Amelia DAR Sponsors Declaration of Independence Event

On Wednesday, July 8, the Amelia Island Chapter, NSDAR, will sponsor a reading of the Declaration of Independence on the historic courthouse steps in downtown Fernandina Beach at 6 p.m.

A drum promenade from the Monument to Our Fallen at the waterfront to the courthouse will begin at 5:30 p.m. The public is invited to attend this free event.

Readers of the Declaration include U.S. Congressman Aaron Bean, Nassau County Commissioners John Martin, “Hupp” Huppmann, Jeff Gray, Alyson McCullough, Klynt Farmer, along with Florida Rep. Dean Black and Fernandina Beach Mayor James Antun, as well as community leaders Thea Seagraves (Amelia Island Museum of History) and Tony LaVecchia (MOAA), and members of the Amelia Island Chapter.

The program includes traditional music and the City of Fernandina Beach Firefighters Honor Guard.

The Declaration of Independence was ratified on July 4, 1776, by the Continental Congress in Philadelphia. Four days later, on July 8, 1776, the citizens were summoned to the Pennsylvania State House, where Col. John Nixon publicly read the document for the first time. The Fernandina Beach event commemorates this first public reading and is part of a national movement in all 50 states during which the Declaration is read “together,” at the same time.

The Amelia Island Chapter, NSDAR, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation with over 200 members who contribute over 5,000 volunteer hours and $5,000 in scholarships and awards in Nassau County each year.

For more information, go to Amelia Island NSDAR.