Members of Waw-wil-a-way Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) met in September at the Christian Waldschmidt Homestead near Milford.

The Ohio DAR Society owns and operates the homestead and Civil War Museum. Christian Waldschmidt was a veteran of the American Revolution who settled in 1794 at a site near the Little Miami River and established a settlement called New Germany. The home was completed by 1804. The homestead is at Camp Dennison, a Civil War training camp. After years of near ruin, the Kroger family donated the property to Ohio DAR along with $5,000.

Some of the Waw-wil-a-way DAR members rang in Constitution Week, which runs Sept. 17-23. Posters will be distributed to all libraries in Highland County and Hillsboro Mayor Harsha proclaimed those dates as Constitution Week.

In 1955, the DAR petitioned Congress to set aside Sept. 17-23 annually for observance. Since adopted by Congress and signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956, Constitution Week has been celebrated and promoted by DAR. Churches are asked to ring the Bells Across America at 4 p.m. on Sept. 17, much like on the day the Constitution was first signed on Sept. 17, 1787.

Submitted by Jane Stowers, Waw-wil-a-way DAR.