Ringing in the Constitution
Published 8:04 pm Thursday, September 17, 2020
Kylee Huff and Stella Feistritzer stand on the stairs leading to the Boyle County Courthouse bell tower and look at the floor below as Mitch Wilson looks from a few steps above.
Mitch Wilson and Jakob Napiorkowski work together to ring the courthouse bell.
Kylee Huff and Stella Feistritzer work together to ring the courthouse bell.
Mitch Wilson concentrates on pulling the bell’s rope at the courthouse Thursday afternoon.
In celebration of Constitution Day, four students from the Chi Rho Classical Traditional School in Danville were invited by the St. Asaph Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution to ring the Boyle County Courthouse bell on Thursday at 2 p.m.
The long, stiff rope attached to the heavy bell hidden up in the belltower is so rough that the children wore gloves to keep from getting splinters while performing their special duty. Kylee Huff and Stella Feistritzer, both six-graders rang the bell for one minute, followed by fifth-grader Mitch Wilson and third-grader Jakob Napiorkowski who worked together for the second minute.
The trick to ringing the bell is to pull straight down and let the weight of the bell pull the rope back up.
Sept. 17 is the date when America’s founding fathers signed the U.S Constitution in 1787.
