By Phoebe Donald Robinson / Community Columnist

“The Constitution is the guide which I will never abandon,” said     George Washington, America’s first president and the Constitution’s first signer on September 17, 1787.
The Constitution, the supreme law of the United States of America, is the cornerstone of our freedom, the working basis of our Republic government. It is the oldest Constitution in the world today as well as the shortest, 4,400 words, which protects the individual liberties of all citizens through written law.
To celebrate the anniversary of the signing of this important document, the Daughters of the American Revolution petitioned Congress in 1955 to set aside Sept. 17-23 annually as Constitution Week. The DAR is a lineage society of women who can trace their ancestry, regardless of religion, race or nationality, back to an American patriot during the Revolutionary War. The three pillars of the DAR are education, history and patriotism of America.
President Dwight Eisenhower agreed with the DAR petition and proclaimed the first Constitution Week to be Sept. 17-23, 1955, and it became Public Law No. 915 after Congressional approval on Aug. 2, 1956. Furthermore on Dec. 8, 2004, Congress voted that schools receiving federal funds must instruct students on the Constitution every Sept. 17th.
On Sept. 23, 2014, the David Lindsay Chapter, the only DAR chapter in Shelby County, will present a program on the Constitution for children age’s kindergarten to fifth grade at the Columbiana Public Library from 3:30-4:30 p.m. It will include the story of the writing of the Constitution, crafts and refreshments. Each child will receive a goodie bag including a copy of the Constitution.
Constitution Week begins each year with the tradition of “Bells across America”.  On Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2014, at 3 p.m., churches, schools, businesses, fire houses, veteran’s homes, individuals, etc. simultaneously will ring bells across the nation to celebrate the 227th anniversary of Constitution.
“Our safety, our liberty, depends upon preserving the Constitution of the United States as our fathers made it inviolate. The people of the United States are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution, but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution,” said President Abraham Lincoln.