01/24/2023
In a day of family fun, patriotic music and birthday cake, the American Village in Montevallo will celebrate the 292nd birthday of the Father of our Country, George Washington, on Monday, February 20th, 2023
Washington’s Birthday holds special meaning for the American Village. The land on Highway 119 in Montevallo where the American Village campus is now located was purchased on Washington’s Birthday, and their first school program began on Washington’s Birthday.
Originally established in 1885 in recognition of President George Washington’s Birthday of February 22nd, the holiday became popularly known as Presidents' Day after it was moved as part of 1971’s Uniform Monday Holiday Act, an attempt to create more three-day weekends for the nation’s workers. Presidents' Day is now popularly viewed as a day to celebrate all U.S. presidents, past and present.
Visitors to the American Village on President’s Day will enjoy family-friendly activities with their staff of costumed historical interpreters from 10am to 4pm, and can share birthday cake with George Washington at noon. This year’s celebration includes a very special patriotic music concert at 2pm, featuring the 18-member Cahaba Chamber Chorale and 89 students in the Ramsay High School Choral Department.
The combined choirs will present Randall Thompson’s Testament of Freedom, based on the writings of Thomas Jefferson. Other selections will include Shenandoah, Zion’s Walls, and Lift Every Voice and Sing. The concert, entitled Made in the USA, is designed to highlight the ideals of what it means to be an American, engaging the spirit of our Founders and their aspirations for our Nation – Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. The classical, jazz, and spiritual choral selections are all by American composers – from Colonial times to the present day.
