New citizens take oath at Old Sturbridge Village on USA’s birthday

Angelo Falcone, dressed in a suit and a red tie, sat patiently in a folding chair Friday morning among more than 100 others in the middle of Old Sturbridge Village’s town common, occasionally waving a little American flag as he waited for the moment he has wanted most of his lifetime.

Falcone, 60, occasionally turned to look at his wife, Rhonda, who was proudly watching from the sidelines, trying to record the moment her husband got up and took the Pledge of Allegiance for the first time as an American citizen.

As the country celebrated its independence Friday, 146 people just like Falcone also eagerly anticipated the moment they finally became U.S. citizens at a ceremony at Old Sturbridge Village, the living museum in Central Massachusetts that recreates life in rural New England during the late 1700s and early 1800s.

Falcone, originally from Turin, Italy, first came to the U.S. in 1988 working as a waiter on an Italian cruise ship called the SS Galileo Galilei. After meeting his future wife on a trip to the states, the pair got married in 1997 and settled in Acton.

After spending the last 27 years traveling back and forth from the U.S. to Italy, Falcone decided it was time to finally apply for citizenship due to the struggles he faced at the American border.

“Every year I go back to Italy. One year, I did it every month, so it’s a matter of going in and out easily in this country,” he explained. “Last time I came back in, it was a terrible experience because I forgot to renew my green card, so I decided it was time to get a passport.”

Yet, to Falcone, becoming a citizen means more than just an easier time at the border.

“I feel liberated. Independent,” he added. “We need to keep the democracy alive, and if we don’t do it, who else? Right? So that’s why I’m so excited to keep up the freedom of this country. That’s what I always told about this country.”

To celebrate after the ceremony, Falcone said he planned to enjoy a traditional American cookout with hotdogs, burgers and potato salad.

“I’m gonna put my American Speedo on. Oh, it’s gonna be amazing,” he said.

Old Sturbridge Village annually hosts a naturalization ceremony where prospective U.S. citizens receive their certificates of citizenship surrounded by history, with the village’s early 19th century buildings, staff dressed in period-accurate clothes, animals and working farms.

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services randomly assigns candidates to venues for the ceremony. Some, whose citizenship interviews are completed in the weeks before the Fourth of July, are chosen for the special ceremony at Old Sturbridge Village, said Angela Giovanello, a spokesperson for the village.

At this annual ceremony, dozens of candidates take the oath of allegiance to finally become U.S. citizens and are serenaded throughout by the Old Sturbridge Village Singers and Fife and Drum corps. After taking the oath, renouncing allegiance to foreign countries, the new U.S. citizens are given their certificates of citizenship and then take the Pledge of Allegiance for the first time.

Francesco Borriello, originally from San Nicola la Strada, Italy, says he has been dreaming of becoming a U.S citizen since he was 5 years old. He has always been fascinated by the U.S. as a world-leader in scientific prowess.

Borriello and his wife, Edith Angellotti, first came to the U.S. for postdoctoral work at Harvard University and Tufts Medical Center, respectively. Unlike Falcone, Borriello was certain he wanted to become a citizen as soon as possible because he wanted to raise his family here it and it also meant furthering career goals.

“With the green card, we were able to move to the pharmaceutical industry and establish ourselves more as a family here,” Borriello said. “Of course, our kids, they were born here. For a while, they were the only citizens in our family, so the next course of action was citizenship for me and my wife.”

Now as a citizen, Borriello is excited to be able to participate in American processes that he could only spectate before now.

“Voting is exciting for sure. I think that’s when you start to have a sense of participation in the life of the country,” Borriello said. “All the things are important, but voting, I think it’s paramount for your experience as someone who lives in a township.”

After the ceremony, Borriello said he was excited to join family and friends in celebrating the hard work and perseverance it took to get here.

“It took probably more than 30 years to fulfill that childhood dream, but eventually we made it,” he concluded.

Not everyone at the ceremony was there to receive citizenship.

Maureen Ireland, from Sturbridge, attended this year’s ceremony because she wanted to feel positivity about the country amidst recent nationwide divisiveness.

“I just had to be here to see this today and pray that everything went safely,” she said.

Ireland said these ceremonies represent the idea that the U.S. was built by immigrants, and that diversity is positive.

“We all came from someplace else. It’s important to celebrate our differences, and to celebrate the true things that our country stands for,” Ireland said.