The Virginia Society of the Founders & Patriots of America (VAOFPA) recently participated in the wreath laying ceremony to commemorate the 237th Commemoration of the Crossing of the Dan held at The Prizery and Boyd’s Ferry in South Boston on Saturday, Feb. 17.

More than 20 hereditary organizations throughout the Commonwealth were present to pay tribute to the patriotic event that took place Feb. 14, 1781. The Crossing of the Dan has been described as a “masterful military maneuver” that would mark the beginning of the defeat of the British by the American Patriots.

The VAOFPA is a hereditary society dating back to 1896. Membership in the Order is open to any man 18 years or older who is of good moral character and reputation, a citizen of the United States, and lineally descended in the male line of either parent from an ancestor who settled prior to May 13, 1657, in any of the colonies now included in the United States of America; and one or all of whose intermediate ancestors in the same line lived in the period of the American Revolution from 1775 to 1783 and adhered as patriots to the cause of the colonies. Members are called Associates. More information can be obtained by visiting www.founderspatriots.org.