SARATOGA SPRINGS — The annual July 4 swearing in of new U.S. citizens at Saratoga National Historic Park will be webcast live in downtown Saratoga Springs as part of the city’s All-American Celebration, the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce announced.
The ceremony, during which 20 people will take the oath as U.S. citizens at the historic Revolutionary War battlefield in Stillwater, will be shown live at 10 a.m. in the Saratoga Springs City Center. The ceremony is organized annually by the National Park Service and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
The event will be part of the chamber’s annual downtown July 4 celebration, which culminates with fireworks about 9:15 p.m. in Congress Park, with as many at 10,000 people in attendance. Other events during the day include the Firecracker 4 foot race at 9 a.m., which is expected to have concluded by the time the citizenship ceremony starts.
“Our hope is many of the people running the Firecracker 4 and the spectators who are there to cheer them on will join us to watch this ceremony after they cross the finish line as part of a race after-party,” said Chamber of Commerce President Todd Shimkus. There will be flags provided for spectators, and food and drinks will be available.
This ceremony will also feature a speech by Vitaliy Volpov, an associate attorney with Albany law firm Whiteman Osterman & Hanna. Volpov and his family immigrated from Belarus when he was 12 years old.
The ceremony will also be broadcast on the Chamber of Commerce’s Facebook page, where Shimkus said family members in other countries will be able to view the ceremony.
Other activities that are part of the celebration include a concert by the AudioStars at 6:30 p.m. at a music stage in the Spring Street parking lot. Just before the fireworks, a Benjamin Franklin re-enactor will read the Declaration of Independence from the stage.
The night before, at 7 p.m. Wednesday, July 3, a re-enactor portraying British Gen. John Burgoyne will chat with visitors at the Holiday Inn on Broadway. The Saratoga Casino Hotel will also have fireworks that night.
Categories: -News-, Saratoga County
