U.S. SEMIQUINCENTENNIAL CELEBRATION PLANNERS WANTED

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V17 2014 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 17, Number 43, October 19, 2014, Article 20

Tom Kays submitted these thoughts on organizing a celebration for a upcoming 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. -Editor

Ron Abler, recent e-book author and researcher of the Medals of the 1876 American Centennial noted over a Dos Mundos IPA microbrew, that Philadelphia did a dandy job hosting the festivities in 1876, but we as a nation just couldn’t get it together in 1976 for the Bicentennial, where every state and Congressman wanted to party in their own district, rather than holding a big, national event, akin to a World’s Fair in Philadelphia.

Here we go again with the Semiquincentennial (Quadra-milennial?) or 250th Birthday Bash which looms a scant twelve years away. We barely have time to plan the event, and Ron is adamant that Philadelphia should host a major event on par with the Centennial festivities of 1876.

Time to mount a letter writing campaign to the Mayor of Philadelphia, the Governor of Pennsylvania, and any Federal Commissions that may be charged with noting a quarter millennium of American freedom has passed by, that it still means something, and is worth celebrating, with perhaps a Philadelphia Freedom Fair and issuance of a series of medals recreating the grandeur of those 1876 Centennial medals. By now the copyrights must have expired, right? Just change "187_" to "202_" and there you go. I assert the central pavilion must be named after Ron Abler (and any corporate sponsor(s)), who just may save the nation further embarrassment by getting this party started.

So, fellow American E-Sylum readers, what do you think? How could we kickstart a campaign for a 250th birthday party? Letters and phone calls still work, but in this age of Facebook and Twitter there's a lot of ground to cover in the online world as well. To gauge interest, someone could start a petition as Change.org. If enough interest is shown, perhaps a Kickstarter campaign could raise money to hire a lobbyist. To get involved, email me at whomren@gmail.com and I'll put you in touch with Tom and Ron. -Editor