April 30, 2015, Exclusively for CAMP by John Scarano, CAMP Webmaster

CAMP is pleased to announce that all interested parties may make donations to CAMP through its Donate page. Your donation will be processed through our CAMP Paypal account. The process is simple, secure and very easy. Your donation is not tax deductible at this time.

Be assured that your donation will be used completely for our Memorial Building preservation efforts. All members of CAMP are volunteers who receive no compensation for their work towards the restoration of the Memorial Building in Little Valley, NY.

Thank you for your interest in our cause!

This month’s American Legion Magazine has a reprint of the Memorial Day speech that U.S. Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. gave on May 30, 1884, at the John Sedgwick Post No. 4, Grand Army of the Republic, in Keene, New Hampshire. Entitled, “Why Memorial Day,” his speech certainly explains the reasons we need to move forward to preserve our Memorial Building in Little Valley.

In his address Holmes recalls not only his own experiences of the Civil War but also exhorts his fellow citizens to see why the day has meaning to all of us in the United States, whether they fought or not.

He also said, “I believe from the bottom of my heart that our memorial halls and statutes and tablets, the tattered flags of our regiments gathered in the Statehouses, are worth more to our young men by way of chastening and inspiration than the monuments of another hundred years of peaceful life could be. But even if I am wrong, even if those who come after us are to forget all that we hold dear, and the future is to teach and kindle its children in ways as yet unrevealed, it is enough for us that this day is dear and sacred.” That portion of his speech seems to foretell what is happening here in Cattaraugus County where monuments are not remembered and not held sacred.

Preserving history is not really for our benefit. It is for the benefit of the generations that come after us. How can we define where we are going if we don’t have the foresight to preserve where we have been? As more and more Americans figure out their connections to family and events and places, what is there to attract them to see and to feel that history if all that exists are parking lots and rundown buildings? We have a great opportunity to preserve just a little piece of that history and for a lot of us, it includes our own family history

The full text of Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.’s historic Memorial Day speech can be read at: http://people.virginia.edu/~mmd5f/memorial.htm

CAMP Historian, Mark Dunkleman, received a letter of support from the prestigious Civil War Trust organization on April 21, 2015.  This letter of support is signed by Gary Adelman, Civil War Trust Director of History and Education. The Civil War Trust is the largest and most effective nonprofit organization devoted to the preservation of America’s hallowed battlegrounds.

In his letter that is addressed to CAMP Chairman, Thomas Stetz, Mr. Adelman states clearly that the Civil War Trust stands with CAMP in their efforts to preserve the Cattaraugus County Memorial and Historical Building. The Civil War Trust also recognizes the Memorial Building as a unique local monument dedicated to the service of Cattaraugus County soldiers and sailors in the Civil War. You may visit the Civil War Trust web site at: http://www.civilwar.org/

The following is a copy of the letter from Mr. Adelman. Please click on the images to enlarge them:

CAMP is having its next meeting on Wednesday April 15, 2015  at 12:30 pm  at the Hughes Hotel,  129 Main St., Little Valley, NY (Phone: 716-938-6308)

Some CAMPERS get there early and have lunch. Come early for lunch and support this establishment.

CAMP plans for a Memorial Day Event will be discussed at this meeting. All are welcome to attend.