Today's DAR
This Officer is humbled by the privilege of serving as Chaplain General of our National Society these past three years and to provide programs, dedications, wreath layings and memorial ceremonies which ensured that the history of our nation, the Patriots of the American Revolution, and our treasured Daughters, both here and abroad, will never be forgotten.
Reflections from the Executive Officers: Chaplain General
It was an honor to open and close all meetings of the Executive Committee, National Board of Management, and sessions of Continental Congress with scripture and prayer. It was a privilege to send 1440 birthday cards to our members celebrating their 90th, 100th, and 100+ birthdays. Necrology reports were written and sent to all issues of the Daughters Newsletter and condolence cards were sent to the next of kin.
I am immensely proud that this year our National Society observes a 105-year consecutive unbroken record of placing a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington, and a 109-year record of placing a wreath at the Tomb of George and Martha Washington at Mount Vernon. In 2022 for the first time in the history of our society, the Wright Administration placed a wreath at the enslaved cemetery at Mount Vernon. This sacred ground is the burial place of 86 unknown individuals.
In addition to conducting the Memorial Service for our deceased members during Continental Congress each year, wreath laying ceremonies were also conducted at the Memorial Gardens and the Founders Monument during each Congress of this Administration. A special tribute plaque ceremony celebrating DAR member, Lena Santos Ferguson, a changemaker in our organization, was held in her recognition in the Memorial Gardens.
Shortly after taking office the Wright Administration paid tribute to two former Honorary Presidents General by conducting wreath laying ceremonies at the grave sites of Honorary President General Marion Moncure Duncan, 25th President General (1962-1965) and Honorary President General Marie Hirst Yochim, 35th President General (1989-1992). This officer represented the National Society at the Celebration of Life ceremonies of Honorary President General Merry Ann Thompson Wright, 42nd President General (2010-2013) and Honorary President General Linda Tinker Watkins, 39th President General, (2001-2004), and gave a tribute during the interment of Honorary Vice President General Yvonne Spann Boone, at Arlington National Cemetery.
Thanks are expressed to Cara Kavanaugh, Pax Romana Chapter, Rome, Italy for her assistance in obtaining admittance to a Papal Audience with His Holiness Pope Francis for the President General and delegation during her official visit to Italy. This was the first time a President General has been received by a Pope. During this trip and in conjunction with the Units Overseas Committee, Shari Thorne-Sulima, Chair, a service was conducted at the Protestant Cemetery in Rome in memory of Sarah Parker Remond, a free woman of color, American lecturer and international activist.
A singular honor for this officer was to represent NSDAR at the 80th anniversary of D-Day on June 6, 2024 in Normandy, France and to place a wreath at the statue of General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Allied Commander, in Sainte-Mere-Eglise, France.
In conjunction with the America 250! Committee, Kathryn Walker West, Chair, it was my honor to participate in ceremonies honoring Italian Patriot Filippo Mazzei in the Cementerio Suburbano in Pisa, Italy and the Marquis de Lafayette at Picpus Cemetery in Paris, France, and at the Altare della Patria in Rome during the President General’s visits to Italy and France.
Other ceremonies conducted by this officer included wreath layings at the grave of Martha Berry, Statue of Joan of Arc, Pentagon 9/11 Memorial, Memorial to the 56 Signers, Vietnam Women’s Memorial, Second Division Memorial, Lafayette Escadrille Memorial Cemetery, Seville Cathedral in Spain and in conjunction with our Historian General, a plaque ceremony at Memorial Continental Hall.
Appreciation is expressed to the Kansas Society, Rebecca Kline, Regent, for use of the beautiful Kansas chapel for ceremonies conducted in our headquarters building. Among those was the dedication of the new seat cushions for the chapel pews, a ceremony of remembrance for a member of our headquarters staff and a memorial ceremony for those lost in recent vicinity air crashes.
It has been a privilege to serve as a Member of the Human Resources Committee, Ginnie Storage, Chair and Pat Breichner, Director, to ensure appropriate headquarters staffing and to review employment-related issues affecting our headquarters staff.
It was an honor to be invited to speak at several state conferences, forums and meetings. Thanks are expressed to the Daughters of Maine, Alabama, South Carolina, New Mexico, Texas, South Dakota and my own state of Georgia for these invitations. This officer also had the distinction of providing invocations and presenting scholarships and awards at Kate Duncan Smith DAR School graduation and dedication ceremonies.
It has been my great honor and distinct pleasure to work with the outstanding chairs of the eight committees for which I serve as Executive Liaison: Commemorative Events, Leslie Miller; DAR/SAR/S.R. Relations, Dr. Jane Cohen; Service to America, Jamie Burchfield; Women’s Issues, Cynthia Pritchard; DAR Tours and Events, Rebecca S. Grawl; President General’s Project, Cynthia Steinbach and Susan P. Gaze; Franco American Memoria, Dr. Patricia Maclay; and Special Projects, Judy Ostler. Thank you all for a stellar job well done!
This officer could never give enough credit and recognition to our incredible President General, Pamela Rouse Wright, who leads us with grace, kindness and the upmost professionalism. It has been an honor, a true joy and a privilege to be a part of her Stars and Stripes Forever Administration.
