If you’re reading this editorial on the day this edition comes out, Tuesday, July 7, you’ve surely had time to enjoy yet another Independence Day celebration. It was an important one, marking 250 years since our Founding Fathers risked their lives and all they had built to declare independence from the mighty British Empire. 

However, many people alive 250 years ago on this day had still not heard the momentous news that, in the city of Philadelphia, the Declaration of Independence had been signed three days before. 

It’s fitting that the local American Legion and VFW chapters are celebrating this momentous event at 4 p.m. Wednesday, as that’s when town criers far from Philadelphia were finally able to share the news to residents of small towns and rural areas that colony leaders had signed the document. 

Four members of the organization will take turns reading the document at Plaza Diane, and if you haven’t read the document in a while — if ever — this would be a great way to cap off the previous weekend’s worth of celebration. Since we actually won our independence from the British — victory at Yorktown all but ended the fighting in 1781, and peace was signed two years later — most Independence Days since have been celebratory events. But I imagine the initial reaction was weighed down with the gravity of what was occurring. 

There was already a war underway between the colonies and the mother country ever since the “shot heard round the world” at Lexington the year before, but this was the signal that the war wouldn’t just be about making the situation more fair for the British colonies in North America. 

Additionally, as it was signed by representatives from all 13 colonies, it foreshadowed how the war would eventually leave its mark on all of the colonies and impact the lives of many more than just those who had already fought around Boston and a few other areas. 

Those hearing this news on July 8, 1776 would likely hear less than two months later of the defeats of the Continental Army on Long Island and General George Washington’s subsequent retreat through New York. 

While the Declaration was signed at what seemed to be a high point — a ragtag American force had forced the British to flee Boston — there were years of struggle ahead. 

So, whether you attend Wednesday’s reading or not, I urge you to take time to think of the people who heard the message of the Declaration 250 years ago.