Tri-Hamlet 250th Committee Launches Plans to Celebrate America’s Semiquincentennial in Grand Style
As the United States approaches its 250th birthday next year, a dedicated group of community leaders, educators, and local officials has come together to ensure the Tri-Hamlet area—Mastic, Shirley, and Moriches—marks the milestone with the honor and historical significance it deserves. The newly formed Tri-Hamlet 250 Committee is planning a multi-year celebration that culminates on July 4, 2026, with events that spotlight the community’s rich Revolutionary War heritage and its most prominent patriot, William Floyd.
“Our goal is to plan a celebration befitting the legacy of William Floyd and the William Floyd Estate,” said committee coordinator Bill Doyle. “This isn’t just a birthday party for the country—it’s an opportunity to tell the story of one of our own, a man who quite literally put his life on the line for our freedom.”
Floyd was the first New Yorker to sign the Declaration of Independence and remains one of the most under-recognized founding fathers. Through public education and community engagement, the committee hopes to change that. “We want people to understand the courage it took to sign that document, and why William Floyd’s signature mattered—not just to our area, but to the entire nation,” Doyle said.
Leading up to July 2026, the committee is organizing a series of events, beginning with a kickoff celebration called Fire Up for Freedom on July 19, 2025, at the Mastic Beach Property Owners Association on Neighborhood Road. Other planned events include concerts, parades, and William Floyd’s birthday celebrations, all intended to engage residents and elevate the Tri-Hamlet area’s historic profile.
The committee’s objectives are as ambitious as they are community-minded. They include establishing the MBPOA property as the celebration’s headquarters, with the William Floyd Estate—the only original home of a Declaration signer in New York—serving as the celebration’s focal point. The estate, managed by the National Park Service under Fire Island National Seashore, will be supported by a temporary visitor center at the MBPOA during the holiday period.
A celebration feature will be a new monument at Patriots Preserve Park in Shirley, featuring a bronze replica of the Declaration of Independence mounted on granite. The project, championed by Brookhaven Supervisor Dan Panico, is scheduled to be unveiled in time for the semiquincentennial. “Our monument will rival the one at Boston Common,” Panico said. “We’re proud to honor the local heroes who played such an important role in our country’s founding.”
Panico credited funding for the monument to a combination of a state grant arranged years ago by former Congressman Lee Zeldin and then-Senator Tom Croci, as well as community benefit funds from the Sunrise Wind energy project.
The celebration will also pay tribute to Brigadier General Nathaniel Woodhull, William Floyd’s brother-in-law; Major Benjamin Tallmadge, George Washington’s head of intelligence; and Col. William Tangier Smith, the Lord of the Manor of St. George.
Another key priority is logistical coordination, particularly around traffic and parking, which will require collaboration between the William Floyd School District, the Town of Brookhaven, and Suffolk County. A separate working group will focus on educational initiatives, teaming up with local school districts, BOCES, and the Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library to develop classroom programs centered on William Floyd and the nation's founding.
“The celebration is about more than just fireworks and fanfare,” said Doyle. “It’s about raising awareness, boosting civic pride, and maybe even increasing property values by showing that we are a community rooted in history.”
With strong support from the Town of Brookhaven, particularly its Historian’s office and Council District 6 representative Karen Dunne-Kesnig, the committee actively encourages more residents to get involved. “We sincerely hope others will want to be a part of this important initiative,” Doyle said.
As the calendar counts down to July 4, 2026, the Tri-Hamlet 250 Committee is making sure that when the country celebrates its 250th year of independence, the Bay Area will stand proudly at the center of the story.