The 4th of July this year falls on Tuesday. Please
note that our hours are shortened this week. Our
office will only be open on Wednesday and
Thursday, July 5 & 6. We will be closed on July
3, 4 and 7th; Monday, Tuesday (holiday) and Friday.
Thomas Jefferson was quite reluctant, at first to
write the Declaration of Independence in 1776.
Just married to his new wife Rachel and only 33
years old, he yearned to be in Virginia at his home
named, Monticello. There he could farm the land
and continue building his home. With the help of
Benjamin Franklin and John Adams he completed
it by July2, 1776. However, it could not be read
publicly until all the colonies ratified it. By July
4th it was ratified and the Declaration was read
from the balcony of Independence Hall for the first
time by Thomas Jefferson to scores of people gathered
below. When the Declaration was read we
were already in the Revolutionary War, which began
in Massachusetts on April 19, 1775. This is
America’s most sacred holiday. The second is
close to it. It is Thanksgiving Day, solidified by
President Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865) as the last
Thursday of November. Incidentally, the Constitution
of the United States was ratified in 1787, except
for the State of Rhode Island. Rhode Island
did ratify the Constitution on its 200th anniversary
in 1987. On behalf of our parish staff and myself,
we wish everyone a very safe, healthy, happy Independence
Day…the 4th of July.