EDENTON — Thursday, The Edenton Tea Party Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, sponsored a Constitution Day Celebration in the Historic 1767 Chowan County Courthouse.
A gallery of photos, courtesy of the Edenton Tea Party Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, appears at the end of this story. Familiar faces — Alex Kehayes and Larry McLaughlin — appear in the main feature photo for this story. More on them in a minute.
Also, note, here is a link to Jonathan Tobias’ keynote speech at the event — When A Garden Saved the Constitution. A resident of Edenton, Tobias is a college professor and award winning local columnist.
Back to the event — the JROTC Color Guard from John A. Holmes High School, under the direction of Lt. Col. Neil Parks presented the Colors for the day followed by an invocation by Chapter Chaplain, Clara P. King. The Preamble was led by Chris Grimes, Chaplain General of the National Society Sons of the American Revolution.
In her opening remarks, Chapter Regent Bonnie Henn noted that Gertrude Carroway, a North Carolina member of the DAR, who rose to the office of President General provided the inspiration for a week of honoring this historic document. Her appeal to President Dwight Eisenhower was signed into Public Law by Congress on August 2, 1956. Mrs. Carroway was State Regent of North Carolina during the time when the Edenton Tea Party Chapter was being chartered in 1948.
The Constitution Day program included a Town Proclamation, decreeing Constitution Week be celebrated in Edenton, presented by Mayor Hackney High. Ms. Henn presented Mayor High with an “America!250” Commendation and Medal for the Mayor’s support during the 250th anniversary of the Edenton Tea Party and his continued dedication to Historical Preservation, Education and Patriotism in Edenton.
An ensemble from the Albemarle Chorale, led by Mr. Lynwood Winslow, III performed two songs, “America the Beautiful” and “My Country ‘Tis of Thee”. Mr. Russ Corker, Mr. Alex Kehayes and Mr. Larry McLaughlin reprised their roles as the Town Crier, Willie Jones and James Iredell for a “Constitutional Conversation”, discussing the inclusion of the Bill of Rights as necessary to the Constitution.
The highlight of the program was the keynote address, by Rev. Jonathan Tobias entitled “How a Garden Saved the Constitution”, an oral essay on the diversity of the men who together wrote the Constitution and how their disagreements were put aside for the greater good of the unity of the nation. Tobias received a standing ovation from the audience for his keynote address.
The Courthouse Bell rang thirteen times as the JROTC Color Guard retired the Colors and the ceremony came to a close. Each attendee received a copy of the Constitution, a small bell and a card reminding each attendee to ring the bell at 4:00 the traditional time, to celebrate the signing of the Constitution!
Also see Jonathan Tobias’ speech on the matter — that’s him in the photo above.
And here is the program — you may want to take a gander, good stuff.
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 over 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. Over one million members have joined the organization since its founding in 1890.
If you are interested in learning more about DAR membership, contact Bonnie Henn, Chapter Regent, at bonnie.henn.dar@gmail.com