Celebrating the roots of freedom

The Constitution took center stage at Alexandria City Park Saturday.

The Alexandria Freemasons presented the third annual Constitution Fest with the goal of celebrating what it described as the greatest governmental document ever produced, the U.S. Constitution.

The event, also known as Citizenship Day, is observed nationwide on September 17, the day the Constitutional Convention signed the original document in 1787.

Activities at City Park began with the Freedom First Riders motorcycle group escorting the U.S. flag from downtown Alexandria and concluded at dusk with a patriotic fireworks display.

In between, there was a flag raising ceremony and a chance to view replicas of the Constitution, Bill of Rights and a timeline of the Amendments.

Those attending could also play Constitutional trivia, learn about military machines that the National Guard displayed, enjoy children’s activities and take a shuttle ride to a free tour of the Runestone Museum.

Free pocket-sized copies of the Constitution, Declaration of Independence and the Amendments were available.

Pete’s County Market and the Nelson Community Association sponsored the professional fireworks display. Other sponsors included the Alexandria VFW, KXRA Radio, Alexandria Knights of Columbus, Alexandria Eagles and the Grand Lodge of Minnesota Ancient Free and Accepted Masons.

For more information, visit the website, www.usconstitionfest.com.

MISSION STATEMENT

The mission statement of Constitution Fest is “to celebrate the success of the extraordinary ‘self-governing experiment’ by focusing on the historical background, founding and content of the United States of America.

See more photos at http://bit.ly/PGpk8F

Al Edenloff

Al Edenloff was born in Alexandria and later moved to Parkers Prairie where he graduated in 1979. While in high school, he wrote sports stories for the Parkers Prairie Independent. Al graduated from Moorhead State University with a degree in mass communication and started at the Echo Press as a summer intern in 1983. He worked as a reporter until 1990 when he was named editor. He's earned several writing and reporting awards from the Minnesota Newspaper Association (MNA) and the National Newspaper Association. He was presented with the Minnesota News Council's Journalism Accountability Award and is a three-time winner of the MNA's Herman Roe Editorial Writing Award. In his spare time, Al enjoys golfing, fishing, biking, watching sports, cooking and reading mystery novels.

Tags: local news, news, freedom, constitution