Philadelphia Winn Chapter, NSDAR, Lawrenceville, GA

In grateful memory, today we honor those members of the US armed services who lost their lives in service to our country.

Philadelphia Winn members met today at the library to work on supplemental applications. Denise, our current Lineage Research Committee Chair, and Valerie, a Past Chapter Registrar, provided advice to our members on genealogy research and the proper procedure for filling out the forms. Many members join the DAR due to their love of genealogy, and completing supplementals not only keeps our members engaged, it also verifies more lines for potential new members to join through.

Designated by the United States Congress, the National Day of Prayer is observed annually on the first Thursday of May. The president signs a proclamation each year, encouraging all Americans "to turn to God in prayer and meditation."

Thank you to our Gwinnett County Public Library system for being such a great resource in our community. We are challenging our chapter members to use their libraries to support National Library Week. Most libraries justify their budget based on usage stats, so visiting your libraries helps to fund them! We've encouraged our members to go to their library, get a card if they don't have one, check out a book or other item, use a computer, ask a reference questions, connect to the wifi, attend a program, and use databases (such as ancestry.com) for free!

We are so excited and proud that Philadelphia Winn Chapter's Caitlen Green is this year's Georgia State Outstanding Junior! Thank you Caitlen, for your dedication to promoting education in our community.

Although the DAR is not a genealogical society, genealogy research is part of the process to join. Our Registrars are trained to conduct genealogy research to DAR standards, and many of our members are passionate genealogists. We love genealogy!

We're more than half way through Read Across America Week. This is a week that celebrates reading and encourages everyone, from ages 0 to 110, to read every day. What are you reading right now?

Learn more of how you can be of service this weekend at BirdCount.org.

The Philadelphia Winn Chapter hosted Wreaths Across America for the fifth year, placing hundreds of wreaths on the graves of military service members at Shadowlawn Memorial Gardens in Lawrenceville, GA. This year we were honored to have Gwinnett County Commissioner Jasper Watkins as our speaker. This event helps us to Remember and Honor our service members, and Teach the next generation the value of freedom.

From the the first Thanksgiving Day declared by our federal government to today: "This Thanksgiving we are grateful for our Nation and the incredible soul of America. May we all remember that we are the United States of America — there is nothing beyond our capacity if we do it together" (2023 Presidential Thanksgiving Proclamation).

Yesterday, our members participated in honoring patriots of the American Revolution. John Bagby and Philip Isley ate buried in Lawrenceville, GA, at the Fairview Presbyterian Church. Although Gwinnett County had not yet been founded during the Revolution, many patriots found their way here. We are honored topay our respects this weekend.

Philadelphia Winn Daughters were excited to support Paint Gwinnett Pink today, raising money for funds Northside Hospital Cancer Institute cancer patients. A number of our members have been impacted by breast cancer, as well as other cancers, and we are proud to support and honor them.

Today is the DAR Day of Service! Some of the Philadelphia Winn Chapter members provided light refreshments to Oakland Meadow School teachers and read books to the students. Other members gathered together to build blessing bags, which will be donated to the Gwinnett County Public Library to support their on-going blessing bags program. Our members will also complete a variety of individual projects, such as filling Little Free Libraries, giving blood, and participating in genealogical transcription projects.

This weekend the Philadelphia Winn Chapter will be at the Elisha Winn Fair in Dacula. We have over 1600 gently used books to giveaway for free, today and tomorrow. Stop by and see us as we promote literacy in our communities!

Happy Constitution Day / Week! For the second year in a row, the Philadelphia Winn Chapter, NSDAR, worked with the Elisha Winn Society, C.A.R., to put up a Constitution Day display at one of our local library branches. The goal of the display is the same as Constitution day: to encourage folks in the United States to read our Constitution and learn about their rights. To learn more about this important document, visit https://constitutioncenter.org.

DAR members participate in community service projects, both big and small! It only takes about 15 minutes to potentially save a life. If you are able, consider setting up an appointment to donate blood.

This past weekend the Philadelphia Winn Chapter, NSDAR, had our annual New Member Tea. We welcomed and celebrated members who had been verified within the past year, encouraged prospective members, and even had one prospective member sign her paperwork! We also took the time to highlight the service work we do through our various committees. We're looking forward to our first meeting of the year in September, and all the fun ahead!

Mrs. Maltbie's Book Club, the official book club of the Philadelphia Winn Chapter, NSDAR, is excited to announce our 2023-24 reading list. The selections are inspired by the NSDAR suggested book list, the interests of members, and availability through the Gwinnett County Public Library.

We will start with "Never Caught: The Washington's Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge" by Erica Armstrong Dunbar on September 19th at 7pm. This book is readily available at the library in both an Adult Non-Fiction, Large Print Adult Non-Fiction, and a Young Readers edition.

Today we remember and honor our our United States service members who died in service to their country. Who are you remembering today?

Each year the Philadelphia Winn Chapter takes a field trip to a popular local location. This year we took a trip to Gibbs Gardens, a 376-acre estate garden, with over 250 acres of artistically landscaped gardens. DAR loves to support conservation, and this was a great opportunity to see nature conservation in action. If you're in the area, check out these beautiful gardens.

It's National Volunteer Week! Members of the DAR are proud to be members of a service organization dedicated to promoting patriotism, preserving American history, and securing America's future through better education for children. We are grateful to our members and their hard work. What project are you working on this week?

The Philadelphia Winn Chapter had a great time at the Georgia State Society, NSDAR, State Conference this weekend. We are excited that our Junior member Caitlen was recognized at GA's first runner-up for State Outstanding Junior, celebrate multiple Leadership Course graduates, love to see our members who serve in leadership positions, appreciate our State Pages, and so much more. Here's to another great year in DAR!

March 21st is Rosie the Riveter Day, recognized by Congress as a day to honor the legacy of the women whose work supported the war effort and push for continued equity for women in nontraditional jobs. We are thankful to the women who took part in the war effort at home during World War II, working outside the home in jobs that were traditionally held by men, or through other volunteer efforts.

And did you know that there is a lineage society that recognizes Rosies and records their stories? Check out the American Rosie the Riveter Association for more information.

Today we were excited to award the Literacy Champion Award Certificate in recognition of the outstanding work supporting literacy in our community. The Open Your World Book Club is a program developed by Regina and Pat of the Gwinnett County Public Library and Dunamis Educational Foundation, respectively. The book club's objective is to provide equitable access to library services, as well as full community inclusion and lifelong learning opportunities for adults and older teens with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Virtual book club meetings are held multiple times a week by multiple branches of the Gwinnett County Public Library and have engaged hundreds of attendees. We are proud to recognize such wonderful literary programs in our community.

Members of the Philadelphia Winn Chapter, NSDAR, took part in a cemetery cleanup this morning. The project was spearheaded by our Conservation Chair who also volunteers with the Gwinnett Historical Society, and we were joined by HODARS / SAR members. This collaborative project ensured that headstones in the Whaley Cemetery were uncovered from a year's worth of leaves and w**d growth, and also included the planting of tulips and irises. We still have work to do, but this cemetery is in much better shape!