Connecticut western news., 1879-07-16
CentemniNls.

We are highly favored people. We live in time of centennials. Our lines have indeed fallen in pleasant places. In our day and gen. eration we have witnessed and are witnessing the one hundredth anniversaries of thesevents of the Revolution. Many generations have passed away without the privilege of witness ing one They do not occur every day-only once in hundred years. We have had the grand Centennial of the Declaration of Inde- pendence at Philadelphia the centennials of the battles of Lexington and Bunker Hill in Massachusetts, and now Connecticut is com. ing to the front with her quota. On the 4th New Haven celebrated the centennial of the occupation of that City by the British and the burning of some buildings, in grand style, and few days afterwards Fairfield commemorated a similar event in that town Next September Barkhamsted will have centennial in honor of the celebrated "Barkhamsted Light House. y This is well and as it should be. Now why can't we have Centennial Celebration in this section and here, for instance, in Canaan? It is an excellent central point for such pur- pose and the people could come in on excur- sion trains from the North, the South, the East and the West, aud we could have such a cele- to the State and honor to all concerned. Some cynic may criticise the taste of celebrating a simple calamity or misfortune such as the oc- cupation of place by the enemy or the burn- ing of some buildings, but what difference does it make so long as we have good cele- bration and enjoy ourselves with our sisters, and our cousins, and our aunts and our neigh bors. Supposing man should be so unfor- tunate as to be stricken with the small pox, and he should see fit thereafter to celebrate the event at stated periods, why-what of it ? What harm would be done if he was satisfied and enjoyed it? These celebrations are in- tended more for the present than the past more to benefit the living than to honor what has passed away. They are social gatherings which must have very beneficial influence. They tend to promote and cultivate our social feelings, which we too much neglect for our own good and the good of the commu- nity. We want more celebrations, more neigh borhood gatherings, more sociability. We are too much absorbed in the cold seltshness of the world We are too apt to neglect the great
 
 myself" Why, then, can't we have a cele bration in Canaan? It is true she was never invaded by the enemy, nor were her dwellings burned to the ground. True her virgin soil was never pressed by the ruthless tread ofthe naughty invader. But it might have been and her peaceful and hrppy homes might have been desolated with fire and sword. Here, then, is something that we should remember with joy and gratitude, and which we might celebrate with perfect propriety, even hun dred years afterwards. We are not particu- lar, however, about what we celebrate if we only have good celebration, and we merely throw out these suggestions for the consider ation of our public-spirited citizens. We some time ago suggested through the columns of the NEWS that it would be nice thing for some one to write a history of Canaan "a work which had been too long neglected. The suggestion was promptly responded to, and we shall soon have history worthy of the town. Who will now take hold of this mat ter of @ Centennial Celebration and push it to a successful conclusion !? We pause for eeply..