Places all over Vermont and the North Country are getting ready to celebrate America’s Independence Day.
In 1777, Fort Ticonderoga was under siege by 7,000 British soldiers. To celebrate the fourth, Fort Ticonderoga will be having musket and cannon demonstrations and boat tours.
“Fort Ticonderoga is a place where American soldiers during the revolutionary war held the line for liberty,” says the Vice President of Public History at Fort Ticonderoga Stuart Lilie. “They succeeded in defending what the continental congress called on paper the Declaration of Independence which we celebrate on July 4.”
But the Fort now serves as a historical site that strives to bring that history to life.
“We re-enact and portray the past,” says Fort Ticonderoga artifice tailor Samantha Crumb.
Artifice shoemaker Kevin Maher’s job is to make shoes for soldiers.
“This weekend, the Fourth of July weekend we are representing soldiers of the American army in Ticonderoga here in 1777,” Maher says. “Whether or not they had shoes was whether or not they were successful of marching around and doing all the professional tasks of being a soldier.”
Samantha Crumb is a tailor whose clothes, created using historical techniques, are worn at the Fort.
“Right now, we’re making linen trousers and we get them done pretty quickly,” Crumb says.
Fort Ticonderoga isn’t the only place in the North Country celebrating the festivities.
Plattsburgh will have the annual parade. They’ll also be bringing back live music for this year’s celebration. on July 4.
“It’s a free concert,” says Plattsburgh Community Engagement Coordinator Courtney Meisenheimer. “Our lineup is coming from the local community.”
Some towns in Vermont like Bristol have not had fireworks since before the pandemic. Bristol will have their fireworks on July 3.
Bristol Vermont Committee Treasurer Ted Lylis is looking forward to seeing crowds back on the streets.
“We’re a small town but lots of people come,” he says. “It could get hectic, and we like it that way.”
To celebrate the fourth, Fort Ticonderoga will be having musket and cannon demonstrations and boat tours.