Founding year
Plank Owners
The association is being stood up now. A gift of $250 or more puts your name on the wall, and it stays there.
The term
A ship's plank owners are the crew who were aboard the day it first went to sea. The list is closed the moment it is taken.
The DIVARTY put its colors away in 2005 and uncased them again on 6 September 2025. The association is the civilian side of that formation, and it is being built right now — the first budget, the first Saint Barbara, the first year of programs for Soldiers and families.
The people who pay for that first year are its plank owners. The title is a matter of record rather than a membership level: it says you were there at the start, and nothing that happens afterward changes it.
On the wall
6 founding supporters, in the order they came aboard
- 01Col. Shawn and Melana Talmadge
- 02Col. Roger and Mrs. Charlotte Talmadge
- 03Maj Timothy and Elise Schilbach
- 04Chief Adam Marcus
- 05CSM Andrew and Brenna Sheppard
- 06COL (Ret) Fred Bolton
Join them
Become a plank owner
$250 is the floor, not a tier. Give more if you are able — the wall lists everyone the same way, in the order they gave.
- Minimum gift
- $250. Individuals, families, units, and businesses all qualify.
- Your name
- Posts to the wall as soon as the payment clears. There is no approval queue and no waiting on a board vote.
- Tax status
- 29th Division Artillery Association, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, EIN 42-4351081. Gifts are deductible to the extent allowed by law, and Stripe emails the receipt.
- Where it goes
- The Saint Barbara celebration, Soldier and family programs, and the cost of running the association through its first year.