November Meeting: Women's Suffragette March Re-enactment

Women's Suffragette March and Library Visit

Attendees: 7 members (5 pee wees) and 8 seniors

Members and Seniors learned about the Women's Suffragette March through a Facebook post before the meeting. Seniors discussed the ideal starting place for our march on Facebook. To learn more about the original march, check out this website: https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/events-will-remember-suffragists-who-lined-locust-street-in-demonstration/article_5e885b80-78ad-5d56-b355-555740af9c87.html?fbclid=IwAR3-mw-KwU7oh2vI5fInppajnQeJC1lr79PpPpv9yLz3Z6WGXijOvyoPm_k

It was determined that we would start our march at 19th Street and Locust, about the middle of the original demonstration. This was roughly where the old Art Museum was and the central point of the demonstration. Speeches were given at this location. Women stood, silent, for about a mile's length of the street. The men were walking from their hotel to the conference hall, between the walls of women.

Our members gathered in their formal wear. The ladies wore their white dresses, white gloves, and yellow sashes. They brought a yellow parasol (umbrella), like the ladies from the original suffragette demonstration. The gentlemen wore their suits and hats. As we began our march, Seniors explained the demonstration to the children. They began to understand just how big of a demonstration it was, the longer we walked. At one point, we stopped for the girls to stand along the side of the road and the boys to walk down the street in front of them.

As we approached the public library, we saw that there were two entrances. The back entrance was closer, or we could walk around to the front entrance. We stopped and took a vote. The girls voted for the closer entrance (there were 4 girls) but the boys voted for the front entrance (there were 2 boys). To show members what it was like before women were allowed to vote, we followed what the boys voted for. We went to the front entrance, even though it was further away and more people voted for the closer entrance. Once we got inside, we found out that the children's library was closer to the other entrance, so maybe we should have gone in that door!

We had a short meeting outside and then we went to find the Children's Library. There, members were challenged to find books about leadership. They learned how to use the computers to search for books. They also found books about women's suffrage, the right to vote, and the revolutionary war. The members were able to explain to other patrons and the library employees about their march for women's suffrage.

Contest Connections:

Organizing Secretary - Consider the passage of the 19th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution during the 100th anniversary and reflect on the significance of the amendment for women’s suffrage.

State Assistant Organizing Secretary - Learn about the efforts of Missourians to achieve woman's suffrage in the U.S.

Registrar - Increase member involvement in society activities by planning fun and interactive events that will engage members at the society level.

Librarian - Explore library resources and services.

Leadership Development - Promote the development of leadership skills in C.A.R.

September Meeting: "Live Like a Pioneer!" at Sappington House

"Live Like a Pioneer!" at Sappington House

Attendees: 7 members (5 peewees) and 7 seniors

Members were able to learn how the pioneers lived in early Missouri history, including shooting a musket, using a shaving horse, and seeing a historic home.

They also discussed conservation and how historians care for the historic landmarks in our area.

Members were able to visit the Sappington House Museum to see how pioneers lived in Missouri. They saw both original pieces and reproductions throughout the house.

Members learned about different rebellions and why the soldiers joined the American Revolution. An older member researched the Boston Tea Party, Whiskey Rebellion, and Shay's Rebellion to compare and contrast them with the members. All members were able to reenact some of the scenes as they learned about them.

Members were given small versions of George Washington's Rules of Civility, donated by Reverend John Clark DAR.

 Contest Connections:

Registrar - Increase member involvement in society activities by planning fun and interactive events that will engage members at the society level.

Assistant Registrar - Understand the importance of why the soldiers joined the fight during the American Revolution.

Curator - Develop an understanding of historical reproduction and preservation techniques that are used in modern historical conservation projects.

Conservation - Discover conservation efforts and their impact at historic landmarks, battlefields, forests, and trails.

Government Studies - Learn how the Founding Fathers established the framework for the government of the United States of America and why it is used today. Learn about The Boston Tea Party, Whiskey Rebellion, and Shay's Rebellion.

Corresponding Secretary - Discover the Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior and the impact it had on George Washington's development as a leader. Examine the rules and its relevance to today's society.

Spirit of St. Louis Air Show

Spirit of St. Louis Air Show

Attendees: 7 members (5 peewees), 8 seniors, 1 senior guest

Members and prospectives were invited to come to the Spirit of St. Louis Air Show. They were able to learn about different kinds of airplanes. They commemorated the 80th anniversary of the start of World War II by learning about airplanes used during the war.

Contest Connections:
2nd Vice President - Learning about airplanes.
American History - Learning about World War II airplanes.
Registrar - Increasing member involvement in society events by planning fun and interactive activities.
Membership - One prospective parent was invited and in attendance.

Apollo 11 50th Anniversary Party

Apollo 11 50th Anniversary Party at the Science Center

Attendees: 7 members (5 peewees), 7 seniors

Members had fun exploring the St. Louis Science Center to learn about space flight and the 50th anniversary of the the Apollo 11 mission. They were even able to go outside and shoot rockets !

Contest Connections:

2nd Vice President: To learn about different forms of transportation and focus on significant transportation anniversaries.

Registrar: To increase member involvement in society activities through planning fun and interactive events.

Membership: Inviting prospective members to fun and engaging meetings/field trips.

July Meeting: Packet Planning Meeting

Packet Planning Meeting

Attendees: 5 members (4 peewees) and 7 seniors

Members came together to plan their calendar for the year. Before the meeting, families reviewed the Foundations of Freedom National Program. Members wrote lists of what they wanted to do this year with C.A.R. Members and seniors worked together to create a calendar of events for the year.

Members watched several videos about Women's Suffrage and Transportation Anniversaries. Then they had fun splashing and playing in the pool in the back yard!

Contest Connections:

2nd Vice President - Members watched videos about transportation anniversaries. They wanted to go to the St. Louis Science Center to the Apollo 11 anniversary party so we added that to the calendar.

Organizing Secretary - Watching videos about the Women's Suffrage movement and then discussing. The children wanted to have a march to the St. Louis Public Library to honor the Women's Suffrage movement and the march that they had 100 years ago so we added that to our calendar.

Registrar - Several members (aged 6) wrote lists of what they wanted to do for the year. They wanted to do things like having a tea party (in honor of George Washington's mother), visiting the St. Louis Public Library, and making George Washington's desk out of clay.

June Meeting: Installation of New Officers

June Meeting - Installation of New Officers

Attendees: 6 members (4 peewees), 7 seniors, 1 senior guest

Members worked together to create nominations for society officers. They voted on the new officer slate. We had an Honorary Senior National Officer in attendance. He swore the new officers in. After the business meeting, a peewee member shared colonial games that he learned while he was on vacation in Colonial Williamsburg.

Contest Connections:

 Registrar - To plan fun and engaging meetings (colonial games) that will engage members at the society level. Engaging members in officer positions and nominating new members to their first offices.

Earth Day Festival

Earth Day Festival

Attendance: 7 members (5 peewees), 2 youth guests, 7 seniors, and 1 senior guest

Contests: Conservation, Membership, Registrar

Members came together for our annual Earth Day festival celebration at Forest Park. We welcomed a new prospective family at our meeting and discussed their genealogy. During the meeting we announced that the society received a 2nd Place and an Honorable Mention on national contests. After the meeting, members and their families were able to explore the Earth Day festival and learn ways to recycle and care for their earth here in St. Louis.

Conservation Contest: Members learned about ways to recycle and care for their earth through the booths at the Earth Day Festival.

Membership: Increase membership in your local society by encouraging active participation in society activities. A Punchbowl invitation was shared on Facebook.

Registrar: Plan fun and interactive events that will engage members at the society level.

July Meeting: Packet Planning Meeting

Members made family trees for the Registrar's Program.

6 members, 1 prospective, and 8 seniors were in attendance at our Annual Packet Planning Meeting. Members and seniors reviewed the Browsing History National Program to come up with activities they would like to do during the year. They coordinated calendars to come up with the best meeting times and then scheduled the activities. Everyone was excited for the activities that we planned!

While there, members were able to complete two programs! They created family trees for the Registrar's Program. In this simplified tree, they could see how they linked to their revolutionary ancestor.

Completed family tree

They also learned about the Public Relations Program. For this program, members were to learn about how technology has changed throughout the years. They were able to look at their parent's cell phones and then they saw a rotary phone. They had to figure out how to make a phone call using a rotary phone!

Finally, the kids were able to go swimming at one of the local pools while a few of the seniors finished finalizing the calendar.

No meeting is complete without the C.A.R. song!

October Meeting

Members and Seniors decorated pumpkins and had an election for the best pumpkin.

 Members learned about the election process in a fun, new way this year! Members and seniors decorated their own mini-pumpkins. Meanwhile, they learned about how the election process works and how it has changed over the years. Finally, members participated in primaries where they voted on their favorite pumpkins. You can see the winner of the final elections in the picture!

After the pumpkin decorating, members were able to watch videos about the election process and the electoral college.