Fort Payne Chapter, NSDAR, recently held its annual awards ceremony, recognizing community leadership as well as presenting scholarships to outstanding young people. The event was held at St. John’s Episcopal Church.
Kathleen Kent, author of the Heretic’s Daughter, was presented the national DAR American Heritage Women in the Arts Recognition Award. Kent, a Texas resident, is a full-time writer of historical fiction.
Hossein Jamali, owner of Meson Sabika, was honored with DAR’s Community Service Award for 2023.
“Well known for his humanitarian work and philanthropy, Jamali provides quiet support of solutions for food insecurity and education that are legendary in Naperville and worldwide,” said Sarah Dore for the NSDAR.
Ray Kinney, a previous Community Service award winner noted that Jamali is “one of the most humble, generous, and kind humans I have ever met.”
Audrey Hartmann, daughter of Julie and Tom Hartmann and a junior at Naperville North High School, won the DAR Constitution Week Poster contest, placing second place in this state-wide contest.
The American History Essay contest is open to all 5th – 8th grade students in Naperville area public and private schools and home schoolers. This year nearly 70 students participated in this annual contest. Tyler Breese, a 6th grade student at Kennedy Jr. High School, was his school’s award winner, chapter winner, and the DAR District IV 6th grade winner. Emma Dendrinos, a student at Ss. Peter and Paul, was awarded the 8th grade school and chapter winner.
Locally, Fort Payne sponsors two scholarships, the Vera Walz Education scholarship and the Daniel Webster Education scholarship; each recipient receives $1,000.00 toward their college freshman tuition.
Jadyn Enas, a senior at Metea Valley High School, won the Vera Walz scholarship.
Jack Gerrity and Aadya Agarwal, both seniors at Neuqua Valley High School, were awarded Webster scholarships. Joshua Forden, a senior at Metea Valley High School, also was awarded a Webster scholarship.
This year’s DAR Good Citizen chapter award went to Olivia Meyer, a senior at Naperville Central High School. School winners from other area high schools were Michelle Azie and Daniel Williams from Metea Valley, Rohin Gopalka, Naperville Central; Elyse Huang and Nathan May, Naperville North, and Michael Amato and Tamorah Johnson from Neuqua Valley.
This year’s Outstanding Teacher in American History honoree is Michael Ulriech, a U.S. history teacher at Naperville Central High School since 2006. His passion is obvious to his peers and his students over the years.
While expressing congratulations to all award recipients, Fort Payne regent Wrenne Jakubiak said, “Our future is secure with individuals like these people. We are proud to honor each of them.”
The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution was founded in 1890 to preserve the memory and spirit of those individuals who contributed to securing American independence. For more than 130 years, the DAR has strived to bring awareness to the honorable sacrifices and enduring legacy of all patriots who fought for America’s freedom.
To learn more about the work of today’s DAR, visit www.dar.org.
Report and group photo submitted by Fort Payne Chapter, NSDAR.
