Robert French of Lincoln Park demonstrates bell ringing technique during the Lincoln Park Historical Museum’s annual Memorial Belling Ringing ceremony May 16.
By SUE SUCHYTA
Sunday Times Newspapers
LINCOLN PARK – The Historical Museum held its annual Memorial Day bell ringing ceremony inside May 16, then moved outside for the actual bell ringing when the drizzle abated.
The Lincoln Park High School Junior Reserve Officer Training Corp presented the colors, which was followed by the national anthem and the Pledge of Allegiance.
Lincoln Park Historical Museum Curator Jeff Day displays a U.S. Bicentennial flag that is part of the museum’s collection.
The Rev. Paula Miller of St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church delivered the invocation, after which Museum Curator Jeff Day and Mayor Maureen Tobin spoke to the assembled guests.
Tobin said reverence for those who died in the line of duty should be exhibited not just one day, but every day.
“As we honor and remember today, let us think about the families of our fallen, the casualties of war that cannot be forgotten: Parents, siblings, children, family members and their friends should be honored and acknowledged,” she said. “Their loss deserves our reverence as we reflect on the unwavering bravery and loyalty of those we honor today and we shall never forget.”
Tobin said she wishes there was no need to have a day to remember those killed during wartime service, and she prefers to use the word “heroes” instead of “fallen.”
“Because that is what they are, heroes, and I am forever grateful to all of our heroes,” she said.
Following her remarks, Day explained that the bell ringing tradition at the museum began more than 20 years ago and people look forward to coming each year to ring the bell in memory of someone they know who lost their life in an armed conflict on behalf of the United States.
“Beginning with the Civil War, the first Memorial Days were held in 1868, and by the year 1890, every state in the union had made Memorial Day a legal holiday,” he said. “Sadly, the World Wars and the regional conflicts of the last century have turned it into a day of remembrance for all members of the U.S. military who fought and died in service.”
Day said in honor the country’s semiquincentennial, the museum is displaying a 13-starred U.S. flag, which was designed 50 years ago during the bicentennial era.
He said the Goodell School Bell, which is outside the museum, was rung in the fall of 1918 when World War I ended, and was moved to the museum in 1976 through Lincoln Park Public Schools Trustee Charles Higgins, who saved the bell when Goodell School was torn down in the early 1970s.
Attendees gather outside the Lincoln Park Historical Museum to ring the bell during the during the Lincoln Park Historical Museum’s annual Memorial Belling Ringing ceremony May 16.
Members of the Lincoln Park High School Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps present the colors during the Lincoln Park Historical Museum’s annual Memorial Belling Ringing ceremony May 16.
The Rev. Paula Miller of St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church delivers the invocation during the Lincoln Park Historical Museum’s annual Memorial Belling Ringing ceremony May 16.
Lincoln Park Mayor Maureen Tobin speaks during the Lincoln Park Historical Museum’s annual Memorial Belling Ringing ceremony May 16.