Presque Isle’s traditional Fourth of July reading of the Declaration of Independence carried a bit more meaning this year as the nation marked its 250th birthday.
A small crowd gathered at the historic James School in Presque Isle for a celebration of local and U.S. history. The room fell silent as City Councilor Craig Green began with the familiar phrase, “When in the course of human events.”
The reading was one of several July 4th festivities in the city, including a cookout, antique car display and fireworks show. Supporters of the restored one-room schoolhouse on the outskirts of Presque Isle started the reading years ago, and Saturday’s event was one of many the city has planned for the nation’s semiquincentennial, with more to come each month until year’s end.
Green, who is also a Presque Isle Historical Society member, read the entire Declaration of Independence, signed 250 years ago today by members of the country’s then 13 colonies.
“Governments are instituted among Men, driving their just powers from the consent of the governed,” he read.
“When any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government,” he continued. The document then lays out the abuses of the king of England as the basis to form the new American colonial government.
Annette Holmes of Woodland attended the reading with her husband and son, and said hearing the document on the nation’s 250th birthday was meaningful.
“To have that read on this day, it’s amazing,” she said. “We need to always remember why we declared our desire for independence and fought for it, and people died for it. And that’s a precious thing.”
Just before the reading, the American flag was raised outside and a former student at the school, which was built in 1917, rang the bell.
Marilyn Lunney, 91, of Presque Isle recalled the school looking much like it does today.
“I think that’s the flag we used, by the looks of it,” she said, pointing to a faded flag on the front wall that has 49 stars.
“There were six girls in my family. We all attended here,” Lunney said. “We had a big potbelly stove for the winter, and that threw the heat, let me tell you.”
To start the festivities, the crowd of about 25 people recited the pledge of allegiance. Kim Smith of the historical society and the city’s semiquincentennial planner recounted some of the changes the pledge has undergone.
Francis Bellamy, the associate editor of a Boston children’s magazine, created the base for the pledge in 1892 as part of a historical children’s program, Smith said. Bellamy originally said, “I pledge allegiance to my flag and the Republic for which it stands,” and by 1924, it had been changed to “…the flag of the United States of America.”
“One nation under God” was added in 1954, during the Cold War, when U.S. leaders wanted to differentiate America from the Soviet Union, she said.
Smith has received much recognition for her planning efforts, Green said. A Bangor Daily News article about Presque Isle’s extensive 250th birthday activities caught the attention of the New York Times, which wrote its own article last month about Smith and Presque Isle’s celebration.
That in turn has spurred many calls and emails from people seeking information about the city, Smith said, reading a letter from a California resident who expressed gratitude for her work and praise for the city.
Presque Isle will host in September a showing of an original copy of the Declaration of Independence, she said.
The Maine Historical Society is showing the document in each of the state’s 16 counties, with Presque Isle chosen as the Aroostook County spot. Viewing will be free, but people must have tickets, Smith said.
For information on that and other semiquincentennial festivities, visit Presque Isle’s 250th birthday website.
