Every September, tucked between Labor Day cookouts and pumpkin patch weekends, we quietly mark a birthday that doesn’t get balloons or fireworks: Constitution Day. It’s the day in 1787 when a handful of visionaries in Philadelphia signed their names to a document that still sets the ground rules for how we live together, argue together, and (ideally) find common ground together.
Now, I know the word Constitution doesn’t exactly set off fireworks in the brain the way “Friday night football” or “fried chicken festival” does. But here’s the thing—when you take a step back, it’s more than parchment and politics. It’s a reminder that local folks, in little towns just like ours, keep the spirit of that document alive every single day.
You see it when a teacher explains the Bill of Rights to a room full of eighth graders and a kid suddenly asks a question that makes everyone stop and think. You see it when a county judge or clerk volunteers to talk at a Rotary meeting about what happens inside the courthouse. You see it in veterans who show up to tell stories about service and sacrifice, connecting their own lives to those principles written two hundred and thirty-eight years ago.
And you see it in the quieter corners too:
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At the public library, where anyone can walk in and read books that challenge, inspire, or even frustrate them—because free thought is protected.
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At the town council meeting, where neighbors show up to debate zoning maps or potholes—because self-government starts small.
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Even at the ballpark, where the national anthem echoes and we’re reminded that we all get to share in this big, sometimes messy, experiment.
So this Constitution Day, I’m not suggesting a parade (though I wouldn’t mind seeing a marching band or two). I’m just saying take a second to look around and notice the little acts of civic spirit in your own neighborhood. Maybe it’s a teacher, a judge, a veteran, or maybe it’s you—raising your hand at a meeting or voting on Election Day.
The Constitution isn’t just in Washington. It’s alive in Batesville, Greensburg, Sunman, Versailles, Aurora, and every hometown across Southeastern Indiana.
And if you ask me, that’s worth celebrating—quietly, maybe, but with plenty of pride.