BY JENNIFER CABRERA
NEWBERRY, Fla. – Today, the City of Newberry celebrated America’s 250th birthday with a reenactment of the Lexington and Concord battle and the dedication of a Liberty Tree in the City Hall complex.
The festivities began with “Paulette Revere” on a horse, warning the residents of Lexington and Concord that the British were coming, and it was followed by a skirmish on the Lexington Green between reenactors representing the colonists and the British Army. The second act depicted a battle at the Old North Bridge, at the end of which the British Army retreated.
Liberty Tree dedication
A few hours later, Newberry Mayor Tim Marden and Randy Highsmith, President of the Gainesville Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution, dedicated a Liberty Tree.
Marden said he wanted to do more than celebrate Independence Day on July 4; he wanted to bring to life “what it means to be an American.” He said the City will host fireworks at Countryway Town Square on July 3, and a parade on July 4 will have 100 elements that portray 100 significant events and inventions in American history. In September, the City will decorate its Municipal Building like Independence Hall in Philadelphia.
Highsmith said that in 1765, Boston colonists gathered beneath what was known as the Liberty Tree, an American Elm with wide, spreading branches that created a natural meeting place for ordinary citizens who assembled to protest unjust taxation and to speak about their rights…