MADISON – Mary Maiorano of Madison has won a National American Heritage Award from the National Society Daughters of The American Revolution in Washington, D.C.

Mary Maiorano’s needlework sampler won a National American Heritage Award from the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution. (CONTRIBUTED)

Maiorano serves as treasurer of Hunt’s Spring Chapter of DAR in Huntsville and also is a member of the John Wade Keyes DAR Chapter in Athens.

“Mary was recognized by the national society for a creative and colorful embroidery piece that she submitted among many outstanding entries from across the country,” Diane Lehr said. Lehr serves as state chairperson for public relations and media with the Alabama Society DAR.

In vivid colors, Maiorano’s needlework depicts honeybees, a monarch butterfly, fox, snail and an owl living among wildflowers, morning glories and blackberries.

Maiorano’s crewel embroidery serves “as a whimsical example of a process that requires expertise, creativity, concentration and patience,” Lehr said.

A Charleston native, Maiorano and her family eventually moved to Cape Canaveral, Fla. for her father’s engineering work with the space program. Mary’s mother worked as a math teacher.

Mary Maiorano’s needlework sampler won a National American Heritage Award from the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution. (CONTRIBUTED)

Mary Maiorano. (CONTRIBUTED)

Maiorano graduated from Stetson University and earned an advanced degree in medical technology at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, where she met her future husband Alan.

Maiorano started needlework projects more than 30 years ago when her son Anthony was born in Columbia, S.C. He was premature, weighing only 2 pounds, 6 ounces. Needlework provided solace in the days and months following Anthony’s birth, Lehr said.

“Through the years, Mary returned again and again to her needlework as she was often alone, waiting for her husband who served this country and sailed many seas,” Lehr said. Mary and Alan, a retired U.S. Navy captain, have been married for 33 years.

“I’m an opinionated extrovert who loves life. I hold a deep and abiding passion for America. I enjoy DAR because it provides many friends who share a love for all things patriotic,” she said.

DAR promotes patriotism, American history preservation and securing America’s future through better education for children. For more information, visit DAR.org.