New Bedford Guide Your Guide to New Bedford and South Coast, MA
For the twentieth year, an Independence Day Ceremony will be sponsored by the Fairhaven Office of Tourism on Monday, July 4, 2016, at 10:00 a.m. at historical Fort Phoenix. The program, which includes the firing of the fort’s five cannons, will take place following a Classic Car Cruise/Parade which starts at Fairhaven High School at 9:00, after the raising of the “Big Flag.”
The Fort Phoenix program will feature a brief history of the fort, presented by Fairhaven Director of Tourism Christopher Richard. Next, eleven-year-old Weslee Tyler will read her award-winning essay with the theme America the Beautiful. Weslee entered the contest sponsored by the Fort Phoenix VFW Auxiliary #2892 as a fifth grader at Wood School. After the reading of the essay, excerpts from the Declaration of Independence will be read by Charles K. Murphy, chairman of the Fairhaven Board of Selectmen. The flag will be raised to the singing of The Star Spangled Banner. Then the Fairhaven Village Militia will load and fire the fort’s five Civil War cannons over the harbor.
The Independence Day program was begun in 1997 by the Office of Tourism. That year Earl Faunce and Wayne Oliveira fired the Fort Phoenix cannons for the first time in many years. The patriotic ceremony, now co-sponsored by the Fairhaven Village Militia, has been a popular annual event ever since.
In the event of rain, the program will be cancelled.
For more information, contact the Fairhaven Office of Tourism at 508-979-4085 or email FairhavenTours@aol.com. The office is open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday from 8:00 a.m. to noon and 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. and Saturday from 8:00 a.m. to noon.
