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Light Drizzle Fog/Mist Sea Cliff celebrates Fourth of July
Like communities across the country, the Village of Sea Cliff celebrated the 246th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence Monday, but Sea Cliff did it with its own theatrical style.
Families, friends and neighbors gathered in Clifton Park at 10 a.m. to honor Independence Day.
Carol Vogt, the co-chair of the event and village resident of 46 years, said the goal of the celebration has always been to engage Sea Cliff citizens in a creative fashion, taking advantage of the village’s well-known artistic talent.
Over the years, the celebrations have grown under the watchful eye of the Fourth of July committee, a sub-group of the Sea Cliff Civic Association.
“Originally we just did the reading, but then about 15 years ago we added a little play about the Founding Fathers and the sacrifices they made signing the Declaration of Independence,” Vogt said. “Sea Cliff has such a wonderful artistic community, and we’re always trying to find new ways to incorporate them into the performance.”
Ann DiPietro, president of the Civic Association, rang Sea Cliff’s liberty bell to start the festivities. Members of Boy Scout Troop 195 presented the colors and led the crowd in the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance.
Sea Cliff’s Lesley Pryde Hayley performed the National Anthem. Members of Girl Scout Brownie Troop 146 and Scout Master Allen Wright, sang “This Land is Your Land.”
DiPietro greeted the crowd, telling a story called “The Carrot Seed,” about a boy named Harold who planted a carrot seed. Although it struggled to grow initially, eventually after much hard work and despite the doubts of others, the carrot seed grew into the largest and most marvelous carrot ever seen.
“Looking out, I see a lot of Harolds. I think every one of you is a Harold,” DiPietro asserted. “We all love our country, love it desperately, and we tend, in all our own ways, to make it better.”
The performers presented the original historical play, “They Ventured Much,” which highlighted the sacrifices and strength of character of the numerous signers of the Declaration of Independence, as well as teaching the stories of some lesser-known signatories of that historic document.
Sea Cliff residents Roger Street Friedman and his young children, Allie and Jonny, played the roles of Charles Carroll of Maryland and his children, Charles Jr. and Katherine, also known as “Kitty.” Friedman highlighted that although Carroll wasn’t a saint, he worked hard to leave the country better than he left it for his children.
“I signed the Declaration of Independence because I believed in individual liberty. I risked a very secure life when I signed it,” Friedman said, in character. “I was certainly not a perfect man, as my family owned slaves, but later in my career I tried to assist in writing legislation that would have freed slaves.”
The play wouldn’t have been complete without a villain as Sea Cliff resident and Hunter College musical theater student Joseph Stroppel portrayed King George III. Arriving to some good-natured boos from the crowd, Stroppel serenaded the crowd with a rendition of the song “You’ll Be Back” from the hit Broadway musical “Hamilton.”
The reading of the Declaration of Independence featured different Sea Cliff residents standing to read the assertions that America was and would be a land of free people. They also read a list of the numerous and onerous grievances directed at King George III and his government. The reading culminated with the crowd reciting the final section of the Declaration, to the applause of the gathered residents, as all considered the historic moment which laid the foundation for the United States of America.
Since 1996, the Independence Day event was held in the Village Green in front of the Sea Cliff Village Library. But in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the event was canceled.
The event was held in Clifton in 2021, where people could be socially distanced. The park proved to be such a successful venue that a decision was made for the new location for the event for years to come.
