By PHOEBE DONALD ROBINSON / Community Columnist

For the first time ever, the City of Pelham, Pelham Board of Education and all Pelham city schools declared by proclamations Sept. 17-23 as Constitution Week.

At the Pelham City Council meeting on Sept. 8, Mayor Gary Waters declared by signed proclamation for Pelham to celebrate the 228^th anniversary of the drafting of the Constitution.

Also in attendance were council members Ron Scott, Beth McMillian, Rick Hayes, Maurice Mercer, Karyl Rice, City Clerk Marsha Yates and Pelham City Schools Superintendent Dr. Scott Coefield.

Coefield also declared by proclamation that the Pelham City School system would also celebrate Constitution Week along with proclamations from all principals of Pelham schools: Valley Elementary, Principal Deberah Miller; Valley Intermediate, Principal Robin Hollingsworth; Riverchase Middle, Principal Susan Hyatt; and Pelham High, Principal Dr. Jason Yohn.

Each school and the Pelham City Library had a bulletin board displaying Constitution Week literature.

The proclamations were organized by Neville Peacock, member of the David Lindsay Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) and resident of Pelham.

The tradition of celebrating Constitution Week was started in 1955 by the DAR petitioning Congress to set aside Sept. 17-23 annually to the observance Constitution Week which became Public Law 915 on Aug. 2, 1956, signed by president Dwight D. Eisenhower.

DAR David Lindsay Daughters throughout Shelby County organized additional Constitution Week observances: Edna Sealy, Calera High and Calera Elementary schools proclamations; Ann Head, Wilsonville Elementary and Town of Wilsonville proclamations; Linda Ackley, City of Alabaster, Meadow View Elementary and Thompson Intermediate proclamations; Beverly Hall, Shelby County High School proclamation and Ms. Nettles 12^th grade government class read CW minutes over the SCHS intercom; Sheila Coupland, Valley Elementary bulletin board and CW minutes read over intercom; Audra Leverton, Mayor Hollie Cost, City of Montevallo, and Dr. John Stewart, University of Montevallo proclamations; Karen Jensen, Mayor Ray McAllister, City of Vincent and Vincent High School proclamations; Bonnie Atchison, Columbiana Middle School and Mayor Stancil Handley, City of Columbiana proclamations; Lura Campbell, Mayor Mark Hall, Helena, and all Helena schools’ proclamations; Phoebe Robinson Hilltop Montessori proclamation and gave CW program at Hilltop Middle School and kindergarten; and Peggy Wood, Hall and Robinson gave a CW children’s program at Columbiana Public Library.