250th Anniversary of America Celebration
View the video of our event on YouTube
- Join us as we celebrate the birth of our country with our community at the beautiful Greylock Glen Center, situated at the base of Mount Greylock, the tallest mountain in all of southern New England. Join other attendees while dressed in colonial era clothing.
- Commemorate and celebrate the birth of our country with our community through:
- A reading of the Declaration of Independence
- Equestrian display by Sophie or Monty from Aisling (Irish: "Ash-ling") Mountain Farm Equestrian Center
- A 13 gun salute by the Silver Grays, Green Mountain Boys, and the American Legion Post #160 Honor Guard and Firing Squad
- Moodus Drum and Fife Corps
- Tim Abbot, 18th century historian, talks about the history and reality of America's Declaration of Independence
- Colonial era cooking demonstration by the 18th Century Cook
- Barry Emery, Cheshire Historical Commission
- Eagles trombone section
- Representatives from the Nulhegan Abenaki and the Pocomoke Indian Nation will display cultural items for attendees to respectfully interact with and ask questions of their significance to the Nulhegan Abenaki and the Pocomoke Indian Nation cultures.
- Children's crafts and games provided by the Youth Center, Inc.
- Pianist Ron Ramsay
- Artisan crafts and demonstrations
- Steve Nelson, publisher and widower of author Jan Lewis Nelson who wrote "The Memoir of a Female Soldier"
- Autographed books by Dennis Pregent will be for sale at the author's rate.
- Food Trucks- Lions Club, Jake's Java, Baby Cakes, Bezzle's BBQ - and other food options
- Cupcakes provided by Madi Cakes
- Flags and copies of the Declaration of Independence will be handed out to attendees
- Please bring nonperishable items for the North Berkshire Veterans Food Pantry!
- Please bring your own chairs
- Attendees are invited to dress in colonial garb
Due to the loud activities, the number of children, and people of all ages , and for the sake of everyone's enjoyment, please leave your pet at home.
FREE SHUTTLES NEXT TO ADAMS VISITOR CENTER ON HOOSAC STREET BEGINNING AT 10:30 AM BY DUFOUR TOURS AND COA HANDICAP ACCESSIBLE SHUTTLE
Would you like to volunteer or do you have questions? Email us at info@250adams.com or call us at (413) 238-6376
Date - July 18, 2026, rain or shine
Price - FREE
Location - Greylock Glen Center
165 Gould Road, Adams, MA 01220
Time - 11 AM to 3 PM
In an 1811 letter to Adams, Benjamin Rush recounted the signing in stark fashion, describing it as a scene of "pensive and awful silence". Rush said the delegates were called up, one after another, and then filed forward somberly to subscribe what each thought was their ensuing death warrant. He related that the "gloom of the morning" was briefly interrupted when the rotund Benjamin Harrison of Virginia said to a diminutive Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts, at the signing table, "I shall have a great advantage over you, Mr. Gerry, when we are all hung for what we are now doing. From the size and weight of my body I shall die in a few minutes and be with the Angels, but from the lightness of your body you will dance in the air an hour or two before you are dead." According to Rush, Harrison’s remark "procured a transient smile, but it was soon succeeded by the Solemnity with which the whole business was conducted.”
-- https://www.nps.gov/inde/learn/historyculture/resources-declaration-quotes.htm
