One week from today marks the beginning of Constitution Week, which celebrates the 214th year of the signing of the U.S. Constitution.

To help commemorate that event, the National Society of Daughters of the American Revolution encourages churches throughout the country to join in a national project called “Bells Across America.”

Next Monday, bells will be rung in churches throughout our land precisely at 4 p.m. in all Eastern time zones, to signify the beginning of Constitution Week which is Monday, Sept. 17, through Sunday, Sept. 23.

Jeanne Rogers of Bangor is Constitution Week chairwoman for the Frances Dighton Williams Chapter of the DAR.

Rogers has been working to contact all Greater Bangor area churches “that have bells” to encourage their members to participate in “Bells Across America.”

She is also requesting the public display of the American flag on this day.

Of her effort, Rogers said, “I hope I’ve been successful.”

However, once she had completed her calls, she realized people might wonder what the bell ringing and flag flying is all about.

In the event she missed contacting a church that has a bell, she wanted to make sure the word got out about “Bells Across America.”

For those who hear the bells and wonder why they are ringing next Monday afternoon, and wonder why flags are flying, the explanation is simple:

The flags and “the ringing of bells is encouraged so that we all may hear the sound of freedom ring, simultaneously, from coast to coast,” Rogers said.

“Bells Across America” is part of the effort of the DAR to fulfill one of its major missions, which is promoting patriotism.

So, if you have a flag, proudly fly it and, if your church has a bell, proudly ring it at 4 p.m. Monday, Sept. 17.

Are you a quilter?

Do you love quilts but don’t know how to make them, and want to learn?

Bear Paw Quilters of the Pine Tree Quilters Guild invite anyone with an interest in quilting to join them at their meetings.

Marie Giles of Veazie said that each year the club “supports one or more charities in the Greater Bangor area while, at the same time, enjoying various quilting programs and each other’s company.”

This year, the group “will be making Reach for Recovery bags for breast cancer patients, and Linus Quilts for children in distress, as part of our community service,” she wrote. “Please join us in our endeavors.”

For information about Bear Paw Quilters, and when they meet, call Wendy Cole at 848-5490.

Visitors to the Bangor Public Library this month will enjoy an exhibit of the work of Kristbjorg Whitney now through Friday, Sept. 28, in the BPL Lecture Hall.

A Bangor resident since moving to Maine in 1987, Whitney works primarily in acrylics on canvas and panel.

An alumna of the Reykjavik School of Arts, she believes much of her work is influenced by the intensity of the light and stark contrasts that are the backbone of her native Iceland.

Also on exhibit this month at the library are the latest photographs of Emily Wenners.

That work can be seen in the Stairwell Gallery.

For more information about events and offerings at the Bangor Public Library, call 947-8336.

Edwin and Ethelyn Treworgy, co-chairs of the Milo Town Hall Arts Center Project, have written to extend their gratitude for recent contributions to the project.

Major donations have included $10,000 from the Eric and Virginia Treworgy Charitable Fund, $2,500 from the Three Rivers Kiwanis Club, $2,500 from Trask Insurance Co. of Milo and $2,000 from Donald and Lynn Treworgy of Noank, Conn.

Additional donations have been received from Florida residents Dwight and Mary Clark, in memory of their fathers, Merle Clark and Newman Moore, and from Joyce Bailey of Milo.

A project of the Three Rivers Kiwanis Club of Milo and Brownville, the goal is to raise $200,000 to renovate the town hall auditorium in the 77-year-old building and turn it into a performing arts center.

The project’s goal is to meet the needs of SAD 41 students who lack an adequate space for the performing arts and academic events.

The most recent contributions will help with the installation of theater lighting and a new, state-of-the-art sound system to be used by the students.

Thus far, $21,750 has been raised for the project.

Organizers are applying for grants, and will graciously accept all tax-deductible contributions.

For more information about this effort, and how you can help, call Edwin and Ethelyn Treworgy at 943-7748.

In a late August column, I told you about the Maine Children’s Home for Little Wanderers’ $1.5 million capital campaign to purchase and renovate the former Criminal Justice Academy on Silver Street in Waterville as its headquarters.

The goal of the organization is to pay off two loans from the U.S. Department of Agriculture so that agency will be able to move onto its new, five-building campus without having to repay those loans.

Requests for support are in the mail, but if you did not receive one and you want more information about this campaign, call development director Donna Jo Mitchell at 872-0261, or write The Maine Children’s Home for Little Wanderers, 34 Gilman St., Waterville 04901.

Joni Averill, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor 04402; 990-8288.