Fort Payne DAR Chapter announces annual awards
The Fort Payne Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution is pleased to announce this year's recipients of the various competitions and scholarships. Awards were given for community service, good citizenship, and outstanding work in American history. The Naperville-based chapter also awarded its annual education scholarship in memory of Vera Walz.
New this year, Fort Payne awarded its first Daniel Webster scholarship to an area high school senior pursuing a career in math, science or technology studies. In a normal year, the chapter would hold an awards ceremony to honor all of the winners and their families. This year, they are honoring the winners "virtually." Congratulations to all!
Ray Kinney, a longtime Naperville resident and community leader, was recognized by Fort Payne with the 2020 DAR Community Service Award. Kinney is a founding partner of MACLYN, a boutique advertising agency, a partner in Lombard-based Blooming Color, and president of Minuteman Press Naperville. He is well known in Naperville for his passion for giving back. He is on the board of several well-known community organizations including the Naperville Development Partnership, Choose DuPage and Little Friends, to name a few. His volunteer activities are many and notable.
Steven Matusik won the chapter's education scholarship, the Vera Walz Education Scholarship. Matusik is a senior at Neuqua Valley High School. In the fall, he plans to attend Illinois State University, majoring in special education, with an emphasis in learning and behavior.
New this year is the Daniel Webster Scholarship. Fort Payne is pleased to announce that Lauren Elizabeth Lee, a senior from Waubonsie Valley High School, is the first recipient. Lee plans to pursue a degree in biology with an eye toward premedical studies at either Northwestern or the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana.
Faculty at their respective high schools selects the DAR Good Citizen Awards. To receive this award, high school seniors must demonstrate qualities of dependability, service, leadership and patriotism in their homes, schools and communities.
This year's honorees include Anna Shura, Neuqua Valley High School, and Myra Bajwa, Metea Valley High School. Shura was also honored as the overall Good Citizen chapter winner.
The DAR American History Essay Contest is open to all fifth- to eighth-grade students in Naperville area schools. This year's topic was "The Voyage of the Mayflower." Fifty-eight students in sixth to eighth grades entered this national DAR essay contest.
Athena Chen, an eighth-grader from Kennedy Junior High School, is the overall chapter winner. Emma Breese, a sixth-grader from Kennedy, was named sixth-grade chapter winner.
Sarah Elizabeth Kady, an eighth-grader from Saints Peter and Paul, was recognized for her outstanding work in American history.
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.
For information on the local chapter, visit ildar.org/chapters/fortpayne/ or www.facebook.com/NapervilleDAR/.
To learn more about the work of today's DAR, visit www.DAR.org or connect with DAR on social media at www.facebook.com/TodaysDAR, twitter.com/TodaysDAR and youtube.com/TodaysDAR.