I hope that you enjoyed the our Virtual DAR Congress this past week. From the first “flag drop” until the final gavel, it felt like Congress – just from home. While not the Congress we were all used to (hello no end of the day tired feet), it still gave us a virtual experience that hit the high points we would have all missed had Congress been canceled. One of the best parts was being able to watch committee presentations when you had the time. I am sure it was a regular work week for many of us on top of the Congress experience, so the ability to watch luncheons, webinars and sessions during lunch breaks or after work hours was a true blessing of the week. Your state regent had a virtual fly-in for Feeding America running concurrently last week so it really was a fantastic blending of live and taped elements. If you have not had a chance to watch the evening and day sessions you can still access them here. I know several of our chapters held watch parties both online and outdoors throughout the week to give members a wonderful shared experience.
Tennessee daughters were highlighted in several areas from the membership webinar and other committee presentations, to the American Heritage Session and the array of Junior Membership events. Juniors thought outside the box with their fundraising during Congress and are continuing those efforts throughout the rest of the month. As of Tuesday Tennessee had 75 FireFly 5K participants (3rd in registrations behind GA with 76 and TX with 117). Registrations will continue through the end of July so I encourage all daughters to join us for this unique fundraiser for the Helen Pouch Memorial Fund. Wouldn’t it be fantastic if we could have the most daughters, friends and family in the nation to participate in this new endeavor supporting our Juniors. You don’t have to be a daughter to participate in the fun of this event.
National has begun the process of distributing the over 8000 certificates for individuals and chapters. They hope to have those to the states by the end of the July, and I am so excited to see the full listing of awards that TN won for 2019. During the Friday night session I was allowed 2 minutes to share the work of the Tennessee daughters — who knew 2 minutes could go so quickly, but it can when there are so many exciting things to share of the work our chapters are doing in our communities for God, Home, and Country. You can find the video segment here, and I am excited to announce it is the first video for our new Tennessee DAR YouTube Channel. I envision that this platform will allow for multiple uses including membership training and public relations.
Many congratulations are also in order for our newest Honorary Vice President General and the newly elected class of seven Vice President Generals. Several of these ladies have visited Tennessee while serving their states, and it is nice to see several of our past special guests on this list. I am sure they will all serve our National Society with excellence.
Perhaps the most anticipated event of Congress was the grand opening of the DAR Insignia Store. I logged in first thing Friday morning in order to purchase one of the new Women’s Suffrage commemorative event pins to celebrate the pivotal role Tennessee played in getting the 19th Amendment passed. I was delighted the pin in its new DAR Insignia logo box arrived just this afternoon. Please visit the store as they are adding to the inventory daily.
Much has happened at home as well this last month, and while I hope you have enjoyed all Congress had to offer, I hope you have also had a chance to see the latest Tennessee DAR News. Filled with news from our chapters, I think you will enjoy this issue as we prep for the next print version to drop in a few weeks. As always, to get information first in your inbox, please subscribe to the Dogwood Notes blog.
In Service, Cecile
