July 3, 2026

Happy 250th! (Old Sturbridge Village, Sturbridge, MA)

By New England Nomad

Date Of Visit: July, 4, 2025

Location: Old Sturbridge Village, Sturbridge, MA

Summary scores of people became naturalized citizens last year at Sturbridge Village

As we celebrate the 250th anniversary of American independence, I thought I would share some poignant photos from a visit to Old Sturbridge Village last year. These citizens were so proud and happy to experience something many of us take for granted. It was one of my most fun events to photograph because of the effervescent atmosphere of the people being sworn in as citizens. It’s great to see people happy in any environment, especially at an event with so much meaning.

Each 4th of July, the village conducts citizenship ceremonies. Last July 4th 146 people from 36 countries became citizens during their Naturalization Ceremonies. Since I will not be able to attend the ceremony this year, I thought I would share some photos from last year’s ceremony.

Because of a very busy schedule and some personal changes in my life including selling my home last year and moving to western MA, I have yet to edit all of the photos from this year and most of last year for that matter. But, what better time to post these photos of such a special event. I do hope to post more photos of this event in a future post.

As I was processing these photos, I was overwhelmed by how happy, no elated, these new citizens were to be Americans. And, while it’s often hard to get approval to use people’s photos for posts, these people were more than willing to pose and show their pride for their new citizenship. Congratulations to the these new citizens and to future citizens of this country.

About New England Nomad

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Hi I'm Wayne. Welcome to my blog. I am a true New Englander through and through. I love everything about New England. I especially love discovering new places in New England and sharing my experiences with everyone. I tend to focus on the more unique and lesser known places and things in New England on my blog. Oh yeah, and I love dogs. I always try to include at least one dog in each of my blog posts. I discovered my love of photography a couple of years ago. I know, I got a late start. Now, I photograph anything that seems out of the ordinary, interesting, beautiful and/or unique. And I have noticed how every person, place or thing I photograph has a story behind it or him or her. I don't just photograph things or people or animals. I try to get their background, history or as much information as possible to give the subject more context and meaning. It's interesting how one simple photograph can evoke so much. I am currently using a Nikon D3200 "beginner's camera." Even though there are better cameras on the market, and I will upgrade some time, I love how it functions (usually) and it has served me well. The great thing about my blog is you don't have to be from New England, or even like New England to like my blog (although I've never met anyone who doesn't). All you have to like is to see and read about new or interesting places and things. Hopefully, you'll join me on my many adventures in New England! View all posts by New England Nomad
This entry was posted on Friday, July 3rd, 2026 at 3:29 pm and tagged with , , , , , , , and posted in Massachusetts, New England, photographs, photography, photos, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

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