the Society can improve and memorialize the message of Magna Charta.During our June Educational Tour in Bury St. Edmunds, England our participants saw in the Cathedral the Barons
' Shields which had been donated by members of our Society. We will make a modest contribution to memorialize the actions taken at Bury St. Edmunds by the Barons who met in November of 1214 to pledge among themselves to secure Magna Charta. Reviewing our office records, I learned that our Society contributed at least two Barons= Shields to the church in Eglam, England. Our member, Lady Fairhaven, along with her two sons, donated the field of Runnymede to the National Trust of England. As we continue our Tours to England and learn about the country which produced Magna Charta, we will continue to develop our relationship with those in England who share our interest and commitment to Magna Charta. In the United States, the Texas Division has contributed toward a memorial to Magna Charta at Howard Payne University at Brownwood, Texas which includes banners of the Barons as well as information about the Great Charter. Our Divisions, Chapters and Colonies have made many contributions of books concerning Magna Charta and its traditions as well as awards and contributions to the National Society. The contributions to the National Society are particularly important as they enable the Society to inplement our purposes and to communicate using our Newsletter.By the time which you receive this Newsletter, we will have reduced our backlog of applications significantly - the response time should continue in the future to be less than two months. When we have written to candidates for membership informing them that the information they have submitted did not qualify them for membership, we have suggested several alternative actions and sent each an ancestral chart to complete including all their immigrant ancestors. Happily, most of our candidates eventually qualify when they send the necessary documentation or references.
Our ancestors who were responsible for Magna Charta demonstrated initiative and creativity; we encourage our members to make suggestions for our Society.