Hardtack & Coffee

Cedar Mountain Battlefield

I had the pleasure of visiting the Cedar Mountain Battlefield last weekend while traveling home from Northern Virgina and a visit with my youngest daughter. The battlefield is just south of Culpepper, VA on route 15. 150 acres of the site has been purchased by the Civil War Preservation Trust and along with the surrounding farm field presents a beautiful view of the terrain as it would have looked like during the time of the battle in Aug 1862. Dispite a few homes in the area much of the field is intact. Here's the link. Enjoy!
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=4448
Check out this view.
http://www.usa-civil-war.com/Cedar_Mountain/cedar_mtn.html

Winner is Announced!

The winner of our Fall Membership Drive has been chosen. Kevin Tucker is the lucky winner and will have his choice of a painted figure from our collection or a free night at the Wyndam Gettysburg during the 2009 Show. Congratulations Kevin!

Our Membership Drive drew in over 30 new members and $1200 in donations during the months of September and October. Thanks to everyone that participated and welcome aboard to all new members.

Patrick posted the link to a website that we thought was pretty neat. It's called the Gettysburg Daily and if you have any interest or plan to visit Gettysburg this site is a must to view. The li9nk is on the left of the page but here it is again. Enjoy

The Gettysburg Daily is an independent website, whose purpose is to provide at least one picture a day related in some way to Gettysburg.

http://webmail.east.cox.net/do/redirect?url=http%253A%252F%252Fwww.gettysburgdaily.com%252F

Restoration at it's finest.

I received this link from our Treasurer Jack Muldoon. I think this is what we are all about. I would have loved to get involved in this project.

Enjoy!

Mike

Trailhead: PT Boat 658

Oct Update

Lots of good news to report tonight. The Chicago Show was held 10-12 Oct and it was a great success for the APG. We managed to raise around $1800 through new memberships, t-shirt and kit sales, and painted miniature sales. A large amount of that money came from the sale of a donated piece by Doug Cohen and 2 pieces donated by Dutch Allen. Doug's figure of an Upson County Guard is at right. Thanks to everyone that helped out.

We also held our first board of directors/membership meeting. Most of the business centered on the up coming show in Gettysburg. John Jefferies presented his business plan for the show to the members. The show overall was great and I enjoyed every minute of it. Well done once again MMSI.

On the topic of the show. John has reported to me that we have already sold a large number of vendors tables. We had planned on a minimum of 100 tables and we have over half of those committed. In addition Keith Rocco will be setting up in one of the break out rooms with some of his original art work and prints. Keith's displays are always inspiring. The Atlanta club under the direction of David Oswalt and Matt Springer have volunteered to run the registration for us. Mike Hall along with Jon Harbuck will head up the judging. I will be doing the tours and awards. We have some great ideas on the tours and the awards will be a bit different than the norm. I'll have more on both down the road a bit. I have also just verified that Mr. Bob Bradley from the Alabama Dept of Archieves is planning on bring the flag of the 5th Alabama Bn with him for us to view. As you may know the conservation of that flag is our project for the year

5th Alabama Battalion...

More Show News!

I’ve got some great news to share with everyone

First. I am thrilled to announce that Mr. Sheperd Paine has agreed to join the APG as an Honorary Director and Show Chairman for the 2009 Gettysburg Show. I think everyone will agree that having Shep on board will be a huge asset to the APG in all aspects of our organization but especially with his expertise in running shows and his wide reach across the hobby. Welcome aboard Shep.

I was also privileged to visit with Bob Langenberg and his beautiful wife Ann this weekend in Montgomery Alabama. Bob and Ann are the best of hosts and I enjoyed every minute of my stay. (Including the 3 lb bass I caught in Bob’s pond). While there we met with Mr Bob Bradley, Curator with the Alabama Dept of Archives and History. He took us to the repository were we viewed the flag of the 5th Alabama Bn, the focus of our 2008-2009 fundraising effort. Viewing and touching (with gloves and very, very carefully) this stained and bullet riddled banner was a once in a lifetime opportunity. Mr. Bradley also gave us a great behind the scenes tour of the archives which included the many other famous Alabama flags in their collection. Mr. Bradley, much to our surprise and great pleasure, offered to bring the flag of the 5th to the Show in Gettysburg! Mr Bradley is a wealth of information and an excellent speaker who goes beyond any expectations in telling the story of these this and all the flags in the repository. His presence along with the flag will be a highlight if not the highlight of the show. I can’t tell you the feeling that came over me when he made the offer. I can tell you that viewing this flag in person and listening to its story from Mr. Bradley will be a very unique and rewarding experience for everyone attending.

John Jefferies will be sending flyers to prospective vendors for the show in the next week or so. If you are a vendor I hope you will consider attending and sharing your goods with out attendance. There are some benefits for signing up early so don’t delay!

Thanks for your support!

Mike Stelzel

Membership drive starts now...

The APG will start this year's membership drive on the September 1st 2008 and will continue to October 31st 2008.

Incentives for becoming a new member during this period,  aside from your choice of a free gift, will be your choice of a painted figure or a free room at the 2009 Gettysburg Show!  In order to be considered for this raffle, you must sign up for membership before October 31st 2008.

We will send you an application via email; send it back to us and once we've received your dues, we'll enter you in the raffle.  Winner of the raffle will be notified by email during November 2009.  As a reminder, dues starting September 1st, 2008 will be $40.

To become a member contact us at infomikeapg@aol.com or check out our website: 

http://www.artistpreservationgroup.com/membership.htm

A venue change...

We've changed the location of  show; our new venue is now the Gettysburg Wyndam.  Visit the site here:

http://www.wyndham.com/hotels/MDTGE/main.wnt

This year's project

We've are very excited to announce that our project for next year will be the conservation and restoration of the Colors of the 5th Alabama Battalion. This flag was captured at Picketts Charge on July 3rd 1863. They came into the possesion of Joshua Chamberlain and were returned to Alabama in 1943. Bob Langenberg will head this years project. If you any questions or would like to be involved please contact us at infomikeapg@aol.com.  Here is the flag we are restoring:

How Can I Help the APG ?

I get asked that question alot. We started raising money by selling painted miniatures but the buyers market is small and can be hard to reach. Delivery of the painted pieces could be problematic. Shipping these things is risky at best. Delivering in person could also be a logistical problem. We still sell painted miniatures and several clubs have allowed us to put on a live auction and we try to man a table at the shows to sell the stuff in person. But selling painted miniatures isn't the only way we raise money. Here are some ideas for everyone, including folks that don't paint or collect to help.

Become a Member.
For an individual becoming a member is probably the easiest way to get involved. Membership is $35 a year with a $25 renewal. (for anyone under 18 the fee is $15 and $10) For $35 you will receive your choice of gift. Currently those choices are an APG T-shirt, personalized paperweight, or name tag. Other benefits are a 10% discount at Michael Roberts Ltd, 10% off APG Store items, and discounted admission to our show. Right now our membership is small but as it grows we hope to include other benefits and incentives to join. Just today I had some one who is in the process of starting a miniature company offer a %10 discount once he starts production.

Individuals can also make a donation. We are now officially a Not for Profit Organization registered in the Commonwealth of VA. and will soon have our 5013C status. (check with your tax guy for any benefits that may be appropriate) People can also check with their employers to see if they offer any matching funds for donations to Not for Profit groups. In many case these benefits aren't known to employees. It's a great way to double your money!

Club, Business, and Organizational Support.

We've asked clubs, business, and other organizations to support us with donations. For that we link your organizations' website to ours and list you on our website. Sort of free advertising. We hope to expand the benefits of that in the future. Another idea that could be fun would be for your group to have a raffle of donated items from your "grey army" at one of your meetings. Hold a flea market at your meeting and charge a percentage of sold items. Donate that to the APG. One club just put out a "donation" coffee can and filled it up at meetings. The Atlanta Military Figure Society has offered an annual donation from proceeds from their show. In this case the club is honoring their charter to educate, support the hobby, and military history.They have also graciously offered to pay our legal fees for gaining our Not for Profit and 5013C status. There are lots of ideas. Use your imagination! If you have any ideas on how we can raise money please share it with us.

We will soon anounce plans for a membership drive. Once the dates are decided we will offer a raffle if we gain 10 or more new members. The raffle prize will be a painted miniature. More to come on that.

Of course you can help by attending the show next summer. All of those profits will go to our restoration and conservation projects.

Remember that all donations of time, material, and resources go to our restoration, conservation, and preservation efforts. No one is paid and no compensation is given for anyones work. We have some small administration costs and most of that is donated.

Thanks for your support.

Mike Stelzel
President
APG

The Gettysburg Show 7 - 9 August 2009

The Artist Preservation Group invites you to join us in honoring the spirit of men like them on Aug 7-9 2009 in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania at the Eisenhower Hotel and Conference Center. The APG will be hosting a miniature show and art exhibit in order to raise funds for our ongoing restoration and preservation projects. Here's a quick update on where we are for the 2009 Gettysburg Show:

- We're starting to line up seminars for the show. As of today we have Matt Springer, Chris Mrosko, and Keith Rocco. Matt will be doing is on the sculpting and painting of his 2009 APG bust. Chris will be giving us a demonstration of his superior airbrushing techniques. Keith will be giving his presentation titled "Working on a Grand Scale-Cycloramas". Several others are in the works and we will announce those when they become available.

- We have a contract with the hotel and they've given us an extremely good rate of $110 a night for double occupancy. That rate is good for one week prior to and one week after the show. We'd like to encourage folks to bring the family and make a vacation out of the weekend!

- We are also beginning to put up links on our web site (http://www.artistpreservationgroup.com/gettysburg.htm) for other attractions in the area as well as a link to the Gettysburg Visitors and Convention Bureau. For those traveling by air we will also be listing airports in the area and contact information on transportation from the airport to Gettysburg.

- In lieu of a banquet we are planning a barbeque on Sat. night. We are tinkering with some sort of a contest at the barbeque; John Jefferies is working this. Stand by for news on that. Should be fun.

- We've talked with Keven Dunne, and he's working on a event that would feature some reenactors and Picketts Charge. As soon as it's available we will post the list of events hosted by the National Park Service for those days encompassing the show. As a side note, there is no charge for these Battlefield Walks and they are excellent presentations that are given on location in the park. Mike attended one a few years ago on the fight at the Wheatfield and Rose Woods given by Scott Hartwig and it was superb. There are also demonstartions given at various locations in the park by reenactors on subjects like artillery, sharpshooters, infantry tactics, etc. We will post that info as well when available.

- Vendors are encouraged to contact John Jefferies ASAP for tables(birchtreejohn@aol.com) there is an incentive for booking early...

If you have any questions, please contact Mike (infomikeapg@aol.com), Patrick (fourkirks@aol.com) or John Jefferies (birchtreejohn@aol.com). Pete (pculos@histroybrush.com) or Kreston (kbpeckham@aol.com) are avialable for questions, too.