Dorcheat-Bistineau Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution met at the home of Kathy Johnson on Saturday, December 3rd for our annual Christmas luncheon. Hostesses for this meeting were Kathy Johnson, Mary Long, and Libbey Watkins. Kathy is our chapter’s American Indians Committee chair, and is helping to support Bacone College in Muskogee, Oklahoma. Our chapter members brought shampoo, socks, ink pens, and $200 worth of gift cards to donate to Bacone College, and they made additional donations to help pay the $75 shipping. Bacone College was founded in 1880 as the Indian University by Almon C. Bacone. It is an accredited four-year college and is the oldest continuously operated institution of higher education in Oklahoma. The college prepares students for work in tribal government, education, human services, health care, and law enforcement.
Local DAR chapters hosted the annual Overton Brooks VA Medical Center Christmas Party on December 7th. Our chapter was represented by chapter regent Cindy Madden and past chapter regent Kathy Johnson. Members of our chapter provided over 7 dozen sugarfree cookies to residents. Cindy is also our Project Patriot Committee Chair. She is leading our chapter in a Holiday Cards for Veterans project. Our chapter’s goal is to send 250 cards (Christmas, birthday, etc.) each year for the next 3 years.
Members of Galvez Chapter SAR, Fort Jesup Society C.A.R., Dorcheat-Bistineau Chapter DAR, as well as Claiborne and Pelican Chapters DAR, met at Camp Zion Cemetery in Haughton to place Christmas wreaths on the grave of Revolutionary War patriot John Abney. He was born in 1765 in Edgefield, SC. He joined the Upper 96th District Regiment of SC Militia in 1781 when he was 16 years old. He moved to Bossier Parish just before 1847, where he died a short time later. He provides one of Louisiana’s many links to the Revolutionary War.
Spencer Creech of Fort Jesup Society Children of the American Revolution spent 12 months shopping for, wrapping, and packing 12 children’s Christmas shoebox gifts. He presented the gifts to his grandmother’s church, First Baptist Gibsland. He also placed a Christmas wreath on the grave of his great-grandmother’s uncle Ira Whitley at Bear Creek Cemetery in Bienville Parish. PFC Ira Whitley served as a medic in WWII, and died in North Africa on March 28, 1943. Spencer is a C.A.R. state officer, and is the son of our chapter Vice Regent Donna Sutton.
Dorcheat-Bistineau DAR is a vibrant, growing service organization which meets in Minden. Any woman age 18 years or older who can prove lineal, bloodline descent from an ancestor who aided in achieving American independence from Great Britain during the Revolutionary War (1775-1783) is eligible to join DAR. For more information, contact Cindy Madden, Regent of Dorcheat-Bistineau Chapter at [email protected] Please like our Facebook page: Daughters of the American Revolution – Dorcheat-Bistineau Chapter.