UPDATE: Due to the extreme heat predicted, the ceremony will be moved indoors to the Parks and Recreation building. (561 Main Street South)
Southbury will ring in America’s semiquincentennial with a community ceremony and monument unveiling on July 4.
Starting at 1:30 p.m., the event will be emceed by Mary Korsu, the chairman of the Southbury America 250th Committee.
Remarks from elected officials, including First Selectman Tim O’Neil, will be read following the Pledge of Allegiance by local scout troop members.
At exactly 2:00 p.m., the ceremony will pause for a synchronized bell ringing.
Across the state, churches, historic sites, and even residents on their own porches will toll bells 13 times as part of a coordinated effort by America 250 | CT Commission and the National Bell Festival.
The initiative, announced by Gov. Ned Lamont this spring, invites handheld bells, church bells, and electronic carillons alike to join what organizers are calling a “canopy of sound” heard across the state. The National Bell Festival specifies 13 tolls for tower or handbells, while electronically sounded bells may ring up to 250 times.
Following the bell ringing, town historian John Dwyer will speak on Southbury’s role in Revolutionary War-era efforts and read the inscription from a plaque being installed on a new monument at the Green. Lynn Dwyer, Melinda Elliot, and Shanna Bertram will then unveil the town’s new Revolutionary War Monument.
Korsu will deliver the closing remarks before light refreshments are served.
The event, organized by Southbury’s America 250th Committee, is free and open to the public.
The Southbury Record 