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The event was a 250th Anniversary Commemoration of the Raising of the Second Liberty Pole in Schenectady on Friday, January 12 at noon.  Compared to a brisk winter day 250 years ago, the day turned out to be a rather pleasant, sunny mid-winter day with temperatures in the mid forties.  A reenactment of the mob of individuals dressed in period clothing to raise a pole with a “Liberty” flag created a memorable event.

Re-enactors carry the Liberty Flag and pole toward Church and Union Streets in Schenectady’s historic Stockade.

The challenge of the day was to have individual participants and spectators come up with a definition of liberty?

Liberty; freedom from oppression; are concepts that come to mind.

With liberty comes the responsibility to be conscious of the rights of others and not infringe on others rights to liberty and freedom.  What is the role of “peace keepers” and the need for laws to define the limits of liberty?  The bill of rights was perhaps the first of these laws that provide the underpinning of our liberty and freedoms.

Once erected the flag appeared rather lifeless on a gorgeous, relatively warm mid-winter afternoon.  First Reformed Church frames the background with fair weather clouds.  The weather was quite pleasant compared to the blustery conditions on January 12, 1774.

Many thanks to the Schenectady County Historical Society and others who organized a first of a large number of local, regional and national celebrations from the Bicentennial of the Erie Canal to the semiquincentennial of the founding of the United States of America.

What is next in your celebrations?