Welcome to America - Officially!

On Feb. 25, at 11 a.m., local resident Daphne Braden officially became an American during a Naturalization Ceremony held at the Broome County Courthouse on Court Street in Binghamton.

With the Honorable Molly Reynolds Fitzgerald presiding, Braden was one of 37 new citizens that took the oath and became a U.S. Citizen.

Braden, who was born in Saint John, New Brunswick Canada in 1952, moved to Montreal when she was nine years old. In September of 1993, Braden moved to Minnesota.

Because of a transfer within her employment, Braden ended up in the Owego area in 1997. With many opportunities to relocate once again, Braden decided to stay - she had fallen in love with the Owego area. "The people here are wonderful, and this area has so much to offer," said Braden. "And I'm proud to live in the Coolest Small Town in America!"

But the time came for Braden to officiate her residency, and she began to prepare for her Naturalization.

According to Braden, there were 100 questions from which to study, and the test consisted of ten of those questions ranging from the simpler ones (i.e. name the ocean that is on the west coast of the U.S.), to the first one that Daphne found on her test which was: What is the "rule of law"? The correct answer was one of the following: 1) everyone must follow the law; 2) Leaders must obey the law; 3) Government must obey the law; or 4) No one is above the law.

The test was given orally and the officer administering the test wrote down, word-for-word, all of Braden's responses. With a need to get six out of ten correct to pass, Braden aced the first six, thus ending the test after the sixth correct answer.

And for Daphne, becoming an American means everything. "Becoming a citizen was very important to me because now I can participate at every level both in my community and nationally," said Braden. "I am now able to vote and serve on a jury, which I feel is very significant and means more than a duty to me."

Congratulations Daphne! And welcome, officially, to America!

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