October Meeting

 Commemorating Missouri's 200th Anniversary & Learning about the American Revolution

American Heritage, American History, & Patriotic Education Programs

Alexander McNair Society held their October business meeting on Saturday, October 30th at Missouri's First State Capitol in St. Charles, MO. During their program, members and seniors learned and discussed Missouri's 200th Anniversary and the 238th Anniversary of the end of  the American Revolution.

Life during the American Revolution

Before the meeting, members were encouraged to read the book I Survived the American Revolution, 1776 by Lauren Tarshis. Families were able to read the book together and discuss the topic at an age-appropriate level for their members.

At the meeting, members and seniors were able to discuss the American Revolution and what life would have been like for a child during that time period. They were able to add the dates of the American Revolution to their timeline. 

Missouri Statehood - 200th Anniversary

Next members and seniors learned about Missouri's path to statehood by taking a guided tour of Missouri's First State Capitol. Members were excited to find information about the society's namesake, Alexander McNair, the first governor of Missouri. They got to learn about the two people running for governor and then pick who they would have voted for.

 

Patriotic Education - Military Uniforms throughout the years

Members were able to see examples of military uniforms from the American Revolution and compare them to the military uniforms from the past with a timeline of military uniforms. They discussed reasons why uniforms would look the way they did during that time period.

Attendees: 6 members (4 peewees), 4 seniors.

September Meeting

Patriot's Day & Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

American Heritage, American History, & Patriotic Education Programs

Alexander McNair Society held their September business meeting on Sunday, September 12th. During their program, members and seniors learned and discussed the September 11th Attacks and the History of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Patriot's Day - 20th Anniversary of the September 11th Attacks

Before the meeting, members were encouraged to read the book I Survived the Attacks of September 11, 2001 by Lauren Tarshis. Families were able to read the book together and discuss the topic at an age-appropriate level for their members.

Families also had an opportunity to attend 9/11 Commemorative events the day before, including a memorial at Clayton City Hall, Flags of Valor at Art Hill, and an evening memorial at the Florissant VFW.

At the meeting, members and seniors were able to discuss the 9/11 attacks. Seniors explained where they were that day and some of the feelings they went through. Two of our seniors were C.A.R. members at the time. One explained how they had been on a family vacation in Boston and shared their experiences of plans having to change and how people looked at them as tourists that week. Another explained what it was like to be away at college and about a project she started to send cards to C.A.R. members in New York City. Members had questions about why terrorists would do this and talked about how people must have felt that day.

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier - 100th Anniversary

Next, members and seniors learned about the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and its upcoming 100th anniversary. A senior read the book Twenty-One Steps by Jeff Gottesfeld to the members. Afterwards, members and seniors discussed why we have the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and how it came to be.

Before the meeting, one family visited the site of a memorial for Michael Blaisse, the Unknown Soldier from the Vietnam War. His remains were identified in 1998 and he was brought home to Florissant, MO and is now buried at Jefferson Barracks in St. Louis.

Patriotic Education - Military Uniforms throughout the years

Members were able to see examples of military uniforms from the War on Terror and compare them to the military uniforms from the past with a timeline of military uniforms. They discussed reasons why uniforms would change over the years and what was special about these uniforms.

Finally, members were able to see the timeline that the society is making to show different events throughout American History. They were able to identify several events that we've discussed so far this year: the Lewis & Clark Expedition, Missouri Statehood, World War I, September 11th, and today with the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Finally, members participated in the C.A.R. song, had a snack, and closed the meeting.

Attendees: 6 members (4 peewees), 4 seniors.

May Meeting

National President's & Conservation Programs

Members and seniors gathered together for an outdoor meeting in May for the "2021 Life Outside" contest put on by the Great Rivers Greenway.

A member shared information about the National President's program, "Keeping Everyone on the Move" and the OSCAR MIKE Foundation. You can help support N.S.C.A.R. and OSCAR MIKE here.

Then they gathered up their things and got on the move! Members took a walk to the Greenway where they completed activities for the 2021 Life Outside challenge.

They completed different challenges like collecting trash for conservation, taking selfies, tossing balls, and making leaf rubbings. 

Attendees: 6 members (4 peewees), 6 seniors

January Meeting: American History

 Paul Revere's Ride

Alexander McNair members and seniors met virtually through Google Meet to learn more about Paul Revere and his famous ride. They watched several videos:

• Paul Revere's Ride - Rap
  
• Paul Revere's Ride - Muppet Version
  
• Paul Revere's Ride Bellringer
  

Members created their own lanterns while watching the videos:

The directions for the craft can be found here: Paul Revere's Lantern Craft

Attendees: 6 members (5 pee wees) and 5 seniors

October Meeting: Conservation Program

 World Bird Sanctuary Field Trip

Alexander McNair members visited the World Bird Sanctuary to learn about the conservation efforts that occur there. They enjoyed finding a bald eagle to match the N.S.C.A.R. mascot, Spirit.

While there, they did have a meeting. They also had a chance for crafts. Normally members would make ornaments for the M.S.S.C.A.R. Christmas Tree at the Missouri DAR's Roslyn Heights at our State Summer Workshop. This year the event was virtual, so societies received ornaments to make at a society event.

Attendees: 6 members (5 pee wees), 7 seniors

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.

April Meeting: Earth Day Festival

Awards were given to members who weren't
able to attend State Conference

Plenty of people attended this fun-loaded meeting at Forest Park. 5 Members, 5 seniors, 2 prospective members, 1 visiting C.A.R. member, 1 visiting DAR member, and 1 other adult guest attended.

We gave out awards to members who were absent from State Conference. We also welcomed a new prospective member and signed his papers. Then we went out into the Earth Day Festival and learned about our Conservation Program. We learned about the how to protect our earth and its environment. Another thing we learned about was weathering & erosion, and how littering can affect our waterways.

-Marcus, age 14

Members Modeling Weathering and Erosion

September Meeting: Missouri Botanical Garden

BEES!

Buzz 

6 Members, 1 Prospective, and 6 Seniors took a field trip to Missouri Botanical Garden and had lots of fun learning about plants from Missouri. We also signed 2 documents that helped Alexander McNair society grow by 2 new members!
Attendees learned about the conservation program along with many different plants from Missouri. They learned about a lot of things like bees, plants, and programs yet still had time to hug trees and have fun!

-Marcus, Age 13

Tree 

They also hugged some trees.

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!

Great Plains Regional Meeting

Several members and Seniors at Great Plains Regional Meeting

Members learned about the 2017-18 National Project, Browsing History, at the Great Plains Regional Meeting in St. Louis, MO. The regional meeting rotates between the 8 states in the region, and this year it was in our hometown! Alexander McNair members and seniors helped with various chairmanships. They were also able to participate as pages and flag bearers.

Pee Wee members recite the C.A.R
 motto: "For God and my country."

Regional meetings are run by the Region's Vice President. He or she selects members from the region to help lead the ritual during the meeting. Several of our members were able to help with the rituals.

Pee Wee member during a breakout session.

The National President has an opportunity to share information about his or her national program through skits and breakout sessions. Members are encouraged to meet new friends from other states during the breakout sessions.

Member receiving a pin from the National President

The regional meeting ends with a banquet on the second night. State Presidents share a report regarding their state projects. It is exciting to hear what the different states are doing. Also, members can receive pins at any N.S.C.A.R. meeting (regional or national convention). Several of our members and seniors received pins this year.

The Grand March

After the banquet is over, there is a Grand March! The children march in and have a dance for the rest of the evening.

There were 6 members, 1 prospective, and 7 seniors in attendance at the meeting.

April Field Trip: Earth Day Festival

Members braved the cooler, windy weather to meet at Forest Park for the Earth Day Festival. There were 6 members and 2 prospective members in attendance. There were also 5 seniors and 1 adult guest. Members were encouraged to check out our new website (which has been approved by national and is now linked from the national page!) to see all the awards that we received at State Conference. Prospective members were introduced and there was a brief description of how to complete the application process. Future meetings were discussed: there are two commemorative events coming up in May, and a field trip for June. Members were encouraged to check out the Youth area at the Earth Day festival. Other members had fun climbing the rock wall!

Veteran's Day Program

Members attended the Veteran's Day Program at Jefferson Barracks.

Older members helped to pass out programs to attendees. They participated in a wreath-laying and helped pass out special gifts to Veterans in attendance. They also helped with refreshments after the program.

After the services, the Senior Society President explained to younger members about service dogs. They learned about different types of service animals and how to act around them. They also discussed how service animals help veterans. Members were able to color pictures that had more information for them to talk about at home with their families.

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.

September Meeting

Members role-playing town criers while singing the C.A.R. song.

Our Society President shared information he learned through a Google Slides presentation. Members learned about how the news of the Victory at Yorktown disseminated throughout the colonies. He explained how Town Criers shared the news throughout towns. People also learned about the victory from newspapers and broadsides. Members learned the difference between those items, and also learned about the mastheads that were found at the top of them. Members created their own mastheads to be used with the society's newsletter.

Members were able to try on period hats and take turns ringing the bell and shouting, "Here ye, here ye!" The meeting concluded with the members marching to the C.A.R. song with the town crier's bells.