Decatur County Honors Local Author Warner With DAR History Award

The Blackwater Chapter presented its annual DAR Women in American History Award on March 11 to Norva Balser Warner, the local author of "The Strength of Our People."

The book is a compilation of stories handed down through oral family tradition and recorded by early writers in the Kanawha Valley. Among its historical threads: thirty militia men came to the mouth of Elk River to build Fort Lee in 1788, three of whom were the author's third and fourth grand uncles.

Warner is a retired guidance counselor at Tucker County High School. Her work preserving regional history through the written word made her a natural fit for a recognition that, each year, the Daughters of the American Revolution presents to a woman who is making a difference in her community through contributions in education, religion, social, scientific, or cultural innovation.

The award carries additional personal significance for Warner beyond the recognition itself. It was learned that Mrs. Warner is a descendant of DAR Patriot John Young, through whom she plans to submit her DAR application.

Founded in 1933, the Blackwater Chapter of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution serves communities from Davis to Parsons in Tucker County, West Virginia. The threefold purpose of the DAR has remained the same since the society was organized in 1890 and chartered by an Act of Congress in 1895: historical, educational, and patriotic.

Pictured at the ceremony from left were Warner's daughter Susan, Honorary Regent Cynthia Kolsun, Mrs. Warner, Blackwater Chapter Regent Cathy Hebb, and Norva's husband Mark Warner.