Below are some of the chapter events. Our meetings are typically the fourth Tuesday of the month from March to November. Contact us for more information.
DAR Good Citizen Program and Scholarship Contest
Each year, the Topsham-Brunswick Chapter, NSDAR, is proud to sponsor the DAR Good Citizen Program and Scholarship Contest. Local high schools select a senior who best demonstrates the qualities of dependability, service, leadership, and patriotism, and that student has the opportunity to write a short essay for the competition.
Awards are presented at our spring meeting, and winners are chosen based on the essay, academic achievements, activities, and recommendations. The first-place recipient will also move forward for consideration at the state and even national levels!
If you’re interested in participating, check in with your school’s Guidance Counselor—they’ll have all the details to get you started.
DAR MARKERS
DAR historical markers can be found all across the country, and Brunswick has a few you may recognize — like the ones at Fort Andross and the Joshua Chamberlain House. Some early markers were even made of wood, and we’re working to confirm which ones still exist. As part of a statewide DAR project, members are encouraged to track down these markers and snap a selfie and send it to the state on the Member-only website. It’s a bit of a treasure hunt — and it helps us keep our records up to date!
GROWSTOWN CEMETERY
One Saturday in September, our members gathered at Growstown Cemetery to clean historic tombstones. With a little care and effort, we restored many of the markers, and the transformation was remarkable. It was a rewarding day of service, honoring those who came before us while preserving their memory for future generations.
OUR CHAPTER’S 100TH ANNIVERSARY
In November 2024, our monumental 100-year anniversary celebration was a success and thanks to all who organized and attended. We even had our original charter present that is housed at the Pejepscot Historical Society.
MARKING A PATRIOT’S GRAVE
One June meeting had us at Growstown Cemetery where we marked a patriot.
GRAVESTONE CLEANING
Our chapter’s founder Mary Pelham Hill had her gravestone cleaned up during one chapter meeting.
WOMEN’S SUFFRAGE RALLY
On September 22, 2020, Maine’s Topsham Brunswick chapter commemorated both Constitution Week and the 100th anniversary of Women’s Suffrage by holding a Women’s Suffrage Rally. Held outside in front of the local Veterans Council, members presented a skit commemorating the anniversary of Women’s Suffrage and the passing of the 19th amendment (ratified on August 18, 1920), giving women the right to vote. While other chapter members (many in costume) held signs supporting suffrage, rang bells and cheered, suffragists Susan B. Anthony, Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and journalist Nellie Bly presented their arguments for giving women the franchise. Portraying the opposing side, anti-suffragist J.B. Sanford, who wrote in 1911, “Women’s suffrage has been proven a failure in states that have tried.” True to history, the suffragists won that argument!
- CHAMBERLAIN EXTERIOR WORK REACHES FINAL STAGE
Since 2018, we’ve been working on restoring, repairing, and rebuilding portions of the Chamberlain Museum exterior–the most comprehensive work on the building in three decades.In the last few weeks, we reached an important milestone: the final face of the building, also its most important: the front side, along Maine Street.
A great deal of thanks and commendation are due to Tony Simmons Carpentry (now working from scaffolding pictured right), Mid Coast Painting (owner Bill Costa above left, after his crew completed the north side), and our many funders: the Davis Family Foundation, Morton-Kelly Charitable Trust, the Novack Family Foundation, Bowdoin College, the Viles Foundation, the Daughters of the American Revolution, and numerous generous individuals.We look forward to a big celebration (physical distant, virtual, whatever) when we reached the conclusion of this multi-phased project–late this year or the first half of next.
- – Pejepscot Historical Society
- FIRST LADIES
- Historical Houses
- David Greenham, the Program Director for the Holocaust and Human Rights Center of Maine, spoke about WWI.
- Maine Bureau of Veteran Services encouraged all veterans to visit one of their branches
- Summer Tea – Celebration of Members
- Laura Benedict from the Red Barn
- Memorial Day Parade
- DAR Good Citizens
- Freeport Flag Ladies