Thousands of Newton residents packed Albemarle Field and Newton Centre Playground on July 4 for a daylong celebration of America's 250th birthday — and by late morning, the ice cream was melting faster than volunteers could scoop it.

State Rep. Amy Sangiolo, former Cabot's owner Joseph Prestejohn and City Councilor Julie Irish worked the scoops at Newton Centre Playground, while Mayor Marc Laredo and Community Services Chief John Rice handed out American flags at Albemarle Field. Fire Chief Greg Gentile and Police Chief Tim Cohoon made the rounds too.

The Bo & Bill Winiker Band anchored the main stage at Albemarle Field with American classics, while rotating acts kept the gazebo busy all day. Families brought their leashed companions out for a dog parade at the Newton Centre Bowl before the fireworks lit up the sky at dusk.

Four days later, state representatives Sangiolo and Greg Schwartz joined Laredo and District Attorney Marian Ryan at City Hall for a public reading of the Declaration of Independence — followed by the unveiling of a replica so accurate it could pass for a time machine.

"It is a faithful reproduction of the Declaration as it was printed by Ezekiel Russell in Salem in July 1776," Sangiolo said. "It was produced using a historically accurate printing press on linen and cotton paper, giving us a glimpse of what Massachusetts residents would have seen and held 250 years ago."

Newton North student Kaitlyn Morra of Nonantum sang the national anthem, plus "America the Beautiful" — written, fittingly, by Newton native Katharine Lee Bates.

In June 1776, Newton's Town Meeting voted unanimously to back independence, and roughly a third of the town's population went off to fight in the war. That same summer, town leaders gathered at the First Church Meetinghouse to read the Declaration aloud for the first time — the same document Newton just brought back to life 250 years later.

Laredo tied it together at the July 8 ceremony, saying he's proud Newton upholds "the truths that all are created equal" — as he put it — "every single day."