This Mt. Lebanon Magazine intern has not only been spending her summer in the office, but also spending it around the country: I have traveled with Children of the American Revolution, an organization more commonly known in acronym form, “C.A.R.” The organization’s purpose is to promote patriotism and love of country, as the members of the organization are descendants of patriots who served in the Revolutionary War.
The national society is made up of a national board and president. The national president chooses a fund-raising project for the society. National officers also create contests for state-level members and state presidents come up with their own fund-raising ideas. If you are interested in more information on the society and the national project, or wish to make a contribution, go to www.nscar.org [1].
Part of the duties of national board members is to attend what members call “tour,” similar to a band going around the country and staying a few nights in a city to perform, only to pack up and travel to the next stop. My recent travels brought me to our first stop, Hot Springs, Arkansas. In this small city known for its spas, bath houses and water from local springs, members of the national board had our first meeting, called pre board. In order to make tour exciting, we write skits and make costumes about the various contests that promote the national project. Skits varied from original ideas to spoofs on popular movies such as Guardians of the Galaxy, Jurassic World and a personal favorite: the Rob Lowe DIRECTV ad. [2] Each skit written has a contest attached to it, meant to get the younger members involved by calling on them to be a part of the skit. During pre board, we spend most of our days in a room starring at laptops and cranking out skit ideas, characters, lines and costumes. But this doesn’t mean that we don’t get the chance to let loose.
While in Hot Springs, members ate at the place rumored to be President Clinton’s favorite pancake spot [3], saw the highly anticipated film Jurassic World and spent a day at a local water/amusement park. When it came time for the actual business sessions and meetings to take place, members dressed in business attire and we presented our skits and enjoyed quality time with the younger members. To finish off the meetings, we had a formal banquet. Following the close of the meeting by South Central Regional Vice President Taylor Walters, of Texas, we had the the C.A.R. traditional grand march where members entered the room two at a time. The rest of the night was full of dancing for the members as we finished the first stop on our tour with our tradition of standing in a circle with arms around each other singing along to the song “Proud to be an American.” Next stop: Charlotte, NC!
