WILLIAMSBURG — Virginia Daughters of the American Revolution held its annual state conference From March 21-23 with Colonial Williamsburg serving as the backdrop for the second year in a row.
The weekend brings together organization members from across the state to handle business meetings, award ceremonies, and to celebrate the work that each chapter does across the commonwealth in education, patriotism, and historic preservation.
On March 22, an evening banquet celebrated Regent’s Night. Regents Night is dedicated to each chapter’s leader. Each regent shares a little bit about their chapter and the project they are most proud of. All 121 chapters have an opportunity to be recognized by their peers.
Robin Doucette, Williamsburg Chapter Regent, was pleased to welcome the state conference for the second year in a row.
“Virginia was the largest, wealthiest, and most highly populated of the thirteen original colonies and it seems quite fitting to me that the Virginia DAR State Conference was held here in Virginia’s Colonial Capital as we begin celebrating America 250. On a more personal note, the Williamsburg Chapter, NSDAR is celebrating its 100th anniversary this spring, so it was a great honor to welcome our DAR sisters from across the Commonwealth back to Williamsburg,” Doucette said.
Also in attendance for the Regent’s Night banquet were visiting dignitaries from other state DAR chapters, national chapter leadership, and Pamela Edwards Rouse Wright, the DAR President General.
“Holding our State Conference in Williamsburg as America 250 approaches seems like a homecoming. Virginia, and Williamsburg specifically, were heavily involved in the political upheaval leading to and continuing throughout the war, and the final major battle was at Yorktown. Colonial Williamsburg gives us a life-sized, hands-on idea of what life might have been like in those days for our ancestors, who began fighting the war for the rights of Englishmen and ended up winning freedom from England,” Laurie Parker Nesbitt, Virginia State Regent, shared.
In celebration of the Williamsburg Daughters of the American Revolution chapter’s 100th anniversary, the group paid for an appearance of the Colonial Williamsburg Fife and Drum Corps. The group also invited the Williamsburg Sons of the American Revolution to participate in the evening’s events as the official color guard.
“Celebrating America 250 with the Virginia Daughters was the highlight of my spring travel. They recognize the importance of ensuring that every generation understands what it means to be an American,” Pamela Edwards Rouse Wright, the DAR President General, shared.
As Doucette watched the evening unfold, the nation’s upcoming semiquincentennial was not far from her mind.
“As we have been preparing for our Chapter’s Centennial, I have been reminded time and again that we are standing on the shoulders of the patriotic and courageous women who came before us. As I listened to President General Pamela Wright’s inspiring speech about the DAR Ties of Friendship and Service, I considered the fact that the youngest member of our chapter, an eighteen-year-old woman sitting across the table from me, will be standing on our shoulders when she celebrates America’s 300th birthday in 2075. That is both humbling and awe-inspiring,” Doucette added.
The Virginia Daughters of the American Revolution state conference will return to Colonial Williamsburg in 2026 ahead of the nation’s semiquincentennial.