Wednesday, Sep 26, 2007
Hot Springs National Park hosted a naturalization ceremony on September 21, 2007, in which 24 people became new American citizens. These men and women originally came from countries as widespread as Germany, Vietnam, Poland, India, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Moldova, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Ukraine, Canada, El Salvador, and Madagascar.
“We are thrilled that from this day forward these new citizens will connect with national parks and monuments and historic sites and battlefields as places that belong to them and their offspring,” said Hot Springs National Park Superintendent Josie Fernandez.
Superintendent Fernandez, herself a naturalized citizen born in Cuba, was the keynote speaker during the event. She invited every new citizen to visit and get to know Hot Springs National Park and the other 390 units in the National Park System. In her remarks, she said, “These are your parks; this is your legacy as Americans. It is a legacy which began here at Hot Springs National Park and will endure only if you take on the responsibility to protect it and preserve it for future generations.”
Fernandez reminded everyone that as an American, they can be anything they want to be. She cited the current Director of the National Park Service, Mary Bomar, a naturalized citizen who was born in England, as an example of the boundless possibilities that await every citizen of the United States.
This special ceremony marked a new beginning for these newest Americans and provided the community an opportunity to recommit to their own sense of citizenship and duty to this great country.
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