Tuesday, June 11th, at 7:30pm!
Camp Wheeler Compatriot
James "Jimmy" Moore Passes
Commander Underwood is saddened to have to inform the Camp that our Compatriot James H. "Jimmy" Moore unexpectedly passed away from a massive heart attack this past Saturday, June 1st. We are going to miss James’ presents at our meetings and his vast knowledge of history. Our prayers go out to James’ family and friends.
Jimmy was a graduate of Avondale High School Class of 1965. He received a Bachelor's Degree in History at GA State University. His interests were genealogy, politics, the Civil War, and studying the Bible. He was a dedicated, wonderful and loving son and cousin. He was a member of the "Sons of Confederate Veterans". He loved his church family and was very involved at Conyers First United Methodist Church.
He was preceded in death by parents, Harold & Elizabeth Moore, Sr. and his aunt and uncle, Oscar and Betty Cook. He is survived by cousins, Cherrene McCarthy, Kimberlea and Chaz Moore, Tommy and Jeannie Silvey and Jane Coburn and family. Jimmy was 65 at the time of his passing.
Funeral Services will be held Thursday, June 6, 2013 at 1:00 p.m. at Scot Ward's Green Meadow Chapel with Dr. John Beyers officiating; interment will follow at Dawn Memorial Park, 4685 Glenwood Road, Decatur, GA 30033. Lunch and a reception will be held prior to the service from 11:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. at Conyers First United Methodist Church.
In lieu of flowers, those desiring may make contributions to Conyers First United Methodist Church, 921 North Main Street, Conyers, GA 30012. Scot Ward Funeral Services, 699 American Legion Rd., Conyers, GA 30012, 770-483-7216.
Camp Wheeler's June 2013 Newsletter
is now available online!
If you have not received your copy, it is now available here on the Camp web site from the Newsletter section web page.
Middlebrooks Family Cemetery Mapping Project
is now Complete!
Click here to visit the Middlebrooks Cemetery information page for the full story!
Georgia Vehicle Tag Changes
I've been driving around in a 25 year-old Audi and I'm afraid it is at a point that I needed to consider getting something else to drive. As Fate would have it, I decided to purchase a 1999 Ford Explorer Sport (2-Door) from a young man in Loganville.
As many know, there have been major changes in our car and truck registration laws, some of which you probably heard of, others you may have not. I want to pass on my experiences and what I learned to my SCV brothers.
First off, very quietly a new law want into effect in 2012 that has changed the time you have to register your vehicle. Prior to this, you had 30 days, but now if you purchase a car from a dealership, you and the dealer have 30 days to complete the registration process. The big change is if you purchase a car from a private individual, you now have a very short 7 day period to get it registered!
The biggest change is the elimination of the Ad Valorem Tax. It is being replaced by a one-time "sales tax". Vehicles purchased prior to March 2012 you continue to pay Ad Valorem tax until you no longer own the vehicle. If you purchased a vehicle prior to March 2012 and before December 31, 2012 you have the option to either continue paying the old-style Ad Valorem Tax or pay a one-time sales tax of 6.5% of either the sale price or the NADA value placed on the car. Vehicles purchased after December 31,2012 pay the 6.5% sale tax as described.
Once you pay the one-time Sales Tax, you only have to pay an annual renewal fee of $25, plus any additional fee for a designer tag such as a Vanity Tag or SCV Tag. If you are still paying Ad Valorem, this is in addition to that tax.
The way I understand it, if you purchase a vehicle from a dealership, you pay the tax based on the final sale price of the vehicle. If you purchase the vehicle from a private individual, they base the tax on the NADA value.
While this sounds fair and reasonable it is far from a perfect system. While most people own vehicles newer than 12 years old, those vehicles are fairly valued. The problem comes when you begin to deal with vehicles that are considered to be classic or collectable cars. The problem is that placing a value on these vehicles is purely speculative and can fluxuate wildly based on the whims of the collectible and classic marketplace.
I recently purchased a 1980 Triumph TR8 as a restoration project. I paid $1,500 for the car and it's missing the engine and transmission. When I inquired about its registration, I was told that NADA placed a value on the car of between $9,000 and $13,000. The minimum I would have to pay to get the car titled was about $650!
I have been involved in British Sports Cars for over 30 years. I am very familiar with the marketplace for these cars. They sold new for $11,500 and yes, they are very rare as only 2,700 were ever made. But this car is in need of a total restoration and does not have its powertrain, yet NADA and through it the State still feels it's worth more than it was sold for new. I have a friend that has a running TR8 that is nearly identical to how I wish my restoration project to be like when complete. His car has been on the market for two years at $6,500 and he has yet to find a serious buyer.
In another example, I have a friend who wishes to buy a 1984 Chevrolet El Camino. He has found several examples in fair to good condition by private owners going for about $3,200. Yet the State values these cars to be worth nearly $8,000 which makes the sales tax run around $500.
Fortunately for me, there is a loophole I can take advantage of. Vehicles older than 1986 do not require tags, so if I present a bill of sale, I can get the car tagged and road legal for a mere $20. I will then, put the old title (still in the previous owner's name) in my records with my bill of sale and quietly go about my business. But this shows how severely this current system is flawed.
Now for something more directly related to the SCV, I decided to put a Sons of Confederate Veterans License Tag on the Explorer. In the past, there was a one-time fee of about 30-40 dollars in addition to the annual tag fee. Well, brothers, this has increased to a whopping $60. With the annual tag fee, this totals out at $80!!!
I got on the Internet and checked with the State to see about this high amount of money. "Of the Initial $80 fees collected for the issuance of these tags, the fees shall be distributed as follows:
$20 Annual License Reg. Fee
$1 to the County Tag Agent
$10 to Sponsoring Organization
$49 to State of Georgia General Treasury"
When it comes time to renew the next year, there will be a $55 charge for renewal. "Of the $55 Annual Renewal fees, the fees shall be distributed as follows:
$20 Annual License Reg. Fee
$10 to Sponsoring Organization
$25 to State of Georgia General Treasury"
This does not include any Ad Valorem Tax should you vehicle still be charged that tax.
Therefore, when you purchase an SCV Tag, of the $80, $10 will be placed in the SCV Tag Fund. When you renew each year, an additional $10 returns to the Georgia SCV Tag Fund.
Yes, that's a lot of money to spend for a tag, but I decided to go ahead and purchase the tag. Ten dollars still goes into the fund the Georgia Battalion controls and that money is well-used to help preserve, memorialize, and maintain the resting places of our Confederate Ancestors. So please do as I have done and seriously consider purchasing an SCV vehicle tag for at least one of your vehicles!
Meador's Cemetery
Restoration Work Party
Saturday, April 27, 2013
8:00am
We will return to the Meadors’ Cemetery Restoration to continue our work on Saturday April 27th, 2013 at 8:00 am. We got a lot of work done at our first session but more remains to be done.
This cemetery (also known as Anderson cemetery or Grant Store cemetery) is located on County Highway 213 just off of US Highway 36 south of Covington. Going out of Covington on Hwy. 36 toward Jackson Hwy. 213 is about ¾ mile past the Covington Bypass on the left. Turn left on to 213 and the cemetery will be about a tenth of a mile on the right.
You will see Cleary Enterprises on the right. We have permission to park on their property however when you enter their driveway go past the House on the right, past their equipment to the smaller building in the back. Park back there close to this “Garage Type” building and be sure not to block any driveway or equipment.
Bring chain saws, clippers and any brush clearing tools you may have. Most of what needs clearing are small (15 to 20’ tall) pine trees but there is some smaller brush, vines etc. around the edges. String trimmers for grass etc. are not needed at this point but if anyone has a gas trimmer with a metal blade for small bushes it would be useful.
Pam New Passing
Commander Underwood reports that the funeral service for Pam was held on Saturday, February 9, 2013, with a visitation prior to the service at the Jersey United Methodist Church in Jersey, Georgia. The memorial service was well attended with an overflow group in attendance.
At Camp Wheeler's
January 2013 Membership Meeting
By Hal Doby,
January 10, 2013
It is our tradition that our January Membership Meeting is our annual
Lee-Jackson dinner, recognizing the birthdays of General's Robert E.
Lee and Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson. This year marked the 25th
anniversary of Camp Wheeler's annual dinner.
This year, the camp chose to have our dinner catered by the fine people
at Folk's Restaurant of Conyers. We were served fried chicken with all
the fixin's you could ask for along with several great desserts
prepared by some of our compatriots and their wives. Around 40 were in
attendance of the dinner, which was a very good turnout.
As the evening began, First Lieutenant Tommy Cook made some fine
opening remarks about the significance of the occasion. This was
followed by Commander Joe Underwood welcoming everyone and recognizing
several guests that were in attendance, but there was one whose
presence was missed due to terrible circumstances.
Camp Wheeler was using the occasion to make the announcement that after
almost 18 months of fundraising, we have reached our goal of raising
$1850.00 in order to have the formal survey of the Middlebrooks Family
Cemetery. We had invited Ms. Debbie Autry a member of the Middlebrooks
family to be in attendance, which she accepted. As she was about to
leave the school she works at, she got a call to inform her that her
home was on fire. Later, we were informed her home was a total loss.
Our deepest sympathies go out to Ms. Autry for this devastating loss.
The program continued with the announcement of Camp Wheeler's 2012
Compatriot of the Year and Person of the Year. To my surprise, the
Compatriot of the Year was myself, Hal Doby for my services to the club
as its Web Master. I was truly surprised and honored for this and I
cannot thank my compatriots for this accolade.
The Person of the Year was Mr. Mark Pollard who lead the campaign to
save and preserve the Nash Farm Battlefield in Newton County. As it was
with me, Mr. Pollard was truly surprised and humbled by the honor.
Once the awards were in hand, the program moved on to the true reason
we were all there, FOOD!!! The meal was enjoyed by all! As we
moved onto dessert, we began our guest speaker portion of the evening.
Our speaker was Mr. Len Strozier who is going to perform the survey of
the Middlebrooks Family Cemetery. He explained why this is important
not only to us, but to him as well and what will be involved in the
survey. He told us he plans to perform the survey in mid to late
February and invited us all to come out and see the work take place.
Finally, First Lieutenant Tommy Cook, made a quick presentation of a
desk set to Commander Underwood to show the Camp's appreciation of his
tenure as our Commander for the past two years.
It was a fine evening and all seemed to have a grand time. I hope you
make plans now to join us in February for a regular membership meeting.
To see our older encampment news posts, please visit our Encampment News Page Archive by clicking here.