Oneonta presented a festive and memorable celebration for our country’s 250th anniversary. It was a reminder of what makes our community so special.
I was honored to be a part of several of the celebrations throughout the weekend. On Friday, I presented a proclamation at the historic marker dedication at the Swart-Wilcox House Museum. On Saturday, I marched in Fourth of July parade and enjoyed the City of the Hills celebration in Neahwa Park. What a fireworks show! Finally, on Sunday, I played with the Oneonta Community Concert Band and read part of the Declaration of Independence in Huntington Park. I hope many of you reading this column also got to experience some of these events, or were able to celebrate America’s 250th with friends and family.
All of these events and celebrations were made possible by the many hours, and many years, of work by volunteer committees and boards to ensure our history is preserved, celebrated and understood for many generations. The Friends of the Swart-Wilcox have been in place since the 1980s, led by Helen Rees; the Oneonta Community Concert Band has performed in the area in some form since the 1850s and is currently led by co-conductors Andrew Pease and Kerri Hogle; and Hill City Celebrations has been bringing the Hometown Fourth for many years, now led by Sean Lewis. Finally, the Oneonta America 250 Committee, which coordinated many of the activities to ensure that the celebration met the moment, was led by Mark Simonson.
Thank you to Mark, Helen, Sean, Andy and Kerri, plus the many more who support these organizations for making Oneonta’s celebration memorable and welcoming to everyone!
I invite you to go visit the Swart-Wilcox House if you have not yet been. It has served as an educational experience for our young students for many years, and thanks to the work being down right now it will be available for the same purpose for many more generations. I am thankful that pieces of our community’s history date back to the founding of our country, and are displayed in Revolutionary War veteran Lawrence Swart’s cabin home (Oneonta’s oldest standing structure), which is being cared for and will continue to be available to enrich the lives of our children and future generations.
As part of my proclamation for the dedication at the Swart-Wilcox House, I proclaimed that day July 3 and each anniversary thereof as “Swart-Wilcox Day” recognizing our community’s place in our country’s history, honoring the contributions of Lawrence Swart to the inception of our country, and the legacy of service and liberty we celebrate each July.
Please join me in saying thanks to the many volunteers who continue to build up Oneonta as a place for everyone, and for those who have served our country in uniform to preserve our freedom, just as Lawrence Swart did to give it. I hope that each year, on the eve of July 4, we will, as a community, reflect on the contributions and sacrifices made to ensure our country has made it to 250 years and more, and then celebrate.
It is remarkable how far we have come, and thus all the more inspiring as to how far we can go.