By Francis Scott Key

 

July 4th is just around the corner!  Do you know the history of the song entitled, "The Star Spangled Banner?"

On September 14, 1814, at Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland another American tradition was born.  The British turned their war efforts on the Colonies after defeating Napolean in the spring of 1814. 

 

Francis Scott Key (1780-1845) was in the Baltimore harbor on a  U. S. truce ship.  Key, a young Washington lawyer and patriot, was attempting to secure the release of a friend from British custody.  Inspired by the rockets bursting over the fort and the sight of a 13 star flag flying high above the smoke, he penned the words that later became the "Star Spangled Banner." (The actual flag has been restored and can be seen in the Smithsonian Museum of American History in Washington, D. C.)  The tune was an English drinking song, "To Anacreon in Heaven," composed by John Stafford Smith in 1778, with lyrics by Ralph Thomlinson.

 

On March 3, 1931, under President Herbert Hoover, an Act of Congress, declared the song originally titled "The Deference of Fort McHenry," our National Anthem.  The "star fort" in the shape of a five pointed star is now a museum.  The name McHenry was in honor of James McHenry, Secretary of War under Presidents Washington and Adams.  The museum at Fort McHenry contains war uniforms from the War of 1812, through the Civil War.  The fort itself was used for captured Confederate soldiers and southern sympathizers during the Civil War.  During World War I, it was a hospital for American soldiers wounded in Europe, and during World War II it was a Coast Guard training facility.

 

Laura Bush and Jenna Bush have authored a new book entitled, "Read All About It."  Carol Meny and the NFRW Literacy Committee recommend reading it today!

For more information and to purchase the book go to: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Read-All-About-It/Laura-Bush/e/9780061560750/?itm=2.

 

ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS - The NFRW Achievement Awards is a great tool for a successful club. It establishes standards of performance for club functions, membership development, programs, campaign activities and community relations. It enhances teamwork among members to produce a well-balanced club program. The award features four levels. Your NFRW awards committee has worked hard to make the new guidelines even easier for you to follow. You will find that they are slightly abbreviated from the past with a few rewarding additions. Go to www.nfrw.org/membersonly/publications.htm to download the current biennium's guidelines. Sit down and start to work on them now. You may find that you are already doing much of what is suggested, plus you will find ideas for the future.  

 

BETTY HEITMAN AWARD FOR STATE EXCELLENCE - This award has been developed to reward excellence at the state federation level, to foster communication between the state and clubs, and to encourage the state federation to mentor its clubs. These guidelines will lead you to one of the three levels of awards: accomplishment, achievement or excellence. It's not too late to begin to use this tool for the current biennium. www.nfrw.org/membersonly/publications.htm.

 

  

What is something simple you can do to support the troops?  Wear red on Fridays!  Simple!