Former governor to reprise ancestor’s town crier role in independence celebration

In an event being held to celebrate the founding of the United States, Greene County Commission Presiding Commissioner Bob Dixon says a key goal is a united community.

Celebrating America, slated for 2 p.m. July 8 in the rotunda of the Historic Courthouse, will feature a reading of the Declaration of Independence with an ice cream social co-hosted by Democratic and Republican women’s organizations.

Dixon said the reading of the historic document will be by former Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon, a Democrat. That’s by design, Dixon said, noting that the county’s elected leadership is made up wholly of Republicans.

“We’re honored to have him and to invite him to share some of his thoughts about civics and restoring civility,” Dixon said.

Other guests scheduled to participate are former U.S. Sen. John Ashcroft, a Republican who served as U.S. attorney general under President George W. Bush as well as Missouri governor from 1985-1993, and Max Bacon, a Democrat who served in the Missouri House of Representatives and as a Greene County circuit judge.

“We’re trying for what so many in the country are yearning for – something higher than politics,” Dixon said.

He said the event aims to be unifying and to call participants to their better selves.

“That’s what we’re all about,” he said.

Dixon said the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Democratic Women’s Club of Greene County and the Greene County Republican Women’s Club will be sharing a table and giving out membership information but no political material. They will also be serving ice cream and Coke floats, sponsored by Hiland Dairy and the Ozarks Coca-Cola/Dr Pepper Bottling Co.

Nixon, the featured presenter, is a significant choice for the reading of the declaration, as his ancestor, Col. John Nixon, was a Philadelphia town crier who announced the signing of the historic document at noon on July 8, 1776, Dixon said. The Second Continental Congress voted to approve the declaration on July 2 and signed it on July 4, but they kept their action secret until July 8, he said.

“They were probably signing their own death warrants,” Dixon said.

He said Col. Nixon was also a Philadelphia merchant and financier, highlighting the role that business played in the nation’s founding.

Dixon said the gathering will put partisanship aside in the spirit of unity.

“If nothing else, we’re going to reaffirm that that’s who we are in southwest Missouri, and we want to stay that way,” he said. “I think it can catch on.”

He compared the effort to a quote by one of the nation’s founders, Samuel Adams, who famously said, “It does not take a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men.”

“Freedom fires, once they get started, are hard to put out, and for good reason,” Dixon said, adding that organizers hope unity is similarly contagious.

Dixon said there is a business case to be made for a spirit of unity.

“When the community pulls together, everyone does better,” he said. “When people are more energetic and feel better about their community, they can meet a neighbor they would not have known, and there’s less contention in their lives. Things are more settled and more calm.”

In that environment, people can be productive and can devote mental energy to creative ideas, benefitting the entire community and the businesses within it, Dixon said.

“Unity is to everyone’s benefit,” he said.

The event is scheduled 2-4 p.m. on July 8, though Dixon said music by the Salvation Army band will begin at 1:30 p.m. Two choral ensembles, Springfield Sound and the Springfield Patriotic Chorale, will also perform at the event.

Dixon said multiple community organizations will have displays and activities. He cited the Discovery Center, the Springfield-Greene County Library District and the History Museum on the Square.

Additionally, there are 500 copies of the Declaration of Independence printed on parchment paper, and participants can sign a copy to confirm their commitment to the principles it contains and then take it home as a keepsake.

The event is the product of planning by multiple county staff, Dixon said, including Archives Director Connie Yen.