Millennium Carillon to toll the 150th anniversary of the end of the Civil War

Naperville's Millennium Carillon will toll a single bell from 2:15 to 2:19 p.m. Thursday, April 9, to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the end of the Civil War.

Carillons, churches, schools and communities across the country are invited to participate by ringing bells at the same time for four minutes, according to a news release from the National Park Service.

"The bells will ring first at Appomattox at 3 p.m. (Eastern Daylight Time) on April 9, 2015," said the National Park Service news release, noting the time Confederate Gen. Lee surrendered. "While Lee's surrender did not end the Civil War, the act is seen by most Americans as the symbolic end of four years of bloodshed."

Participants are invited to share how they observed the event by posting to social media with the hashtag #BellsAcrosstheLand2015. "Bells across the Land" can mean different things to different communities; for example, celebrating the end of the Civil War, remembering the fallen, or acknowledging the ongoing need for human rights.

Naperville City Carillonneur Tim Sleep will play a concert of Civil War music following the tolling of the bells at the Millennium Carillon until about 2:45 p.m.

"Many of the carillons in the Guild of Carillonneurs in North America are participating across the United States," Sleep said.