PATRIOTISM

DAR SERVICE FOR VETERANS

The James Stewart Chapter NSDAR is dedicated to supporting patriotism in our community and nation. Locally, we have adopted the veterans residing at PruittHealth Nursing Home of Franklin. We send them birthday cards, Christmas cards, honor them on Veterans Day, and do special things for them. Click  here to learn more about our adopted veterans. To learn more about the NSDAR’s patriotic endeavors,  click here.

PROJECT PATRIOT

Members of the chapter are proud to support our overseas service men and women. We collect coupons at our meetings and send them to support our troups. Servicemen and women and their families can used these coupons even if they are expired.

COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD

Our chapter is pleased to present Community Service Awards to local citizens who have done so much for their communities and Heard County.  Past recipients include:

Mrs. Irma Shelnutt, of Centralhatchee who was a teacher and principal with innovation, creativity, and keen knowledge of best practices that ignited her students and staff. She is one of the strong matriarchs of the community and readily offers guidance and advice to anyone who seeks her counsel was selected as Centralhatchee’s Citizen of the Year in 2008.

Mr. Thomas Lipford of Franklin who had a successful local business, served as a member of the Heard County Board of Education, served as Chairman of the Board of Education, served as Deacon for the First Baptist Church of Franklin for 58 years, served as Sunday school director for 29 years, and served as a Trustee for Rockridge Baptist Assembly. Mr. Lipford has a great love of the county, the welfare and education of its children, religious and moral fabric of its citizens, and has the love and respect of all.

Mrs. Esther Stutts of Franklin who was there to serve the people of Heard County no matter when the call came or what the situation was. She was a very loving and unselfish person who took care of children or adults with no thoughts to doing anything other than what was best for them.

Mr. Willie Bradfield of Glenn who has been an advocate for the children and those in need in his community all his life.Through his dedication to helping people in the community,  helping feed those less fortunate,  helping children in need, and supporting his fellow man, he has touched the lives of so many people in this area and continues to endeavor to help any in need.

Mr. Talmadge Davis of Franklin who served the community for decades in many different positions, among them  serving 20 years as Clerk of Superior Court,serving  16 years as president of the Bank of Heard County,serving as the  Chairman of the Water Authority, and serving in many leadership positions in the First United Methodist Church.

Mr. Lonnie Rogers of Franklin who served the community in many positions for over 70 years. He served his community as mayor (the first one) for 26 years, was a member of the Lions Club for more than 60 years, served on the Board of the Northwest Georgia Hospital Services, and served more than 24 years as a member of the Heard County School Board.

CONSERVATION

Members of our chapter practice conservation in their daily lives – using energy saving lights, composting, walking where appropriate rather then driving, reusing paper towels, using cloth dish towels instead of paper, planting trees and collecting rain water. One member built a butterfly habitat to save the monarch butterflies.  After her project was shared with the chapter in 2016, we decided to all try to make a difference in saving these butterflies and started a “Be a Butterfly Hero” campaign. We had a program on the Monarch Butterflies and passed out milkweed seeds and information packets and everyone went home and planted their seeds. Members wrote articles about the plight of the monarch and made posters. We added a “Be a Butterfly Hero” web page for the public. Our current conservation project is designing a butterfly garden for the Solar Power Plant on Joe Stephens Road in Heard County.  We are working with the Ag students from the high school and Coweta EMC.

In 2017, we were pleased to present the NSDAR Conservation Award to Bettina Vernon for her for her outstanding accomplishments in conservation.  Her non-profit, This Old Farmhouse GA, focuses on both conservation and Historic preservation. During the last four years, Ms. Vernon has worked with a certified arborist to identify the native and non-native trees and plants on the property. One of her main goals is to restore the land to its native state. She has made great strides in the removal of much of the Chinese privet that had taken over the land.In addition to eradicating these non-native invasive plants, the arborist helped her identify 20+ trees.The mission at This Old Farmhouse Georgia is to teach youth about self-sufficient living and the fascinating history of rural farming practices during the 1920s. Our chapter Conservation Chair, chapter Regent and the Georgia State Conservation Chair have visited the farmhouse several times to see the continued progress that is being made.

The James Stewart Chapter, NSDAR, presented Theresa Frazier Davis with the NSDAR Conservation Medal in 2018. Ms Davis has worked as a volunteer with the Carroll County UGA Extension program since 2011. She has hundreds of volunteer hours coordinating workshops for the public, assisting in planning new master gardener training and works with various planning committees for the Carroll County Master Gardener Association. She has been a key volunteer in the Junior Master Gardener program and in the annual Camp Dirty Knees. Her teaching methods are a mixture of hand-on planting projects, presentations by local experts, games, snacks, and art and craft projects. She has also been a key volunteer in planning the annual Camp Dirty Knees, which is a three-day summer camp for 9 to 12 year-olds. Ms. Davis is a recipient of the Master Gardener Silver Star. The Silver Star is awarded to Master Gardeners who have attended five advance trainings. She attended a total of nine advanced trainings, showing her support of these programs while increasing her knowledge to share with others. The NSDAR Conservation Award was presented to Ms. Davis by the Chairman of Conservation Committee for the James Stewart Chapter, NSDAR.

THE FLAG OF THE UNITED STATES

Members of our chapter participate in flag retirement ceremonies and pass out flag pins, flags, copies of the Flag Code, and Proper Use of the Flag pamphlets at meetings and events. Members “plant” flags on veteran’s graves and many keep flags in their cars to plant at other appropriate locations as they travel. We also provide new flags to the local nursing home when needed.

LET FREEDOM RING IN JULY

Members of our chapter participate in the Let Freedom Ring project.  Every July 4th at 2:00 p.m., we join people from all across America to ring bells of freedom.  You can hear members ringing their bells 13 times, one ring for each of the original 13 colonies. We invite everyone to join us and ring those bells for freedom!

CONSTITUTION WEEK

The James Stewart Chapter NSDAR is dedicated to promoting the United States Constitution.  During August and September, we place articles in our local newspaper about the Constitution and Constitution Week. Our  goal is to have something in our local paper every week. Members put fliers up on local bulletin boards.  We publicize the Bells Across America project and encourage local organizations, schools, churches, and residents to ring their bells.

Members distribute pocket Constitutions. We distribute flag pins. Members offer their services to local groups to speak about the Constitution and how the DAR supports patriotism and education.

Both the Mayor of Franklin and the County Commission Chairman issue proclamations proclaiming Constitution Week in Franklin and Heard County.

VETERANS DAY

Each November, our chapter does something special for Veterans Day.  Most years we hold a Veterans Day Ceremony at the Veteran’s Plaza in downtown Franklin and invite the public to join us as we pay tribute to our veterans.

In 2016, we honored veterans and their spouses at a luncheon. We were pleased to have over 60 veterans in attendance.  In 2017, we chose to have a Patriotic Country Concert and with 126 attendees, we honored over 53 veterans.  In 2018, we had a program with a guest speaker and were pleased to honor 55 local veterans.  We honored local veterans from World War I, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Cold War, the Global War on Terror (Gulf, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Kosovo) and those who served in times of peace. We also presented Vietnam Veterans the special 50th Anniversary of the Vietnam War Commemoration pin with an additional “Thank You for Your Service.”

Every year members put together gift bags for the veterans in the local nursing home and deliver them on Veterans Day to show our appreciation for their service. These men look forward to visiting with the ladies and light up when they see their gifts.

NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER

Chapter members participate in the National Day of Prayer every year. We encourage everyone to say a prayer for our country and its leadership.

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EDUCATION

DAR GOOD CITIZEN

Our chapter is pleased to work with Heard County High School to present a DAR Good Citizen Award to an outstanding senior.  This student is selected by the members of the senior class as the student who demonstrates the qualities of good character: dependability, service, leadership, and patriotism.  We honor each year’s winner as part of our Georgia Day program or at the High School Awards Night in May.

DAR YOUTH CITIZENSHIP

Our chapter has begun awarding the top 8th grade student at Heard County Middle School, and the top fifth grade students at Heard County Elementary, Centralhatchee Elementary, and Ephesus Elementary the DAR Youth Citizenship Medal. These students are selected by the staff at each school as being the students who best exemplify the qualities of honor, service, courage, leadership, and patriotism. The certificate and medal are presented at the schools’ Honors Program at the end of the school year.

DAR SCHOOLS

Every year we contribute money or deliver school supplies to the Hindman School and to Kate Duncan School.  We also collect items and send them to the Crossnore “Bird Cage.”   To learn more about the DAR schools, click here.

SCHOLARSHIPS

The NSDAR awards multiple scholarships to students showing dedication to the pursuit of degrees in diverse disciplines including history, law, nursing, and education. Our chapter provides information on the scholarships to the local high school counselors.  For more information, click here.

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HISTORICAL PRESERVATION

MARKERS

The James Stewart Chapter NSDAR is dedicated to preserving the historical sites in Heard County and supporting the National Society’s historical preservation endeavors.  We have dedicated a marker for James Stewart at the foot of his son’s grave in the Mt. Zion Methodist Church Cemetery in Heard County.  We have placed a marker honoring our Revolutionary War soldiers in the Veterans Memorial Park on the Square in downtown Franklin, Georgia. To learn more about DAR Historical Preservation projects, click here.

GENEALOGICAL PRESERVATION

Several members of our chapter have participated in the DAR  online indexing, book sync, supporting documentation, patriot records and Bible records projects. They have helped digitize all the applications and documents at the national headquarters in Washington, helping to complete a digital, searchable index containing all the names in all the books at the DAR library, helping to identify all the Bible records in the supporting documents and index them, and index the patriot records library.  This is allowing the DAR records to be more easily utilized by new researchers. Check out the Genealogy section of the DAR website to learn about the Genealogical Research System.