Clinton Asks Americans to Ring In His Inaugural

President-elect Bill Clinton is asking Americans everywhere to celebrate democracy with him by ringing “bells of hope” on Jan. 17, the first of five days of inaugural festivities.

Cowbells, doorbells, church bells--even car horns will do.

Already, a range of groups from San Francisco cable car conductors to carillon players at New York’s Riverside church have agreed to participate in simultaneous demonstrations of national unity to mark the transfer of power to Clinton from President Bush.

Plans call for Clinton and Vice President-elect Al Gore to lead a small army of followers a half-mile from an inaugural concert at the Lincoln Memorial, across the Potomac River, to the gates of Arlington National Cemetery on the Virginia side, where Clinton will ring a replica of the Liberty Bell.

At the same time--about 3:15 p.m. PST on that Sunday evening--inaugural organizers hope bells will peal across the land, in foreign countries where Americans reside and perhaps even in space aboard the shuttle Endeavour.

Inaugural officials say that “bells of hope” would be a bipartisan affair.

“It’s not about ringing in a party . . . or a particular candidate,” said inaugural co-chairman Harry Thomason, a television producer and Arkansas-born friend of the Clintons’. “It’s about ringing in renewal and hope for what we Americans have to do in the next four years.”

Thomason said the ceremony would give Americans around the world a chance to show their hopes for peace as well as to participate in an inaugural event even if they cannot come to Washington.

In California, about 100 children in Malibu who have attended Camp Ronald McDonald for Good Times will ring handbells, said Pepper Edmiston, founder of the camp. In addition, about 20 of the campers will come to the nation’s capital and join Clinton’s trek across the Memorial Bridge for the inaugural bell-ringing.

“We’re all excited,” Edmiston told a reporter.

Clinton’s desire to have the most accessible inauguration in history prompted the bell-ringing and bridge-crossing event that will come as the climax of a day scheduled to begin in Charlottesville, Va., home of the nation’s third president, Thomas Jefferson.

After a morning service there, the President-elect and his entourage will board a bus for the 100-mile trip to Washington, where they will attend the concert, which is being arranged by music producer Quincy Jones. It will be free and open to the public.

Afterward, Clinton and Gore will lead the procession across the bridge, a huge granite structure erected in 1933 that now links the Lincoln Memorial with Arlington Cemetery and the Custis-Lee Mansion, once the home of Civil War Gen. Robert E. Lee.

The Liberty Bell replica was cast in 1976 for the Bicentennial celebration by the same Pennsylvania foundry that cast the original bell, which cracked when it was rung to herald the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Inaugural planners said public interest in the swearing-in ceremonies and related events has been growing steadily. Since a toll-free number (1-800-262-2222) was announced last week to answer questions about the transition, more than 16,000 calls have been received. Another toll-free number (1-800-INAUG93) has been established to answer questions about inaugural events and tickets.