This past weekend, my Mom and I attended the Illinois Daughters of the 2019 American Revolution State Conference. Every year members of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution gather together to celebrate historic preservation, education, and patriotism. If you are not a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, check out how you can become a member here! Anyway, my Mother and I are lucky to be apart of this wonderful society and a equally wonderful local chapter! Last year was the first time I had Paged at the state conference because I was a new member. However, after Paging last year I knew I wanted to come back this year and do it all again! Everything about being a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution is amazing, but getting together with a large group of ladies who are also invested in this organization makes the conference a ton of fun! In today's post, I want to share a little bit out the weekend and encourage other ladies to see if they can join the Daughters of the American Revolution. For the guys, there is the Sons of the American Revolution, and for both boys and girls under the age of 18-years-old there is the Children of the American Revolution. I would highly recommend checking to see if you are eligible to join any of these organizations because they are all wonderful and do amazing things! Day 1 My Mom and I. Processing in one of several different historical flags. One of the best parts of paging for the Daughters of the American Revolution is that you get to carry different flags into meetings and events. This year, I carried the Illinois state flag and several historical flags. Besides having the honor of processing in and out flags, pages also get to help the ladies process into the room and up and off the stage. This provides so many opportunities to get to know more people and to work alongside other pages. The processions are always so grand and fantastic to be apart of! Another element of paging that is particularly fun to me is the challenge of finding cute all white ensembles! We have a dress code that requires pages to wear all white at all times with white gloves. The only time a glove is removed is when the National Anthem is played. In addition, in the afternoons we wear knee-length dresses/skirts and in the evenings we wear all white evening gowns. I love the all white outfits (even if it isn't my best color) because so many of the pages have lovely details that makes their ensembles unique while adhering to the dress code. As a fan of all fashion, this is like my Super Bowl! There is so much creativity given to little elements like a bow here or a ruffle there and it really livens up the white outfits! The Illinois State Regent's preservation project was to plant gardens that would promote the population in Monarch Butterflies. All of the beautiful decorations were butterfly related and gave the conference a very springtime feel! The preservation project was a massive success, and the wonderful ladies of the Illinois Daughters of the American Revolution put their hearts into helping the Monarch Butterfly! Mom and I selfie time!!! Day 2 Day two was the day I carried the Illinois State flag for the first time! To say I was excited would be an understatement! Carrying in a flag is always an honor, but I had never had the opportunity to present the Illinois state flag yet so this was amazing! Something else I am thankful to have been apart of was helping put together the table decorations for the evening banquet! I was not the brains behind this beautiful design, but I did help set it all up. Sitting in a dimly lit room with these gorgeous center pieces really made the evening extra special! Mom and I at the Illinois Daughters of the American Revolution State Conference banquet! One of my favorite aspects of being a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution is the community it creates. The members who come to the annual states conference may not see each other often because of the distance between chapters, but when everyone gets together at the state conference people just pick up where they left off! There are so many friendships that come out of being a member! Being a Page is also creates a sisterhood among the ladies who participate. Working alongside one another creates friendship and camaraderie that last far beyond just the weekend spent at conference! The ladies who return each year know one another and grow together both as individuals and as patriots. Although two days go by quickly, it is always a blessing to spend those days with the ladies of the Daughters of the American Revolution! There is nothing quite like this organization and the causes they champion are really amazing! After all of the excitement this weekend, I just cannot wait until next year! Maybe I will see some of my Faintly Familiar readers there, too. Much Love, Sarah