Camp Contacts-8th Brigade GA Division SCV

Color Sergeant: Ken Lewis Email: Klewis@ncilp.com

Judge Advocate: Ronnie Fender

Chaplain: J. H. Parrish

Quartermaster: Danny Sinclair

Editor of the Wiregrass Rebel: Keith Taylor Email: jktsteel1@alltel.net

General Philip Cook Camp #7 Lee's Cadet Corps

Meeting Date: 3rd Tuesday of each month @ 7:00 pm

Meeting Place: Adel Presbyterian Church Social Hall, South Hutchinson St.


THE HISTORY OF THE WIREGRASS GREYS CAMP #1683
SONS OF CONFEDERATE VETERANS
ADEL, COOK COUNTY, GEORGIA

In June of 1994, Cook County Probate Judge Dan Cowart was preparing to hold a dedication and grave marking ceremony for one of his Confederate Ancestors. In the process of doing this, he recognized the need for a Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp in Adel. He contacted William A. (Billy) Clements of this information, and they began the process of organizing a camp. During the preliminary stages they found three men who were members of an SCV and who belonged to the John K. McNeil Camp in Moultrie, GA. These three men were as follows: Dawson Felts, Russell Meadows and John Parrish. These men were contacted about the plans to form a SCV camp in Adel and they were also interested in having a camp in Adel. Other men in the area were contacted and they too were interested in preserving their Southern Heritage through the Sons of Confederate Veterans. Therefore, the process began and an article was printed in the Adel News and Tribune inviting all men in Adel and the surrounding communities in Cook County with Confederate lineage to attend an organizational meeting at the Cook County Historical Society. The turn out was overwhelming. Men from Adel, Sparks, and Lenox were in attendance. The news had also reached Berrien County and men from Nashville were also in attendance.
The Wiregrass Greys, Camp #1683 held its official charter signing banquet on Thursday, April 26, 1995 and 36 Compatriots proudly put their names on the Charter. This date was chosen because of its special meaning, Confederate Memorial Day. James C. Reynolds, Commander of the Georgia Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans was the guest speaker and presided over the Charter Signing Ceremony. The banquet was held in conjunction with the first annual Blue Grey Heritage event which was sponsored by the Wiregrass Greys Camp #1683. This event was planned as a way to let the community find out about the Sons of Confederate Veterans and to recruit as members as possible. It was very successful.
The fact that the Wiregrass Greys was a relatively new organization in Adel did not slow the members down. Members of Camp #1683 attended as many events sponsored by the Sons of Confederate Veterans as possible. Compatriots were in attendance at the Confederate Memorial Day festivities in Andersonville, GA, the celebration in honor of President Jefferson Davis’ Birthday in Irwinville, numerous headstone dedications to honor our Confederate Ancestors, those heroes of the past, in Cook County and many other counties throughout the State of Georgia. Camp #1683 presently continues to attend these events and ceremonies.
The Wiregrass Greys Camp #1683 had the distinctive honor of having a Real Daughter in our county, Mrs. Irene Durham Mock of Sparks, GA. Mrs. Mock was presented with the Real Daughters Medal by Commander Barry Resta at a ceremony and reception that was held in June of 1995. Ms. Irene attended many meetings of the Wiregrass Greys until she became ill and had to move to California to live with her daughter. When Mrs. Mock pasted away, she had requested to be buried in Adel in her family plot. A ceremony was held by the Wiregrass Greys and the Dixie Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy of Adel to place a Real Daughters marker on her grave at Woodlawn Cemetery (The Lime Sink).
Camp #1683 was also honored to have as a member of the camp a Real Son. The Honorable Compatriot, George Wynn Sr. of Lakeland, GA. He joined the camp in April of 1996 and was presented with the Real Sons Medal by Commander Barry Resta at a ceremony and reception that was in Lakeland, GA. Compatriot Wynn’s grave is marked with a Sons of Confederate Veterans Marker. It was an honor and a pleasure to have a Real Son and a Real Daughter in the Wiregrass Greys and they are truly missed.
Several Compatriots within the Wiregrass Greys have been presented with the Sons of Confederate Veterans War Service Medal those members are as follows: William A. Clements II, J. H. Parrish, William Hilliard – WW II, Michael McEachern – Viet-Nam. The SCV Ladies Appreciation Medals have been presented to the following members of the Wiregrass Greys Ladies Auxiliary for outstanding service to the Camp: Ellen J. Resta, Valera Parrish Clements, Gail Whitehurst Hughes, and Sharon Rowan.
Over the years the Wiregrass Greys have participated in many community functions and have received many awards such as, 1^st place trophies for representing the Sons of Confederate Veterans in area Christmas Parades, Service Awards for performing duties within Cook County including activities in local nursing homes, Living History Presentations in area schools, book donations to libraries in both Cook and Berrien Counties, and from other Camps in our Brigade for outstanding service. In 1997 the Wiregrass Greys #1683 had the honor of being selected as the Distinguished Camp in the Southwest Brigade. This is an award that the membership is very proud of.
In 1998 plans began to be made by Commander Barry Resta and Adjutant Billy Clements to find land in Cook County to be used for a Veterans Memorial Park. After considerable hard work, it was suggested by Cmdr. Resta to approach the Mayor of Adel Richard Barr, the City Manager Jerry Permenter, and the City Council about Adel Woman’s Clubs Union Road Park which had been overgrown and virtually abandoned for many years as a possible site. Cmdr. Resta appointed Adjutant Billy Clements and Treasurer Melvyn Rowan to approach the city officials about the planned park. They did and the City Council agreed to donate the Union Road Park to the Wiregrass Greys for a Veterans Park. Funds were raised by the sale of Memorial Bricks which would be used throughout the park, donations from area businesses, other Civic Organizations, and various philanthropists throughout Adel and the community. A proposal was composed by Ellen Resta and presented to State Representative Penny Houston and State Senator Peg Blitch asking for State funding. These two ladies presented the proposal to the Governor and funds were granted for the project. Compatriot Rowan was in charge of designing the park with the central monument which would be the focal point of the park. The central monument would then be surrounded by smaller monuments representing each war that the United States had be involved in beginning with the Revolutionary War up to Desert Storm. Room was left to add any other monuments that would be needed to be placed in the Park and more monuments have since been added. Flag poles flying the flags that have flown over Georgia throughout the State’s history flank the monuments representing each war with a larger flag pole in the center which flies the United States flag and a POW/MIA flag. Picnic tables and benches are located throughout the park area and are used daily by the citizens of Adel and Cook County. Lighting and maintenance is provided by the City of Adel at no charge to the Sons of Confederate Veterans. Members of the Wiregrass Greys were very active in getting this project started and completed with the help of the citizens of Adel and Cook County, the Mayor and City Manager, the City Council, and our State Officials. On November 11, 2000 with much pomp and ceremony the Union Road Veterans Memorial Park was dedicated to the memory of all the men and women who fought, died, or were wounded in the defense of the rights given to all citizens of the United States. Many were in attendance, bands played ALL patriotic music, and members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans made speeches as did the Mayor of Adel and other distinguished guests. The Honorable Secretary of State Cathy Cox was the featured guest speaker, after her speech she presented Commander Barry Resta of the Wiregrass Greys #1683 with a “True Georgia Flag” which is flown on special occasions. Services are held in the park annually on Confederate Memorial Day, Flag Day, Memorial Day, and Veterans Day.
On June 27, 2006 members of the Wiregrass Greys voted to begin the process of forming the General Philip Cook Camp #7 of the Lee’s Cadet Corps. Second Lt. Cmdr. Keith Taylor has been instrumental in getting this project up and going. Applications are coming in quickly and the children are very interested and enthusiastic about learning the truth about The War Between the States and how the South was treated during that invasion. Members of the Wiregrass Greys are proud of this new organization and hope that through the Lee’s Cadet Corps we will be able to see growth within Camp #1683 as these young men reach the age when they can become members of the Wiregrass Greys and the torch of Southern truth and pride can be passed on.
The objective of the Sons of Confederate Veterans and the Wiregrass Greys Camp #1683 is “to associate in body with men of Confederate Ancestry, to cultivate, perpetuate and sanctify and encourage and thereby endeavor to see that the events of the War Between the States and the heroic contributions of the Confederate Soldiers are authentically and clearly written, and that all documents, relics, and mementos produced and handed down by those active participants are properly treasured and preserved for posterity, to aid and assist in the erection of suitable and enduring monuments and memorials to all Southern valor, civil and military, wherever done and wherever found; to instill into our descendants a devotion to an reverence for the principles represented by the Confederate States of America, to the honor, glory, and memory of our forefathers who fought for the cause.”

Past and Present Commanders and Adjutants of the Wiregrass Greys #1683 of Adel and Cook County:

Present Commander - Barry A. Resta
Past Commanders – Dawson Felts and John Parrish

Present Adjutant – Melvyn D. Rowan
Past Adjutant – Probate Judge Dan Cowart and William A. (Billy) Clements II – Deceased and missed very much.

With Love and Respect for the South and Her Heritage.
Respectfully Submitted by:
Barry A. Resta, Commander
Wiregrass Greys, Camp #1683
Sons of Confederate Veterans
Adel and Cook County Georgia
July, 2006