Can one person make a difference? If you have any doubts just ask Lee Chumbler, the 73 year-old retiree responsible for posting 1100 "In God We Trust" posters in schools and businesses throughout McCracken county last fall. "They’ve taken everything out of schools--prayer, the Ten Commandments, and the Bible." Chumbler said. "I thought this was something they could keep in."

Chumbler, a former insurance agent, calculated correctly. But who would have expected the Paducah school board to require every public school teacher to post the motto in his or her classroom last August? Chumbler was not surprised. "We asked the school board to require the motto to be posted, and they did," he said. An estimated 900 classrooms and 200 businesses in the area display the national motto on their walls.

Because of Chumbler, First District Congressman Ed Whitfield, U. S. Senator Mitch McConnell and State Senator Bob Leeper have the motto posted in their offices. Leeper is also distributing, across the state, a dozen framed mottos to circuit and district judges who requested them after McCracken Circuit Judge Craig Clymer sent an e-mail memo encouraging every Kentucky judge to post the motto.

He was uncertain of the legality at first, but Clymer researched the issue and concluded that nothing constitutionally bars him from displaying the motto in his courtroom. "Posting these photographs in our courtrooms will make a clear and continuing statement throughout the passing years," Clymer said. "Justice in McCracken County is founded in a reverence to God and country. Our country was founded on a strong belief in God. It is time we reaffirm our founding principles."

Chumbler, who has battled Parkinson’s disease for 15 years, raised $4000 with the help of 21 local churches to cover the cost of the posters and frames. His next goal is to get them into every Kentucky courthouse.

The 11 X 14-inch full-color poster was produced by the American Family Association of Tupelo, Mississippi. It features the national motto: "In God We Trust" in large letters over a backdrop of the American flag. "In God We Trust" officially became the national motto when Congress adopted the words in 1956.

Frank Manion, of the American Center for Law and Justice, agrees with Clymer that any school or public official who decides to post the motto is on solid legal footing. Manion, of New Hope, Ky, successfully defended a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in Kansas when a county treasurer posted the motto in her office. A federal judge not only dismissed the case on grounds that it was "frivolous" but he ordered the ACLU to pay the attorney fees for the defendant--another reason the ACLU may be reluctant to challenge the posting of the motto.

Manion has some advice for folks who want to see the motto posted. "Just do it. Don’t make a big public ado about it," he said. "Don’t make it look like a religious crusade."

Manion speaks from experience. In late 2001, a Naples, Fla., school board voted to keep "In God We Trust" out of public school classrooms when it appeared that a local chapter of the Christian Coalition was forcing the issue.

In a post-9/11 America, it appears unpatriotic to oppose the national motto. Last year, Frank Williamson, a retired engineer in Texas, donated a poster of the national motto to be placed in his local post offices in Montgomery County, about 60 miles north of Houston. After postal officials ordered the motto down, Willamson wrote the Postmaster General. The response? The U.S. Postal Service will design its own "In God We Trust" poster and place it in all 38,000 post offices across the country.

"We each can make a difference," Chumbler said. "I'm always amazed and blessed at what God can do with a willing spirit, no matter where you are in life."

If you would like to see "In God We Trust" posted in your courthouse, please call Lee Chumbler at 270-442-3382