Queen Alliquippa DAR chapter cleaning gravestones at area cemeteries

It also prepared baskets for White Oak EMS in honor of today’s celebration of National First Responders Day.

The Queen Alliquippa Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution has been conducting several service projects over the past month.

Regent Queen Alliquippa NSDAR Becky Caligiuri of Elizabeth Township showcases baskets the DAR chapter will be giving to EMS workers throughout the community.

Founded in 1890 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., DAR is a nonprofit, nonpolitical volunteer women’s service organization dedicated to promoting patriotism, preserving American history and securing America’s future through better education for children.

The Queen Alliquippa Chapter NSDAR was chartered Jan. 21, 1911, by a group of women from the McKeesport area. Today, the chapter has members from McKeesport, Elizabeth, Irwin, Monroeville, West Mifflin, Greater Pittsburgh, the Mon Valley and more.

According to its website, the chapter’s desire to recognize the power and strength of women led them to choose the name Queen Alliquippa Chapter NSDAR in honor of the Seneca leader who was influential in the early days of the United States of America.

Since the chapter is based on historic preservation and community service as well, Queen Alliquippa chapter member Mary Gottschalk said they participated in cleaning graves of American Revolutionary soldiers in Round Hill Cemetery in September and the chapter made baskets for White Oak EMS ahead of National First Responders Day, which is today.

Grave cleaning

The chapter has a vast history of historic preservation, including the site of General Braddock’s Final Encampment, which they dedicated a monument to in 1914.

The original dedication site was as close to the encampment as possible, near Foster Road and Lincoln Way in White Oak. The monument was relocated by White Oak borough and is currently located at the Heritage Pool site in White Oak.

While the chapter has done preservation for different types of historic landmarks, Gottschalk said they have done tombstone, historic marker cleaning and preservation for a long time.

Chair for Historical Preservation Tracy Stone of Liberty Borough said the historic preservation committee has located a few local cemeteries that contain soldiers.

A cleaning took place Sept. 7 at Round Hill Cemetery, and Stone said that is the only one they have done this year due to the weather.

They hope to clean at several other sites, including Lebanon Church Cemetery in West Mifflin, Robb Cemetery, Long Run Presbyterian Cemetery and more.

“We are taking care of them, cleaning the stones as best we can and seeking to preserve them along with their family members,” Stone said. “We are hoping to do more in the spring.”

They start by getting permission from the cemetery or family members and then use D2 biological solution to clean the headstones.

They are not scrubbing the stone or using a pressure washer, but they are gently removing years of buildup, just like how national cemeteries clean their stones. They let the weather and sun do the rest of the work to keep the stones clean.

Stone said they cleaned 12 headstones, including some that were in really bad condition. They hope to work with other groups to get them fixed.

Several chapter members plan on doing research on some of the graves they uncovered Sept. 7, and they hope to find some family history for the patriots they located, Stone added, who found the process of cleaning graves “very cool.”

“It’s been interesting cleaning the graves, finding the names,” Stone said. “These graves are thankfully not in too bad of shape, but it’s very interesting how fast you can read them as they get cleaned. There is a noticeable difference initially, but over time, it’s just amazing what cleaning can do.”

EMS baskets

DAR celebrates its National Day of Service annually on Oct. 11, the anniversary of the organization’s founding.

Members honor the ideals of service, which have been a core mission since the organization’s founding in 1890.

Regent Queen Alliquippa NSDAR Becky Caligiuri of Elizabeth Township said they wanted to find an organization that was local that they could give back to.

That is where she landed on making first responder baskets for White Oak EMS since they have their chapter meetings at Faith Lutheran Church in White Oak. They are also giving baskets out to SouthEast Regional EMS and many fire halls.

“We’ve helped a variety of organizations in White Oak, and this year, I got involved with working with some national defense stuff on the state level, and we were talking about first responder baskets, which we have never really done as a chapter,” Caligiuri said. “Responders do a lot for us and the least we can do is say thank you.”

The goal was to get four baskets put together of different items like hand warmers for colder months, hydration packs, Gatorade and other snacks and supplies.

One of their members applied for a donation from Whole Foods and they are now trying to give out six large boxes and 12 large baskets.

While Caligiuri has not heard from local EMS or fire halls, they plan to stop by different locations today to give out the supplies.

“It totally blew my expectations out of the water,” she added. “I am super excited to give these out to everyone because this is a group we never recognized as a chapter. We want to make sure we give back to the communities that host us and to the community in general.”