DAR funds Honor Flight, Awards Founders Medal

Toni Bolling Lutter

At its November 2019, general meeting, Regent Marjorie Nelson of Gila Butte Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) presented Lisa Rossety of Honor Flight Arizona with a $1,000 check in memory of Craig Clark, husband of Daughter Bonnie Clark of Sun Lakes. Craig Clark was a U.S. Veteran who served in the U.S. Navy, flying A-4 jets from the USS Kitty Hawk. He departed this earth in February.

On hand for the presentation was State Regent Marilou Fellman, whose State Project May 2019-2020 is to fund Honor Flight Arizona and Honor Flight Southern Arizona. The mission of Honor Flight is to pay homage to our WWII, Korean War, and Vietnam War Veterans by providing the support needed for them to complete a three-day journey of honor and remembrance to their memorials in Washington, D.C., at no cost to them.

Also at the November meeting, Suellen Eyre was awarded DAR’s Mary Smith Lockwood Founder’s Medal for Education. Eyre is a volunteer at Matthew’s Crossing Food Bank, where she feeds her clients’ minds as well as their bodies by distributing books to all ages. To date, she has distributed nearly 35,000 books and has made the welcome at Matthew’s Crossing even warmer.

The Founders Medal is one of four medals which honor the four founders of DAR in 1890. Mary Smith Lockwood was a noted author and DAR’s first historian. She was president of the Women’s Press Club and served as Lady Manager At Large for the Columbian Exposition. Her Founders Medal honors an individual who has shown outstanding achievement through service and leadership in promoting education outside the formal educational process.

Women over 18 who can prove direct bloodline descent from a patriot of the American Revolution are urged to consider community and national service by joining DAR. Historic Preservation, Education, and Patriotism are DAR’s only objectives. Gila Butte Chapter meets in Sun Lakes and welcomes membership inquiry. Please call 706-255-4847 or go to the website, gilabutte.arizonadar.org, for membership information.