Time to celebrate Constitution Week

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Photo by Rowynn Ricks

September 16, 2008

A very big bell at St. Peter's Catholic Church in Woodward will ring-in the opening of Constitution Week, which starts Sept. 17 and continues through Sept. 23. Big and little bells will all ring at 4 p.m. Sept. 17.

Members of Woodward Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, are asking residents in Woodward and area towns to make the bell ringing a part of their Constitution Week observances. The Woodward chapter is joining other chapters nationwide in celebrating the special week, whose inception was inspired by DAR.

In addition to bell ringing in Woodward, there will be Constitution Week reminders on marquees and billboards, displays at Plains Indians and Pioneers Museum, Woodward Library and local and area schools. The display at the library is set up annually to show visitors the interesting reading offered about the Constitution. The display at the museum has a large copy of the Constitution and its amendments and an album of photographs of those who signed the Constitution.

The history of Constitution Week goes back to 1955 when Gertrude S. Carraway, then President General of DAR, was responsible for the designation of the special week. It was accepted by DAR and then sent to Congress for consideration of Sept. 17-23 as Constitution Week. Approval by both houses of Congress and President Dwight D. Eisenhower followed on Aug. 19, 1955.

The first observance of Constitution Week was so successful that on Jan. 5, 1956, a Senate Joint Resolution was introduced to have the President designate Sept. 17-23 annually as Constitution Week. The resolution was signed into law Aug. 2, 1956.

Linda Fox of Arnett, who is Regent of Woodward Chapter DAR, asks that during the special week Woodward and area residents read the Constitution. She says, "The Constitution is part of our daily lives. It protects our rights. It shapes our public debates. It is what millions have taken an oath to protect."