The official apple of the Big Apple may soon be from Queens. Erik Baard, founder of Newtown Pippin Restoration & Celebration, is fighting for the Newtown Pippin apple, which was originally grown in what is now Elmhurst, to be the official
Queens Women to Launch DAR Chapter, Host Genealogy Workshop
The founder of the new Queens chapter, Wilhelmena Kelly, said anyone who traces his or her ancestry to a colonial patriot will walk away from the workshop as a proud American.
"My family helped to build this country from the Revolutionary War, Civil War, World War I, World War II, Vietnam," said Kelly, who grew up in Brooklyn and has lived in Rosedale, Queens, since the late 1980s. "This is a commitment and a sacrifice that was made, and that sacrifice alone deserves to be preserved."
With the new Queens chapter, DAR will have 10 chapters in New York City: five in Manhattan, two in Queens, two in Brooklyn and one in Staten Island. There is no chapter in the Bronx.
Kelly said DAR's New York State regent, or president, asked her to start a second Queens chapter last year since the existing one is not very active.
Kelly's "patriot ancestor," as she called him, was a Virginia farmer named Stephen H. Hamlin, who gave ammunition, beef and corn to Revolutionary War troops. Her father and uncles also fought in World War II. She said she became active in DAR because she wants to preserve her family's legacy.
The Newtown Pippin apple (also known as Albemarle Pippin ) is an American apple that originated in the early 18th century.
