Constitution Week commemoration

Members of Elizabeth Crockett Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), were joined by members of Brazos Valley Chapter, Sons of the American Revolution (SAR), along with neighbors, family and friends, adults and children alike, from across Hood County to commemorate Constitution Week, Sept. 17-23, 2023.   The week-long tribute consisted of visits to three local elementary schools, along with a program and bell-ringing ceremony held at the Granbury courthouse on Constitution Day, Sept. 17.  All festivities were arranged by Peggy Purser Freeman, chair of the chapter’s Constitution Week Committee.

In addition to speeches, Constitution Week events featured reenactments of various historical figures in costume and character.  Among the portrayals were:  Sybil Ludington, a sixteen-year-old who, like Paul Revere, rode on horseback to warn the militia of the approaching British troops, by Katheryn McGlathery; Ben Franklin by Robert Hollis; George Washington by Jim Hanlon; Elizabeth Bergin, a female spy, by Joan Bonneau; James Madison by Judge Earl "Dub" Gillum; King George by Steven Garrett; Thomas Jefferson by Ron Bonneau; and a minuteman militia soldier characterized by Phil Harris.  Gary and Laurie Foreman presented Thomas Jefferson and Donna Thompson shared her family’s involvement with the creation of the Articles of Confederation.  Speakers at the Constitution Day program included Mike McAhon and Mark Forrest, with patriotic music provided by fiddler Ridge Roberts and vocalists Steve Teel and the Brown family. 

The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the country and is the most important document in American history and government.  Constitution Day was enacted by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on August 2, 1956, from a congressional resolution petitioned by the Daughters of the American Revolution. President George W. Bush established Constitution Week in 2002.  The annual commemoration encourages citizens to reflect on our rights and freedoms afforded to us by the Constitution and our civic duties and responsibilities as citizens.

The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) is a women’s service organization whose members can trace their lineage to an individual who contributed to securing American independence during the Revolutionary War. Today’s DAR is dynamic and diverse, with more than 185,000 members in 3,000 chapters in the United States and abroad. DAR members annually provide millions of hours of volunteer service to their local communities across the country and world. DAR chapters participate in projects to promote historic preservation, education, and patriotism. More than one million members have joined the organization since its founding in 1890.

For more information about DAR membership, visit www.texasdar.org/chapters/ElizabethCrockett/.