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Pack Horse Ford Chapter, NSDAR visits historic church

By Staff | Sep 14, 2012

Betty Ann Lowe and Ann Hunter

The Elk Branch Presbyterian Church warmly welcomed members of the Pack Horse Ford Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR) on Tuesday evening, Sept. 6. Chapter members Betty Ann Lowe and Ann Hunter shared the history of their church and their long-time family connections to the church.

Named for the Elk Branch of the Potomac River, this beautiful limestone church was built in 1829 in Duffields and has walls 20 inches thick. Next to the church, the Elk Branch Church congregation built a school called The Academy. The Academy was built for grades 1-5 and was used as a school until 1925. A kitchen and bathroom were added to the Academy in 1973. A graveyard is next to the church with 68 graves identified and restored.

The Chapter continues to try to help the community with conservation and recycling efforts. Chapter members are collecting plastic bottle caps for a cure for cancer, aluminum tabs for the Ronald McDonald House, broken crayons to be recycled into new ones and canceled postage stamps for Stamp Camp USA, which teaches stamp collecting to children.

The DAR Daughters Team for the American Cancer Society’s Jefferson County Relay for Life earned a bronze award for raising funds for the event this summer. Three chapter members earned awards including team leader Polly Wharton, Dorrene Hale and Mary Ann Gageby.

There are a few seats still available for the chapter’s bus trip to James and Dolley Madison’s home in Orange, Va., on Saturday, Sept. 15. The bus will leave the back parking lot of Shepherdstown Firehall at 7 a.m. Enjoy a fun-filled day with family and friends, which includes transportation, all admittance fees and tours, boxed lunch and gratuities, for only $80 per person. For more information and to obtain a reservation form, contact Dorrene Hale at 304-725-6140 or Kathy Sholl at 304-876-1250.

Charter bus trips and other charitable work help the DAR to “Preserve the Past, Enhance the Present, and Invest in the Future.” To learn more about the work of today’s DAR, visit www.DAR.org.