Glenwood Springs Hosts Free Declaration of Independence Reading at Sayre Park

A 10-minute reading. That’s the entire duration.

You’d think bringing the words that started it all to life would require a bit more production value than a half-hour slot in a gazebo. But for local historian Angie Parkison, the brevity is the point. She’s not trying to sell you a spectacle. She’s trying to sell you a shared moment.

On Saturday, Glenwood Springs residents can gather near the Sayre Park gazebo for a nonpartisan public reading of the Declaration of Independence. It starts at 10 a.m. The plan is simple: bring a folding chair, listen to volunteer musicians from Symphony in the Valley, and let City Council members Sumner Schachter and Erin Zalinski lead the charge through the historic document.

Schachter and Zalinski will split the reading duties, alternating sections, with some parts read in unison. The whole thing wraps up in ten minutes.

Parkison, who wrote “Hope and Hot Water,” an in-depth book about Glenwood Springs’ early history, says the idea has been sitting in the back of her mind for years. She and her husband attended a similar event about two decades ago at a Shaker Museum in upstate New York. It was inspirational. It touched them. Now, she wants to replicate that feeling here.

“It turned out to be inspirational,” Parkison said. “My husband and I were both really touched by reading that aloud with other people that just gathered to be Americans.”

This is the first time Parkison has organized this specific event in Glenwood, but she argues the timing is right. We’re living in a climate where the noise of division feels louder than the common ground. Are you left or right? Local or transplanted? Born here or born elsewhere? Parkison wants to cut through that static for at least one hour.

“I just feel like this is something that can make the difference, at least for an hour,” she said. “I want to have an opportunity to do something myself, even if it’s just for a little bit, to make people realize we have more in common than we do differences.”

The logistics are low-friction. Copies of the Declaration will be on-site. Posters around town feature QR codes so you can pull the document up on your phone or tablet if you prefer digital. You don’t need a ticket. You don’t need to pay a cover charge. You just need to show up.

Parkison hopes for several hundred attendees. She’s honest about the uncertainty — it’s a first-time event, so predicting turnout is a guessing game. “I hate to get my hopes up, but I really hope it’ll make a difference,” she admitted.

For context, consider what this costs the taxpayer. It’s essentially free. The musicians are volunteers. The location is public park space. The council members are using their own time to stand in a gazebo and read aloud. There’s no new levy. No bond measure. No construction crew pouring concrete for a new stage.

The value proposition isn’t in the dollar amount. It’s in the act itself. Parkison notes that the people supporting it means “an awful lot.” It’s a reminder that civic engagement doesn’t always require a budget line item. Sometimes it just requires a piece of paper and a willingness to stand next to your neighbor.

If you’re going, bring a chair. The music comes before and after. The reading takes ten minutes. The rest is up to you.