Visiting the Cotton State

After attending a special event in the U.S. Capitol in which our own Brigadier General Wilma Vaught was honored for Women's History Month, I flew from D.C. to Columbus, Georgia on March 3 where Past Reporter General Jean Vaughan and Vice President General Connie Grund greeted me.  We drove about an hour to the Hotel at Auburn University for the 108th State Conference, Nancy Sturkie Folk, State Regent.  Many members were waiting for us in the lobby including my personal page, Sarah Hill, a KDS graduate and student at Auburn. 

Nancy’s theme is "Celebrate America! Celebrate Our Roots!"  and we stayed busy learning and celebrating all weekend.  With 4300 members in 71 chapters, the conference had a large pre-registration of 440 members and guests.  Conference guests included State Regents Peggy Norton, CO; Ginger Poffenberger, FL; Diane Schrift, MI and Dianne Culbertson, SC. Nancy retired as a Nuclear Engineer and part of her project is to encourage students to pursue careers in science and technology.  The Alabama Daughters are also busy helping plan the state’s bicentennial commemoration in 2019. 

Kate Duncan Smith DAR School (KDS) was founded by Alabama DAR in 1924 and named for the second State Regent.  Guests are always welcome at our DAR schools and it is a joy to visit the campus of 1400 students in grades Kindergarten through 12 located in the town of Grant on Gunter Mountain.  Their mascot is the Patriot and even the youngest can recite the American’s Creed.

The first conference event was an informal dinner hosted by the Cameo Society, Jeanie McNees, President, who presented a gift to the Guardian Trust Campaign.  After the dinner, meetings and workshops were held for Pages and for those attending Continental Congress.

While the State Board of Management was meeting Friday morning, we visited the Celebration Station organized by Beth Cagle, National Chair Junior American Citizens and Alabama State Co-Chair, Celebrate America.  The results were impressive, especially considering the majority of the work was completed between meetings, workshops, and meals of the state conference.  Over 200 volunteer hours were recorded and accomplishments included:

• 350 individual Blessing Bags (care packages for veteran’s homes, homeless, women’s shelters and stand downs)  
• 150,000 Box Tops for Education which were clipped for KDS DAR School.
• Members participated in the Guinness World Record attempt by writing 200 letters to our active military.
• Sleeping mats for the homeless were crocheted from recycled plastic bags. 
• $250 collected for the Chaplain’s Closet at Landsthul Medical Center
• 100 Recycled tee-shirts were made into tote bags for nursing homes, homeless, stand downs, shelters, etc.
• 35 pounds of old costume jewelry was collected for the KDS Art Department

Excellent workshops were held throughout the day for Chapter Registrars, Chapter Treasurers, Chapter Regents and Vice Regents as well as on submitting Bible records to the GRC, Chapter Fundraising and Historic Preservation in Alabama. 

Patrice Donnelly, State Second Vice Regent, presided beautifully over the Awards Luncheon which included presentations to the Outstanding Teacher of American History, the DAR History Award Medal, Women in the Arts, American History Essay contest, Christopher Columbus Essay Winners, Americanism, Community Service Awards, DAR Good Citizens, Historic Preservation Medal and Scholarships.  

That afternoon it was a pleasure to host the President General’s tea for Heritage Club and Founders Club members and express my appreciation for their support of our projects at Headquarters.

Past Vice President General Rita Horton and her husband, Charlie, arranged for a special surprise for the conference attendees.  Representatives from the Southeastern Raptor Center brought several birds of prey to the hotel, including Spirit, a Golden Eagle, which posed for a group photo. I was curious why Auburn University’s mascot is the Tiger, yet each game features an eagle flying above the stadium.  Jean Vaughan, an Auburn Alum, offered this explanation:

The most popular version of the story of the battle cry goes back to the first Auburn-Georgia football game in 1892.  A spectator who was a veteran of the Civil War was sitting in the stands that day with his eagle that he had found on the battlefield during the war.  The old man had kept this eagle since the war, about 30 years.  The eagle suddenly broke free and began circling the playing field.  As the eagle soared over the football stadium, Auburn began a steady march toward the Georgia end zone and won the football game.  Excited about winning the game against Georgia and seeing the bird's presence as an omen of success, the Auburn students and fans began to yell "War Eagle" to spur on the team.  At the end of the game, the eagle took a sudden dive, crashed into the ground, and died, but the battle cry "War Eagle" lived on to become a symbol of the proud Auburn spirit. The eagle still flies over the stadium before every Auburn football home game, and the fans yell "War Eagle." 

Oma Gaines, President of the Alabama Officers Club presided over the Lane Chapel Candlelight Dinner and presented a gift to the President General’s Project. The Nan Roberts Lane Chapel at KDS was built by the Alabama Daughters in 1957 and named for an Honorary State Regent and founding president of the State Officers Club. Heather Green, Executive Director of KDS School mentioned that generations of graduates have worshipped and married in the Chapel.    

At the banquet that evening after my presentation on the Guardian Trust Campaign, Nancy presented me with a second donation to the Guardian Trust Campaign (Alabama was among the first contributors in 2015 with a gift of $10,000) and a charm for my bracelet, I was astounded to receive a stunning quilt entitled “Glory to the Red, White and Blue” made by Paula Ann King Thomas of the Cahawba Chapter. Hand quilted, the border includes stars and stripes. The evening concluded with a lovely reception with beautiful cakes decorated with yellow roses

At the DAR School Breakfast Saturday morning, Suzanne Bishop Culbreth, KDS Graduate and 2013 Alabama Teacher of the Year shared the influence KDS had on her youth, education and career.  Heather Green, KDS School Executive Director presented the student representatives to the 125^th Congress, Leeann Myers and Will Sanderson.  It must be extremely difficult for the judges to select only two of the students to serve as the Congress representatives!

The National Defense luncheon followed the first business session.  Jay E. Town, Madison County Assistant District Attorney and a member of the Executive Committee of the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation, introduced Command Sergeant Major, Bennie G. Adkins, US Army (Ret.).  This delightful gentleman entertained us all as he humbly described his experiences when attacked by a large Viet Cong force in 1966.  Rushing through heavy enemy fire, he manned a mortar position, incurring multiple wounds, yet ran through enemy mortars to drag his wounded comrades to safety. Highly decorated, he received the Congressional Medal of Honor in September, 2014. Mr. Adkins recounted serving in the Special Forces for 13 years as an “uninvited guest” in 177 countries.  It was an honor to meet this American hero. All veterans in the audience were recognized, including many Alabama Daughters.  Three widows of Congressional Medal of Honor recipients were presented.  The luncheon concluded with all singing “God Bless America.”

State Chaplain Ann Bandgren conducted a lovely Memorial service which featured two outstanding soloists, Susan Doughty Holmes and Martha Mims. 

At the Regents’ banquet, each District Director shared the story of one significant event on either the 125^th anniversary or Celebrate America event.  Each Regent was presented and it was an honor to present the President General’s Project participation certificates to many chapters.

Each evening the members of Twickenham Town Chapter hosted the Hospitality Suite for the State Officers, Honoraries and Conference guests.  Each evening the suite had a different theme and marvelous decorations.  After the Saturday banquet, all Daughters enjoyed dessert and fellowship.

My visit concluded with the Prayer Breakfast Sunday morning at which Janeal Shannon, past State Chaplain, shared the Biblical story of Esther in her mediation.  Reflecting on Mordecai telling his niece, Esther, that she must intervene for the sake of her people, Mordecai urged her, saying she had been chosen for just such a time as this.  As Janeal said, so were George Washington, our four founders, our patriot ancestors and so are each of us.  It reminded me of the song “Do Something” by Matthew West.  The chorus is

“If not us, then who if not me and you?
Right now, it’s time for us to do something.
 If not now, then when?”

That’s as true for the Guardian Trust Endowment Fund we are building as it is for our service to God, Home and Country.