The Fort Payne Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR) kicked off another Constitution Week in Naperville on Tuesday morning with a bell ringing at Brookdale Elementary School.
The week, commemorated every year from Sept. 17 through Sept. 23, is a nationwide celebration of the day the U.S. Constitution was signed.
“Constitution Week was initiated by Daughters of the American Revolution in 1955, and then it was put into law by President Eisenhower in 1956,” said Jill Brewer, Regent of the Fort Payne Chapter, NSDAR.
NSDAR bell ringing at District 203 and District 204 schools
To kick off Constitution Week, NSDAR members sounded the bell at Brookdale Elementary and Naper Elementary schools.
“We enjoy ringing the bells because it’s a way of engaging the kids. Brookdale Elementary and Naper Elementary are very special because they both have physical bells with a bell tower and they have ropes to yank on to ring those bells,” said Brewer.
Mayor issues proclamation for Constitution Week
At the Naperville Municipal Center, NSDAR members met with Naperville Mayor Scott Wehrli, who issued an official proclamation from the city.
“Everything we do here, from the moment somebody is elected and sworn into office, to the times we swear our police officers and firefighters in to protect us, we’re asking them to swear an oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States. It’s what our country was founded upon. So I think we can never learn and respect that document enough,” said Mayor Wehrli.
Bells Across America at the Millennium Carillon
To end the day’s activities, Bells Across America sounded for the city at the Millennium Carillon.
“We do Bells Across America in celebration of the signing of the Constitution on Sept. 17, 1787, when they rang bells to gather people to hear the first reading of the U.S. Constitution,” said Brewer.
Special displays can also be found at all three branches of the Naperville Public Library, as well as District 203 and District 204 schools, informing the community about the document that gave the country its identity over 230 years ago.
“Citizens are well aware of celebrating July 4, because that was the signing of the Declaration of Independence and that achieved our freedom from England. But celebrating Constitution Week is when the U.S. Constitution was signed on Sept. 17, 1787, and it’s the document that gives us our rights and our freedoms,” said Brewer.
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