AP News, May 11th, 2007
History lovers lined up Friday to buy a postage stamp recognizing Jamestown as America's first permanent English settlement, one of several weekend events marking the site's 400th anniversary.
The commemoration will also include concerts, fireworks and a Sunday appearance by President Bush.
More than 100 white tents and several stages were set up around the Jamestown venues, giving them the feel of a county fair.
Cultural anthropologist Judith Scott, who's been collecting stamps since was 8, waited more than an hour to buy the new Jamestown issue. The 41-cent stamp's triangular shape represents the settlers' original three-sided fort and their three ships.
With her purchases tucked inside a commemorative tote bag, she and her husband, Carl, were ready to start hitting the concert stages and exhibition tents.
"We don't to miss a thing," said Scott, a Venezuela native who lives in Oakton.
Activities were taking place at Historic Jamestowne, where archaeologists in the mid-1990s found the remains of the settlers' fort, which had long been thought to have been washed away in the James River; the Jamestown Settlement museum, which has replicas of the fort, the settlers' three ships and an Indian village; and at the new Anniversary Park, across from Jamestown Settlement.
Virginia has been throwing major Jamestown bashes every 50 years, but they have been careful to call this year's event a "commemoration," rather than a celebration.
With the arrival of the English in May 1607, native Indian tribes eventually were pushed off their lands, and slavery in America is traced to Jamestown, where the first Africans in the country arrived in 1619.
This year's anniversary of the colony, which was founded as a business venture, is the first to focus on all three of those cultures.
The 1957 anniversary was a largely white affair. Blacks were involved in the 1907 anniversary exposition, held an hour away in Norfolk, which included a visit by black educator and leader Booker T. Washington on "Negro Day."
"In 2007, it's our year to get it right, to make sure everyone is at the table," Gov. Timothy M. Kaine said.
More than half of the weekend's 90,000 tickets remained unsold as of last week.
Amateur historian James Pegram of Hernando, Fla., said he planned to attend all three days.
"I love this place and I think everyone in America should be here at least once," Pegram said.
On Friday, Kaine was expected to join former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, honorary chair of Jamestown 2007, and other dignitaries at the rededication of Historic Jamestowne. He was expected to help officially ring in the weekend with a ceremony at Anniversary Park later Friday.
On Saturday, a replica of the small work boat that colonist John Smith used to explore the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries in the early 17th Century will set sail to retrace Smith's voyage.
Other highlights include a joint performance by the Virginia Symphony and Richmond Symphony orchestras to premiere works written for the commemoration and a concert headlined by Bruce Hornsby, the Williamsburg-based pianist and songwriter.
Bush will participate in ceremonies on Sunday, and the weekend will conclude with the performance of a 400-piece orchestra and a 1,607-voice choir.
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On the Net:
Jamestown 2007: http://www.Americas400thAnniversary.com.
