BELLS TO RING ON APRIL 9 TO MARK LEE’S SURRENDER

BELLS TO RING ON APRIL 9 TO MARK LEE’S SURRENDER

Local churches, schools, public buildings can take part in national
observance

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania – March 31, 2015

As part of a nationwide commemoration of General Robert E. Lee’s
surrender of the Confederate Army 150 years ago, Gettysburg will join
Civil War communities across the country in an observance on April 9.

Several community organizations, churches and other sites will take
part in the commemoration through the ringing of bells at 3:15 p.m. on
Thursday, April 9. Bells will ring for four minutes – one minute for
each year of the American Civil War.

“This is a great opportunity to be part of something special,” said
Norris Flowers, President of Destination Gettysburg. “Communities like
Gettysburg were indeed tragically scarred by the Civil War, and the end
to the four-year conflict was something to celebrate then as it is
now.”

Additionally, the First Baptist Church of Gettysburg handbell choir
will perform at the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitor
Center at 3:15 p.m. A Gettysburg National Park Service interpretive
ranger will introduce the choir and make a short presentation about the
historical significance of the anniversary.

The Seminary Ridge Museum will participate in the commemoration with a
short outdoor public program that will begin with a moment of silence at
3 p.m. near the Peace Portico of the Seminary Ridge Museum and include
readings and an appearance by an Abraham Lincoln presenter. The program
will conclude at 3:15 p.m. when bells will ring.

Also, the Lincoln Train Museum at 425 Steinwehr Avenue, has invited
guests to ring bells at the museum as part of the commemoration. And
Christ Lutheran Church on Chambersburg Street will host a special
presentation of its “Songs and Stories of a Civil War Hospital” in
observance of the anniversary. The event starts at 8 p.m. and includes
music, readings and living history. Earlier in the day, at 3:15 p.m.,
the church will ring a bell in honor of the anniversary.

April 9, 2015 marks the 150th anniversary of the day that Lee
surrendered to Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at the McLean House in
Appomattox, Va. While the surrender did not end the war, it was seen as
a symbolic end of the four-year American Civil War.

“The ringing of the bells is a fitting and solemn way to remember and
recognize the losses of the Civil War in this country,” said Ed W.
Clark, Superintendent of Gettysburg National Military Park. “We are
commemorating the end of the Civil War but the National Park Service
mission goes on, and we will continue to preserve these places and to
tell these stories from Civil War to Civil Rights.”

At Appomattox, the bells will ring at 3 p.m. However, bells at local
churches, schools and other buildings should ring at 3:15 p.m.
Additional sites are encouraged to join in the observance and can email
Carl Whitehill, Director of Communications with Destination Gettysburg,
at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Destination Gettysburg, in cooperation with Gettysburg National
Military Park, is working with communities in Adams County for
participation in the national bell-ringing.

Destination Gettysburg, the official destination marketing
organization, markets Gettysburg – Adams County as a premier travel
destination, producing a positive economic impact.