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The cannon goes off during Sharon’s Fourth of July celebration.
Phoebe Tobin
Hotchkiss Library Executive Director Gretchen Hackmeister, who served on a town committee that organized the event, said planning had been underway for about a year.
“I remember the bicentennial when I was a kid, and it was really fun and meaningful, so I wanted to be part of it again,” Hackmeister said. “At the library we are reading the Declaration of Independence, so I helped organize that, and I’m excited about that. I think it’s particularly meaningful right now.”
Colonial reenactors set the scene at Sharon’s Fourth of July celebration. Phoebe Tobin
At 12:30 p.m., community members took turns reading sections of the Declaration of Independence. As readers recited the Declaration’s list of grievances against the British Crown, the audience responded to each one with a spirited chorus of boos.
Attendees Scott and Michelle Pastor said they came to celebrate both the nation’s history and their community.
“We were here on the 200th,” Scott Pastor said. “I would ask anybody why they’re not here.”
“We are proud of our country,” Michelle Pastor added, who also expressed pride from being from Sharon. “I was born and raised here.”
The couple said their favorite part of the celebration was seeing so many members of the community come together to mark the occasion.
The event also featured hot dogs and an ice cream truck, all free as a part of the celebration. The event concluded at 2 p.m. with the ringing of bells, a tradition observed across the country, followed by a final cannon salute to mark the occasion.
A KVFD Mega Soaker took the place of a bonfire during Kent’s Fourth of July festivities.
Alec Linden
Hot weather forced the post-parade entertainment from a bonfire and s’mores to watermelon, popsicles and the “KVFD Mega Soaker,” which was more of a waterfall than a spritzer. Despite the last minute change, the Mega Soaker, courtesy of the Fire Department, proved to be a hit.
As kids and adults revelled in the spray, Town Clerk Darlene Brady, who helped organize much of the evening as a member of the USA 250 Subcommittee, said she couldn’t have been happier with the outcome. “It’s more than I could have envisioned or expected,” she said, “I’m really proud of the community.”
Kent residents sign a symbolic Declaration of Independence on July 4 at the Community House. Ruth Epstein
On Saturday, it was standing-room only during the signing of the Declaration of Independence at the Community House. Civic organizations had booths, the Lions Club provided hot dogs and soda and the 250 Committee provided a large flag cake baked by So Delicious bakery.
Town Clerk Darlene Brady explained the “Let Freedom Ring Project,” a tradition inspired by local artist and collector Eric Sloane that started years ago. In 1962, Sloane and his friend Eric Hatch pitched the idea of a coordinated nationwide celebration.
The suggestion was brought to the attention of then Sen. Abraham Ribicoff, who presented a resolution to the Senate. The matter was forwarded to President John F. Kennedy, who proclaimed the Fourth of July to be ‘National Bell Ringing Day’ through a resolution in 1963.
Late Saturday, after the storm passed, fireworks were held at Lake Waramaug, a bit later than planned.
Salisbury band plays patriotic tunes after a reading of the Declaration of Independence.
Aly Morrissey
As always, Lou Bucceri assumed the role of Heman Allen, brother of Ethan Allen, who lived in Salisbury for about 20 years. Allen was one of more than 25 Salisbury men who lost their lives in the Revolutionary War. Bucceri read the Declaration of Independence in a booming, theatrical voice for the 24th year.
Bucceri said he keeps coming back year after year because, “It’s the Fourth of July!” He added that the event is a way to stay connected with the Salisbury Association, which sponsors the celebration. “And it’s great material,” he said.
Asked whether he has the Declaration memorized by now, he joked, “No…it’s far too long with too many grievances.”
A boat parade also took place, with vessels decked out in patriotic decorations as they cruised Lake Wononscopomuc, creating a colorful scene on the water for beachgoers.
Informational signs were posted throughout the Grove, highlighting Salisbury’s historic buildings and role in the nation’s early days.
As the storm rolled in, the laser light show at Satre Hill was canceled.
A lake boat is decked out in patriotic decor ahead of the boat parade at the Town Grove July 4. Aly Morrissey
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Actor and resident Sam Waterston speaks at the July 4 festivities in Cornwall.
Ruth Epstein
The actor said he had spent a good part of his life reading, writing and thinking about the words of Abraham Lincoln, who “never had a feeling politically that did not spring from the sentiments embodied in the Declaration of Independence.”
Quoting the Declaration’s best-known passage beginning with “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness,” Waterston said he found those words to be most inspiring. Formulated by Thomas Jefferson, he noted, they mean every person possesses God-given rights that cannot be taken away.
A Fourth of July parade proceeds through Cornwall. Maxwell Murray
From the moment the Founding Fathers signed on to that premise, Waterston said there was a new country to live in, “a reason for being, a destination to head for, and a North Star to navigate by. You can’t beat that.” The audience applauded.
Waterston said the idea that all men are created equal promised “that no one could be deprived of the right to rise in life, follow their own path, seek their own happiness, speak their own mind, practice their own faith, have a free press, all that — and what it meant — that we would not tolerate anyone lording it over us.”
He concluded by invoking the oft-quoted line, “‘The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice,’” and noted that “it applies just as much to us here today as it did when people from this very town mustered on this very green 250 years ago.”
A Fourth of July parade makes its way through downtown Falls Village.
Patrick L. Sullivan
Timolat began the reading and was soon interrupted by a blast from a cannon operated by Dusty Blass of D. Blass Excavation, followed by a shout “Happy Birthday!”
After a brief pause, with smoke lingering in the background, he continued.
The reading followed a parade, led by violinist Rachell Gall and guitarist Jim Stey, who played a colonial-era tune.
The parade also featured fire trucks – including one carrying Dave and Carmela Barger portraying George and Martha Washington – vintage vehicles, members of the Falls Village Volunteer Fire Department, and members of the Falls Village-Canaan Historical Society, who were also dressed in period costume.
Also in costume was Selectman Judy Jacobs portraying Betsy Ross.
Vintage vehicles joined the parade in Falls Village. Patrick L. Sullivan
State Rep. Maria Horn (D-64) led the Pledge of Allegiance, and students from Lee H. Kellogg School gave the crowd a preview of the time capsule they prepared.
The time capsule contains letters written by students, a copy of the latest town report, cards from local businesses, a brochure from the historical society, and pennies. Krista Barger, a paraeducator at the school, said that the students thought it important to include the now-discontinued pennies.
The time capsule will be buried in front of the historical society building on Railroad Street. Organizers are still deciding when it will be opened, though Barger said they are leaning toward 50 years from now, when the students who created it will be in their early 60s.
Falls Village celebrates Fourth with cannon fire, time capsule Patrick L. Sullivan
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