Goodrich – To get state funding, schools across America are required to have activities to celebrate ‘Constitution Week.?
To celebrate Constitution Week, Sept. 17 – 23, Dawn Bastian was interviewed on live closed circuit TV during morning announcements at Oaktree Elementary School on Sept.18.
Bastian decorated the dress she made by hand with authentic antique glass buttons and plumes on her hat from 1787, to show students how a woman would have dressed during that period in American history.
The curator at the Ladies Museum in the village, Bastian is also a member of the Genesee Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, which means she has an ancestor who fought in the American Revolution.
‘I dressed up how Martha Washington would have dressed at perhaps a tea party 221 years ago, at the time the Constitution was signed, September 17, 1787. It is the actual signing of the Constitution the DAR wants to celebrate.?
Carol Powers, the Secretary for the Goodrich Historical Society, also a member of the DAR, said, ‘The aim of the celebration is to show our responsibilities to protect, defend and preserve the Constitution and to inform people that the Constitution is the basis for America’s great heritage and foundation for our way of life.?
The tradition of celebrating the Constitution was started many years ago by the Daughters of the American Revolution. Their first meeting was in 1892. In 1953, they petitioned Congress to set aside Sept. 17-23 annually to be dedicated for the observance of Constitution Week.