PHOENIX – Almost two dozen Piestewa Peak and Maricopa Chapter members, of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), cleaned-up grave sites at the historic Pioneer & Military Memorial Park and the grounds of the Smurthwaite House near downtown Phoenix on Saturday, April 15, 2017. The project at 13th Avenue and West Jefferson Street in Phoenix resulted in 37 bags of yard waste.
Members of Piestewa Peak Chapter, from Scottsdale and north Phoenix, and of Maricopa Chapter from central Phoenix cleaned grave sites and spruced up the landscape of these two historic areas. The service project was the combined efforts of the Historic Preservation and Conservation Committees of the chapters.
Maricopa Chapter is the oldest DAR chapter in Arizona and was established in 1901. One of the residents of the Smurthwaite house, built in 1897, was Mrs. Carolann Smurthwaite who joined the Maricopa DAR Chapter in 1921.
Piestewa Peak Chapter is the newest of Arizona’s 42 active DAR chapters and was chartered on October 8, 2016. The chapter is named after Piestewa Peak, the second highest point in the Phoenix Mountains. The Peak was named for Specialist Lori Ann Piestewa, a U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps Soldier and member of the Hopi Tribe in northeastern Arizona, who was killed in Iraq on March 23, 2003. Piestewa Peak Chapter will lay a wreath at the Park on Memorial Day, May 29, 2017.
The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution was founded in 1890 to promote historic preservation, education and patriotism. Its members are descended from the patriots who won American independence during the Revolutionary War. With more than 185,000 members in approximately 3,000 chapters worldwide, DAR is one of the world’s largest and most active service organizations. DAR members are committed to volunteer service having served more than 12.5 million hours in communities throughout the world during the past three years. To learn more about the work of today’s DAR, visit www.DAR.org or connect with DAR on social media at facebook.com/TodaysDAR, twitter.com/TodaysDAR and youtube.com/TodaysDAR.
