Gabilan Chapter, NSDAR

Gilroy, California

Welcome

The Gabilan Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR or DAR), is located in Gilroy, California, and is a non-profit, non-political volunteer women’s service organization dedicated to promoting patriotism, preserving American history, and securing America’s future through better education.

Our chapter is committed to supporting our local military. We serve our local American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars in Gilroy, and we also connect with Operation Care and Comfort in San Jose, who supply needed support to deployed service members and veteran families. We usually spend at least one of our meetings sprucing up and cleaning headstones of veterans in our local cemeteries.

We encourage good citizenship by recognizing students in our local schools each year.

We love historic preservation, and past involvements have included the restoration of Casa Grande, the “Big House” at the New Almaden Quicksilver Mining Museum, located within Almaden Quicksilver County Park; partnering with the California State Society Daughters of the American Revolution in the placement of the De Anza marker where the expedition camped in March 1776 near Morgan Hill; and the much-needed restoration of Old Saint Mary Cemetery in Gilroy, the oldest in the area, where lies Jose Maria Amador, the namesake of one of our California chapters.

Since the beginning, chapter members have supported Wreaths Across America by participating in the wreath-laying ceremonies each December at Calvary Cemetery in Hollister, Gavilan Hills Memorial Park in Gilroy, and Mount Hope Cemetery in Morgan Hill. We are proud to be a WAA sponsor, as this is our major fundraiser. Contact us — let’s see if there is a patriot ancestor in your family.

Today’s DAR

See what the DAR is doing today. Check out our channel on YouTube!

About Us

The Gabilan Chapter, NSDAR, is named for the beautiful Gabilan mountain range near us. The word “Gabilan” means hawk in Spanish. Several species of hawks, including an unusual red-tailed hawk, live in this locale. The mountains were named by Spanish explorers in the 1700s, and on March 6, 1848, General John C. Frémont and 62 frontiersmen raised the American flag on Gabilan Peak, now known as Frémont’s Peak. Our chapter was organized on October 10, 1986, with Michele Hults as our first chapter regent. Our members come from Gilroy, Hollister, Morgan Hill, and San Juan Bautista. We do have members from other areas, as local residency is not a requirement for membership in any chapter.

We welcome any woman for membership who is 18 years of age and older and who is descended from a man or woman who aided in achieving American independence during the period between April 19, 1775, and November 26, 1783.

Chapter Board