Educational Programs

Primary Patriots Program Committee

The program “The American Flag, Our Symbol of Freedom” was originally designed to promote patriotism and pride in America among elementary school children. The skit with the costume-clad Betsy Ross, Miss Freedom, and a Narrator is now adapted so that it is appropriate for all ages, school children through adults. The presentation covers the founding of our country, the history of flags, the American flag, the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and the National Anthem. The committee works with schools to schedule the historical program when it complements the classroom teacher’s on-going curriculum. The program is also available as a service to community groups. For further information, please provide us your name and a phone number via email.

DAR Good Citizens Awards & Scholarship Program

Each year local high schools are contacted and invited to select a senior who will be designated as their DAR Good Citizen. Student selection is based on dependability, service, leadership, and patriotism. The DAR Good Citizens are honored at an awards ceremony and are eligible to participate in a scholarship contest. Three non-DAR judges review the materials of the competing students with the winner's essay submitted to the state scholarship competition. State judges select the top ten in the state and honor them at the DAR State Awards Day. The state winner receives $500; awards to runners-up range from $75 to $150. State winners compete in geographical divisions and finally in the national competition. For further information, please provide us your name and a phone number via email.

DAR Courses for Members

The Members Course provides an opportunity for members to learn more about DAR and how they can become active participants in DAR at all levels – chapter, state, and national. At the core of the course is a self-guided curriculum structured around a series of webinars that participants can do at their leisure, along with an independent project. Any member who is interested in learning about DAR’s rich history and how she can get involved in DAR activities at the chapter, state, and national level is welcome to participate in the Members Course.

Piety Hill 89^th Birthday
Guest Speaker Mark Clague, author of O Say Can You Hear:
A Cultural Biography of "The Star-Spangled Banner".
February 2024
Photo courtesy of Clay Dobrovolec

WWII Veteran
Special guest Tom Shipley, author of A Life's Story: A Portrait of Millions of Ordinary
American Citizens As They Moved Through the Twentieth Century.
October 2023

Constitution Week
Piety Hill Constitution Week committee pictured at Greenfield Elementary for
a bell-ringing and flag raising. The entire school got flags!
September 2023

DAR Juniors Helen Pouch Memorial Fund
Regent Deborah Harrington and her dog Bogey completed the NSDAR virtual 5K to
benefit the DAR Juniors Helen Pouch Memorial Fund. They walked 27 miles in July.
August 2023

Commemerative Event - 250^th Anniversary Boston Tea Party
The theme for the tree was ‘The Boston Tea Party’. December 2023 will be the 250^th anniversary of the
protest that occurred on December 16, 1773, at Griffin’s Wharf in Boston, Massachusetts.
December 2, 2022

Good Citizen 1^st Place State Winner Adedoyin Adebayo
Pictured with her mother and her school counselor, with State Regent VanWormer and Piety Hill members.
April 23, 2022

Piety Hill Constitution Week Committee
The Piety Hill Constitution Week Committee met July 12^th to start planning this year’s activities.
Pictured L-R are Suzanne Haynes, Debbie Harrington, and Co-Chairs Kathy Dalton and Jane Morris Quinn.
July 12, 2021
Photo courtesy of Holly Heiss

Members Course Graduates
Piety Hill ladies received their Members Course graduate certificates.
May 18, 2021
Photo courtesy of Audrey Lambert

Constitution Week 2020
St. Hugo of the Hills Catholic School (Bloomfield Hills) 5^th graders and Principal Joseph Vincler
received the 2020 Constitution Week class posters from the Piety Hill Chapter.
Presented by Piety Hill DAR Second Vice Regent Deborah Harrington.
February 2021
Photo courtesy of Doug Ashley

Women's History Month
Docent Janice King gave a program on the stained glass window in
Christ Church Cranbrook depicting famous women through history.
March 10, 2020
Photo courtesy of Audrey Lambert

Birmingham Hometown Parade
Piety Hill members participated in the parade wearing suffragette apparel to
commemorate the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1919 when
women throughout the nation gained the right to vote.
May 19, 2019
Photo courtesy of Audrey Lambert

Genealogy and DNA
1^st Vice Regent Lisa Milton, Guest Speaker Jim Sims, Regent Jan Stafford and 2^nd Vice Regent Holly Heiss.
March 12, 2019
Photo courtesy of Audrey Lambert

Good Citizen Award 2018 Winner
John Kenny was presented with the DAR Good Citizen Award at the Piety Hill Chapter of the DAR Good Citizen
and American History Awards Ceremony by event co-chairs Deborah Harrington and Eileen Pourcho.
Photo courtesy of Doug Ashley

DAR Good Citizen Award Recipients
With event co-chairs Deborah Harrington and Eileen Pourcho.
Presented by Piety Hill Chapter NSDAR December 2018
Photo courtesy of Doug Ashley

Win at Division Level for American History Essay Contest 2018
American History Essay Contest winner Julia Triculescu
is presented with her award by event co-chair Ann Smith.
Photo courtesy of Doug Ashley

American History Essay 2018 Winner
American History Essay Contest winner, St. Regis School eighth-grader Anna Sophia Beck of
Bloomfield Hills, is presented with her award by event co-chair Ann Smith.
Photo courtesy of Doug Ashley

DAR of Michigan State Awards Day
2018 Michigan Good Citizen Winner Andrea Ma Niu
Sponsored by Piety Hill Chapter
April 10, 2018
Photo courtesy of Audrey Lambert

DAR of Michigan State Awards Day
Chairman Eileen Pourcho and 2018 Michigan Good Citizen Winner Andrea Ma Niu
Sponsored by Piety Hill Chapter
April 10, 2018
Photo courtesy of Audrey Lambert

DAR of Michigan State Awards Day
2018 Christopher Columbus Essay Contest Winner Kathryn West
Sponsored by Piety Hill Chapter
April 10, 2018
Photo courtesy of Audrey Lambert

The History of the Women's Movement and Where We Are Today
Regent Jan Stafford, 2^nd Vice Regent Holly Heiss,
Guest Speaker Professor of Sociology Heidi Lyons, and 1^st Vice Regent Lisa Milton
March 13 2018
Photo courtesy of Audrey Lambert

Birmingham Museum Celebrating 200 Years of Stories
2^nd Vice Regent Holly Heiss, Regent Jan Stafford,
Birmingham Museum Director Leslie Pielack, and 1^st Vice Regent Lisa Milton
March 13 2018
Photo courtesy of Audrey Lambert

Piety Hill Chapter NSDAR 83^rd Birthday Party
Program: Michigan Daughters Answer the Call in 1917 (WWI)
Christine Richman, Nancy Marshall, Guest Speaker Linda Brandis, and Regent Jan Stafford
February 17 2018
Photo courtesy of Doug Ashley

Finding Those Elusive Maiden Names
Second Vice Regent Holly Heiss, Regent Jan Stafford,
Guest Speaker Katherine Willson, and Second Vice Lisa Milton.
January 2018
Photo courtesy of Audrey Lambert

DAR Good Citizen Award Recipients
with Chairman Eileen Pourcho, Carol Clark, and Lynda Bendelow-Ruark
Presented by Piety Hill Chapter NSDAR December 2017
Photo courtesy of Doug Ashley

2017 Good Citizen Award Winner Andrea Niu
with Chairman Eileen Pourcho, Regent Jan Stafford, and State Chairman Christine Richman
Presented by Piety Hill Chapter NSDAR December 2017
Photo courtesy of Doug Ashley

DAR American History Essay Award Winners with Chairman Ann Smith
Presented by Piety Hill Chapter NSDAR December 2017
Photo courtesy of Doug Ashley

DAR American History Essay Award Winners with Chairman Ann Smith
Presented by Piety Hill Chapter NSDAR December 2017
Photos courtesy of Doug Ashley

John F. Marshall Presented a Program on the Early Life and Homes on Woodward Avenue
Second Vice Regent Holly Heiss, Michigan State Regent Diane Schrift,
Regent Jan Stafford, John F. Marshall, and First Vice Regent Lisa Milton.
September 2017
Photo courtesy of Audrey Lambert

DAR of Michigan State Awards Day
2017 American History Essay Contest Winners with Ann Smith and Eileen Pourcho
Sixth Grade: John Lee, Fifth Grade: Maggie Scott, Eighth Grade: William Harvey
and 2017 Good Citizen Finalist Leah Warren
Sponsored by Piety Hill Chapter
April 3-4 2017
Photo courtesy of Audrey Lambert

Filling Out Your Family Tree Without Breaking the Bank
Regent Barbara Suhay, First Vice Jan Stafford,
Guest Speaker Katherine Willson, and Second Vice Lisa Milton.
January 2017
Photos courtesy of Audrey Lambert

DAR Good Citizen Awards and American History Essay Contest Winners
Presented by Piety Hill Chapter NSDAR December 2016
Photo courtesy of Doug Ashley

DAR Good Citizen Awards and American History Essay Contest Winners
Photos courtesy of Doug Ashley

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Melvyn Maxwell Smith House
2^nd Vice Lisa Milton, 1^st Vice Jan Stafford,
Guest Speaker Diane Bert, and Regent Barbara Suhay
September 13 2016
Photo courtesy of Audrey Lambert

Our National Parks: 100 Years
Program presented by Kathleen Kennedy
May 10 2016
Photo courtesy of Audrey Lambert

Our National Parks: 100 Years
Piety Hill members displaying photos of national parks taken by Doug Ashley.
May 10 2016
Photo courtesy of Audrey Lambert

DAR of Michigan State Awards Day
2016 American History Essay Contest Winners
Fifth Grade: John Lee and Eighth Grade: Kathryn West
Sponsored by Piety Hill Chapter
April 4-5 2016
Photo courtesy of Audrey Lambert

The History of the Walbri Estate (Walter Briggs Estate)
L to R: 1^st Vice Regent Janice Stafford, Regent Barbara Suhay,
2^nd Vice Regent Lisa Milton, and Speaker John Marshall. January 2016
Photo courtesy of Audrey Lambert

Donut Dolly - An American Red Cross Girl's War in Vietnam
Joann Puffer Kotcher described her experiences in Vietnam during the war.
Photos courtesy of Audrey Lambert

The Patriotic Music of George M. Cohen by Beverly Thomas
L to R: 1^st Vice Regent Janice Stafford, Speaker Beverly Thomas,
Lineage Research Jeanette Keatts, and Regent Barbara Suhay. September 2015
Photo courtesy of Audrey Lambert

Regent Christine Richman, Sarah Ann Cochrane Chapter Sue Petres,
and 1^st Vice Regent Barbara Suhay. Sue Petres presented
Stories Carved in Stone: The Evolution and Symbolism
of Gravestone Iconography and Artwork. January 2015
Photo courtesy of Audrey Lambert

Beth Donaldson from the Michigan State University Museum, gave a presentation
called “A History of American Quilts” to Piety Hill members. September 2014
Photo courtesy of Audrey Lambert

First State Workshop for Chapter Registrars
Sponsored by the Michigan State Chapter Development and Revitalization Commission
Hosted by Piety Hill Chapter DAR
Photo courtesy of Audrey Lambert

A Vietnam War 50th Anniversary Commemorative Event
Jim Suhay, husband of Piety Hill member Barbara Suhay, gave a lecture called “The Wall that Heals”
at Birmingham’s Baldwin Library. Local commemorative partners were Piety Hill Chapter DAR
and the West Point Society of Michigan.
Photo courtesy of Audrey Lambert