Duncan to appear at bell-ringing ceremony for mental health

Montgomery County Executive Doug Duncan will join federal, state and local officials at 10 a.m. today outside the Executive Office Building in Rockville to ring a 300-pound bell representing freedom for people who suffer from mental illness.

The bell, which resembles the Liberty Bell, is traveling the country to mark the National Mental Health Association?s 50th anniversary. It was cast in 1953 in Baltimore from melted shackles and chains from old mental asylums, said county spokeswoman Mary Anderson.