(above, l-r) Crane’s Ford DAR chapter members Pat Huxford of Roselle Park, Patty Campanelli of Clark, Bonnie Cierkowski of Cranford, Barbara Krause of Cranford, Mary Leonard of Roselle Park, Nancy Hatfield of Westfield, Kathy Hercel of Scotch Plains and Joanne Rajoppi of Union.
At a recent luncheon, held at the Holiday Inn in Clark, New Jersey, the Crane’s Ford chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution celebrated the 75th Anniversary of the founding of the chapter.
On March 7, 1944 the Crane’s Ford chapter was organized in Cranford and chartered by the National Society. At that time the chapter had 36 members and its founding Regent was Julia I Hazzard of Cranford. Since that time the chapter has had 23 Regents with many serving more than one 3-year term. The chapter took its name from a ford in the Rahway River where light horseman stood guard while General Washington’s army was encamped at Morristown.
Attending the celebration were chapter members along with NJDAR State Officers including State Regent, Karen Strover, State Vice Regent, Bonnie Matthews, State Historian, Pat Saftner and the State Central District Director, Susan Luczu. The State Regent administered the Oath of Membership to the chapter’s new member, Patricia Huxford of Roselle Park.
Today the Crane’s Ford chapter has 56 members from Cranford and surrounding town as well as many from out of state. The chapter is led by Regent Mary Leonard of Roselle Park and she is completing her 5th year. The chapter supports the National Society by continuing to promote historic preservation, education and patriotism as the local level. Throughout each year the chapter presents various awards including Good Citizen to high school seniors, American History Essay Contest, and JROTC to cadets at Elizabeth High School, Linden High School and Abraham Clark High School in Roselle. National awards given by the chapter over the years includes Conservation, Women in the Arts, Women in American History, and Historic Preservation Recognition awards.
Within NJ there are 46 chapters of the DAR, with over 2,700 members. Nationally there are over 175,000 members in over 3,000 chapters. Membership is open to any woman 18 years or older who can prove a lineal, bloodline descent from an ancestor who aided in achieving American independence. For more information please contact DAR.org or the Crane’s Ford Chapter Registrar at patushkat@aol.com.
Submitted by Mary Leonard, Regent, Crane’s Ford DAR
