By Poppy Smith

Homer Independent Press

Nearly 100 new signatures were added to the Declaration of Independence on Saturday, April 18, when attendees at the Democracy Fair were invited to sign an enlargement of the original to celebrate its 250th anniversary.

The Declaration of Independence has nearly 100 new signatories, community members who added their “John Hancocks” to an enlargement of the original 1776 document. The 250th anniversary of the Declaration was celebrated at the Democracy Fair, April 18, 2026, at the UAA Kachemak Bay Campus in Homer. (Photo by Gary Lyon)



Organizers and campus staff estimate about 200 community members visited the day-long fair at the University of Alaska Anchorage Kachemak Bay Campus to hear presentations and panels on the U.S. Constitution, local government, the Alaska judiciary and information literacy. Nine organizations had information tables in support of civic engagement in government. The Homer United Methodist Church Civic Engagement Group, League of Women Voters and Kenai Peninsula Votes sponsored the event.

Members of Veterans for Peace staff their table at the Democracy Fair, Saturday, April 18, in Homer. Earlier that day the group learned it had been granted local chapter status by the national organization. (Photo by Sinon Smith)


In addition to signing the Declaration, fair goers could craft a birthday card to the U.S.A.  The cards will be displayed around town and then sent to each of the three branches of government in Washington, D.C. Homer Council of the Arts invited people to write wishes to the country and place them on a wire mesh tree.

Cards made by fair attendees send happy birthday wishes to the United States at the Democracy Fair, Saturday, April 18 at the UAA Kachemak Bay Campus. The cards will be sent to Washington, D.C. (Photo by Sinon Smith)


A bright bugle call, the Boy and Girl Scouts color guard and the Pledge of Allegiance opened the day.


The first presentation, “Democracy and the Constitution,” featured Kachemak Campus history professor Jeff Meyers and Ginny Espenshade, former attorney and current director of Kenai Peninsula Youth Court.


Meyers defined civic engagement as “How you interact with your community and government.” Political participation, he argued, is a powerful form of civic engagement, from registering to vote, to volunteering for a political party, to even sporting a political bumper sticker. But not all civic engagement needs to be political. Going out and simply interacting with people is massively good for your health, Meyers explained. According to the professor, civic engagement “empowers people, builds community and improves quality of life.”


Espenshade took a literal approach to her presentation, calling up volunteers to help build our government and giving them actual tree branches to represent the branches of government.


“Why do we have to build a government?” she asked. “Because we won the war.”

Volunteers from the audience help Espenshade build the government at the Democracy Fair, Saturday, April 18 at the UAA Kachemak Bay Campus. (Photo by Sinon Smith)


After explaining the powers of the individual branches, Espenshade transformed  a younger volunteer into a super hero, resplendent in cape and shield, to represent the Bill of Rights. She explained that the Bill of Rights protects the 10 most important liberties considered by the Founding Fathers, including the “right of the people peaceably to assemble” as they were doing that day.

After seeing Espenshade’s demonstration, Julia Bevins said she went home and studied the Bill of Rights.


“It seems so pertinent in today’s world,” she said.


Bevins is a natural-born U.S. citizen who was raised in Australia from the age of four and never had a U.S. civics lesson or had to study to pass a test, like naturalized citizens do. She said she was “wistful” that she never had an education on how the U.S. government works.

“(From the Democracy Fair) I learned that the U.S. is not a pure democracy ,” she said, “and that the Founding Fathers wanted a blend and established a republic with a set of rules that stabilize the country.”


The next session was “Local Government 101” with a panel of Homer Mayor Rachel Lord, Heath Smith of the Homer Planning Commission, District 9 Borough Assembly Member Willy Dunne and former member of the Alaska House of Representatives Paul Seaton.


Smith encouraged others to take the same path he did to give back to the community, explaining that applications are available to anyone who wishes to serve on a city commission or board. The commissions aren’t just for adults, however, as Smith pointed out that every advisory body has an available student seat, which any interested student may apply for.


Midway through the fair, members of Pier One Theatre gave a dramatic reading of the Declaration of Independence. Emotions ran high when audience volunteers answered a roll call of the states and read off the names of the original signers who mutually pledged to each other “our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.” 

Members of Pier One Theatre give a powerful reading of the full Declaration of Independence at the Democracy Fair, Saturday, April 18 at the UAA Kachemak Bay Campus. (Photo by Sinon Smith)


The afternoon presentations resumed with “Judicial System 101” led by former Attorney General of Alaska Doug Baily and former Alaska Supreme Court Justice Warren Matthews. They described Alaska’s unique system for selecting judges on merit, rather than by only executive appointment or political election. The Alaska Judicial Council screens potential judges and recommends to voters whether they should be retained, with the governor appointing from a list of applicants the council recommends. Justice Matthews emphasized the importance of maintaining the integrity of the Council.


The last event on the docket was “Reliable Information,” presented by Dave Berry, director of the Homer Public Library; Amber Corey, information officer at the Homer Legislative Information Office; and True Ireland, a student at the UAA Kachemak Bay Campus.


Corey said the Legislative Office’s website is an extremely helpful resource for the Alaskans to keep up to date on the state legislature. She also noted that Alaska, because of its remote capital, is the only state that allows people to call in to give testimony on legislation. The website provides access to many more legal documents – bills, fiscal notes, and amendments – that are there for public viewing. Corey said anyone can sign up for text messages or emails for a bill or amendment’s status.


Berry presented on information competency, i.e. the ability to gather information, judge its trustworthiness and put it to work. He detailed that this can be achieved by evaluating one’s sources in a number of ways. Do you trust the writer? Do they seem to know what they’re talking about? Do they have any incentive to lie?


Berry also recommended focusing on the type of source. All sources can be equally credible when written correctly, but some can be more appropriate than others when it comes to using them. Sources include those such as primary, or firsthand, like witness statements, secondary, like newspapers or summaries, and tertiary, such as biographies or nonfiction writings.


Last to speak was Ireland, who spoke on media literacy and its importance. According to Ireland, media literacy is key due to the importance of media itself.


“It dictates everyone’s worldview,” he said. “It’s important to keep well-rounded media in your life.”

Kachemak Bay Campus student True Ireland addresses the audience during his presentation on media literacy at the Democracy Fair, Saturday, April 18 at the UAA Kachemak Bay Campus. (Photo by Sinon Smith)

Ireland illustrated that media is a tool of control by those in power, and therefore people must think critically about the media they consume. He stated the importance of focusing on local events that affect a person more immediately, to build personal values and to try to ignore rhetoric. Ireland ended the presentation, saying, “The world is counting on you to bring forth good media, and I hope that you do.”