BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//MA250 - ECPv6.5.1.5//NONSGML v1.0//EN
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
METHOD:PUBLISH
X-WR-CALNAME:MA250
X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://massachusetts250.org
X-WR-CALDESC:Events for MA250
REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H
X-Robots-Tag:noindex
X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H
BEGIN:VTIMEZONE
TZID:America/New_York
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0500
TZOFFSETTO:-0400
TZNAME:EDT
DTSTART:20260308T070000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:-0400
TZOFFSETTO:-0500
TZNAME:EST
DTSTART:20261101T060000
END:STANDARD
END:VTIMEZONE
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260704T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260704T123000
DTSTAMP:20260701T133146
CREATED:20260701T152316Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260701T152316Z
UID:34217-1783166400-1783168200@massachusetts250.org
SUMMARY:Community Reading of the Declaration of Independence
DESCRIPTION:The Amherst Historical Society will be presenting a communal reading of the Declaration of Independence at noon on Saturday\, July 4th from the steps of the Amherst Town Hall.  The event will be marked by the ringing of church bells throughout the town at noon\, followed by a summoning of the community to Town Hall by the blowing of a conch shell.  Historically\, a conch shell was used to call the residents of Amherst to gather to conduct town business.  The Historical Society has several examples of conchs used by town officials over the years\, including the original dating back to the 18th century.  The conch to be used was purchased for the event and is not historic.    \nMembers of the Town Council will present a proclamation and after that\, Representative Mindy Domb will begin the reading with the Preamble.  The public is invited to join in following the opening statements\, particularly with the section that begins\, “We hold these truths…”   Individual readers from the community will be reading in turn the rest of the document.  The event will conclude with a non-denominational benediction from Father Valentine Nworah of the Newman Center and close with a musical offering.
URL:https://massachusetts250.org/event/community-reading-of-the-declaration-of-independence/
LOCATION:Amherst Town Hall\, 4 Boltwood Avenue\, Amherst\, MA\, 01002\, United States
CATEGORIES:Anniversary,July 4th,Outdoors
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://massachusetts250.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/July-4-general-info.jpg
ORGANIZER;CN="Amherst Historical Society":MAILTO:info@amhersthistory.org
GEO:42.3754681;-72.5187218
X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Amherst Town Hall 4 Boltwood Avenue Amherst MA 01002 United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=4 Boltwood Avenue:geo:-72.5187218,42.3754681
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR