The Washington Camp Ground Association's 122nd Annual Independence Day Celebration was held yesterday morning at the Middlebrook Camp Ground in Bridgewater.
This Celebration of the 235th Anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence by the Continental Congress began with the flag ceremony, where the Thirteen Star American Flag that has been hanging at the Camp Ground all year is retired and a new flag is raised.
As explained in Wikipedia:
"... Tradition holds that it was at the Middlebrook encampment that the first official flag of the United States was unfurled, after a law to adopt a national flag had been passed by Congress on June 14, 1777. This event is commemorated annually since 1889 on July 4 with a changing of the flag, a reading of the Declaration of Independence, and the delivery of an historical address at the Washington Camp Ground. Also, by special order of Congress, a Thirteen Star Flag is flown 24 hours a day at the Washington Camp Ground..."
The flag raising was followed by the singing of the National Anthem and the children are invited up to lead the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance.
The Declaration of Independence Ceremony followed with John Pacifico reading the Declaration of Independence and a talk by historian H.Kels Swan about the Preservation of America's Birth Certificate.
The ceremony ended with the presentation of American Citizenship Awards and a keynote speech by Bridgewater Township's Mayor Patricia Flannery.
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Photographs courtesy of Susan Gulliford and George Mariasz.
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