Today's DAR
122nd Continental Congress
The 122nd Continental Congress was a tremendous success with the largest attendance in recent years with registration in excess of 3,800. Opening night featured Leigh Keno of Antiques Roadshow who discussed the value of some of the objects in our DAR Museum. The entire audience chuckled when Merry Ann Wright mentioned being outbid by Leigh at an auction in New York when Leigh was only six years old! Rich Little received the Americanism Award and delighted the large audience with some of his impersonations. The evening closed with the announcement of the National Outstanding Junior and Runner Up.
Outstanding speakers and award recipients included Connie Stevens, Ambassador John Limbert who was held hostage in Iran for 444 days along with 51 other Americans, Fletcher Gill who is the Founder and CEO of Luke’s Wings, Don Henley of The Eagles, and the surprise announcement of National Defense Chair LTC Jennifer Minus, US Army (ret.) as the Margaret Cochran Corbin Award recipient. It is always uplifting to hear of the dedicated volunteers who serve our veterans, our outstanding student honorees and to hear from the representatives of the DAR schools.
It was delightful to visit the sales tables at the Units Overseas luncheon and to hear about the activities of our members in other countries. The 75th anniversary of the Helen Pouch Memorial Fund was celebrated at the Junior Luncheon and generous contributions to the DAR Schools were announced at the DAR Schools Supper. Committee educational forums were held as well as many social events.
The Texas Society held a Prayer Breakfast in which over 200 members and guests prayed for the Young Administration, which blessed me deeply.
Our departed members were fondly recalled at the Memorial Service and Merry Ann Wright gave a touching tribute to Honorary President General Sarah King.
Congress concluded with the installation of the 2013-2016 Executive Officers, seven Vice Presidents General, one Honorary Vice President General and 31 State Regents.
Congratulations to Honorary President General Merry Ann Wright for her outstanding leadership for the past three years as well as for one of the best Continental Congresses ever!
We're excited to start the preparations for the 123rd Continental Congress. One change to note for next year's Congress, we will be moving to a new conference hotel: the Grand Hyatt Washington.
Your leadership in the National Board of Management and the professional staff at National Headquarters are very conscientious of the travel costs members incur so they may attend Continental Congress in our Nation's Capital. In efforts to keep those costs as manageable as possible, a competitive bidding process was conducted a few years ago among nearby hotels that could accommodate the needs of the DAR for Continental Congress. The Grand Hyatt was chosen by the National Board of Management, in part because it could provide 150 more rooms per peak night than our previous hotel and the nightly rate offered was close to $100 cheaper than the other bids.
While no single hotel in DC can accommodate rooms for ALL of our more than 3,500 members attending Congress, we are excited to secure such a large block of rooms at the Grand Hyatt. On peak nights, such as Wednesday, Thursday or Friday, more than 2,500 members sharing rooms will be able to stay in the hotel.
By now all of the 122nd Continental Congress attendees for whom we have email addresses should have received the Congress Survey. Please complete it as we are eager to hear how we can make the Congress experience even better!
Be sure to visit the Members’ website to see photos and view other resources from the 122nd Continental Congress.