Newtown’s Poet Laureate spent much of her Independence Day weekend representing her hometown while participating in two events.

Lauren Clifford has launched a project for the approaching semiquincentennial of the signing of The Declaration of Independence. Institutions across the country are observing and celebrating ahead of July 4, 2026 with myriad presentations. The America 250-CT Commission has been established by Governor Lamont to coordinate in-state commemorations of the anniversary.

Clifford has been researching and visiting towns and cities across the state to find themes encompassing the American spirit. She is composing documentary and narrative poems to portray some of the lesser-known stories.

Her inaugural composition for the project is “American Mettle,” a four-part poetry series focusing on the four Founding Fathers of CT who signed The Declaration of Independence: Oliver Wolcott, Samuel Huntington, Roger Sherman, and William Williams.

“Each made many contributions in his lifetime, and all were instrumental in the fight for independence against Britain,” said Clifford, who presented her first installment on Friday, July 4, at East Cemetery in Litchfield, where Wolcott is buried. The ceremony was presented by Daughters of the American Revolution-Mary Floyd Tallmadge Chapter in Litchfield.

Clifford’s poem begins on July 9, 1776, the day a copy of The Declaration of Independence was read in New York City to General Washington’s troops and a surrounding crowd. Its message, she said, gave those soldiers a new-found hope integral to the American spirit.

“In protest to the tyranny of Britain, patriots toppled an equestrian metal statue of King George III and dismantled it in Bowling Green,” she said. “One of the future signers of the Declaration, Oliver Wolcott, was present at the scene and key in the aftermath,” she added.

Clifford added a few lines about another important patriot who was also being honored that day and is buried in the same cemetery: Benjamin Tallmadge, leader of the Culper Ring, a network of spies who delivered military intelligence to General Washington.

Her second installment was presented the following day at The Samuel Huntington Homestead in Scotland (Conn.), where the property’s namesake was born. The poem takes place in the Pennsylvania State House as Huntington is signing The Declaration of Independence on August 2, 1776.

“By doing so, he knowingly commits an act of treason because he understands what matters most to him and his fellow Americans: liberty,” Clifford explained. “Samuel Huntington was a humble and steady man, but was extremely passionate about gaining liberty and independence.

“Though he didn’t have a formal education, his steadiness, determination, and self-motivation led him to become a self-made man who would eventually become the chief justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court, president of the Continental Congress, and governor of Connecticut,” she noted, adding that because Huntington was president of the Continental Congress when the Articles of Confederation were ratified, “civic groups consider him the first President of the United States.”

The July 5 celebration also included the raising of the Grand Union flag, a community sing-along of “America, The Beautiful,” cannon fire, a community reading of The Declaration Of Independence, an informative tour of the home, and a chance to sign the Declaration.

“I ‘committed treason,’” she said of accepting the invitation to participate in the latter activity. She signed, she said, “right next to Sam Huntington.”

Clifford, who is currently working on the third and final installments featuring Roger Sherman and William Williams, said she decided to participate in the America 250 CT celebration because she feels “it is important to know and understand the history of where we live and the sacrifices made by Americans in the past that have shaped our present.

“We can also learn from past mistakes that were made so we don’t repeat oppressive parts of history,” she added. “Poetry definitely aids with bridging the past to the present. As we move through time and space, our circumstances and technological advances may change, but our emotions and feelings stay constant and provide a connection to the past. Whether someone lived in 1776 or 250 years later, they know what unfairness feels like, they know frustration, happiness, sadness, love, and hopefully, they still feel patriotism for our country.”

Clifford is the second person to hold the title Poet Laureate of Newtown. She was appointed to the post in July 2024. The position’s term runs three years.

Among the duties of the honorary position are to serve as an ambassador in the greater arts community; to foster public appreciation of and participation in poetry and literary arts; to be present for at least one public event per year as requested by the Newtown Board of Selectmen and/or Newtown Cultural Arts Commission (NCAC); and to serve as an auxiliary member of NCAC.