Five years later, in 1971, the bell was designated the Official Freedom Bell of the State of Illinois by Illinois Governor Richard B. Ogilvie. A plaque was added to the tower on July 4, 1972 with an inscription from Governor Ogilvie that reads:  On February 17, 1963, an issue of "This Week" contained an article, "Make Freedom Really Ring", written by two Connecticut writers, Eric Hatch and Eric Sloane. In the article, they suggested that every July 4, all bells in the country ring for four minutes, and radio stations broadcast the ringing for two minutes. Readers across the country took the advice of the magazine's editor, and contacted local officials in support of a nationwide bell-ringing observance. Concurrently, a resolution was proposed in Congress by Connecticut Senator Abraham Ribicoff that called for the ringing of bells nationwide at 2 p.m every July 4. Eastern Daylight Time. The bill passed both the Senate and House of Representatives later that year. Meanwhile, the village of Mount Morris had already decided to hold their own bell-ringing during the village's annual Independence Day festival, the "Let Freedom Ring". Subsequently, on April 30, 1963, Illinois native and rising Republican political star Ronald Reagan visited Mount Morris to dedicate the first Mount Morris freedom bell, which now hangs at the Veterans' Memorial Fountain. The first freedom bell was a small 16 inch (40.6 cm) bell. Later, as U.S. President in 1984, Reagan was presented with a replica of the official Illinois Freedom Bell in the Oval Office by U.S. Representative Lynn Morley Martin. The first national bell-ringing took place on July 4, 1963; Mount Morris also participated in that ringing. Even though many states sponsored bell-ringings, Hatch and Sloane both credited Mount Morris with making their suggestion a reality. The Illinois Freedom Bell is annually rung in unison, at 1 pm CDT (18:00 UTC) on the Independence Day, July 4, with other bells across the United States. Thousands of people gather in the village to hear the bell each year on Independence Day. In Mount Morris, the annual event is known as the Let Freedom Ring festival. The Mount Morris festival and bell ringing has been attended by several notable individuals. In 1973, future Illinois Governor and member of the 9/11 Commission, James Thompson attended the festival and bell ringing. A year later, in 1974, Richard Blake, a noted Abraham Lincoln impersonator, appeared at the festival to speak as Lincoln.