September was the start of our monthly meetings. We had a wonderful turnout for our first meeting and a wonderful speaker. We listened to local author Cecelia Wilson speak about the childhood of Mrs. Edith, who grew up in Germany as it was being bombed in WWII and the efforts her mother made to keep all 8 of her children alive and together.

They will be doing a book signing at the Searcy Public Library on October 12 for those who may be interested in obtaining a signed copy.

We also got the privilege of witnessing the swearing in of another new member, Melinda Wylie. We are so excited about the potential members we have been meeting with and aiding in transitioning to new members. We would like to give a HUGE shout-out to Joylynn as she is the main contact who helps the potential members become new members. She puts in many long hours and a lot of hard work to make that possible.

We ended our meeting paying homage to our dearly loved members who have sadly passed away this year. Chaplain Cathleen spoke briefly on the lives of Janie Quarles, Merrell Walker, and Arzetta Rasco. While we have hope that they are in a better place, they have left a good sized hole in our hearts and are missed daily.

It was a great meeting overall with much camaraderie afterwards. It was so wonderful to see so many faces, and hear so many conversations going on. We are looking forward to the projects we are working on this year, and to next month’s meeting. If you are a woman 18 years old or older and interested, we would love to have you at our next meeting!

We hope that today you were able to lower your flag to half staff, or attach a black ribbon, as we remember the 3,000 people who died as a result of a terrorist attack. We mourn the first responders who died, and are currently fighting health issues related to the attacks, as well as the families of those who lost their loved ones, and are still losing loved ones.

Greetings!

Are you an avid coke drinker? Or do you prefer an occasional soda during the summer? While doing research for Joylynn’s project with the Kate Duncan Smith DAR school, I came across another opportunity for school donations, especially for DAR schools. Coca-Cola actually participates in a give back program as well!

https://us.coca-cola.com/give/

This one can be done on the phone or on your computer while at home! You do have to sign up for it, but then you select a school of your choice (you do have to play around a bit with this), then the code found inside your coke bottle.

Products that are eligible include: Dasani, Barq’s Root Beer, Pibb Extra, Coca-Cola, Fanta, Powerade, Diet Coke, Fresca, Seagrams, Coca-Cola Life, Fuze, Sprite, Coke Zero, Mello Yello, Tab, and Minute Maid. Basically, if it’s a Coca-Cola product, try submitting the code.

While the Kate Duncan Smith school is not eligible, the Tamassee School (Tamassee SC), Hillside school (Marlborough MA), and Crossnore School and Children’s Home (Crossnore NC) are eligible. What another great way to aid our DAR schools!

There is also a donation opportunity with Tyson Chicken as well. https://www.fundraising-ideas.org/diy/tyson/

Tyson Project A+ fundraising is open only to accredited schools (preschool through grade 12) in the United States, including public, parochial and military schools (both the continental U.S. and overseas).

To participate in the Tyson Project A+ Label Collection Program, you must first register your school. Complete and mail the official Registration Form found on Tyson’s web page. Your school will be sent a Welcome Packet when the registration process has been completed. Please allow 4 weeks for confirmation.

In your grocer’s freezers section, look for Tyson Products that display the Project A+ logo. The label you save is easily identified by looking for the simple 1, 2, 3 program steps. Each label is worth 24¢ cash!

Once you have collected 250 labels, complete and mail in an official Project A+ Label Redemption Form with your labels. (You must complete this form for each label submission you send.) Project A+ labels may be collected and submitted year-round. Please allow 4 to 6 weeks for your check to arrive. The minimum number of labels that may be redeemed at one time is 250 ($60 worth). The maximum number of labels that may be submitted within a calendar year (January–December) is 50,000 ($12,000 worth).

Fundraising checks will be issued only to schools officially registered in the Tyson Project A+ Program. Checks will be made payable to the name of the school — for the organization specified on the Label Redemption Form. Please allow 4 to 6 weeks for your check to arrive. With each check, you will also receive a statement that shows how much money your school has earned during the calendar year. A no-brainer fundraising idea.

As many of you have read or heard, Joylynn is working diligently to promote the boxtops4education drive. If you are already clipping and donating these to a school of your choice, THANK YOU! The school you have picked greatly appreciates your efforts to help them and we do not want to take away from that. If you are not, then this is a great time to start, and you have DAR schools that are eligible! The one that Joylynn is working on specifically is the Kate Duncan Smith DAR school ( https://kdsdar.org/). While you can currently mail your eligible box tops to them (check the expiration dates!) the boxtops program is making a shift THIS SUMMER to the digital work.

Here is an example of the old labels that will be transitioning to the new labels.

What this means for you is that all you need is your receipt! You will have to download an app which is available for iphones and androids.

Once you have downloaded the app, you can select your school of choice, then scan your receipt. The app will automatically add the boxtops to your school account and then you are done! one of the neat features is that you can see the amount donated to the school in real time!

While it’s understood that sometimes the apps can be hard to navigate, or not enough space on your phone, you can save your receipt and bring it to a meeting. One of the members of your chapter should have the app and can help you either navigate it or scan with their phone.

Please use this link to aid you in finding eligible items when you are working on your grocery list. https://www.boxtops4education.com/earn/participating-products

Happy clipping and happy clicking!

This year was a big year as the Dillon Administration came to an end. There are a few changes that come with each new administration. Most noted are the new national officers that have been sworn in.

The President General’s new theme is Rise and Shine for America, with her goals being to raise visibility of chapters in communities, increase membership by 10%, and work hard to demonstrate our diversity and inclusiveness by improving our public image.

The new Junior Member theme is “Juniors light up our life” withe new pins being a trio of fireflies. The sales from these pins goes to support the educational progress of local school through the Helen Pouch Grant Scholarship. (Please see you state Jr Chairman for more information).

The new pin that will be sold to support the continued education and funds of the DAR schools is a trio of fish with the theme “Hooked on DAR schools!” Please look for these pins at your state and district meetings.

We would also like to congratulate the Arkansas Daughters who are currently serving in National committees, and ones who were newly nominated to National committees. If you know any of these ladies (we all know at least one of them!) please congratulate them for their dedication and hard work to achieve these positions.

Gretchen Magee — DAR Genealogical Records Committee Division Vice Chair South Central

Teri Bethge — DAR Scholarships Committee, Chair – Richard and Elizabeth Dean Scholarship

Barbara Lewis — DAR Leadership Training Committee, Division Vice Chair South Central

Allison Holland — DAR Museum Outreach Committee, Division Vice Chair South Central

***ReBecca Van Patten Smith — Overseas Units, National Vice Chair – Contests

In addition, Gretchen Magee, Arkansas’ Vice Regent, was elected by acclimation as President of the State Vice Regents Club for the next year.

Congrats ladies!

The annual Continental Congress in getting under way in Washington D.C. and we have one of our own there! Please keep Becca Van Patten Smith in your thoughts for safe travel and we look forward to hearing about her adventures while there. For more pictures, you can follow the Frederick Van Patten Chapter Facebook page.

Also, please remember that there are no meeting during the summer. We hope that you enjoy this time of relaxation and family activities. We look forward to seeing you this fall!

“April showers bring May flowers” is the saying, and with the amount of rain that is falling, there should be a large array of flowers that will bloom, unless they get all washed away! But the showers didn’t put a damper on our meeting this past week. There was a large group that attended the meeting and it was wonderful to see so many faces! Member Fran Haverstick gave a wonderful talk on the role of nurses in the American Revolution and some of the changes that has occurred from that time frame to now. After the meeting, the members were able to mingle with the newer members and visitors that came. As always, the Frederick Van Patten Chapter welcomes any ladies who are interested in learning more about the Daughters of the American Revolution, or looking to place membership.

March Madness doesn’t just apply to basketball. March is a busy time for many of our members. Those who are educators contend with exams and Spring Break, those who are parents are trying to find something to do (or for their children to do) during the week of no school. Many are getting paperwork ready as everyone preps to file taxes while some are the accountants who help file that paperwork. March seems to be a busy season for everyone, and for those who have membership with the Daughters of the American Revolution in Arkansas, we were gearing up for our annual State Conference.

The Conference lasted Thursday through Saturday in which business was taken care of during the day, workshops in the afternoon, and guest speakers in the evening. Saturday was our Awards Day in which we were able to honor the Arkansas students who won various categories and scholarships. We were able to again, honor Elisabeth O’Connell for her success in the Essay competition and cheer her on as her work was sent to Nationals.

The Frederick Van Patten Chapter had many members who attended the conference this year, which is the largest number we have had the last few years! Everyone had a wonderful time and there was wonderful camaraderie with many of the other State members.

One of the awards handed out at the February meeting was the Community Service Award. To award a Community Service Award, a DAR chapter looks for an individual who have contributed to their communities in an outstanding voluntary, heroic, civil, or benevolent manner, or who have participated in or organized community activities.

Today we got to honor a special woman and fellow DAR daughter, Susan Ashcraft. Mrs. Ashcraft has made multiple lap quilts for veterans by hand and continues to do so. Most recently she worked jointed with another DAR chapter in Florida to make a “Quilt of Valor” for a Vietnam veteran, who is the brother to sister member Cathleen Schultz.

Mrs. Ashcraft, who began quilting as a retirement hobby, has been featured in local papers for her hard work and dedication to completing the lap quilts, and full sized quilts. We are so blessed for Mrs. Ashcraft’s commitment making this quilts as a “thank-you” to the veterans who have served.

Photo Credits: Mary Kay James, pamphlet from Fort Cooper Chapter

Today, the Frederick Van Patten Chapter met in Searcy our monthly meeting. The chapter were blessed with a wonderful turn out of members and guests. One of our guests was Mr. Vincent, who was one of the soldiers that received care packages while he was deployed overseas. We were so pleased to be able to meet with him and put a face to the name.

Our second guest was Ms. Elisabeth O’Connell and her parents. Ms. O’Connell competed in the Christopher Columbus Essay Contest, winning the chapter division and state! We are so excited to sponsor Ms. O’Connell as she continues on to the Regional division and (fingers crossed) to National! Thank you Ms. O’Connell for your participation and good luck!

We also welcomed Jennifer Bartsch, who gave a informative presentation on Mary Edwards Walker, regaling us with stories of Mrs. Walker’s trailblazing antics, and war history.

Today was also an exciting day as we were able to swear in two new members. Welcome Peggy and Jan!

Photo Credits to Mary Kay James.