250 reasons to celebrate: Middleboro honors America
Colin Maher, 12, fires a musket with help from a member of the Hingham Militia. Photos by Sandy Quadros Bowles 
State Rep. Norman Orrall aims and fires.
Middleboro Veterans Agent marches in step with the militia members. 
State Sen. Kelly Dooner learns from the militia.
Enjoying the festivities were, from left, Kayla, Meldam Mark and Joel Shean with their dog Coral. 
Kassie Gross, 5, and her mother Kate Gross were looking forward to hearing the band. 
The sign said it all. 
Ryan Adelman and son Greyson Adelman, 9, who said he especially enjoyed hearing the gunshots. 
Mary Standish relayed the story of Deborah Sampson, who lived in Middleboro and served during the Revolutionary War. 
Hingham Militia member Capt. Ben Rabinovitz shows the audience a musket ball.
Colin Maher, 12, fires a musket with help from a member of the Hingham Militia. Photos by Sandy Quadros Bowles
State Rep. Norman Orrall aims and fires.
Middleboro Veterans Agent marches in step with the militia members.
State Sen. Kelly Dooner learns from the militia.
Enjoying the festivities were, from left, Kayla, Meldam Mark and Joel Shean with their dog Coral.
Kassie Gross, 5, and her mother Kate Gross were looking forward to hearing the band.
The sign said it all.
Ryan Adelman and son Greyson Adelman, 9, who said he especially enjoyed hearing the gunshots.
Mary Standish relayed the story of Deborah Sampson, who lived in Middleboro and served during the Revolutionary War.
Hingham Militia member Capt. Ben Rabinovitz shows the audience a musket ball.
MIDDLEBORO -- Middleboro threw a big birthday party Saturday May 2 on the Town Hall lawn.
The bash celebrated everyone in attendance and millions who weren’t.
“We wanted to raise awareness that on the 250th birthday of America, America’s still here, still strong,’’ Middleboro Veterans Agent Steve Adelman said. “It’s unifying to come together as a family.’’
This year marks 250 years since America was founded in 1776.The United States of America was formed on July 4, 1776 when the Second Continental Congress unanimously adopted the Declaration of Independence.
That milestone document announced the separation of the 13 colonies from Great Britain, establishing them as free and independent states.
America’s 250th birthday was honored in Middleboro with a Revolutionary War re-enactment from the Hingham Militia, a portrayal of one-time Middleboro resident Deborah Sampson, who served in the Revolutionary War disguised as a man, and a performance by the 215th Mass Army National Guard Band.
Elected officials and members of the general public watched the Hingham Militia march and fire their muskets, which of course were not loaded with live ammunition.
State Reps. Norman Orrall and Kathleen LaNatra and State Sen. Kelly Dooner took turns firing the muskets, along with Adelman and several people in attendance.
Colin Maher, 12, took his shot at firing and learned the effort wasn’t quite as straightforward as it might seem. “My finger was too high on the trigger when I first tried it,’’ he said.
But he eventually got the shot off. “It was cool,’’ he said.
Middleboro resident and military veteran Mary Standish portrayed her distant relative Deborah Sampson, a one-time Middleboro resident who enlisted in the Continental Army in May 1782 using the name Robert Shurtleff and disguised as a male.
Sampson was eventually injured during her service and received an honorable discharge, presented by a senior officer who knew her real gender but kept the information off her paperwork. In her discharge, she is cited for her “honorable, faithful, well-respected and distinguished service.’’
Her impact continues to make a difference in the lives of veterans, particularly women who served. Sampson was named in 1983 by then Gov. Michael Dukakis as the “official heroine of Massachusetts.
In December 2020, The Deborah Sampson Act was signed into law, which aimed to eliminate barriers to care and services faced by women veterans. Among its many provisions, the law created an Office of Women's Health in the Office of Veterans' Affairs
“I am proud to be able to say I am a true descendant of Deborah Sampson,’’ she said.
The day's activities were sponsored by the Middleboro Veterans Department, with help from Peirce Trustees and the Tourism Committee.
