Today's DAR
Reflecting on Opening Night and Beginning Business Sessions
Opening Night was such a wonderful ceremony celebrating our 125 years of service to America! Thank you to Mrs. Wagoner, Celebrate 125! Chair, for her wonderful remarks. It's so amazing to learn about what visionaries our founders were. I can only imagine that they would be proud to see where we are 125 years later
Below you will find all the wonderful videos from last night’s ceremony. Please share these videos with your friends and family!
This is a short video about the founding of the DAR: https://youtu.be/CkkcA8ywe40
The honorary presidents general look back on their time in DAR: https://youtu.be/JNtVQ6r1at0
An introduction to the Guardian Trust Campaign: https://youtu.be/ElKKGIq6fQw
Learn about the impact DAR makes on local communities: https://youtu.be/ftD8iz2KLz4
I was so pleased to be able to announce the kickoff of the Guardian Trust Campaign last night. This historic campaign will serve to establish a permanently restricted fund to support the preservation, restoration and conservation of our historic home and to fund the immediate restoration needs at DAR Constitution Hall.
Our goal for this 124th Continental Congress is to raise $1,250,000. We know that if just 250 attendees can commit to a $5,000 pledge paid over three years, we can reach this goal! So please join your National Board of Management and make your pledge today. Pledge envelopes are in your Congress registration packet. Or you may visit here: www.dar.org/guardiantrust to make your pledge today. What Our Founders Built, We Must Preserve.
Last night we also revealed the total number of combined Celebrate America! service hours from 2013, 2014 and the first 6 months of service hours from the Online Tally for 2015 and the grand total is: 9,963,711! I am completely floored by our members’ dedication to community service! Since, we are already so close to our three year administration goal, I challenged the members last night to see if we can make a total of 12.5 million hours by next Congress-- our 125th Continental Congress. Remember you can enter your service hours on the Members’ Website using the Online Tally. We will continue our celebration of your 9.9 million hours of service on Friday evening at Celebrate America Night. Today we will begin the business sessions of the 124th Continental Congress, where we will hear the reports of the Executive Officers. We are very excited to make a special presentation on the electronic dues invoices we will be implementing this year. Be sure and attend the business session for an introduction to this enhancement.
I hope you will plan to attend the Education Forum this afternoon. National Chairs will be sharing important information about getting involved with the work of these committees. This afternoon I am planning to attend the Units Overseas Luncheon and stop by the Historic Preservation Luncheon and the Pennsylvania Awards Luncheon. Both of these will be wonderful events and I am looking forward to greeting members.
I am proud to be a member of the Founders Club and look forward to attending the Dinner this evening. It will be a privilege to express our gratitude to those who are creating a legacy for NSDAR through their estate planning to provide for the future needs of the Society.
This evening we will celebrate smart and driven young people during Education Awards Night. We will hear the American History Essay winners read portions of their essays and we will present the DAR Good Citizen Award. We will also recognize the American History Scholarship winner and the Outstanding Teacher of American History. This year, we have an exciting addition to the ceremony as we honor one of our nation’s premiere historians who have helped to bring American history alive in his literature and on film. Geoffrey C. Ward will be presented with the DAR History Award Medal and deliver keynote remarks. Over the last twenty years, Ward’s writings on American history have had a greater influence and reached a wider audience than those of many other American writers and historians. We will also be presenting the NSDAR Excellence in American History Book Award to the book, The Men Who Lost America: British Leadership, the American Revolution, and the Fate of the Empire by Andrew O’Shaughnassey. We will be entertained by the All-American DAR Chorus. Concluding the ceremony will be the exciting presentation of the finalists for the Outstanding Junior Member contest. Good luck to each of the wonderful finalists! Following this ceremony I will join with the Outstanding Junior Ice Cream Social to celebrate their wonderful accomplishments.
If you won’t be with us this evening be sure to watch the live video stream online!
Tomorrow morning, all members are invited to join together for a huge group photo at President’s Park (the lawn directly across 17th Street from Memorial Continental Hall) at 8:00 AM. Wear red, white or blue to show off your pride in the DAR’s 125 years of service to America! Then head over to Constitution Hall for the Friday morning business session that will begin after the conclusion of the photo.