Bells to ring again on Fourth of July at Tanner House Museum

Jun 23, 2021 | Activities, Featured, Press Release

Singer-songwriter Bradley Keven Green performs on the porch of the Tanner House on July 4, 2020.

The 53rd Independence Day Ringing of the Bells at the Aurora Historical Society’s Tanner House Museum will be held from 12:30-1:30pm on July Fourth.

Because of the COVID pandemic, the event will be a scaled-down version of the society’s usual family picnic. Officials hope to return to the full event in 2022.

The event will be entirely outdoors since the museum is not yet open. Elements like the petting zoo, magician performance, pie-eating contest and hot dog picnic will not be staged this year. Masks will not be required for those fully vaccinated but social distancing will be requested.

Activities will begin at 12:30pm with a blues performance by singer-songwriter Bradley Keven Green, composer of Blues for Aurora, and an all-ages treasure hunt. Colors will be presented by the Roosevelt-Aurora American Legion Post 84 and there will be a poetry reading and short remarks. At precisely 1:00pm, the hour designated nationwide, children will be invited to pull the ropes of the 3 historic bells on the grounds.

Visitors will encounter Lady Liberty, Uncle Sam, a teenage Tanner daughter, and others.

Bell-ringing on the Fourth of July has been an Aurora Historical Society tradition since 1968. The commemoration was initiated by President John F. Kennedy in 1963.

Children pull on ropes to ring the historic bells at the Tanner House Museum on July 4, 2019.

Tanner House Tour

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