Fourth of July Festivities: Parades, Fireworks, Declarations01:53AM / Saturday, July 04, 2009
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The nation's birthday will be celebrated today with parades and fireworks around the county. The biggest event is the annual Pittsfield Fourth of July Parade, which will feature Gov. Deval Patrick marching for the second year in a row.
The parade, which dates to 1824, will avoid Park Square this year and run straight from South Street to North Street and end at Wahconah Park. The Park Square rotary is in the midst of reconstruction that will allow northbound traffic to continue straight through the intersection.
This year's grand marshal is Yvonne Pearson, executive director of Downtown Inc. The parade includes 163 units, including fire and police departments, local dignitaries, veterans, marching bands, balloons and floats.
The parade steps off at 10 a.m. It will be preceded by a 5-kilometer run.
Williamstown, too, has an annual parade that steps off at 11 a.m. from Southworth Street, then continues east on Route 2 and down Spring Street. The Flatbed Jazz Band will be playing on Spring Street. Paradegoers will be able to enjoy a barbecue, courtesy of Stop & Shop and Williams College.
Following the barbecue, the traditional reading of the Declaration of Independence will be held at the Williams College Museum of Art, where the college's copy of the original Declaration is currently being stored.
The Declaration and the British Reply will be read by actors from the Williamstown Theatre Festival in front of the museum at noon and 1:30. The museum will be open for visitors to see these and other important American documents held by the college's Chapin Library.
 In Lenox, there's a bit of the Bard as Shakespeare & Company, which celebrates Britain's greatest writer, takes time to honor one America's greatest political writers with a reading of Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence.
The free reading takes place outside at the Rose Footprint; admission is free but attendees are encouraged to bring a blanket or lawn chair and to be prepared for the weather.
Before going to Lenox, stop at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge for an All-American Independence Day Festival from 11 to 3, with family games, music and art projects, included in museum admission.
Top off the evening with fireworks: both Berkshire County's cities will feature light shows at the conclusion of their respective team's games.
In Pittsfield, the Defenders take on the first-place Keene Swamp Bats at Wahconah Park beginning at 6:35 p.m.
In North Adams, the Steeplecats will host the Vermont Mountaineers at Joe Wolfe Field at 6:30; fireworks by Berkshire Fireworks of Sandisfield, will be lit at about 9:30.
Annual town picnic begins at 11 a.m. at Willow Park in Bennington, Vt. Music, games, activities, food for sale. Fireworks at 9:30.
Lebanon Valley Speedway in New Lebanon, N.Y., has a fireworks display planned tonight; gates open at 5 for racing and July 4th events with admission ($11-12; kids under 11, $2). |
