A promise carried
into everyday service.

01 · A personal commitment to public service

The Fourth Degree pledge

Co-founder Joshua Augustine Lehn’s commitment as a Fourth Degree Knight of Columbus helps explain why civic education belongs in Spark House’s service mission. His Catholic faith and understanding of patriotic duty call him to learn, act conscientiously, and serve the common good.

“I swear to support the Constitution of the United States.”

Published U.S. Fourth Degree pledge · John H. Reddin Province, August 2025, page 6

The published pledge also promises to preserve the integrity and purity of the ballot. It connects that responsibility with learning and fulfilling the duties of citizenship, respect for law and order, faithful religious practice, and virtuous conduct in public affairs. Read the published pledge.

What that commitment means here

For Augustine, upholding and defending the Constitution means understanding its text, respecting the rights of other people, participating honestly in civic life, and helping eligible neighbors participate freely in elections. Ceremonial service expresses the commitment; everyday conduct gives it substance.

This is his application of the pledge to Spark House’s work. The published text is a reference for that explanation, rather than a transcript of his own exemplification. A fraternal promise does not confer public office or election authority.

These personal roots help explain our motivation. Participation in Spark House’s community work is open to people of different faiths and beliefs who share a commitment to respectful service.

02 · Informed citizenship

Read the text.
Practice the responsibilities.

The Constitution creates a framework for public power and its limits. Article VI requires specified federal and state officeholders to support the Constitution by oath or affirmation and prohibits religious tests for federal public office. That constitutional requirement and a Knight’s voluntary pledge have different roles, while both make constitutional fidelity a subject worth studying. Read the Constitution at the National Archives.

Our proposed readings begin with the Preamble and continue into the document, its amendments, and the people who debated and shaped them. Brief biographies can explain the founders’ contributions and contradictions, including slavery and the exclusion of many people from political participation. The amendments belong in that story: the 13th addresses slavery, the 14th citizenship and equal protection, and the 15th, 19th, 24th, and 26th protect voting against specified exclusions. Read Amendments 11–27.

Spark House’s civic learning and voter information are nonpartisan. Organizational names, uniforms, and service titles should be used only within the role and authorization of the organization concerned.

03 · The courage to begin, the resolve to continue

The Lions, the firefighters,
and a community’s rodeo

Isanti’s rodeo heritage shows what can grow when people take responsibility for an idea before its success is assured. We honor the Isanti Lions Club’s courage in helping launch that tradition, the firefighters who carried it forward, and every organization, family, volunteer, and business that has sustained it.

A 2026 anniversary history by Bill Stickels III, drawing on former rodeo chair Tom Pagel’s recollections, dates the first rodeo to September 17–19, 1976, at T&B Stock Farm. Lions, fire personnel, and community members helped organize it. After disappointing financial results, the Lions approached the fire department about continuing. Firefighters Jim Houston and John Bartz championed another attempt; the second rodeo took place August 6–7, 1977. The Lions continued providing food concessions. Read the County Star anniversary account, pages 1 and 8.

The history includes donated utility poles, borrowed lumber, volunteer parking crews, and other practical contributions. Those details matter: a community tradition grows through people lending their skills, equipment, time, and trust.

Its value reaches beyond the proceeds

For Augustine, the rodeo’s value cannot be captured by a financial total. It gives neighbors a reason to work together, brings generations into the same tradition, creates opportunities for local organizations, and makes public service visible. A child who sees adults prepare the grounds, welcome families, and clean up afterward sees what responsibility to a community looks like.

The Lions’ initiative and the firefighters’ perseverance belong in the same story. Remembering both teaches a useful lesson: service includes the courage to start, the humility to share responsibility, and the commitment to keep showing up.

Share the credit across the community

The 2026 Rodeo & Jubilee Days program records a network of distinct contributors. Examples include:

Read the complete Jubilee Days schedule and sponsor acknowledgments and the rodeo association’s sponsor credits. The latter includes a sponsor section labeled 2025; each acknowledgment belongs to its stated year.

Our gratitude extends to all participating organizations, emergency personnel, performers, competitors, vendors, sponsors, volunteers, and their families. Historical programs and contributions can help preserve names and roles that a short overview cannot fully capture. Share a rodeo photograph, program, or memory.

04 · Local history made meaningful

Constitution Day in Isanti

A local member of the Daughters of the American Revolution asked Augustine about Isanti’s original fire bell, prompting the search for its history and this proposal. The City Council’s September 15 packet includes a Constitution Week proclamation for September 17–23.

Ringing an available, suitable bell for approximately one minute would connect Isanti with the nationwide Bells Across America observance. The local connection would honor both constitutional heritage and the generations of firefighters who have served this community.

Augustine has offered to operate a livestream through a channel approved by the department. The proposal includes available firefighters in Class A uniforms and possible VFW color guard and Knights of Columbus honor guard participation, subject to each organization’s agreement and the department’s operational needs.

Give viewers a way to stay and learn

A brief introduction and Preamble reading could precede the bell. An optional program afterward could include a reading of the Constitution and amendments, short founder biographies, and a discussion of citizenship and public service. Readings would identify their source and distinguish the constitutional text from biographical commentary.

Augustine also hopes to display a printing made by the Minnesota Newspaper Museum at the 2025 Minnesota State Fair—the last Fair his grandfather attended. His grandfather’s work and membership in Operating Engineers Local 49 offer a personal connection to skilled labor, responsibility, and community service. The print’s exact text and edition will be identified before it is presented as a historical source.

A responsibility to remember our origins

The first rodeo’s September 17 opening gives this observance a direct local connection. Fifty years later, a bell, a constitutional reading, and an honest account of the rodeo’s beginnings can bring national principles and Isanti’s service heritage into the same gathering.

As an Isanti firefighter, Augustine believes the fire service carries an ethical responsibility to remember the people, organizations, and community trust that made its work possible. Preserving the bell’s history, crediting the Lions and other contributors, recording veterans’ recollections, and teaching new members where their traditions came from are practical ways to meet that responsibility. This expresses his service commitment; it does not announce a department policy.

Make room for shared civic remembrance

Constitutional learning can welcome neighbors across political differences. Reading the document, explaining the responsibilities associated with public service, and honoring the people who built local institutions give the community a common subject for thoughtful discussion. We can approach difficult history honestly while keeping the gathering focused on learning, gratitude, and service.

Augustine’s response is to make the invitation more open and the history more accessible: offer a brief, welcoming observance, identify the texts being read, credit every contributor, and preserve a recording people can revisit. A livestream can extend that access while respecting the choices of participants and the department.

The same civic commitment includes respect for a free press and independent editorial judgment. The First Amendment protects speech, press, peaceful assembly, and petition—freedoms that make both public commemoration and disagreement possible. Read the Bill of Rights.

05 · A wider circle of service

From Helen Keller’s challenge
to the United Nations

On June 30, 1925, Helen Keller addressed the Lions’ convention at Cedar Point, Ohio, and asked them to take up sustained service with blind people. Her challenge helped shape a lasting commitment to vision and access. Read Lions International’s transcript.

“Will you not constitute yourselves Knights of the Blind in this crusade against darkness?”

Helen Keller · 1925 address, as transcribed by Lions International

Lions’ international service also has a documented connection to the founding of the United Nations. According to Lions International’s history, Lions were among the nongovernmental organizations invited to assist with the UN Charter in 1945. Melvin Jones, D. A. Skeen, and Fred W. Smith helped formulate provisions for NGO participation. Lions received consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council in 1947. This history establishes participation in the founding process and an enduring relationship. Read the Lions–UN history.

A commitment renewed in spring 2026

Augustine and Blessing attended Lions Day with the United Nations in New York in spring 2026. They recall meeting the U.S. ambassador to the UN, other UN dignitaries, and guest speakers whose messages renewed their commitment to another generation of service.

The program’s attention to human trafficking made a particular impression. LION Magazine’s interview with Stephanie Graef confirms her participation as an anti-trafficking panelist at the March event. Augustine sees the call to respond as a new Helen Keller moment: an opportunity to recognize an urgent need and organize sustained, practical help.

That comparison is his reflection on the event. Keller’s historic challenge concerned blindness; today’s work against exploitation has its own needs, expertise, and survivor voices. Both call for listening to the people affected and following through with useful service.

06 · Freedom and human dignity

Let concern become
prepared, practical help.

The connection between civic responsibility and humanitarian service is the dignity and freedom of the person. Our developing service mission includes learning about exploitation, helping people reach qualified support, and building community relationships that reduce isolation.

Human trafficking can involve exploitation for labor or commercial sex. The National Human Trafficking Hotline explains the role of force, fraud, and coercion, and the distinct protection for minors in commercial sex. Its referral directory connects people with specialist services.

• Learn with qualified people. Invite trained specialists and willing survivor educators to shape awareness programs and appropriate volunteer preparation.
• Support the person’s choices. Protect privacy, ask what help is wanted, and avoid turning someone’s experience into public material without their permission.
• Connect to established services. Use specialist referral resources and work within a clearly agreed volunteer role. Leave investigation and case management to the appropriate professionals.
• Follow through locally. Develop specific, manageable projects with participating organizations, a responsible coordinator, and a clear purpose.