Jul 12, 2026, 9:18 AM CT
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A reenactment of the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence, which took place on July 8, 1776, drew a standing room only crowd in front of the Kratochwill Memorial Building in Muscoda on Wednesday afternoon (July 8). The event was part of a nationwide reading of the Declaration of Independence at 5:00 p.m. in conjunction with America 250 celebrations across the USA. Over 60 people withstood the late afternoon sun to enjoy the special patriotic event.
The event was signaled to a start by the ringing of the bells at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church one-half block away. The colonial thirteen-star flag was escorted to a place of honor by a drum and fife playing Yankee Doodle Dandy. American Legion Post 85 led by Commander Tom Nondorf provided the color guard and conveyed the Stars and Stripes through the crowd. Emcee Ken Thiede welcomed everyone and another musical selection “Cape Cod Girls” was played.
The Declaration of Independence was read by a re-enactor portraying Lt. Col. John Nixon. Owen Clark, soon to be a fourth-grade student at Riverdale Schools, led the Pledge of Allegiance and then a group sing-along of America the Beautiful followed. After the colors were retired, Mrs. Elizabeth Davis Nixon served refreshments in the village hall. The period attire was provided by the Community Players of Southwestern Wisconsin based in Richland Center. The re-enactors included Jason Troxel on drum, Chris Simonson on fife, Dan “Canada” Killam as flagbearer, Ken Thiede as historian and Master of Ceremonies,
Teri Werren as Mrs. Elizabeth Davis Nixon and Mark Cupp as Lt. Col. John Nixon. Many thanks to the Village of Muscoda for use of the Kratochwill Building and to American Legion Post 85 for providing the color guard. And thank you to all who attended.
Adam Hess has been involved in radio broadcasting since 1990, with many of those years spent on the air at WRCO FM in Richland Center. Currently, Adam hosts the Weekend Wake-up and Prime Mover Saturdays on WRCO FM, jumps in and helps out with news duties, handles Social Media duties for WRCO and WRCE, and is the Director of Technology at a Southwest Wisconsin School District. Reach him at adam.hess@civicmedia.us.
Tim Thiede is a Muscoda native who earned a degree in Radio/TV/Film from UW-Oshkosh where he decided to return to school as a non-traditional student. Since graduating in 2013 Tim has been working in radio previously in Reedsburg before being hired at WRCO in 2021. Besides being an on-air personality Tim also assists in the news department, engineers sports broadcasts and helps out wherever needed.
