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When:
June 24, 2021 @ 8:30 am – 9:30 am
2021-06-24T08:30:00-04:00
2021-06-24T09:30:00-04:00
Where:
Round Administration Building
315 W Main Street
Tavares
FL 32778.
315 W Main Street
Tavares
FL 32778.
Contact:
We are proud to announce that our County Commission is dedicating by proclamation a Lake County Liberty Tree on Thursday, June 24th at 8:30 AM at the Round Administration Building, 315 W Main Street, Tavares, FL 32778.
Proclamation 2021-____
WHEREAS, in Boston in 1765, a large elm tree was used as a gathering place for the Sons of Liberty and protesters of the Stamp Tax. The tree soon became known as the Liberty Tree when the Stamp Tax was repealed the following year; and
WHEREAS, colonists in other towns began dedicating their own liberty trees as places to gather and discuss American independence which resulted in the liberty tree becoming a familiar symbol of the American Revolution; and
WHEREAS, in Thomas Paine’s poem, Liberty Tree, he wrote, “Unmindful of names or distinctions they came, For freeman like brothers agree; With one spirit endued, they one friendship pursued, And their temple was Liberty Tree;” and
WHEREAS, in August 1775, as a final act of violence, British Soldiers cut down the liberty tree prior to their evacuation of Boston; and
WHEREAS, the original Liberty Tree is memorialized in Boston by a bronze plaque in Liberty Tree Plaza; and
WHEREAS, Lake County recognizes the significance of the Liberty Tree in the formation of our Country’s independence and encourages residents to reflect on what liberty and the privilege of living in the U.S.A. means to them; and
WHEREAS, the Lake County Board of County Commissioners desires to dedicate a Liberty Tree as a symbol of the County’s own commitment to the principles of freedom under which we have grown as a nation; and
WHEREAS, the Lake County Board of County Commissioners echoes the words of Silas Downer, one of the original Sons of Liberty, when he stated:
We do therefore, in the name and behalf of all the true Sons of Liberty in America…dedicate and solemnly devote this tree, to be a Tree of Liberty. May all our councils and deliberations under its venerable branches be guided by wisdom and directed to the support and maintenance of the liberty, which our renowned forefathers sought out and found under trees in the wilderness. May it long flourish, and may the Sons of Liberty often repair hither, to confirm and strengthen each other. When they look towards this sacred Elm, may they be penetrated with a sense of their duty to themselves, their country and their posterity.
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT PROCLAIMED by the Board of County Commissioners, Lake County, Florida, that:
Section 1. This tree be known as the Lake County Liberty Tree which shall serve as a reminder of the courage and bravery of this country’s founding fathers in pursuit of liberty and as a symbol of the County’s own commitment to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Section 2. A copy of this Proclamation shall be spread upon the minutes of the meeting.
Section 3. This Proclamation shall become effective upon adoption.
DONE AND PROCLAIMED by the Board of County Commissioners of Lake County, Florida in regular session this _____ day of ______________, 2021.
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
LAKE COUNTY, FLORIDA…
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