Bet You Didn't Know

Up until a week ago, most of what I knew of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) I learned from Lorelai and Rory (Emily too).  A few Octobers ago I stopped along highway US 56, just a couple of miles west of Council Grove, KS to get a better look at this monument.

Santa Fe Trail   1822 - 1872   Marked by the Daughters of the American Revolution and the State of Kansas 1906

Early this week while on business, driving in northern MN I just happened upon this sign.  Already behind schedule on my way up, I didn't take the time to stop but did when business was complete and I was on my way back home.

Forests?  DAR Forests??

From the DAR Forests website.......

 

In 1939, the President General, Mrs. Henry M. Robert, chose the Penny Pine program as one of her Golden Jubilee National Projects. Each state was to have a memorial forest, beginning in 1939 and culminating in 1941 on the NSDAR 50th Anniversary. Each chapter across the country was to pledge, at the very least, one acre of pine seedlings. Five dollars an acre at a penny each equals 500 trees. The Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC), under the supervision of the U.S. Forestry Service, would do the actual work of planting and care.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt proposed the CCC in 1933 to solve two problems. It would offer employment to Americans age 18-26, who were out of work because of the failing economy, and it would help the National Forests that were in deplorable condition due to over-harvesting, devastating fires, and little replanting. The CCC would revitalize our National Forests and employ millions of young people.
With new assistance from the CCC, the National Forest Service started its program of replanting and growing pines in National nurseries throughout the country. These pines would be sold to organizations and individuals for a penny each to help share with the cost of the project - hence the popular term Penny Pines. It was patriotic and popular enough that stores and post offices set up buckets for people to put pennies into, and that's how the NSDAR became involved. Some of the states could not participate due to prolonged droughts in their state and the National Forest Service recommended planting many large trees on private lands.

Each state's forest is described on the website, this for the forest I was standing in that day....


DAR State Forest was established in 1929 when the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) donated 1,020 acres to the Commonwealth. Almost 750 additional acres have been acquired since then, including Upper and Lower Highland Lakes. The forty-acre Minnesota DAR Memorial State Forest is on the state map located in Pine City in Pine County in the quad known as Askov Lookout Tower.  The forest was dedicated in 1941. Today there is a half-mile road and overnight camping facilities.

I've been digging in and learning more about the DAR this week; an interesting organization and mission.

So there you have it.