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Registration for Continental Congress Officially Opens

Lynn Young, President General

I am so pleased to be presiding over the 125th Continental Congress, my third and final as your President General, and to welcome members to Washington, D.C. this week.

This morning I participated in the wreath laying at the Daughters Tribute. It was marvelous to see many in attendance at this wonderful memorial as we honored the nearly 1,000,000 women who have joined DAR.

Registration officially opens this morning at 11 am and closes at 6 pm this evening. Be sure to refer to the Congress App or the Online Schedule to find the hours and information for registration and other Congress events, as many events have updated their information in recent weeks. Remember, everyone must pick up their welcome packets and ID badges at Registration in the lower level of Headquarters upon arriving at Congress.

I hope you will take notice of the special cover of this year’s Congress program. In celebration of the 125th anniversary of Continental Congress, the cover design showcases artwork from the 18th Continental Congress program cover from 1909.

If you haven’t already done so, I encourage you to download the Congress App on your smart phone or tablet. You can find more information about the app here: http://youngblog.dar.org/congress-app-available-download. To download the Congress App, open the App Store on your mobile device or tablet and search for “DAR Congress.” There will be a box in the upper right corner for you to download the app and install on your device. If you are on your device you can click this link to download the Congress App. The Congress App will be very useful during your visit to Washington, D.C. as it puts all important Congress information right at your fingertips!

Today I will be stopping by the Incoming State Regents Orientation to welcome these new state leaders who will be installed on Sunday. The National Board of Management meeting will follow along with many other Congress Committee meetings. I can’t begin to thank these committee members enough for all of their hard work leading up to and during the week of Congress.

This afternoon I will attend the National Officers Club meeting and banquet, and enjoy fellowship with all who have served as a State Regent, Vice President General or as an Executive Officer.

For those of you arriving in Washington, D.C. this week, I encourage you to take time to explore our magnificent Headquarters buildings. Be sure to check out the current DAR Museum exhibition, Remembering the American Revolution, 1776-1890. In addition we are privileged to have on loan this summer rare historic documents, including a Dunlap Broadside and two draft copies of the Constitution. Learn more about the documents at www.dar.org/broadside and plan to stop by the Museum gallery to see them up close.

Explore the DAR Library and beginning on Wednesday you can talk with the Balcony Volunteers who are able to assist with genealogy research questions. Also stop by the Americana Room to see the exhibits, Congress through the Years: 1892—2016 and Collecting the History: Celebrating the NSDAR Archives and the Americana Collection.

For those of you who can’t be with us in Washington, we hope you will join us virtually through Congress social media on FacebookTwitter and Instagram and by following along with the live streaming Congress videophotos and the daily Congress Herald. Congress attendees active on social media, be sure to share your posts with us all by using the hashtag #DARCC16.