Declaration 250 event to commemorate true signing day of Declaration of Independence
Sep 17, 2025 | thebeacon.net
BY SHERI TRUSTY
PUT-IN-BAY – Next summer, thousands of people from around the country will gather on Put-in-Bay to commemorate one of the most significant dates in American history: August 2, 1776. Ironically, the date is unfamiliar to most Americans, but it is the true birth date of freedom in the United States.
On that day, delegates of the Continental Congress signed their names to the Declaration of Independence, formally enacting the covenant that created a new nation independent of British rule.
On Aug. 1 and 2, 2026, the Lake Erie Heritage Foundation (LEHF) and The Perry Group will host Declaration 250, a two-day event featuring a national signing ceremony celebrating the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and America’s Semiquincentennial.
The significance of Aug. 2 became nationally obscured in the annual July 4 festivities. Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence in June, 1776, and presented the draft to the Continental Congress on July 2. Congressional members revised the document on July 3 and 4 and adopted it on the afternoon of July 4. That decision, which marked the first step into freedom for the young country, is annually celebrated across the nation on Independence Day.