La Societe des Quarante Hommes et Huit Chevaux Grande Voiture du Texas
TEXAS VOYAGEUR NEWS OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE GRAND du TEXAS WINNER OF THE ARTHUR MCDOWELL AWARD 1991 – 1992 – 1993 – 1994 – 1995 – 1996 - 2019 BEST GRAND VOITURE PUBLICATION IN THE NATION WITHOUT ADVERTISING AND WINNER OF THE ROBERT KASEMAN AWARD 2018 - 2021 AND 2022
Jul – Sep 2023
Volume 66 Issue 3
Grand Chef de Gare Keith Reiss Jr.
Page 1 – From the Grand Chef Page 2 – Membership Report & Grand Officer list Page 3 – Correspondants Corner Page 4 - Americanism Page 5 – Minutes of the Grand Promenade Page 6 – Minutes of the Grand Promenade Page 7 – Minutes of the Grand Promenade Page 8 – Grand Prom photos Page 9 – Grand Prom photos Page 10 – Grand Prom photos Page 11 – Grand Prom photos Page 12 – Grand Prom photos Page 13 – VAVS / Visit to Temple VA and Upcoming Events Page 14 – V- 605 100th Anniversary Page 15 – Boxcar 75th Anniversary Page 16 – In the Spotlight
I am incredibly honored and humbled to have been elected as the current Grand Chef de Gare. I believe deeply in La Societe and its programs and I am excited to hear from all of you how you work to support those programs. I would also like to extend an invitation to the great Locales of Texas to reach out if you have processes that you have found to be successful and/or if you have ideas that may benefit the organization. Some ideas that I would love to hear are ways to modernize with technology and social media accounts. We created a Grand Chef Gmail account which will be passed to each subsequent Chef so that critical correspondence is not lost. Along with every Gmail account comes 15GB of space on Google Drive which is free with your Gmail account. This can be used to store reports and other documents. This is just one small example of a way to modernize our processes. As always, membership is a critical part of our success, but it doesn’t just stop at numbers. Once a Voyager is voted in, what steps are being taken to ensure their interest? Are new Voyagers getting a chance to bring ideas to the table and are we conducting activities that keep their interest? Is it being taken into consideration that Voyagers who served in the last 15 years may have school-aged kids at home? What kind of functions are we doing locally that are family orientated and would that be a way to keep interest? I can only speak from personal experience with VL-266 in saying that feeling as if I belonged to a family was a very big part of my continued interest and subsequent dedication—food for thought. I would also like to gauge interest, through the Locale Correspondants up to the Grand Correspondant, regarding gatherings outside of the Grand Cheminot, Box Car 75 th Anniversary, and the Grand Promenade. It could be anything from hunting/fishing retreats, weekend getaways to resorts, or “glamping” locations to various locations in the State. No official business would be conducted but coming together to know each other more and share ideas. This would also be a great opportunity for newer members to learn the importance and wonderful stories embodied within La Société’s history. This year’s Central States Promenade is here in Texas and we are close to locking in a resort just North of San Antonio. There will be more to follow on that. The last thing that I will leave you with is, that I believe it is essential to recognize that most Veterans from 2003 to present have served in Iraq and/or Afghanistan. As with previous wars and conflicts, there are a lot of issues with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). We will be looking to set up webinars with guest speakers from the medical field to educate us on all of the advances in knowledge of these ailments and tips for living with them. I am also exploring the possibility of having a yoga instructor host classes online that interested Voyagers could attend. (Continued on Page 3)
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