DAR Flag Disposal Ceremony to be Held on Flag Day

The Captain Henry Sweetser Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) will be meeting on Saturday, June 14, 2008, at 10:30 a.m., in Santa Maria, for their annual Flag Day - Flag Disposal Ceremony and Pot Luck Luncheon. Members of the Children of the American Revolution (C.A.R.) and Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) will also be attending.

Flags, like any other items made of fabric, are subject to wear and tear, but cannot simply be thrown out when they become tattered and unusable. The U.S. Federal Code, Title 36, Chapter 10, Section 176(k) reads,

"The flag, when it is in such condition that it is no longer a fitting emblem for display, should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning."

Many patriotic organizations hold Flag Disposal ceremonies on Flag Day, and this ceremony has long been a tradition of the Captain Henry Sweetser Chapter Daughters.

For information about this meeting or the Daughters of the American Revolution, please visit the web site of the Captain Henry Sweetser Chapter DAR.

Celebrating Memorial Day

Since today, May 30th, is the true Memorial Day (or Decoration Day, as it was once known), I wanted to share a few photos of how my family and I spent our weekend.

Last Saturday, we ventured up to the Santa Maria Cemetery where we "planted" flags on the graves of veterans. There were so many volunteers present that it only took about an hour to cover the entire cemetery (and it's not a tiny cemetery, either).

We were with a group from our local Children of the American Revolution (C.A.R.), but there were also representatives from the VFW, 4-H, Boy Scouts, DAR, and a few groups I couldn't identify.

My daughter loved carrying the flags around, and tried hard to plant a few herself. Unfortunately, the ground was as hard as concrete, so without a trusty screwdriver to make the hole first, it was almost impossible to get the flags in the ground... even for a grown-up.

It was a pretty amazing sight to see all those flags go up.









On Monday, we went back to the Santa Maria Cemetery for the official Memorial Day Ceremony, sponsored by the American Legion, Post 56, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Post 2521.

A few kids - including my daughter - presented a wreath from the C.A.R. Wreaths were also presented by the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), and several other groups.









It was a very moving experience.

At one point, the ceremony was paused while Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the U.S.A." played. Several veterans in the audience were in uniform and removed their hats to slowly wave them to the music. I swear, there wasn't a dry eye in the place, including mine.

By the end of the weekend, my daughter was saying, "Flag" all by herself.

I think I got the point across... even to an almost-2-year old. In our house, Memorial Day isn't just a BBQ or a sale at the department store.

News coverage of this event by KCOY and The Santa Maria Times.

Copyright © 2008 by Elizabeth O'Neal

A Visit to Operation Gratitude

On May 17th, I had the priviledge of visiting the headquarters of Operation Gratitude in Van Nuys, California.

The mission of Operation Gratitude is to lift troops' morale and bring a smile to their faces by sending care packages to service members overseas. These care packages contain food, toiletries, entertainment items, and personal letters of appreciation, all wrapped with good wishes of love and support.

Through the collection drives, letter-writing campaigns, and donations of requested items or funds for shipping expenses, Operation Gratitude provides civilians anywhere in America a way to express their respect and appreciation to the men and women of the U.S. Military in an active, hands-on manner.

Support of Operation Gratitude is this year's state project for the California Society Children of the American Revolution (C.A.R.), a group to which my daughter belongs.

Below are photos of some of the many volunteers working to pack the thousands of boxes which will be sent to our troops.










Here I am, modeling the latest in OpGrat t-shirts!

Operation Gratitude is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, all-volunteer corporation, funded entirely by private donations. Want to contribute? Visit their web site or contact me for information.

Photos of Operation Gratitude (Van Nuys, Los Angeles Co., California) taken by Elizabeth O'Neal, May 17, 2008. Thanks to Sharman B. for the photo of me!

Copyright © 2008 by Elizabeth O'Neal

Wordless Wednesday: In Honor of Memorial Day

"Remembering Those Who Have Fallen" (Santa Maria Cemetery, Santa Maria, Santa Barbara Co., California). Photographed by Ben O'Neal, May 24, 2008.

About Wordless Wednesday.

Copyright © 2008 by Elizabeth O'Neal

Colonial Princess Pitches a Fit

I have to apologize. I've been woefully remiss in posting... well... anything at all. Oh, I've tossed a photo out here and there, and called it "Wordless Wednesday," but that's really just cheating, isn't it?

Seriously though, I can't believe that I've let at least two blog carnivals go by. And I'm waaay behind in reading the posts of all of my fave bloggers (see Good Reads, to the left).

My excuse: I've been consumed with projects, ranging from building and updating web sites, newsletters, various and sundry desktop publishing projects, and being the mommy of an increasingly busy toddler.

I know, I know... excuses.
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So, in the interest of playing catch-up, here are a few pictures of my daughter in the special dress I teased about a while back. These photos were taken last month at the 100th California DAR State Conference in Santa Clara.







Yes, my little girl was a "colonial princess" in her mob hat, gown, and shawl. She was one of the kids selected to "bring greetings" from the California Children of the American Revolution (C.A.R.) on Opening Night of the Conference.

The kids were all supposed to walk together in a group, but my daughter took off running ahead of them, dragging her lovely rose bouquet like a broom down the center aisle. Daddy had to go running after her, and wound up walking all the way up onto the stage to keep her from taking off (something he definitely did NOT want to do!).

He did look rather dapper in his suit, though.

When it came time to present her flowers to the dignitaries at the head table, she screamed and cried. I'm sure that not taking a nap all day had something to do with this, but the idea of giving up those pretty flowers did not go over well. After all, sharing is not typically something toddlers do well, even on a good day.

The President General (that's like the DAR "Grand Poobah," for those of you who don't know), took a single rose out of her bouquet and handed the rest back to my daughter. This didn't really stop the screaming, but it was a very nice gesture, nonetheless.

Despite the tantrum, Mommy (me) was very proud and caught the whole episode event on video.

And cried. A lot.