In this edition of “What Are the Chapters Doing?” with your National Vice Chair; Haley Lancaster! discover how DAR chapters across the country are honoring history and serving their communities—from Sail250 outreach and patriotic Flag Day activities to the unveiling of a Revolutionary War heroine’s statue and community readings of the Declaration of Independence.
In this edition of What Are the Chapters Doing?, with your National Vice Chair Haley Lancaster! hear how DAR chapters across the country are honoring history, serving their communities, and celebrating America.
Featured activities include Sail250 outreach in Virginia, the unveiling of a statue honoring Revolutionary War heroine Laodicea “Dicey” Langston in South Carolina, Flag Day events in Northern Virginia, and community readings of the Declaration of Independence.
Have a chapter event or success story to share? Email darpodcast@nsdar.org for possible inclusion in a future episode.
Welcome to the DAR Today Podcast on our segment What Are Chapters Doing? Daughters across the country are finding creative and meaningful ways to bring history, patriotism, and service directly into their communities, from waterfront celebrations filled with tall ships to patriotic programs for children, historic statue unveilings.
Flag Day Ceremonies, Liberty Tree dedications, and public readings of the Declaration of Independence. Our chapters are making sure that America's story is not only remembered, it is shared. This month, your National Vice Chair, Haley Lancaster, is taking us from Virginia Sails on the Potomac, celebrations in South Carolina and Washington State, and several communities in between where daughters are educating, serving, and welcoming prospective members and preparing the public for this historic national milestone.
Haley, tell us What are the chapters doing?
Welcome back to What Are the Chapters Doing? A regular segment where we tell you how daughters of the American Revolution across the country are honoring history, serving their communities, and celebrating America.
We have some incredible chapter updates from coast to coast today, so let's dive right in. First up, as maritime celebrations for Sail250 kicked off to honor America's 250th anniversary, our Virginia chapters were out in full force at the waterfront. Over in Alexandria, the Dr. Elisha Dick chapter hosted a double table setup right in the heart of Alexandria's Sails on the Potomac event.
They kept the crowds engaged with a little something for everyone. Kids made patriotic buttons, collected flag code bookmarks, picked up free books, and even learned about local conservation with spotted lantern fly info. Adults and kids alike tested their knowledge with naturalization citizenship questions, supporting great causes like the CAR Crayon Project and Wreaths Across America, and they chatted with on-site genealogists.
Their hard work paid off big time. They welcomed 66 new prospective members. Also tabling a Sail250 event was the John Alexander chapter out of Alexandria, supported by friends from the Henry Clay chapter in Annandale. They focused on highlighting revolutionary history by giving kids coloring sheets featuring lesser known patriots, including Margaret Corbyn, Polly Cooper, Phyllis Wheatley, Haym Solomon, and John Pipsico.
For the adults, they handed out preamble bookmarks and challenged visitors to recite famous historical lines for memory. Successful reciters walked away with patriotic flag pins and quote buttons from the founders.
Moving over to South Carolina, the Bethlehem Butler chapter helped host a major historic moment on June twenty sixth, the statue unveiling for Revolutionary War heroine Dicey Langston in Traveler's Rest.
During the Revolutionary War, teenager Laodicea Dicey Langston served as a brave Patriot informant in South Carolina. Living near frequent loyalist activity, she routinely gathered intelligence on enemy movements to protect local Patriot forces, including her brothers. In 1781, upon discovering that Loyalist bloody scouts planned a surprise attack on the Eden settlement.
She embarked on a perilous overnight journey across land and swollen rivers to warn the Patriot camp, successfully preventing the ambush. Later, when Loyalists threatened her father at gunpoint, DC heroically shielded him with her own body and dared them to shoot, forcing them to back down. In this statue, Langston is depicted poised in action, advancing forward with knowledge and determination.
For this event, descendants traveled from across the nation to attend whilst the city featured DC's story in a drone light show, and local Main Street businesses offered special DC themed promotions all weekend long.
Over in Northern Virginia, Flag Day was action packed for the Maria Mitchell chapter. The chapter began the day with a flag change and bench dedication at a local retirement home managed by DC daughter and executive director Rebecca Pearson.
Supported by a local Civil Air Patrol unit, daughters handed out handmade thank you card tokens to resident veterans. Immediately after, they joined forces with the Fairfax County chapter at a colonial fair in Ice Cream Social. Special shout out to Rebecca Millard Yankee, who had a serious artistic stamina by hand cutting around 40 silhouette portraits in just four hours.
Finally, on July 8th, chapters across the nation united for public readings of the Declaration of Independence. The Kennewick chapter in Washington State marked the occasion by hosting a community declaration reading and rededicating a local liberty tree. That wraps up this edition of What Are the Chapters Doing? If your chapter has an upcoming event or success story to share, drop us a note. We would love to feature your work next time. Email us at darpodcast@nsdar.org .
Thanks for listening. Again, I'm Haley Lancaster, and please keep Illuminating Legacies, Daughters.
What an inspiring reminder that America's 250th anniversary is just not simply one celebration on one day. It is unfolding right now in our ports, parks, retirement communities, all of our historic towns, chapter programs.
And just the public gatherings all across our nation. At Sail250 events, daughters are welcoming families with patriotic activities, history lessons, and opportunities for service. In Alexandria alone, the doctor Alicia Dick Chapter's outreach that resulted in 66 new prospective members.
That is just proof of what can happen when we step outside of our chapter meetings and invite the public to discover who we are. We also heard again about how chapters are honoring lesser-known patriots, supporting veterans, teaching flag etiquette, preserving the memory of Dicey Langston, rededicating Liberty Trees, and gathering communities to read aloud the Declaration of Independence.
Each of these efforts, daughters, carries history beyond the page and places it directly into the hands of our children, families, veterans, descendants, and future daughters. So we want to say thank you to every daughter who has helped making this commemoration visible and so full of purpose. And thank you to my National Vice Chair Haley for showing up and showing us once again.
What the chapters are doing to illuminate our legacy. So thank you for taking the time to join us for another special episode of the DAR Today podcast series. What are chapters doing?
I'm True Lewis, and from all of us on the podcast committee, we appreciate you listening, sharing, and supporting the work of Daughters Everywhere. Don't forget, we have a special dedicated September 11th, 2001 25th anniversary commemorative event podcast episode. So we'll see you next month.