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Independence Day in Auburn, New York is celebrated every year with a performance by the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra(SSO) in Emerson Park and a spectacular fireworks display on the northern shore of Owasco Lake. This year Senator Hoffmann was invited to participate. |
Senator Hoffmann joined Conductor Daniel Hege for the Syracuse Symphony performance of "God Bless America". He introduced her saying, "We have a very esteemed guest with us tonight. Senator Nancy Larraine Hoffmann is with us. She has been a great supporter for the orchestra, she does so much for the arts, and she's your representative in the New York State Senate. Let's welcome her to the stage now." |
With the music playing underneath, Senator Hoffmann read The New Colossus, the poem inscribed on the Statue of Liberty. NOT LIKE THE BRAZEN GIANT OF GREEK FAME, WITH CONQUERING LIMBS ASTRIDE FROM LAND TO LAND; HERE AT OUR SEA-WASHED, SUNSET GATES SHALL STAND A MIGHTY WOMAN WITH A TORCH, WHOSE FLAME IS THE IMPRISONED LIGHTNING, AND HER NAME MOTHER OF EXILES. FROM HER BEACON-HAND GLOWS WORLD WIDE WELCOME; HER MILD EYES COMMAND THE AIR-BRIDGED HARBOR THAT TWIN CITIES FRAME. "KEEP ANCIENT LANDS, YOUR STORIED POMP!" CRIES SHE WITH SILENT LIPS. "GIVE ME YOUR TIRED, YOUR POOR, YOUR HUDDLED MASSES YEARNING TO BREATHE FREE, THE WRETCHED REFUSE OF YOUR TEEMING SHORE SEND THESE, THE HOMELESS, TEMPEST-TOST TO ME, I LIFT MY LAMP BESIDE THE GOLDEN DOOR!" |
Nearly 15,000 people set up chairs and blankets in Auburn's Emerson Park for the Concert and fireworks. The SSO program included a medley of Irving Berlin standards, the "1812 Overture" and "Stars and Stripes Forever". |
On July 2nd, the day before the performance in Auburn, Senator Hoffmann joined the Symphony members for a rehearsal at the Onondaga County Civic Center in Syracuse. |
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