MILTON — With Constitution Week coming up in a couple of weeks, the local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution have been busy at work preparing for the historic event.
Karan Llewellyn, a member of the Fort Pickens Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, has been overseeing the planning of the Constitution Week in the community. Llewellyn said the local chapter was planning to celebrate the week by having displays in local businesses and public and school libraries. The mayors of both Milton and Gulf Breeze issued proclamations, according to Llewellyn, officially recognizing the week. She said local churches were contacted to participate in ringing their church bells at 3 p.m. on Sept. 17 as part of a ceremony known as Bells Across America, which is itself a tribute to the actual bell ringing event that took place on the day of the Constitution signing in 1787.
"Constitution Day, also called Citizenship Day and previously I am an American Day, is the observance that honors the creation and adoption of the Constitution and all persons who have become U.S. citizens," Llewellyn said. "Through birth or naturalization."
Llewellyn said DAR initiated Constitution Week in 1955 after petitioning Congress to dedicate the week of Sept. 17 of each year to commemorate the signing of the Constitution. In August 1956, the resolution was adopted by Congress and signed into law by President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
"Celebrating Constitution Week falls under one of the founding principles of DAR," she said. "Promoting patriotism. In the words of (DAR President General) Denise Doring VanBuren, 'Farmers created a Constitution that translated into law the ideals upon which our nation was built.' Their vision was so forward thinking that their words still guide us today."
According to DAR, no America History education can be complete without having a complete understanding of the the impact the U.S. Constitution has on the lives of the America citizens, both past and present.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: DAR celebrating Constitution Week