Upcoming Declaration Readings A Uniquely Leelanau Tradition

Thomas “Rink” Smith felt something stir within himself late in the night of July 3, 2014. 

Smith was reading a copy of the Declaration of Independence as printed in the Leelanau Enterprise, and he was moved by the document in way that surprised him. It was about 11 p.m., but he felt the need for action.

“I hadn’t read it for years and years, and it just blew me away,” the Omena resident tells The Ticker. “I can’t cite any particular paragraph or phrase, but it was the gravity, the wonderful high level of English language, and the profound concepts it conveyed and how they’re still effective.”

Smith decided then and there to read the Declaration on the steps of the Omena post office the next day: July 4. The only attendees for this impromptu reading were a couple with their kids who made them listen, Smith said, but this initial act led to a tradition that is almost certainly unique to Leelanau County: The Declaration being read on July 4 from the steps of all nine Leelanau County post offices.

“We kept it simple: 10 o’clock everywhere so people would know that no matter where they are, it’s going on,” Smith says.

This requires a team of readers, all of whom are glad to do it for various reasons – mostly because they believe it’s not just a dusty old document.

“There are elements of the Declaration of Independence that come very much to the fore in our contemporary times,” says reader Doug Whitley. “There are clearly elements that are still true today about what we expect a government of the people to be, and not one where the king makes unilateral decisions.”

Paul Sloan was inspired to read in his adopted town of Northport after seeing a reading there. He takes it upon himself to dress up as a different founding father every year to add some flair to the reading.

“John Dickinson was of particular interest to me because he was a founding father who voted against a resolution of independence when it was bought before the Continental Congress, and yet he was a patriot,” Sloan tells The Ticker. “And I found that particularly relevant today and important that a patriot could dissent and yet be a true patriot. He felt it was too early and the colonies were not yet in a position of strength to take that step.”

Most of the readers simply read the document and don’t add any additional commentary, leaving those gathered there to take from it what they will. Sloan, an attorney and former statesman in his native Tennessee, decides to add a little more, particularly about that famous “all men are created equal” part.

“That was an aspirational goal that sustained our nation for 250 years,” he says. “And I tell the audience that they passed the baton to us, and over our history, we have seen generation after generation widen the scope and inclusiveness of those aspirations.”

With many readers now in the fold and other waiting in the wings, this special Leelanau County tradition seems to be secure well into the future. Smith, now 76, still holds down the fort in Omena.

“It's an honor to me to be able to read it and share it and have the people assembled appreciate it,” he says. “I feel really connected to the roots of our country when I'm doing it. I'm pretty simple minded and it's a pretty straightforward experience, but it's lovely and I’m really glad to have done it all these years.”

Photo: Sloan reads in Northport