Foltyn & Stafford represent local DAR group at Fall Forum Leadership event

Contributed Photo DAR Representatives Hazel Foltyn of El Campo, regent; and Annie Stafford of Boling, vice-regent (l-r), represented Comfort Wood Chapter DAR at the Fall Forum Leadership Training in Austin Friday and Saturday. While there they learned that Texas Society DAR (TSDAR) has adopted two projects, a Patriots Monument to be placed in the Texas State Cemetery in Austin, and a professional video created to attract new members, a project of State Regent Lynn Forney Young of Houston.

Comfort Wood Chapter DAR officers attended the Fall Forum Leadership Training in Austin Friday and Saturday. Among those attending were Hazel Foltyn of El Campo, regent; and Annie Stafford of Boling, vice-regent. The event, held at the Doubletree Hotel on IH 35 North, started with shuttles to the Texas State Cemetery.

The Texas Society DAR (TSDAR) has adopted two projects.

"One will be the Patriots Monument to be placed in the Texas State Cemetery in Austin on Cenotaph Hill, a beautiful area reserved for individuals who are eligible to be buried in the cemetery, but who are interred elsewhere," Foltyn said.

The project is estimated to cost $50,000 and the necessary permissions to move forward have been received by the State Cemetery Committee. A striking 8-foot tall obelisk, homage to the Washington monument and to the many obelisks that grace cemeteries throughout the state, has been designed to display the patriots' names.

"The ambitious project will stand for the years to come as a testament to the patriotism of Texans and to the devotion to the cause of the American Revolution by the Texas Society," said Foltyn.

The other project is the State Regent's Project, Lynn Forney Young of Houston, to create a professional video to attract new members.

"This project was completed and our chapter purchased a copy," Foltyn said. "The title is 'Today's DAR.'"

On Friday evening members attended Chapter Officer, Membership and Public Relations Workshops. On Saturday morning beginning at 7:30 a.m. they attended Lineage Research and Chapter Achievement Workshops.

The Fall Forum began promptly at 10 a.m. in the Phoenix Room. Instructions to Chapter Officers were given by State Officers.

A luncheon with entertainment and drawings was held at noon, followed by committee reports by state chairmen.

"We were challenged to make this year even better than last year using the Texas theme 'Patriotism Through Service' and the National theme is 'The Spirit of Hospitality Opens Doors of Opportunity,'" she said.