Dover-Foxcroft will kick off America’s 250th with ‘Two Lights For Tomorrow’

DOVER-FOXCROFT — On the night of April 18, 1775, two lanterns were hung in the tower of Boston’s Old North Church as a signal to Paul Revere, across the river in Charlestown, that the British regulars were moving “by sea” across the Back Bay to Cambridge in order to begin their march to seize powder and munitions in Concord. This signal sparked a chain of events that led to the confrontations at Lexington and Concord, the beginning of the American Revolution, and the ultimate birth of our Nation.

Two hundred and fifty years later, Dover-Foxcroft commemorates this event with “Two Lights For Tomorrow”, a nationwide initiative using the imagery of those shining lights as a uniting call to action to our fellow citizens, no matter where they are, to recognize and remind ourselves that our history is about working together for a promising future.

The local chapters of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War and the American Legion are partnering with the Thompson Free Library, Central Hall Commons, the Dover-Foxcroft Historical Society and the Dover-Foxcroft Congregational Church to place two lanterns at each of these downtown locations on the evening of Friday, April 18. We will begin at the Thompson Free Library at 6 p.m. with a reading of “Paul Revere’s Ride” and the placement of the first lights. We will then proceed on foot to the other locations and end at the church around 6:45 p.m., where the proclamation from the select board will be read and the final lamps are placed. All are invited to attend.

Communities and individuals can participate by displaying two lights in your homes, businesses, government buildings, and community sites on the evening of April 18 through the morning of April 19 to commemorate the events of this night 250 years ago and to remind us all of the importance to come together to form a more perfect union. 

“Two Lights For Tomorrow” is a sanctioned event from the Maine Semiquincentennial Commission. The Sons of Union Veterans, Daughters of Union Veterans and the American Legion are nationally recognized non-profit, non-partisan, patriotic organizations.