Today's DAR
During the next three exciting years we will Illuminate Our Legacy, highlighting how our DAR service creates lasting legacies within our communities and positively impacts those we assist. This theme is very special to me as my own membership in the DAR is inspired by the legacy the Rhode Island Daughters left my mother over 70 years ago.
Introducing Our Executive Officers: Recording Secretary General
My DAR story begins in 2005 when I was creating a scrapbook for my grandmother’s 90th birthday and wandered onto Ancestry.com. I became interested in genealogy research and was thrilled to learn I had ancestors who supported the American Revolution. With my newfound knowledge I contacted the Mountain Rendezvous Chapter, Evergreen, Colorado and attended a meeting. I will share that initially I did not intend to join the DAR. My children were young, and I was already involved with many organizations. It was my mother who encouraged me to join, even though as a grandchild of Azorean immigrants, she was not eligible. She had received a DAR medal for history from the Rhode Island Daughters in eighth grade, an achievement that had a significant and enduring impact on her. She passed her love of history on to me and this legacy led me to join DAR in 2006.
Growing up in a 200-year-old house in Portsmouth, RI, also sparked my interest in historical preservation. I enjoyed helping my parents with repairs and restoration, from stripping layers upon layers of wallpaper, to plastering walls. Maintaining old homes truly requires a lot of hard work! While interested in preservation, I really loved math and majored in electrical engineering at the University of Michigan. After college, I worked for the Department of Defense as an engineer and project manager and earned a Master of Science in Computer Engineering from Johns Hopkins University. My husband Rob and I, along with our two children, have lived in Maryland, Pennsylvania and now Colorado where I am a member of the Mountain Rendezvous Chapter.
Nurturing members and ensuring their involvement in purposeful service is essential to fostering a robust and dynamic membership. Now a member for almost 20 years, the chapter’s initial kindness, friendship, and mentoring were instrumental to me becoming an engaged member. With their encouragement, I served as a Platinum Page just three months after joining and agreed to serve as 2nd vice regent soon after that, followed by increasing levels of responsibility. DAR was a family affair from the beginning, and my children enjoyed wrapping presents for Veterans, collecting items for students, and learning about American History in a very personal way. Rob, a United States Marine Veteran, and I encouraged students we encountered through our involvement with educational and patriotic organizations to apply for DAR Scholarships. It is so true that one of the wonderful aspects of DAR is that regardless of your stage in life or personal interests, there is a committee suited to your needs.
As Recording Secretary General I am the custodian of the legal records of the proceedings of the National Society. These include the minutes and rulings of the Executive Committee; the minutes and rulings of the National Board of Management; and the minutes of the Continental Congress, which are published in the NSDAR Annual Proceedings.
It is a privilege to serve as the Executive Liaison for five national committees: Bylaws, Janet Ammerman, National Chair; DAR Records Preservation, Kathryn Andrews, National Chair; Daughters Online Community, De Williamson, National Chair; NSDAR Technology Support, Kimberly Scott, National Chair; and Volunteer Information Specialist, Deb Hvizdos, National Chair.
The legacy of a DAR medal for history presented 70 years ago led me down a new path lit with friendship, service, and personal growth. It is an honor to serve as your Recording Secretary General as we Illuminate Our Legacy during the Storage Administration.
