Serving Lucas, Ottawa, Sandusky and Wood Counties
As part of its America 250 celebration, officials at Fassett Junior High School celebrated the newly installed Freedom Shrine on May 8.
The Exchange Club of Greater Maumee Bay, in partnership with Fassett Jr. High, Genoa Bank, and muralist Dean Davis, held an assembly for the seventh and eighth grade students to dedicate and honor the shrine.
The Freedom Shrine is a collection of 29 original historic American documents, photographically reproduced and attractively displayed, now found in thousands of locations across the United States and Puerto Rico.
The event included a presentation of the colors, “The Star-Spangled Banner,” remarks from Principal Mike Hyttenhove, Bob Bochi of the Exchange Club of Greater Maumee Bay, Davis, and Tracy Edwards from the National Exchange Club, along with a formal ribbon cutting of the shrine.
Student council member and eighth grader Zoe Buckman cut the ribbon.
Edwards said that there are thousands of Freedom Shrines installed around the country, but this is the very first installation that has a full-length American Flag mural behind it. The school’s partnership with Genoa Bank provided the funding for the Freedom Shrine display.
The Freedom Shrine is an exclusive program of The National Exchange Club, established in communities throughout the nation. Its purpose is to remind all Americans that the freedoms enjoyed today are, in essence, a gift from the past, the product of the idealism, determination, and sacrifice of countless courageous men and women who came before us. The Shrine serves as a call to every generation to guard and protect that precious gift.
