The Annual Let Freedom Ring bell ringing ceremony was held Monday morning outside the Hutton School of Business at the University of the Cumberlands, where a small group gathered to celebrate Independence Day through a number of patriotic songs and the reciting of the Declaration of Independence.
Whitley County Judge Executive Pat White Jr. (top photo) read the opening paragraph of the famous 
document during Monday’s event, while two of his sons, John Curtis and Samuel (bottom photo), helped close out the ceremony with the ringing of a Liberty Bell replica.
The bell was rung 13 times, once each for the 13 original colonies, which later became the 13 original states.
The name of each colony was recited by Mr. Charles Hayes, registrar of the Captain Charles Gatliff Chapter of the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, prior to each ringing of the bell.
The event was sponsored by the Captain Charles Gatliff Chapter of the NSSAR and the William Whitley Chapter of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
