We are excited to highlight the sparkling work our members do for historic preservation. The General William Lenoir Chapter received a DAR Historic Preservation Grant to support the restoration of the Lenoir Family Cemetery in Lenoir, TN! This cemetery, located on land granted to General William Lenoir for his Revolutionary War service, holds the graves of many of his descendants, including his son William Ballard Lenoir, who settled what is now Lenoir City. With this historic preservation grant, members were able to professionally restore two towering obelisk markers, repair broken stones, and uncover 14 unmarked graves and 15 buried footstones. The footstones were excavated and reset for visibility and common bricks were placed to mark the unmarked graves, using them horizontally as headstones and vertically as footstones. The chapter also cleaned and sealed the cemetery wall, developed a map of the cemetery, and created a “Never Forget” Garden with a marker, dwarf rosebushes, and a bench. Future plans include searching for records that can identify those buried in the unmarked graves. Members continued to engage with the local community and launched the first General William Lenoir Day in October 2024 to showcase all the restoration efforts. In December 2024, members of the chapter dedicated a commemorative plaque and installed a stainless steel QR code that links to a webpage describing the project. In just 9 months, chapter members dedicated 295 hours to this initiative, ensuring that the legacy of the Lenoir family is preserved for generations to come. (fb)

Happy National Read Across America Day! Encourage the young ones in your life to read a book with you today! In 2024, DAR members volunteered more than 750,000 hours for literacy promotion and related activities. One of the core pillars of DAR’s mission is education, and our members are committed to supporting literacy and education in our communities. Learn more here: www.dar.org/education. (fb)