Colonel Abram Penn Chapter, NSDAR met at Landmark Center on February 13 with 10 members and one prospective member attending. A spaghetti luncheon was served by Landmark Catering.
The DAR program was presented immediately afterwards by massage therapist Evonne Hill. She had lived in Tucson, Ariz., for some time and became very knowledgeable about the Hopis. She attended Powwows, became interested in and purchased some Kachina dolls. The most important one was the corn Kachina as corn was developed by Native Americans and is a big part of their culture.
The group was informed that there are as many as 300 Kochinas which was quite surprising. Kachinas are figures carved from cottonwood root and represent immortal figures that bring rain, and have control over phases of society. Some of them are mean and some are mild and kind spirited, one is called “mud head.“
One of the items that Hill brought was a quilt made by her late Aunt May Hubbard Lupton who lived in Tucson for 60 years. This was a Kochina quilt complete with feathers, buttons, and natural glitter. The basic colors are golds and browns.
The DAR meeting continued with the Pledge of Allegiance, the Americans’ Creed and the NSDAR president general’s message. The meeting continued with committee reports as follows:
- Health: Flo Bell: Great picks at the grocery store for your health are spinach, butternut squash and peanut butter.
- Conservation: Louise Hansen :Preserve your environment for fireflies by not using pesticides, by keeping premises dark at night and keep some leaves in the area for larvae.
- National defender: Wanda Shough: Service dogs are amazing help for veterans and other persons with PTSD.
- U.S. flag: Catheryn Vaughn: Reminder about soldiers raising the flag at Iwo Jima. For her minute about Native Americans, she showed brightly colored pictures of their feather headdress, plaques and basketry..
Members were reminded by Regent Louise Hansen that they are to continue to keep online records of their volunteer community service. Regent Hansen also reported on the continuing work on the Constitution Room at James Madison Estate and that contributions are welcome through the chapter. She sincerely thanked contributing members and gave each one a report of the ongoing work at Montpelier.
The meeting adjourned.
