Three Skunk Brigade members, Steve Burke and Dess Smith III of the Wiregrass Chapter (Swainsboro) and Neil Dickey of the Brier Creek SAR Chapter in Screven County traveled to Millen on Thursday, March 19, to present their Revolutionary War Travelin Trunk program to the Jenkins County School. They were invited to Ag Day sponsored by the Jenkins County Farm Bureau. The event started at 9 a.m. and continued until 12 p.m. with 175 students rotating among the 13 stations. The Skunk Brigade's "Travelin Trunk" consists of many artifacts from the Revolutionary War, and they tell the students how they were used and how they were made by these Patriots. Steve, Dess and Neil are members of the Skunk Brigade that is headquartered in the East Fall Line Region of the Georgia Society Sons of the American Revolution. We have 47 members and each one wears a skunk hat that was fashioned and made from "roadkill skunks". It takes three skunks to make one hat and Compatriot Steve Burke from the Wiregrass Chapter started making them about 10 years ago and in the past year Lee Herron has joined Steve in making skunk hats. The Skunk Brigade is part of the Brier Creek Artillery which at the present time has eight cannons that we fire at events in Georgia and South Carolina. The cannons were hand built by their owners: Steve Burke, Alton Reynolds, Lee Herron, Don Bazemore, Alton McCloud, Ted Walker, Emil Decker and Bernard Martin. If you are interested in the Skunk Brigade presenting their Revolutionary War program to your school, please call Lee Herron (706-831-6600), Ted Walker (803-599-1654) or Steve Burke (912-425-3070). The 13 Stations at "Ag Day" were: Planters EMC, Georgia Forestry, Poultry, Beef Cow, FFA, 4-H, Griffin Warehouse, SAR Survival skills and Travelin Trunk, Tractor, Alpacas, Honey and Produce.
