Liberty Bell Gets Its Annual Ceremonial July 4th 'Ringing' By Young VIPs
By Hadas Kuznits
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Descendants of signers of the Declaration of Independence participated in the annual ceremonial Independence Day bell tapping ceremony at the Liberty Bell on Thursday.
The bell tolled 13 times for the original 13 colonies, as eight of the descendants of the original signers of the Declaration of Independence tapped the Liberty Bell.
John Glynn, president of the Descendants of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence, says it's an honor to be part of the ceremony.
"In proclaiming the signing of the Declaration of Independence, which is America's birth certificate, our ancestors 237 years ago pledged to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor to establish a free and independent republic," he told those gathered.
Kayla Nicole Moore, 13, was one of the bell tappers. She's related to Roger Sherman, about nine generations back, by her estimate.
If you still don't know who he is, just pull out a $2 bill, she says:
"He's one of the people that are sitting down on the table. He's in a grey coat, so if you ever look at a $2 bill, you could see him."
And Kayla says her history class is family history.
"I told my teacher, and he made us do a whole presentation about it," she says, "and he would bring it up, like, 'Kayla's related to Roger Sherman!' This is so cool."
