Recalling soldiers, 'founding documents'

COEUR d'ALENE - Reach America, a Coeur d'Alene-based Christian leadership training organization, has scheduled a U.S. Constitution celebration at the Kootenai County courthouse.

The event is pegged for 6 p.m. on Sept. 17 - Constitution Day - on the lawn of the old courthouse building along Government Way, said Gary Brown, the organization's founder and president.

Brown said people will read from the Bible, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

There also will be prayer and a prayer walk around the courthouse facilities at the county's downtown campus.

"We're not there to preach," Brown said.

The purpose is to raise awareness about the country's "founding documents," Brown said, and to remember soldiers who served and gave their lives in war.

"We're hoping to make it an annual event," Brown said.

Constitution Day recognizes the adoption of the document, which became official on Sept. 17, 1787.

Reach America has a home-school cooperative and a Friday night worship service to help Christians become engaged in the community, Brown said.

The Kootenai County commissioners last week approved the event's use of the county courthouse grounds, with as many as 100 people expected to attend.

"There was a request from Reach America if they could use county facilities, approximately the steps of the county courthouse, for a rally," Commissioner Dan Green said last week. "It's public grounds; it's there for the public."