FARMINGTON — The Colonial Daughters Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution held their regular monthly meeting on Oct. 25 at Fairbanks Union Church.

Allison Bernier of Livermore and Valerie Tucker of Strong were welcomed as new members.

Three other new members were not able to attend the meeting. They are Aileen Kennedy and Jennifer Bell of Farmington, and Joanne Skillings of Oak Island, North Carolina.

Following the business meeting, the group viewed a presentation by Scott Landry and his three homing pigeons. He gave a brief history of the training methods, markings and habits of the birds.

Historically, homing pigeons played an important role in war due to their homing ability, speed and altitude. They were often used as military messengers until that was stopped in 1957.

During World Wars I and II, carrier pigeons were used to transport messages back to their home coop behind the lines. When they landed, wires in the coop would sound a bell or buzzer and a soldier of the signal corps would know a message had arrived. He would go to the coop, remove the message from the canister, and send it to its destination by telegraph, field phone, or personal messenger.

Colonial Daughters meet the fourth Tuesday of the month, and all meetings are open to the public.

Membership applicants must be at least 18 years old and provide direct lineal bloodline descent from an ancestor who aided the fight for American independence. She must provide documentation for each statement of birth, marriage and death.

FMI: 207-645-5194.