In a recent post I announced my intentions to fulfill my
mother’s dream of joining the DAR. I
went to the DAR website and found 8 chapters within 16 miles of here. The websites for the two closest ones haven’t
been updated in over a year. Since the
Constantia chapter is only 9 miles from here and the website looked good, I
sent an inquiry to the registrar.
Then DANG! We were
dissed! Not totally. But we were strongly encouraged to look
elsewhere because of the distance to travel to meetings.
Constantia’s very polite registrar did give some helpful
suggestions. She said we should visit
several chapters before submitting our names for membership. Great!
I didn’t realize that was an option.
Meetings start up in September, so Mary Jollette and I will check out the
ladies of Fort Nelson and maybe the ones in Four Flags, maybe even Great
Bridge.
In the meantime, I’m starting the basic footwork of
gathering birth, death, and marriage records for my direct line back to Leonard
Davis.
©2014, Wendy
Mathias. All rights reserved.
Thanks for passing on the advice of visiting different chapters. I wasn't aware that was an option either. Good luck with your application.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Lisa. I was surprised to find you only have to prove birth, death, and marriage for each generation. That didn't sound too bad -- UNTIL you get to the oldest ancestors. Then it's tricky.
Deleteyeah, nothing like getting kicked to the curb by the DAR. We should make Zoe join too, then she can drive! HA HA!
ReplyDeleteGood idea. Of course, if we ever want to join PETA, we can't ask her to drive.
DeleteJust to see what we have around here Minneapolis, Mn. I find we have quite a few chapters really close to me. But in viewing the rather extensive site they do like to locate the "right chapter" for each member! It seems they are a really active group, and one probably worth venturing into!
ReplyDeleteYes, but I find the local chapters are not good webmasters. They encourage visitors but don't bother telling where or when they meet. I guess my first assignment will be the website committee. LOL
DeleteWe'll accept you in Indiana no matter how far you have to travel for our meetings:)
ReplyDeleteThanks Shirley! All I ask is that you have good refreshments.
DeleteI think I'm going to need it!
ReplyDeleteYou go, Girl! Nine miles is too far to go? How far does everybody drive to get to Costco? I do have an idea, but am not sure if you will like it, Wendy. I suggest setting up another blog with ALL of the info and people that you want to present to them and then ask them to take a look. That way, you can easily gather all the info into one spot and you will also PROVE why you should be included into their group. You can copy and paste the stuff that you already have on here that applies. I doubt if very many of them are as organized as you on their genealogy. You can also print out a notebook of your posts also. Your family members will like it no matter what.
ReplyDeleteHugs!
Kathy M.
Are you trying to kill me? LOL
DeleteWow! 8 chapters within 16 miles of each other! That's incredible! We have only 1 chapter in our entire county and as far as I can tell the next closest one is about 43 miles from here. What's good about this? They'd have to accept me! No dissing here!
ReplyDeleteHA -- good one!
DeleteVisiting is a good idea. You might get better vibes from one group over another. I encourage people to do this with Mayflower Society, too. There is a big difference between the Mass and the NH Societies (besides the size of the group, the yearly dues are more than triple in Mass because they have paid staff). And we have double members with Vermont and Maine, too, who belong to both. Go figure!
ReplyDeleteThat's an interesting perspective I hadn't considered.
DeleteDefinitely visit several chapters first! And if you don't find the right fit, ask to be put in touch with the State Membership Chair, who should be able to help you. I'm the Vice Regent of the Redmond, WA, chapter. We're in the greater Seattle area and so have a lot of neighboring chapters - and each one with its own personality. Good luck with your application!
ReplyDeleteI've spent some time trying to connect with a local DAR chapter in order to enlist some guidance as I work through the process of documenting my "people". I got frustrated at the lack of communication and have put it on the back burner. I think my problem is that I really want to join but at this point in my life, I'm not really interested in attending meetings. But that's not to say I won't in the future. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI totally understand that! I don't really need a meeting either.
Delete