After meeting up with the second bus on Thursday morning, we made our way to Grant, AL home to Kate Duncan Smith DAR School. Even though we had adorable AL shaped cookies for a snack, the morning got off to a rough start when the second bus started producing black smoke. We quickly made room for the President General, and as many of the other bus participants as possible – and left the rest at an abandoned gas station (that looked like a log cabin). Sadly I don’t have any pictures of them waiting that can be shared, but I have been told they had a grand time waiting for the mechanic.
Kate Duncan Smith DAR School was founded by the Alabama Society DAR in 1924 with a four classroom building, and by 1928 the National Society had joined them in supporting the school. KDS serves K-12 children in the Gunter Mountain region and now boasts 40 buildings 240 acres of land. The campus is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Currently there are over 1,400 students attend the school and more than half live at or below the poverty line.
As we drove up to the school we could see the children lining the both sides of the driveway, and they know how to roll out the red carpet. We made our way to the dinning room for the first event of our visit lunch and a JAC program presented by the students. Several Tennessee daughters had driven in for the day, including KDS graduate Helen Moore, and I was happy to see some familiar faces.
Campus tours followed and I was happy to show Jean Ellen Melton, our National Junior Membership Chair various Junior Committee supported and funded projects around campus as well as a very special project Tennessee undertook during Pat Rhoton’s term at as State Regent. During our tour we found a classroom sponsored by one of our chapters, and we even caught Charlotte Reynolds reading to a classroom.
We made our way to the Board of Trustees meeting where we were able to hear about the state of the school from Executive Director Heather Green in her annual report. After completion we had time to shop at the craft show, which yielded a few items I could not leave behind. By this time we had been joined by our other bus that only had needed a small roadside fix. The buses then packed up and headed to the beautiful Lake Guntersville State Park for a reception and “Family Feud.”
I have always wanted to play Family Feud, and it was a treat for me when I was selected for the second game and subsequent fast money round. Funny how easy it is for me to get the right answer when it’s Steve Harvey asking other people. To my knowledge no video exists of my game, but I certainly had a fantastic time.
When we got back to the hotel, we had another fantastic reception waiting for us – the AL daughters do not want you to leave hungry and it was a wonderful spread. The next morning we headed back to KDS for Dedication Day and the Famous Basket Lunch. It was an honor to present the gifts from the state society and our chapters given during Mrs. Reynolds term of office. I was also so pleased that several Tennessee Chapters in attendance for this program as well. Sadly I had to leave right after the program in order to make my flight and missed the lunch and the KDS home football game. My sweet family was on fall break and leaving early on Friday meant I got to spend a day with them before we headed home.
If you are ever given the opportunity to visit our schools, either on the tour or with individual visits, please do. I had the opportunity to visit all six of the schools once before as National Junior Membership Chair, and it was wonderful to see the changes since I had last visited. Certainly a visit to any of our DAR Schools will truly show how much our organization gives back both through the national society and our state societies and chapters.
In Service,
Cecile
