Lee Note 113 Martha Swick’s Brigadier Report October 25, 2001

Kay gave me a week to rest after the Brigadier Reunion to make my report. More than a month has flown by.

When the school district decided to have a Brigadier Reunion, the very talented team of Kathy Clausen, Terri Cook and Cindy Lamb (Public Information Office) called Katherine Wright, former Brigadier Director and Eva Jo Casio Epperson to put together a committee. This was mid-July.

Katherine called me and told me to meet with the group. I was the last one through the door, and was told, "Okay you're it."

From that moment, we were in a mad dash to find names and addresses for nearly seventy years. Through telephone calls, e-mails, word of mouth, we found over a thousand names and started sending out invitations one month later. As word got out, more and more names came in. We sent our invitations almost to last minute and names are still coming in. We'll continue to build on the database. Dr. Barbara Sultis (Pete Sultis’ (our football coach) daughter) is our School Superintendent now, as well as a former Brigadier, said that there will be more reunions.

This event took place on September 14th, just a few days after the New York tragedy. A lot of the airports didn't open in time for people to get here. The estimate for the half-time celebration was close to a thousand women of all ages. They were stretched out from the ten yard line on the north end to the thirty yard line of the south end. It was an awesome sight.

Saturday morning was even more in creditable .as Jo Hinkle reported, there were close to two thousand women there. The silent auction made over eight thousand dollars and the 'Red Hussers' of Port Arthur purchased bugles and drums for their Madis Gras parade, which brought in eight hundred dollars. This sale (Port Arthur) just took place. This money will be put into a scholarship fund.

This was such a positive experience for me. I got to renew old friendships, make new ones, and had a great time. I also learned to use the computer, how to create and read my e-mails and how to setup the Brigadier database. Of course, there's much more to learn. If I can do it, anyone can.

Martha Swick Haynes