Confederate Re-enactment: Comissioning of the Sunny South Guard



Sunny South Guard Confederate Re-enactors in Tampa
Photo by Phil Walters

Story Submitted by Marshall Hester

   GENERAL JUBAL A. EARLY CAMP 556, Tampa,Florida, co-sponsored an authentic re-enactment of the 1861 commissioning ceremony of the Sunny South Guard Regiment, which later became the 4th Florida Infantry Regiment. The event was held September 17, 2011, near the site of the original ceremony in downtown Tampa  It was organized by the Tampa Bay 150 Committee (co-chaired by Early Camp judge advocate David McCallister) and attracted re-enactors from across Florida.

Sons of Confederate Veterans Commander-in-Chief Michael Givens' addressed the gathering, which included his son Chandler portraying a Sunny South Guard volunteer and his daughter Olivia portraying a presenter of the regimental flag. Event co-sponsors and participants also included the Augusta Jane Evans Wilson chapter 2640 United Daughters of the Confederacy, Confederate Cantinieres chapter 2405 UDC, the 3rd Florida Regimental Brass Band, Company K 7th Florida Infantry, The Sunny South Guards Company K 4th Florida Infantry, the Peace River Artillery and living historian Marko Sumney. Early Camp aide de camp Brian Gilmore portrayed regimental commander Capt. John T. Lesley. Veterans of Murfreesboro, Chickamauga and Franklin, the regiment was surrendered after Bentonville. It was organized with 983 officers and men and lost forty-two percent of the 468 engaged at Murfreesboro, forty percent of the 217 at Chickamauga, and eighty-nine percent of the 172 at Missionary Ridge. The regiment surrendered 23 men in April, 1865

Confederate Re-enactment Ceremony Honors Tampa Bay History

Veterans of Tampa Bay’s own Sunny South Guard will be honored for their duty and sacrifice Saturday, September 17, 2011 at the Poe Plaza in downtown Tampa during a free historical re-enactment.

Tampa, FL –On Saturday, September 17, 1861, 100 of Tampa Bay’s most prominent

citizens formed a civilian militia to protect hearth and home after President Lincoln

called up 70,000 troops to force Florida to re-join the union. They marched off to

defend Florida, in what would become the CivilWar.When the company returned, it

was missing a third of its men. Those that remained went on to become mayors,

sheriffs, State Representatives, and Senators and even a Governor of Florida.

It was sacrifice like this that led the Veterans Administration (VA) to provide

veterans benefits to Confederate and Union soldiers, alike. This is the spirit with

which the Tampa Bay Sesquicentennial Commission will be staging an historical reenactment

of the Flag Presentation Ceremony to the Sunny South Guard that

originally took place on that date in 1861 when Florida seceded from the Union and

joined the Confederate States of America. This free re-enactment will happen just

steps from it’s original Old Fort Brooke location, at 201 N. Franklin Street in

downtown Tampa. During the event, dignitaries will recognize descendants from

the original pioneer families who settled here, and fought for Florida and her sister

states.

“Veterans understand what it means to fight for your country, and to make the

ultimate sacrifice—no matter how popular or unpopular the war,” said David

McCallister, co-chair of the Sesquicentennial Commission. “On this day, we’ll be

honoring descendants of some of Tampa’s most prominent family members who

stepped up to the task when duty called, a honor-worthy act, regardless of political

position”

The re-enactment is being hosted by the Tampa Bay Sesquicentennial Commission, a
group of historical re-enactors, genealogists, descendants of Tampa’s pioneer

families, as well as other civic-minded individuals and organizations interested in

preserving Tampa Bay’s rich history.

Back in 1861, Hillsborough County also included present-day, Manatee and Pinellas

Counties. In June of that year, 100 of the “darling” sons of Hillsborough County

organized themselves into an infantry company known as the Sunny South Guards

and offered themselves to Florida for her defense. Upon receiving orders to report

forWar duty and prior to their departure to Jacksonville in September, the ladies of

Tampa Town presented a company flag in a spectacular, moving presentation

ceremony. It was held at the officer’s barracks at Fort Brooke, Tampa’s militia

headquarters which was captured from Federal hands when Florida seceded.

The unit would be designated the 4th Florida Infantry, Co. K, and assigned to

Hardee’s Corps in the Army of Tennessee, CSA. The “Guards” were engaged at

Murfreesboro and Jackson, and participated in the Campaigns of the Army from

Chickamauga to Nashville and saw action in North Carolina. Some of these men will

killed in the line of duty, some were held as prisoners of war, while others returned

home to help re-build the economy.

The re-enactment will depict the historic events of that day and will include the 11

young ladies that represented each of the States of the Southern Confederacy. Each

will recite a poem and participate in the singing of the “Bonnie Blue Flag.” Up to 100

men in early war attire will portray the Sunny South Guardsmen listed on the Roll of

Honor (see link below to view the Roll and read bios). Onlookers in civilian attire

will represent the families of the men and townspeople who participated in the

ceremony. A special appearance by a re-enactment brass band, the 3rd Florida

Regimental Band, Co. B "St. Augustine Blues"(aka Ancient City Brass Band) in period

civilian attire will play “Dixie” at the end of the flag presentation. One of Florida’s

most famous re-enactors, Thomas Jesse, Cmdr. of the Department of the Gulf, CSA,

will be portraying then US Army Colonel Robert E. Lee.

The Company’s Captain, John T. Lesley, was reported by Tampa Tribune Historical

writer DB McKay in the 1960s to have accepted the flag and said, “Ladies and my

fellow countrymen. It is with humble words, yet in a prideful spirit, that I accept on

behalf of my fellow soldiers of the Guard this beautiful banner of the youthful

Confederate Republic, being delivered to witness before God and the world defense

of the freeman’s inalienable rights as defined by constitutional law.” Lesley, who

was wounded in action, later served as the Mayor of the City of Tampa, Hillsborough

County Sheriff and Florida State Senator.

The re-enactment begins at 3pm a 1860’s brass band concert, followed by the

ceremony and flag presentation re-enactment at 4pm. From 5 to 6pm, guests will

enjoy watching history come alive as re-enactors mix, mingle and discuss the lives

and times of 1861. (Peace River Artillery cannon display)

###

To learn more, visit

http://www.tampabay150.org.

To read the names of the soldiers being honored, visit

http://www.tampabay150.org/roll%20of%20honor.html

Thanks to Marshall Hester for submitting this story.

Confederate Flags on Parade in Brandon, Florida

The Sons of Confederate Veterans Gen. Jubal A. Early Camp 556, Tampa, carried the Colors forward with a vanguard position at the Brandon, Floirida Independence Day Parade, July 4, 2011.  Early Camp's colour guard, led by camp Lt. Commander Wayne Sweat, advanced in front of a camp-sponsored Dixie-themed float.  Camp members and friends gave away 1,400 miniature Confederate Battle Flags to the 50,000-plus spectators.  Early Camp, commanded  by Mike Herring, is home to one of the largest Confederate Battle Flag displays in the United States, a massive banner towering above the I-75 and I-4 junction near Tampa.

Thanks to Marshall Hester for submitting this story and photo.

Florida Sons of Confederate Veterans Score a Victory

The Sons of Confederate Veterans, Florida Division, as scored a major victory in its efforts to obtain a specialty Florida license plate for Confederate Heritage.  

Two years ago the SCV applied for a “Confederate Heritage” plate, but politically correct lawmakers, with neither justification nor legal standing, refused to take action on the application. This past January the SCV was forced to file a lawsuit in against the state of Florida, demanding that the legislature do their duty.

The complaint was dismissed by U.S. District Judge John Antoon II in Orlando, citing legislative immunity from litigation. However, the federal judge refused to drop the case against the state Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. The ruling forces the state to either approve the application or fight the lawsuit. Members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans feel that they stand on solid constitutional grounds in their demands.

Attorney Fred O’Neal, who represents the group of descendents of Confederate soldiers, said that the judge’s order ``is a huge step forward for our case and the ruling will pave the way for the Confederate Heritage plate to become a reality,''

The Sons of Confederate Veterans, organized in 1896, is the oldest hereditary organization for male descendents of Confederate soldiers. The non-profit fraternity serves as a historical, patriotic, and non-political organization dedicated to ensuring that a true history of the 1861-1865 period is preserved.

Membership in the Sons of Confederate Veterans includes Whites, Blacks, Jews, Hispanics, Native Americans, and others of varied ethnic backgrounds.  It is open to all male descendants of any veteran who served honorably in the armed forces of the Confederate States of America.  The organization boasts more than 53 camps and over 1,650 members throughout the state of Florida.

Grave of former Confederate Officer and Mayor of Jacksonville gets Headstone

By Jessie-Lynne Kerr
NewsJacksonville.com

For 83 years, the remains of William H. Sebring have been in an unmarked grave in the Masonic section of Evergreen Cemetery.

Not a very fitting memorial for a man who served as mayor of Jacksonville from 1907 to 1909.

But thanks to the efforts of members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans’ Kirby-Smith Camp No. 1209, which Sebring once commanded, and Solomon Lodge No. 20 of the Free and Accepted Masons, of which he was a member, a headstone honoring his service not only as mayor but as a Confederate soldier will be dedicated in a ceremony at 11 a.m. Saturday.

It all began months ago, when Calvin Hart, commander of the Kirby-Smith Camp, was browsing through Uncle Davey’s Americana, a Civil War memorabilia shop in the Lakewood area of the Southside.

“I found a photo of a gentleman in a Confederate officer’s uniform with his name and 'Mayor of Jacksonville’ written on the back,” Hart said. “I had never heard of him.”

Intrigued, Hart began his research at the old City Cemetery. He and fellow members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans have been working the past 18 months refurbishing the cemetery and redoing the Confederate bandstand and the Confederate plot of graves from the Soldiers Home landmark. But he found that Sebring had not been buried there.

Next he went to Evergreen Cemetery, where records showed the former mayor had been buried there Feb. 17, 1926, after dying three days earlier at his daughter’s home in Swannanoa, N.C., at the age of 85. But Sebring’s grave was unmarked.

So members of the Solomon Masonic lodge paid $600 for Sebring’s 300-pound-plus headstone to be made of South Carolina white marble.

Hart, who works for JEA, considers himself an amateur historian but a dedicated Son of Confederate Veterans. He is unrelated to Isaiah Hart, considered one of Jacksonville’s founders. The next stop on his research path was the Jacksonville Public Library, searching through microfilm editions of The Florida Times-Union. He also pored through Confederate veteran histories.

Hart found that Sebring was born Christmas Day 1840 near St. Louis and raised on a farm. He attended an academy in St. Louis but at 14 began working as a clerk in a country store. Soon the lure of the West called and he spent several years working on the railroad. At 18, Sebring went to Memphis, Tenn., to read law under Thomas D. Eldridge.

On April 1, 1861, at age 20, Sebring enlisted in the 2nd Tennessee Regiment.

During his service, he sustained a stomach wound that took some time to mend. In 1863 he was transferred to the Confederate Secret Service, carrying military dispatches from the Confederate War Department in Richmond, Va., to various units.

He was captured July 15 that year, tried as a spy and was condemned to be shot. But he and three fellow prisoners managed to escape on June 18, 1864, and made it back across Federal lines to Richmond.

Sebring moved to Bronson, Fla., from Kentucky in 1871 and served as Levy County judge for four years beginning in 1877. He was commissioned a brigadier general of the Florida Militia in 1884. His highest rank in the Confederate Army had been lieutenant.

There's more.  For the rest of the story go to:  http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2009-11-27/story/grave_of_former_jacksonville_mayor_finally_gets_recognized

Photo by Rick Wilson, Florida Times-Union

Confederate flag swept to sidelines in Homestead parade

South Florida Times
By Elgin Jones

HOMESTEAD, FL - A handful of Confederate flag wavers who wanted to participate in Wednesday’s Veterans Day parade were relegated instead to spectators on the sidelines.

“This is a great day, but also a sad one,” said Gary Kalof, commander of a Sons of Confederate Veterans camp in Miami-Dade County. He watched the parade from a sidewalk.

“This is what the NAACP wanted, for us to be banned,’’ Kalof said. “They wanted to divide this community, which is what they always do.”

Dressed in clothing with Confederate battle flag designs on them, four members of two different Confederate states organizations; the Sons of Confederate Veterans and the Southern MC [a Confederate motorcycle club] stood in one location, waving their flags.

Banned from participating in the parade procession, the men gathered in a single location along the parade route.

“The parade is great, and I don’t think anyone ever doubted it would be,” Southern MC member James Myers said. “We’re all Americans, and it’s just sad to see a veterans organization banned from a parade in this country.”

Other people who watched the parade had a different reaction.

“This is absolutely great! It’s the most dignified Veterans Day parade I’ve seen in Homestead, and I’ve seen many,” said Rosemary Fuller.

Pat Mellerson, a local business owner, expressed similar views.

“It was a very nice family event, and we look forward to many more,” Mellerson said.

Fuller and Mellerson are the two women who expressed outrage at seeing the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV) in last’s year’s parade. The next day, they began a successful effort to have the groups and their flags banned from future events. The Miami-Dade NAACP joined their efforts to ban the flag from the parade and other publically sanctioned events.

In the process, they galvanized widespread support from a cross-section of the community in a movement that also saw four Homestead city council members defeated in last week’s municipal elections here.

“This is what we wanted. Respect for others’ feelings, and now we have it,” Mellerson said.

This year’s parade included over 30 organizations, including school bands. Fuller, a regular attendee of the parades, said it was about a quarter of the usual number of floats and organizations, and attributed this directly to the flag controversy.

“Who wants to come to an event where all of this nonsense is going on?” Fuller asked over the blare of police sirens and marching bands. “There are some people who wanted to kill the parade, instead of telling the Confederates now way, but the people spoke, and this just great.”

The Boy Scouts of America did not participate due to the flag controversy, which was not resolved in time for the organization to reconsider. However, a local troop did lead the pledge of allegiance, and stood next to the grand stand during the parade.

The controversy first began during last year’s parade when some black residents expressed outrage at seeing people dressed in Confederate soldier’s uniforms, marching and displaying Confederate battle flags.

Some people associate the Confederate flag with slavery, lynching, and racism. Others view it as a symbol of southern heritage, pride and that of a patriotic veteran’s group.

Mellerson and Fuller said they accomplished their goal, but will continue monitoring the parade and other public events to make sure the ban is not lifted.

“We made sure we stayed until the end of the parade, to make sure no one would try to pull anything, and this is what we will do throughout the year,” Mellerson said.


Photo by Elgin Jone/SFT Staff. Pictured above, from left to right, are Williams Patterson, Gary Kaloff and John Edge.

See the South Florida Times story here:  http://www.sfltimes.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3535&Itemid=199

Confederate statue headed for a new home?

Ocala.com
By Bill Thompson

"Johnny Reb" might be on the march.

County Commissioner Charlie Stone announced on Tuesday that some private groups are interested in relocating the two-story-tall, 15-ton statue depicting a Confederate infantryman from its current spot on the grounds of the courthouse to the Ocala-Marion County Veterans Memorial Park.

Stone declined to identify who was behind the effort, noting that they were local residents interested in veterans' and historical issues.

Yet, Stone said, they would be willing to "fully fund" the $25,000 that county officials estimate it would cost to move the monument from the Marion County Judicial Center in downtown Ocala to the park, which is a couple of miles away at Fort King Street and Southeast 25th Avenue.

The statue of the musket-bearing soldier, known commonly as Johnny Reb, was moved in 2007 to make way for the $41 million expansion of the facility. Crews moved the monument from its post in front of the five-story county courthouse to a nook in the building's south side fronting Northwest First Street.

That expansion project is expected to be completed in January. But Johnny was expected to stay put.

In December 2007 Pat Howard, the former county administrator, had informed a representative of the Sons of Confederate Veterans who had inquired about the statue's future that Johnny Reb's new site was permanent.

In a Star-Banner article published on Sunday, county officials said new County Administrator Lee Niblock could not justify the cost to return Johnny to the front of the building, or relocating him anywhere else, such as the park, as some have proposed.

Stone told fellow commissioners at Tuesday's meeting that he recently had received calls from the potential benefactors whose interest was based on the county finding a "prudent" way to move Johnny to the park.

The rest of the commission acknowledged that they were interested in exploring the issue, but did not make a formal decision on whether to actually relocate the statue.

The five-figure price tag for moving the statue is attributed to the need for a specialized moving company and the fact that Johnny Reb, which is three parts fitted together, must be dismantled and reassembled.

The statue has been at the entrance to the county courthouse for almost a century - and, in more recent years, has periodically provoked controversy.

Read the complete story here:  http://www.ocala.com/article/20091104/articles/911041011?tc=autorefresh

In Defense of His Confederate Pride

Nelson W. Winbush, 78, of Kissimmee stands in front of the Confederate battle flag that was draped over his grandfather's coffin in 1934. Times photo by Willie J. Allen Jr.

Nelson Winbush is intent on defending the flag of his grandfather. It's just surprising which flag that is.

By STEPHANIE GARRY, St. Petersburg Times Staff Writer

Nelson Winbush rotates a miniature flag holder he keeps on his mantel, imagining how the banners would appear in a Civil War battle.

The Stars and Bars, he explains, looked too much like the Union flag to prevent friendly fire. The Confederacy responded by fashioning the distinctive Southern Cross -- better known as the rebel flag.

Winbush, 78, is a retired assistant principal with a master's degree, a thoughtful man whose world view developed from listening to his grandfather's stories about serving the South in the "War Between the States."

His grandfather's casket was draped with a Confederate flag. His mother pounded out her Confederate heritage on a typewriter. He wears a rebel flag pinned to the collar of his polo shirt.

Winbush is also black.

"You've never seen nothing like me, have you?"

* * *

Winbush's nondescript white brick house near Kissimmee's quaint downtown is cluttered with the mess of a life spent hoarding history.

Under the glass of his coffee table lie family photos, all of smiling black people. On top sits Ebony magazine.

Winbush is retired and a widower who keeps a strict schedule of household chores, family visits and Confederate events. He often eats at Fat Boy's Barbecue, where his Sons of Confederate Veterans camp meets.

Winbush's words could come from the mouth of any white son of a Confederate veteran. They subscribe to a sort of religion about the war, a different version than mainstream America.

The tenets, repeated endlessly by loyalists:

The war was not about slavery. The South had the constitutional right to secede. Confederate soldiers were battling for their homes and their families. President Lincoln was a despot. Most importantly, the victors write the history.

Louis Napoleon Nelson poses with grandson Nelson W. Winbush at the Memphis train station in 1932 before leaving to attend a Confederate reunion celebration.

There's much more. Follow this link for the complete story in the St. Petersburg Times: http://www.sptimes.com/2007/10/07/State/In_defense_of_his_Con.shtml

A Confederate Response to politically incorrect Black History

NewsHerald.com
Panama City, Florida

By NORMAN L. FOWLER
1st Lt. Thomas H. Gainer Camp of the Sons of Confederate Veterans.

I was somewhat dismayed (though not surprised) by the politically correct version of "The Story of Black History" in the Jan. 27 News Herald and decided to present some facts not mentioned by the article and which have been left out of textbooks used to teach the history of our country. This is not a defense of that abomination known as slavery and it certainly is not a defense of the New England traders who continued to foist upon the South that "peculiar institution" long after international norms dictated otherwise.

The Emancipation Proclamation mentioned in the article freed the slaves in areas in which the Union armies had no control, but it did not free any in those areas which they occupied. The net result was no slaves were freed. President Lincoln's Secretary of State William Seward commented, "We show our sympathy with slavery by emancipating slaves where we cannot reach them and holding them in bondage where we can set them free."

Lincoln himself admitted that this act had no constitutional basis and was merely a wartime measure intended to keep England and France from recognizing the Confederacy and to foment a slave uprising in the South. History shows no slave uprising in the South occurred. To illustrate the hypocrisy of this act it need only be mentioned that Gen. U.S. Grant's slaves on his Missouri farm were not freed until the 13th Amendment to the Constitution freeing all slaves was ratified on Dec. 6, 1865.

The article paid homage to the 200,000 black soldiers who fought in the Union armies in segregated units but fails to mention the 80,000 to 100,000 black Confederates who fought side by side with their white counterparts against an invading army.

The article mentions the Nat Turner uprising but fails to mention the New York City riots of 1863 in which 11 innocent blacks were lynched and a black orphanage burned to the ground. Nor does the article mention the laws of several Northern states that forbade blacks from remaining in the state or owning property.

The article implied the war was fought over slavery but failed to mention the July 1861 congressional proclamation which declared the war was about preserving the Union. Nor does the article mention the role money played in the North's invasion as evidenced by this quote from a Northern newspaper prior to the firing on Fort Sumter:

"The commercial bearing of the question has acted upon the North ... We now see whither we are tending, and the policy we must adopt. With us is no longer an abstract question - one of Constitutional construction or of the reserved or delegated powers of the State or Federal Gov't, but of material existence and moral position both at home and abroad. We were divided and confused till our pockets were touched. The Southern Confederacy will not employ our ships to buy our goods. What is our shipping without it ... It is very clear the South gains by this process, and we lose. No - we must not let the South go."

As a final counterargument to the referenced article, I close with two quotes from disinterested third parties:

"Union means so many millions a year lost to the South; secession means the loss of the same millions to the North. The love of money is the root of this, as of many other evils. The quarrel between the North and South is, as it stands, solely a fiscal quarrel." - Charles Dickens

"The war between the North and the South is a tariff war. The war is further, not for any principle, does not touch the question of slavery, and in fact turns on the Northern lust for sovereignty." - Karl Marx

To say that a byproduct of the War Between the States was the necessary emancipation of the slaves is correct. To imply the war was fought over slavery is not.

For the source article go here: http://www.newsherald.com/articles/history_71719___article.html/herald_supplementing.html#slComments

Tampa Sons of Confederate Veterans to Hoist Giant Flag During Super Bowl

Newschannel 8 photo by PAT BRAMMELL

By Baird Helgeson
Tampa Bay Online - TBO.com

-

TAMPA - Super Bowl visitors coming to the Tampa area expecting a cosmopolitan waterfront city might be surprised to see the giant Confederate flag visible from Interstate 4.

Local Super Bowl organizers and community boosters met with the owners of the 30-by-60-foot rebel flag in September to see whether the group would take it down during the week leading up to Sunday's game at Raymond James Stadium.

The Sons of Confederate Veterans declined and instead plan to capitalize on the notoriety during Super Bowl week to promote what they say is an effort to honor Southern heritage.

"We fly it so we can explain it," said Marion Lambert, a member of the Seffner group that is building a veterans memorial near the intersection of Interstates 4 and 75.

Super Bowl organizers have decided to ignore the group and its flag, which many see as a heart-stopping symbol of racism and slavery. The issue caused a polarizing community debate when the group first hoisted the semitrailer-sized flag in June.

"What they are talking about does not represent the values of Hillsborough County," said Curtis Stokes, the president of the Hillsborough County branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and a member of the Tampa Bay Super Bowl Host Committee. "All they want is publicity."

Much of the furor has died down, and the NAACP is no longer getting complaints, said Stokes, who attended the meeting to have the flag taken down. "It's a nonissue."

Many visitors are likely to see the giant flag on their way to Super Bowl events or theme parks in Orlando or the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino.

There's more. For the complete story go to: http://www2.tbo.com/content/2009/jan/27/270000/na-plannershopeflagdoesnthoistfury/

Sons of Confederate Veterans files suit for specialty license plate

Having been a civil rights activist since the early 1960s, I have long been an advocate of tolerance and diversity. Therefore, I wholeheartedly support the effort of the Sons of Confederate Veterans to honor their proud Confederate Heritage with a specialty Florida license plate.
-- J. Stephen Conn


By Sarah Lundy

Orlando Sentinel

The Sons of Confederate Veterans wants its Florida specialty license plate.

The group — composed of descendants of Confederate soldiers — filed a lawsuit Tuesday in U.S. District Court to force the state to approve one designed with Confederate flags.

Last year, the group attempted to get lawmakers to pass a bill that would add its plate to the list of dozens of other specialty tags.

The organization spent years completing the requirements: a $60,000 application fee, a marketing strategy and a survey with 30,000 motor-vehicle owners who say they intend to buy the tag.
Money raised from the sale of the plate would go toward improving veteran cemeteries, academic grants and scholarships, John Adams, lieutenant commander of the group's Florida division, said last week.

A roadblock arose when the House of Representatives Infrastructure Committee chairman refused to bring the bill up for a vote — killing the proposal, according to the lawsuit. No Senate bill was ever sponsored.

Lawmakers sent the message that no matter what the group does, the specialty tag might never happen, said the group's attorney, Fred O'Neal.

Lawmakers also agreed on a moratorium on new specialty plates until 2011.

State Sen. Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, who is named in the lawsuit in his role as Senate transportation-committee chairman, said he would like to comment but can't because it's an ongoing legal issue.

The group has fought similar battles for "Confederate Heritage" plates in other states with some success, according to the lawsuit.

Adams said the state fears how popular the tag could become. "A lot of people want this plate," he said.

O'Neal said the issue is similar to getting a parade permit, which often needs approval from a city or county. If a group meets the requirements, city leaders can't deny the permit because they disagree with the message, he said.

The group wants the court to compel the state to issue the plate. If not, the group then will suggest the court declare the specialty-plate law unconstitutional.

For the original story go here: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/services/newspaper/printedition/local/sfl-flfplate0121sbjan21,0,5486809.story

Tampa Tribune Columnist inspires Giant Confederate Flag

By Wayne Garcia
Creative Loafing

The Tampa Bay chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans has criticized former Tampa Tribune/current St. Petersburg Times op-ed contributor Daniel Ruth before because of his anti-confederate flag columns but this is a new high/low: the group has erected a sign thanking/blaming Ruth.

The group’s e-mail blast on it reads as follows:

On behalf of the Jubal A. Early Camp 556 of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, we wish you a Happy New Year!

Our Confederate Memorial Park located near the I-4 and I-75 intersection in east Tampa is nearing completion. Please be advised that we have scheduled the dedication ceremony of the Confederate Memorial Park for Saturday, April 25, 2009 - the day before Confederate Memorial Day.

Please note the attached photograph. The sign reflects the following: Future Home of Hillsborough County’s Confederate Memorial Park, an effort of the Florida Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans “Flags Across Florida,” http://www.tampascv.org/ , http://www.tampaflag.info/ .

We would like to acknowledge Mr. Daniel Ruth, columnist for the Tampa Tribune, who, through his arrogance, intellectual and moral dishonesty, and insensitivity, was the real catalyst for the creation and development of this project.

In memory of Compatriot Bart Siegel, 1958-2008. “Heritage or Hate … Let’s Debate” - Bart H. Siegel

For the original story go here: http://blogs.creativeloafing.com/politicalwhore/2008/12/29/johnny-rebs-blamethank-dan-ruth-for-the-giant-confederate-flag/