It started with an email and one really good lecture — and turned into the biggest day in Shenandoah County history in a generation. On this bonus Shenandoah County Tourism episode, host Janet Michael and Kary Haun head to the historic courthouse in Woodstock to talk with Suzanne McIlwee and Kim Yeck, co-chairs of Shenandoah County Celebrates 1776 — a free, full-day VA 250 commemoration happening Saturday, June 20, 2026, hosted by the Shenandoah County Historical Society.

Suzanne and Kim walk through how a chapter-meeting idea grew into a downtown-wide event featuring the fifth great-grandson of Patrick Henry delivering "Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death" in character, the 1st and 8th Virginia Regiments encamped on East Court Street, a mounted dragoon cavalry unit doing demonstrations, lectures running simultaneously in three churches, a Williamsburg-trained cordwainer, a master gunsmith, a tape loomist, an 18th-century surveyor, period authors and book signings, kids' activities and a scavenger hunt, historical dancing on the courthouse lawn at 4 PM, museums open all day, and a special 250 Celebration Ale being unveiled. Plus shuttle and parking info, the opening ceremony schedule, and one truly pressing question: do they still need a fifer? (Yes. Yes they do.)

EVENT DETAILS — SHENANDOAH COUNTY CELEBRATES 1776

Saturday, June 20, 2026 Downtown Woodstock, Virginia • Centered on the historic courthouse, East Court Street, West Court Street, and Lawyer's Row

Free admission • Rain or shine • Family-friendly • Colonial dress encouraged

Opening ceremony: 10:00 AM at the historic courthouse (Theatre Shenandoah preview at 9:45) Event runs through the afternoon, with the historical dance on the courthouse lawn at 4:00 PM

Street closures: East Court Street and a portion of West Court Street barricaded all day; Main Street briefly closed for the opening ceremony Parking: county administration building (600 N. Main Street) with shuttle service to East Court Street, running 9:00 AM to 5:30 PM; additional parking at the old Woodstock High School lot on West Court Street and at lots throughout town

Museums open all day: historic courthouse, Marshall House, Wickham House, Ott-Magruder-Grable Museum

KICKOFF EVENT — SAVE THE DATE

Free screening of the 1776 movie — Sunday, June 14, 2026 • 4:30 PM

Co-presented by the Shenandoah County Historical Society and Woodstock Community Theatre

LINKS & RESOURCES

• Event website: shenandoah250.org

• Event Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ShenCo1776/

• Shenandoah County Historical Society — host organization, with archives and ancestry research support

• Visit Shenandoah County: VisitShenandoahCounty.com

• Play the fife? The organizers want to hear from you — contact via shenandoah250.org

THE VALLEY TODAY with Janet Michael — A decade of conversations.

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