Today's DAR
For three glorious days, four members of the DAR Headquarters Genealogy Department staff, including our Director, Sara Sukol, promoted DAR at the Federation of Genealogy Societies (FGS) Conference in Fort Wayne, IN. Three times each year at different genealogy conferences a few members of the genealogy staff set up a conference booth to promote the organization and our genealogical resources.
The Federation of Genealogy Societies (FGS) Conference in Fort Wayne, IN
Several different brochures and other informational materials were distributed and this year there were some new twists to drum up interest. We had DAR pens and flag pins to give away, and for the first time we had our own raffle. One prize each day was given to the person with the correct number. The prizes were from the DAR store, and the most coveted was the DAR-OPOLY board game!
In addition to handing out materials and talking with people, the staff looked up ancestors in the GRS for people who stopped by the booth. We had great help from some of the Indiana Daughters, who volunteered their time to assist with manning the booth. Thanks go out to Martha Barnhart, Past Treasurer General, for putting together a roster of helpers. The Indiana members took all of the Membership Interest Forms and added them into the Prospective Member Database. Some of the local women were contacted by a chapter member before the conference was even over!
Many members came by just to chat and to see what is new at DAR. Others said they’d always wanted to join, and we helped with the first steps. It is difficult to say how many people the four of us spoke with, but it was a great experience introducing DAR to new people!
