Orono student takes prize in DAR contest

ORONO – Rachel Bergman, a June graduate of Orono High School, was awarded third place this spring in the state DAR Good Citizen contest, sponsored by the Maine State Organization, Daughters of the American Revolution.

Bergman, who was nominated by Esther Eayres Chapter in Orono, attended the awards banquet of the Maine DAR in Waterville. She is the daughter of Carl and Joyce Bergman.

The DAR Good Citizen Awards were presented by state chairman Elizabeth Howe at the event, with State Regent Donna Hoffmann presiding. Both Howe and Hoffmann are members of Ramassoc Chapter in Bucksport.

National Chaplain General Mary Lou James of Florida gave the address.

State chairman Carolyn Kelley presented first place awards in the American History Essay Contest to Dustin Getchell, grade five; Caleb Beal, grade six; and Brian Getchell, grade seven, all of Rose M. Gaffney Elementary School in Machias, sponsored by Hannah Weston Chapter. Genevieve Denoeux, a pupil at St. Augustine School in Augusta, sponsored by Koussinoc Chapter, earned first place for grade eight.

The winners were selected from more than 200 entries throughout the state, writing essays on the topic, “Benjamin Franklin – More Than A Revolutionary.”

Crystal Kwon, a fourth-grader from Anson, was named State Junior American Citizen, sponsored by Silence Howard Hayden Chapter. Crystal is a member of the Maine Children of the American Revolution.

Therese Couture, a home-schooled student from the Waterville area, won the Christopher Columbus Essay Contest, and was sponsored by Silence Howard Hayden Chapter.

The Maine DAR presented its first Patriotic Service Award to Morrill R. Worcester of Harrington, who attended the banquet with his wife, Karen. Hannah Weston Chapter sponsored Worcester.

For the past 15 years, Worcester has given and transported to Washington 5,000 Christmas wreaths.

Each year, the wreaths are placed on the graves at Arlington National Cemetery, the Tomb of the Unknowns, the gravesite of the late President John F. Kennedy, the USS Maine Memorial, the grave site of former Maine Sen. and Secretary of State Edmund S. Muskie, and the graves of those who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan.

During the conference in Waterville, State Regent Donna Hoffmann was endorsed as a candidate for one of seven vice president general positions to be filled at the 2007 DAR Continental Congress in Washington.

Hoffmann attended the recent Continental Congress with her daughter, Heidi Hoffmann, who served as personal page.

The state regent delivered her report at Constitution Hall on the activities of Maine DAR.

Honorary State Regent Polly Bartow also attended the event and has been named to the Calvin Associates, a slate of officers who will be considered for election to the national Executive Board in 2007. Bartow is a candidate for librarian general.