We are excited to be an active chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR or DAR) and the Illinois State Organization NSDAR. We are honored that you are interested in the DAR, and in the Skokie Valley Chapter NSDAR in particular. We actively seek new members and opportunities to promote DAR objectives in our community.
We actively promote and contribute to the objectives of the NSDAR: historic preservation, education, and patriotism. We welcome new members!
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Former Illinois State Regent Sharla Luken seated center, amidst state officers, chairmen and with NSDAR Chaplain General, Pamela Bork to Sharla’s right, and surrounded by her Skokie Valley Chapter NSDAR members standing behind her.
Our National Society was only thirty-five years old when thirteen North Shore women met in the Kenilworth, Illinois, home of Fannie Ames Cope on the last day of 1925, to organize the Skokie Valley Chapter NSDAR. The name was chosen because the founders lived in villages from Wilmette to Waukegan, Illinois, an area once known as the Skokie Valley.
Beginning in the summer of 1933, our Skokie Valley Chapter NSDAR members collected books, playing cards, and games for young men in the Skokie Valley Civilian Conservation Corps Camp “as they worked to build the Skokie Lagoons State Park.”
An active group of Junior members provided a total of 6,190 volunteer hours from 1943-1944. Members helped with draft registration, gave blood, took nurse's aide and first aid courses, worked in war savings stamp booths, and were on U.S.O. committees. They served Sunday evening suppers to servicemen at USO centers and sent cookies and candy to the Skokie Valley Military Police Camp.
Skokie Valley Chapter NSDAR sponsored an Entertainment Committee for Disabled Veterans at North Chicago Hospital (1935-39); gave three summer parties for veterans at North Chicago VA Medical Center (1973, 1975, and 1982); gave money, gifts, books, cancelled stamps, ditty bags, and even 40 pounds of bananas one year; won a first place in Outstanding Support of DAR Project Patriot in Illinois (2011); supported veterans by contributing to Honor Flight Chicago (2010, 2012, and 2014).
The chapter has supported National Society projects, including the Bell Tower at Valley Forge (1953), the Independence Hall Restoration for the Bicentennial, the Statue of Liberty Restoration for her 100th birthday, the Ellis Island Restoration, the restoration of the American flag at the Smithsonian Institution, the building of the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. (2004), the President General’s Lay Light Restoration Project at Constitution Hall (2012), and the President General’s Project to repair Constitution Hall and Memorial Continental Hall at NSDAR headquarters in Washington, D.C. (2015).
In 2019, Skokie Valley daughter Sharla Luken made chapter history as the chapter’s first member to be elected Illinois State Regent, 2019‑2021.
If you would like to contact a chapter officer directly, please use links below.
| Regent | Susan Chadd |
| First Vice Regent | Nancy Rose |
| Second Vice Regent | Dana Salazar |
| Chaplain | Laura Koh |
| Recording Secretary | Carolyn Jevelian |
| Corresponding Secretary | Erin Wheeler |
| Treasurer | Roxann Specht |
| Registrar | Sonja Witschonke-Mess |
| Historian | Elizabeth Chalker |
| Librarian | Valerie Braun |
| Parliamentarian (Appointed) |
Greta Satek |
Please contact us if you would like to attend a meeting or would like more information.
| September 17-23 | Constitution Week |
| September 23 | Our Constitution Presented by Judy Deptula |
| October 9 | National Day of Service and Literacy |
| October 11 | Anniversaery of the Founding of the Daughters of the American Revolution National Day of Service |
| October 21 | NSDAR Medal Ceremony Program: My Grandmother's DAR, Illinois State Regent Debra Coe |
| November 20 | Amelia Earhart Presented by Dave Rutter |
| December 11 | Holiday Luncheon Honoring DAR Good
Citizens Award Winners
Presented by Polly Moles |
| December 18 | Wreaths Across America Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery |
| January 13 | Valentines for Veterans Guided by Nancy Rose |
| February 19 | American History Essay Contest Awards Presented by Elizabeth Chalker |
| February 21 | William Dawes Society C.A.R. George Washington Birthday Party Sponsored by Fort Dearborn Chapter, NSDAR and Skokie Valley Chapter, NSDAR |
| March 19 | Annual Membership Business Meeting Presented by Chapter Officers |
| April 21 | Afghanistan Veteran Presented by Carrie Hoza |
| May 19 | Spring Luncheon and Installation of
Officers
Presented by Skokie Valley Chapter, NSDAR |
| August 20 | Prospective Members Meet & Greet Coffee Hostess: Sonja Witschonke-Mess |