New 'ELL' chapter forming in Glen Carbon

A new chapter of "Earn It, Learn It or Lose It," a U.S. Constitution study group, is forming under the leadership of attorney Dayna Johnson in Glen Carbon.

Tad Armstrong, who founded the group under a different name in February 2005 -- First Tuesdays -- said interest among the public is so great that several more groups have been planned in the Metro-East.

"Thomas Jefferson said a democracy could not long endure in both freedom and ignorance," Armstrong states a press release.

The club's mission is to develop greater understanding of the U.S. Constitution. It is free and open to the public.

Plans to establish "ELL" groups in Granite City, Jerseyville and O'Fallon are in the works. Armstrong also is marketing the idea to attorneys in Champaign, St. Louis, New Orleans and Washington D.C.

"If there's enough interest in having four or five clubs just in the Metro-East, there's no reason why there couldn't be 300 across the country," said Armstrong.

Armstrong's club, which meets on the first Tuesday of each month at St. John's United Methodist Church in Edwardsville, is currently discussing issues of treason. Next month, the group will take up presidential war powers.

Johnson, an attorney with the Greensfelder firm in Swansea, will lead the newest club at 7 p.m. on the third Monday of each month at the Glen Carbon Senior/Community Center at 157 N. Main St.

R.P. Lumber, The Bank of Edwardsville and Cassens Dodge Chrysler have agreed to underwrite the cost of materials for the new club's first year of operation.

For more information about the Glen Carbon ELL, Johnson can be reached at 239-3616.