Michael Hillegas DAR October meeting notes

SALINE COUNTY - The October meeting of the Michael Hillegas Chapter NSDAR was held in the sanctuary of the Harrisburg First United Methodist Church.

Social distancing and mask were the order of the day. The meeting opened with the Ritual, Pledge, Preamble and American's Creed. New member Rhonda Oglesby was introduced to those present and welcomed to the Chapter in a ceremony led by Regent Kathy Morris, Vice-Regent Sharon Tanner and Chaplin Cheri McClusky.

Charlotte Mathis, dressed and speaking as a suffragette, gave a brief history of the movement from the inception on July 19, 1848 until the ratification of the 19th amendment on Aug. 26, 1920. It was a long and sometimes dangerous fight. Suffragette Mathis stated "We have won the right to vote, use it!"

Veteran Chairman Shelia Albright will be collecting money and canned goods for the VA food pantry in Marion until the end of November.

Sarah Drone stated that she has been taking debris from a portion of the bike trail near her house. It seems to be a never-ending task. The Chapter appreciated her efforts on behalf of the DAR Day of Service.

The library will disinfect any books donated for the literacy program. New and gently read books will be collected in November. Items to be sent to the military are now being gathered for Project Patriot.

Those attending were Debbie Fromm, Charlotte Mathis, Sharon Pyle, Rhonda Oglesby, Delores Vick, Sharon Tanner, Kathy Morris, Shelia Albright, Cheri McClusky, Sarah Drone, Karen Vinyard, Joy Richey, Sally Wofford and Elizabeth Woodworth.

<h3 class="breakHead">Michael Hillegas DAR encourages women to vote</h3>

To counter attacks as being ugly, old, bitter, childless women, suffragists often brought their children to marches and wore white dresses symbolizing purity and femininity. In 1867, Kansas was considering the passage of a state suffrage referendum. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony adopted the Kansas state flower, the sunflower, as a symbol of the suffrage cause so gold and sunflowers and eventually yellow roses continued as colors and emblems. The Suffragist, Vol. 1 No. 4, published on December 6, 1913, indicated that "Purple is the color of loyalty, constancy to purpose, unswerving steadfastness to a cause. White, the emblem of purity, symbolizes the quality of our purpose; and gold, the color of light and life, is as the torch that guides our purpose, pure and unswerving."

The Michael Hillegas Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, ask that all women go to the polls and VOTE!