Constitution Walk offers a look back

During the American Revolution, Emily Geiger volunteered to ride horseback through the woods teeming with British soldiers carrying a message from Gen. Nathanial Greene to Gen. Thomas Sumter.

She eventually was captured by the British as a spy, but before she could be searched, she managed to memorize the message, and then eat the paper on which it was scrawled.

The next morning, she was released and rode on to deliver her message. It resulted in Green and Sumter planning a surprise attack on Lord Rawdon, which was the last battle of the Revolutionary War.

Such was the historic vignette offered Saturday by Karen Pacini to dozens of participants in a "Walk for the Constitution."

To celebrate Constitution Day and its signing on Sept. 17, 1787, Carson City's Project Americans Coming Together organized a walk up College Parkway to Western Nevada College. Historical stations were set up all along the sidewalk with such presentations as:

• Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader?

• Newspaper article from Romania after 9/11, showing how America united during a crisis.

• Emily Geiger story from the Revolutionary War.

• Thomas Paine's words penned as a revolutionary soldier.

• Oath from Nevada Sen. Dean Heller.

• Military oath.

• Oath of the president of the United States.

• Citizenship oath.

• Quote from the Pledge of Allegiance.

• George Washington (portrayed by Ron Knecht) signing a pledge to study the Constitution.

Pacini said she participated Saturday because it was important to her that people know the stories from history. She also said she wrote a play on American history under the pen name of Karina Russell, which she is trying to get into the district's fifth-grade curriculum.

"When I was growing up, all history meant was memorizing dates so you could pass tests. I missed the stories. There are so many miraculous stories that are not in the history books, and the more stories I read, the more interesting it became," Pacini said.

"PACT wants to increase the awareness of what our rights are because of our Constitution," she said.

Ed Webb was at the last station on the route. He said he wondered why so much important history had been taken out of the schools.

"The Constitution is a guideline, a blueprint, and it created the greatest country in the world. I just wonder why, as a country, we have done such a bad job of educating children about our country," Webb said. "There are some things that are never outdated."

For more information about PACT, go to www.projectamericans.com or call PACT Chairwoman Janice Baldwin at 775-841-1533.