Silver Creek Chapter DAR helps set Guinness world record for patriotism
Members and friends of the Silver Creek Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution helped set a Guinness world record for collecting the most letters in one month for military service members.
Lola DeGroff from the Silver Creek Chapter hand carried several hundred letters to the DAR Continental Congress in Washington, D.C., collected by Illinois DAR chapters. The Silver Creek Chapter contributed 60 letters, which were written mainly to local service members.
The national society’s goal was to collect 10,000 letters in one month to be sent to the nation’s service members.
▪ Strict guidelines had to be followed:
▪ Each person could only write one letter;
▪ Letters had to be handwritten;
▪ They had to be addressed to an active-duty service member and placed inside a stamped, unsealed envelope; and
▪ They also had to be delivered in person to a designated collection station at DAR Headquarters during the society’s 125th anniversary celebration and Continental Conference.
The carefully tallied total was revealed during National Defense Night ceremony on Saturday, June 18. An adjudicator from the Guinness World Records verified and announced the results.
“Congratulations — you are officially amazing!” the adjudicator proclaimed.
The DAR had collected 100,904 letters — more than 10 times the minimum threshold needed to set the record.
“We felt pretty confident we could get the 10,000 needed for the world record,” said Bren Landon, DAR’s director of public relations. “But we didn’t imagine we would get 10 times as many.”
DAR has supported military personnel through letters and care packages since it began, but took this step to set a world record in commemoration of the organization’s 125th anniversary.
“Service members have already started happily receiving the letters,” said Landon.
Also at the Continental Conference, DeGroff was installed as the Illinois DAR state vice regent. She previously served as the state recording secretary from June 2013 to June 2015. She is the first member of the Silver Creek Chapter to serve as a state officer.
This story was originally published July 4, 2016 at 7:35 AM with the headline "Silver Creek Chapter DAR helps set Guinness world record for patriotism."