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About
The Heritage Day program will start with a parade down
Orient’s Village Lane led by the Grand Marshal; followed by a welcome and
invocation at the Old Point Schoolhouse; the recitation of the Pledge of
Allegiance; “God Bless America” sung by Franklin Mastrangelo; the reading of
the Declaration of Independence by Oysterponds stalwarts; after which there’ll
be hot dogs, sweets, kids’ games, and live music in Poquatuck Park, located off of Village Lane in Orient Village.
The history of Heritage Day: Local schoolmaster, tavern
keeper, store owner, diarist, and Oysterponds native-son Augustus Griffin
(1767-1866) began a tradition of the reading of the Declaration of Independence
every July 4th. Many years later, that simple ceremony has grown into Heritage
Day—an annual opportunity to fully acknowledge the innumerable generations of
Oysterponders who came before us—starting with those who first settled the East
End over 10,000 years ago.
Oysterponds Historical Society celebrates all of Oysterponds
history—the people and the lives they lived and the artifacts and stories that
have been handed down to us in the 21st century.
