Every year, the Wilmington Ladies Tea Walk Chapter, NSDAR, hosts the Eugene Ashley High School NJROTC Military Ball at the Cape Fear Country Club. It is an event looked forward to by all involved and attending. The ball is a very special event where cadets, parents, veterans, a guest of honor, and others are invited to join us for a night of festivities centered around our military and great country. What a wonderful way to say thank you to our future!

The Wilmington Ladies Tea Walk Chapter, NSDAR, participates annually with the Moores Creek National Battlefield staff, volunteers, and members of the DAR, SAR, C.A.R., and the Scottish Society of Wilmington for a wreath-laying ceremony. The engagement at Moores Creek Bridge was the first battle of the American Revolution to take place in North Carolina. The Battle of Moores Creek Bridge was significant as it marked the permanent end of royal authority in North Carolina.

Every December, our chapter takes an active role in Wreaths Across America by laying wreaths on the graves of our fallen soldiers at the Wilmington National Cemetery on Market Street. The cemetery has over 6,000 interred remains. We also provide a refreshment kiosk for the many volunteers who come to the event to honor our fallen soldiers and participate in the moving ceremony.

The Sgt. Eugene Ashley Memorial Center provides short-term, transitional bridge housing for up to 16 homeless veterans. Our chapter provided pancakes, bacon, fruits, and more for the residents. We also brought much needed supplies from their wish lists that included toiletry items like shampoo, deodorant, soap, shaving cream, razors, toothbrushes, toothpaste, and socks. Our members arrived with all the supplies needed to make, serve, and clean-up for the veterans. We said grace and then enjoyed a time of fellowship sitting at their huge dining table.

Every year in December, we hold the Ladies Christmas Tea and Silent Auction. The 2020 event featured guest speaker Kay Yarborough, State Regent of the Florida State Society NSDAR, as Martha Washington. An authentic 18th century meal was served. Kay Yarborough was presented with an original, one-of-a-kind, mixed media miniature doll of the first lady as an expression of the chapter’s gratitude. After the tea, a silent auction was held with many unique items donated by the members of our chapter. Our chapter expresses their gratitude to all who made it happen.

Our chapter hosts the National Defense Luncheon for the young ladies of Eugene Ashley High School NJROTC. Along with lunch, the event includes guest speakers from women active in the military. The chapter’s National Defense Committee advocates a strong military defense and unwavering faithfulness to the ideals of the Founding Fathers as set forth in the U.S. Constitution. The event is very popular promoting plans to expand it in the future.

The American Heritage Committee Award was created to preserve our rich American heritage in the fields of art and sculpture, crafts, fiber arts, literature and drama, and music. We are proud to have chapter members win the award two years in a row. Jennifer Sturm placed first in the fiber arts category with her cross-stitch Ladies Liberty in 2020. In 2021, Sherri Colvin Cane placed first and won the Evelyn Cole Peters Award with her miniature doll Tea With Martha in the crafts category.

Trick or Treat Under the Sea is an annual event sponsored by the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher. Our chapter has lots of fun handing out pocket constitutions and Halloween candy to parents and children who attend the event each year. It is also a great opportunity for members to dress up in their 18th century clothing for the children in our community to see what was worn in the American Revolutionary era. The chapter looks forward to next year’s spooky, aquatic Trick or Treat!

One of the most moving events the Wilmington Ladies Tea Walk Chapter, NSDAR, participates in is the naturalization ceremony for new U.S. citizens aboard the Battleship North Carolina. New citizens are welcomed by members of the Eugene Ashley High School JROTC providing the arch of swords, the bands of Eugene Ashley High School playing patriotic music, and members of the DAR hosting a reception for the naturalization ceremony.

Every year our chapter celebrates Constitution Week at Cape Fear Community College (CFCC) in downtown Wilmington. Our members pass out pocket Constitutions, bottled drinks, and other patriotic literature to students. The goal is to engage with the students and bring awareness of the Constitution as the basis for America’s great heritage and the foundation for our way of life. We also seek to encourage the study of the historical events which led to the framing of the Constitution in September 1787.

Wilmington Ladies Tea Walk Chapter, NSDAR was channeling their inner artist on Thursday, July 1, 2020. Thanks to our Vice Regent for coordinating this fun night out. We all had a great time. The paintings used ready picked acrylic paint colors and a pre-outlined sketch to assure everyone had a good start to their masterpiece. We all went home with a patriotic picture to be proud of.