MAJOR READING BLOUNT CHAPTER, DAR | CONTRIBUTED
DAR STANDOUTS: At its meeting on Feb. 20, held at the Washington Yacht and Country Club, the DAR’s Major Reading Blount Chapter presented certificates of appreciation to schoolchildren who participated in the chapter’s history essay contest and presented the chapter’s Good Citizen Award to a student who demonstrated community service and good citizenship. The history essay contest participants included Ethan Gage Cooper, seventh grade, and Dillon Hodges, eighth grade, Bath Elementary School; Gabrielle Cromwell, eighth grade, Northeast Elementary School; and Allison Waters, ninth grade, Northside High School. Ronnie James, a student at Beaufort County Early College High School, received the Good Citizen Award. Ronnie is a volunteer firefighter with the Clark’s Neck VFD, where he oversees junior firefighters. He plans to serve in the U.S. Navy and eventually become a U.S. Marshal.
The DAR seeks to encourage young people to develop an appreciation of U.S. history and the value of good citizenship.  In addition to parents and siblings, Pam Hodges, the principal of Bath Elementary School, and Lisa Bowman, a teacher at Northeast Elementary School, also were present.
Pictured from left are the students recognized recently by the DAR: Dillon Hodges, Gabrielle Cromwell, Ronnie James, Ethan Cooper and Allison Walker.