Photos from the December 11, 2019 Brunswick Town DAR Meeting

Vice-Regent Martha Koletar introduced the speaker, Jane Johnson, who presented a program on Moravian Christmas Customs in North Carolina. She gave a short history of the church and its continuing mission programs. Jand used dolls to demonstrate typical clothing from the colonial era. She talked about the Moravians dedication to the education of both boys and girls, as well as shows  AMll Advent star which was a math project in a Moravian Boys School in Germany in 1830. She brought Moravian ginger cookies to share and explained how they were made. Carol Jutte brought Moravian sugar cake for each person to taste. A more modern tradition is the Candle Tea in Salem where a Pultz is on display. these displays were a favorite activity that the Moravians of the 1800s enjoy building and sharing. Jane displayed the molded candles, and a Lovefeast bun as the Christmas Candlelight Love Feast was presented. She ended with a short history of the importance of music in the life of the Moravians. 

Jane, Mary Mears and Cindy Sellers closed the program with the singing of a traditional Moravian Christmas hymn, "Morning Star."

National Defense Chair Kathy Johnson spoke about "Who was the First Woman who was to Vote?"Native American women were given the right but often had their votes discounted. Mary Brent of MD who owned property voted as Power of Attorney for Lord Calvert, but the Governor denied her request. Over and over women exercised the voting privilege only to have it overturned. Even Susan B. Anthony was tried in court for illegally voting. The bottom line is that we don't know who the first woman was to vote before the 19th Amendment was passed.

American Indian Minute Chair Cheri Lambert spoke of the Powhatan Indian attack of March 22, 1622, which is referred to as the "Massacre of 1622". English settlement expansion threatened the Indian way of life but they believed the Penchancanough and the Powhatan shared the idea of an integrated society. They did not. The Openchancanough's staged a massive attack on the English settlement killing 347 British settlers. The attack resulted in an excuse for the English to seize more territory from the indigenous population of the Chesapeake.

Conservation Minute: Chair Mary Sands spoke about the structure of sand dunes and how sand is constantly moving back and forth like a river. Walking, running, and playing can irreversibly damage a beach dune. Natural dunes are superior to bulldozed artificial dunes that break down because they ack the ideal sediment layers. Because sand dunes protect inland areas from swells, healthy beach dune is a powerful antidote against coastal erosion.

Constitution Minute: Chair Diana Fotinatos (absent) had Annetta Clark give the Constitution Minute: This President of the United States was known to be aloof and took the oath of office with his hand on a law book instead of the bible. He was the dubious distinction of being the first President who neither won the popular vote nor the vote in the Electoral College. He prevailed when the House of Representatives settles the election. He went to his inaugural ball stag when his wife fell ill. Even though he was known as "Old Man Eloquent" for delivering powerful speeches, he delivered an awful inaugural speech because of the way he wrangled the win He was also the first President to wear long pants instead of knicker this inauguration. What was the name of this President? John Quincy Adams, answered by Brooke Tripplett.

Next month, Librarian Dian Price will have a free choice of books to check out on out blog. Contact Diane if you want someone to bring a book. Diane will contact them to have the books at the January meeting. Ruth Rice has several books from New Hampshire and Main.

Historian, Dana Majernik prepared a display board of photos from the Tea With Martha on December 7th in Wilmington, NC sponsored by the Wilmington Ladies Tea Walk Chapter. There is another post on our blog with lots of photos from the event. Be sure and check them out. Thank you Dana for taking such great photos and sending them to me to post on out blog.

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Teresa McLamb, public relations chair is holding up a certificate that was presented to Sam Hickman for his excellent publicity for our DAR chapter. The article will be in the January 2, 2020 issue of the Brunswick Beacon.