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Dear members and friends, Welcome back! It has been a while since we’ve published a newsletter, so this one is chockful of information. And since we last published a newsletter, we’ve accomplished so much, and we’d like to share that with you. February 2016 – Brackett ISD Students Tour Museum In February, several students from Brackett ISD took a field trip to the Seminole Negro Indian Museum. As this group of approximately forty kids and three teachers toured the museum and the Carver School grounds, they learned about the history of the Seminole Negro Indian Scouts and their descendants. Following the tour, they engaged in a question and answer period. The students were very interested in the history of the Black Seminoles, and they were also amazed by the stories that they heard. They truly appreciated this experience, and we appreciate Allison Watkinson for organizing the visit. We look forward to making this an annual event. March 2016 – Fort Clark Days In March, we participated in Fort Clark Days. It took place between March 4-6. The association had a booth. We sold T-shirts, cups, and hats, and we gave out information about the association and about membership. Thank you to all who volunteered — Al and Mary Nofi, Mary Cleves, and Joe Louis Factor. It was nice to see Mr. Pete Pierce, the Bruno family, and Mr. Warrior.  April 2016 – Cemetery Cleanup A cemetery cleanup took place on April 8th. Thank you to volunteers Rafael Ruiz, Cassey Connell, Jesse Atkinson, and their team from Laughlin AFB, and members from the association — Pete Louis Pierce, Joe Louis Factor, Larvell Blanks, Marian Pierce, Joe Kelly and Clarence Ward. Everyone who volunteered really wanted to help. They were full of enthusiasm. After the cleanup, the Laughlin volunteers toured the cemetery and were given a brief history lesson by the members who had also helped clean up. Several other cleanup days have taken place since this one. We would like to thank all of the kind souls who have dedicated their time and equipment to maintaining the cemetery. If you have any tools or equipment that you would like to donate or allow us to use for that day, please contact us. We are in need of push lawnmowers (3) and weed eaters (5) and rakes (4) and hand blowers (3) and trash bags.  May 2016 – Flea Market On May 14th, we held a flea market at the Carver School. Thanks to everyone who volunteered, especially Mary and Al Nofi and Mary Cleves.  June 2016 – Juneteenth Celebration We gathered in the school yard on June 18, 2016, to celebrate the day that enslaved Africans in Texas learned that they were free. On this day, everyone who attended enjoyed barbeque, music, and fellowship. We cannot wait until next year.  July 2016 – Civil Rights in Black and Brown In mid-July we were contacted by two college students named Vinicio and Steve. They asked if we would like to be interviewed for their oral history project entitled Civil Rights in Black and Brown. Along with several SISCA members, they also interviewed several other Brackettville and Del Rio residents about their thoughts and memories about the Civil Rights Movement.  August 2016 – SWTJC Humanities Project Visit Under the tutelage of professors Dennie Johnson and Veronica Williams, a group of SWTJC students visited Brackettville during August. They are a part of a new program that is bringing the humanities back to junior colleges. They chose, as their first subject, the Black Seminoles. We are happy and honored by this choice. They also conducted interviews during Seminole Days. September 2016 – Seminole Days This year, Seminole Days took place from Friday, September 16 to Sunday, September 18, at the Carver School Grounds (Friday and Saturday) and the Seminole Indian Scout Cemetery (Sunday).
October 2016 – BBQ Plate Sale, Bingo, Halloween Dance, and Visit Our very first event following Seminole Days was a bbq plate sale, bingo, and dance. It took place on Saturday, October 29. We had a great turnout for the bingo. Everyone had tons of fun, and we look forward to doing this again next year. SISCA president Augusta “Gigi” Pines had the pleasure of visiting with a PhD candidate and his wife. They had travelled all the way from Germany in order for him to complete his studies.  November 2016 – Upcoming Cemetery Cleanup & Thanksgiving Celebration On Thursday, November 3, we had the pleasure of meeting Pulitzer Prize winning author Tony Horwitz. He came to Brackettville to do research on his latest project. He asked excellent questions about the Black Seminoles and their descendants. We truly enjoyed our time with him.  December 2016 – Kinney County Frontier Christmas Celebration On December 3, SISCA participated in the Kinney County Frontier Christmas celebration at the Civic Center. The rainy weather caused the festivities to be taken in doors, but that did not dampen anyone’s spirit. We had fun seeing all of the happy faces. We look forward to participating again next year. Monthly Meeting – January 2017 Our next monthly meeting will take place on Saturday, January 14, at 1PM. Mark your calendars! Membership Is it time to renew your membership? Our website makes it easy. Just click here to make an online payment. Or you can send us your check by mail if you prefer. Your membership is very important to us. Thank you Thank you for your donations and contributions. They are greatly appreciated. Thank you to the families who keep the graves looking clean, neat, and decorated. We could not maintain without your continued support. Thanks again for helping us keep the cemetery a beautiful, serene resting place for our loved ones. HAPPY NEW YEAR! We hope your 2017 is filled with prosperity, health, happiness, and love!
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President's Message Frontier Christmas, 2015 This has been a successful year for the association. And I would like to thank you all for your support. We have accomplished a lot. And in the coming year, we are looking forward to accomplishing even more and meeting more of our goals. News(We apologize for this newsletter being so late!) This has been a very interesting and exciting month. We’ve accomplished many things. Our monthly meeting, which took place on Saturday, November 12, 2015, was successful. Grant We’re applying for a matching grant. They are being awarded by the Texas Historic Commission. Right now, we are in the process of writing the proposal. We look forward to giving more details at the beginning of the year. Kinney County Thanksgiving Members of the Seminole Indian Scout Cemetery Association attended the community Thanksgiving dinner. Members also attended the veteran’s day program at the Fort Clark Historical Society. Kinney County Frontier Christmas Celebration On Saturday, December 5, 2015, we participated in the Kinney County Frontier Christmas celebration. It was a very successful day. We sold T-shirt, caps, and mugs. We handed out 200 cookies and raised awareness about the organization. Museum We’ve had a many interesting families visit the museum. They have shared their ideas, history, and are willing to the association. We’ve had visitors from San Antonio, Texas, San Angelo, Austin and from as far away as Ohio. Membership Is it time to renew your membership? Our website makes it easy. Just click here to make an online payment. Or you can send us your check by mail if you prefer. Your membership is very important to us. Upcoming Activities and EventsStay tuned. We will be announcing our next fundraiser very soon. Next meeting Our next meeting is scheduled for Saturday, January 9, 2015. We will also be enjoying a potluck dinner after the meeting. If you would like to bring a dish, please contact us. T-shirts, caps, and mugs Did you know that we have items for sale? Are you looking for a gift or souvenir? Look no further. Consider purchasing a t-shirt, cap, or mug for you or your loved ones. They are great gifts. You can buy them at the museum! President's MessageI would like to thank everybody for your continuous support. I am very excited to have come so far, and to have so many promising projects for next year. I want to fulfill our goals, and for this, we will be working to get a grant. Next year will be a prosperous one! I am grateful to have so many new members that have come aboard. We always look forward to your ideas and suggestions! It's only with your participation that this association can be better. News Augusta Pines, Rocío Gil, Windy Goodloe Discussion Session and Potluck on October 24 On October 24th we had a very productive discussion meeting. We were glad to see new faces in our meeting and we hope to continue getting new people and new ideas. After the meeting we had a potluck and farewell party for Rocío Gil, who has been collaborating with SISCA for more than a year. She was very moved and expressed how thankful she is for all the support the Seminoles and SISCA have given her. She will continue collaborating with the website and made the promise to share her research once she finishes. Catherine Mayo's Visit On October 16 we had the pleasure to receive Literary Journalist and Novelist Catherine Mayo, who is working on a guide book about Texas. She contacted the association as she sees Seminole history as one of the important highlights of the region. You can see her work here. Talk at Uvalde High School On October 15 we were invited to give a talk at the ROTC program at Uvalde High School. Windy Goodloe gave a general overview of the history of Black Seminoles. Augusta Pines followed with some personal experiences and she then spoke about SISCA and the work the association does. Finally, Rocío Gil spoke about the importance of history and shared some of her research ideas. The talk was so successful that we were asked to stay for a second session and we were invited to return to speak to the Social Sciences class. We would like to thank Brad Brantley for the opportunity. We plan to continue doing these kinds of talks to keep our legacy and history alive. If you have contacts that can be useful for this, please let us know! Membership It's time to renew your membership! You haven't done it? Our website makes it easy, just click here and make an online payment, or you can send us your check by mail if you prefer. Your membership is very important to us. As a regular member, you can participate in the elections that will take place in September, and you can attend our regular meetings to share your ideas and to help make decisions. We have achieved many of our goals, but we still can do a better job. Your donations and dues can help us get there. You can see what we have accomplished and what we are working on here. Museum Donations Our museum keeps growing! We have received many documents and artifacts as donation and we continuously receive visitors. Thank you for your support! If you haven't been there, come and visit us! Upcoming Activities and EventsNext Meeting Our next meeting will take place on November 14 at 1PM. Your presence and ideas are very important to us, please consider attending this or the following meetings. All our meetings take place on the second Saturday of each month at 1PM in the Carver School building. Cemetery Cleanup We need your help to keep our cemetery clean! Lookout for dates when you can volunteer, we will have the calendar very soon. January 9th Meeting and Potluck After our January 9th meeting we will have a potluck to celebrate the new year. Don't miss it! Fundraisers
The association needs money to be able to keep up the cemetery, the Carver School, the museum and the Masonic Lodge. We have a lot of goals that we want to achieve, so we will apply for a grant. The Texas Historical Commission offers a matching grant, and for every dollar SISCA gives, they will put one dollar. Our goal is to raise approximately $10,000 and we will be organizing fundraisers to reach our goal. There are many way you can help: - Make a donation - Organize a fundraiser wherever you live and send it to SISCA - Come to our events - Give us ideas for fundraisers - Pay your dues Let's work together and make the association grow! News Seminole Days 2015. Photo by Wilbur Beamer Seminole Days Seminole Days exceeded our expectations! Thank you for traveling, for sharing time with friends and relatives, and for making this such a beautiful event. We hope to see you next year! You can read a detailed description of the event and look at the pictures here. We also thank you for your donations in money and in kind, they are immensely important for SISCA. All the money raised during Seminole Days will be used for the upkeep of the cemetery, the Carver School, and the museum. T-Shirts, caps & mugs Thank you for supporting SISCA by buying some of our products! If you would like to purchase more, you can contact us, we still have some products available. Handicap Ramp at the Museum Did you see our new handicap ramp at the Seminole museum? We want to thank the H.O.P.E. outreach for donating the work and materials for such a needed ramp. Now everybody can come and enjoy the museum. Membership Thank you for renewing your membership during the Seminole Days! Your contributions are very important for the upkeep of the cemetery, the Carver School and the museum. They also help us to start planning for next year's Seminole Days. If you did not renew your membership you can either send a check to SISCA or you can pay directly on our website by clicking here. Membership cards are on the way! Remember: We always welcome and need volunteers. You don't have to live in Brackettville to be an active member. Please contact us and find out how you can collaborate with SISCA. Museum We have a new exhibit at the museum! These are pictures taken in El Nacimiento by Dzilam Méndez. Visit us soon! Upcoming Activities and EventsHigh School Talks On October 15, members of SISCA will give a talk at the high school in Uvalde. We are hoping to continue promoting our history among students and people in the area. If you have contacts that you think would be useful for this project, please let us know. SISCA Meetings Remember, SISCA meetings take place the second Saturday of each month at 1PM at the Carver School. Your ideas are very important, please join us. As an exception, October's meeting will be held on October 24. After the meeting we will have a Potluck/dinner party. Everybody is welcomed! Elections
We will have elections next year. If you are interested in running, you can contact president Augusta Pines for more information. President's MessageWe are excited about Seminole Days! I can tell you now that it is going to be a great success. I look forward to seeing everybody and meeting new people. NewsSeminole Days Can you believe Seminole Days is next week? We hope to see you! We are getting ready for the parade and all the events we have planned. You can see the full itinerary here
Things to do during Seminole Days: - Do you want to fix your hair and get your nails done for the celebration? Visit Country Style Hair & Nail Salon! 104 East Spring Street Phone: 830-261-0793 Tuesday-Friday 10 AM to 5PM Saturday: By appointment - Grab a meal at 3 Moon Cafe! Home made tortillas Home made menudo on Saturdays and Sundays 100 E Military https://www.facebook.com/3MoonCafe Museum Five months in, our museum is continuing to flourish! The museum is a meeting place for ideas. We never know who will come to visit but it is always a learning experience for both. The museum has also become a good source of income for the association. We will have special hours during Seminole Days. Don't miss the chance to see it! "Today my husband and I visited the Seminole Indian Scout Museum. We were very impressed with all the memorabilia that has been collected and the organization of the material. We want to send a special thanks to Windy Goodloe for being our guide through the museum. She was very knowledgeable about all the historical information on display. I highly recommend that everyone visit this museum." James and Judy Blankenship Brackettville, Texas T-Shirts & Caps We are happy to announce that we have T-shirts and caps with the Seminole Scouts logo. Available at the museum and during Seminole Days. You can order in advance. We would like to a big thank you to the Fort Clark Historical Society for their support! T-Shirts $20: S, M, L, XL, XXL $25: XXXL Caps: $20: Mesh & regular Cemetery Thank you for your donations! Our goal for the cemetery is to update the census and to continue improving and maintaining it. The profit from Seminole Days will go toward the cemetery. Reminders
President's MessageI encourage you to get involved to help keep the Black Seminoles’ legacy alive and bring unity to the association. I look forward to seeing y’all during Seminole Days and meeting all of our returning and new members. News Hamburger Sale, August 2015
Upcoming Activities and Events
Reminders
 Juneteenth 2015. Photo by Wilbur Beamer News
Upcoming activities and events
Reminders
 Message from the President:
Your membership is very important to us, your money helps us to accomplish our goals. You are part of a living history, so please consider joining the association TODAY! Our next event is Juneteenth, don't miss it! News
 Dear Members,
Welcome to our first newsletter! In this newsletter, you will find information about upcoming and past events, goals, memberships, Carver School grounds rentals, our new website, and general news.
Judge Tully Shannan Mary and Al Nofi Elsa O’Rourke R.L. Jenkins Stan Metcalf and the Kinney County Post Sherri Dobbs Clarence Ward Lee Young Bobby and Debbie Guidry Deborah J. Hitchcock Demitreus Williams Bob Martinez and H.O.P.E. Outreach Brackett I.S.D. Texas Historical Commission Rocío Gil Windy Goodloe William F. Haenn Andres Martinez Kato Wittich Lovenia Raspberry …and countless others
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Augusta PinesPresident CategoriesArchives
January 2020
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