The Yadkin River Patriots Chapter of the National Daughters of the American Revolution had a busy fall period.

The chapter kicked off its first meeting of the new season in September with the “Ringing of the Bells Across America” to celebrate Constitution Week.

Members gathered in person and via Zoom to continue the many efforts they make throughout the year to support school patriotism, take care of all efforts such as the placing of flags and the cleaning of tombstones to honor ancestors and patriots who served in the Revolutionary War and to provide assistance for new, potential members who need help with genealogical research.

During Constitution Week, proclamations were offered by Albemarle Mayor Ronnie Michael and Rep. Wayne Sasser.

Hillsdale College made a donation of 1,000 copies of the U.S. Constitution. The chapter delivered 876 booklets to the ninth graders of Stanly County.

That first meeting culminated with cake and a procession of the members, some in colonial costume, walking to the Square and ringing the bells in celebration of U.S. freedom.

October brought the DAR members together on National Service Day, this time to clean a stone that was placed by the chapter in 1931.

DAR members who helped clean this stone placed by the chapter in 1931, from left, were: Joan Eudy, Becky Sawyer, Janice Abernathy, Hilda Snuggs, Wanda Gantt and Patricia Edwards.

The stone, newly cleaned and cleared of debris, marked the place where the Old Salisbury Road connected western North Carolina with the seaports of Wilmington and Charleston, allowing for the railroads and stagecoach routes to open this section of the state.

To learn more about the DAR/Yadkin River Patriots, go to NSDAR.org.

— Contributed by Elizabeth Printy, member of the Yadkin River Patriots/NSDAR