There's still time to share ideas to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States

Virginia will celebrate the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States in 2026 and work is underway by the Northern Neck 250 Committee to develop a regional plan.

The committee continues to solicit input from the public via their online survey about ways to commemorate the anniversary. The survey will be open through October 1 at least.

In broad strokes, we can expect the following from the committee between now and early 2023:

• Reporting out to the community about the August open house. The committee will share photos and the overarching goals and objectives of the effort to enlist the support and participation of partner organizations.
• Incorporating public feedback, comments, and ideas through October 1 and perhaps longer.
• Engaging tourism-related organizations in a region-wide event in January 2023.

It bears repeating that the Virginia American Revolution 250 Commission has set the tone for the commemoration:

In Virginia, the American Revolution was a war, and more than a war…it was a Revolution of Ideas…

Ideas that created a nation - legal, political, military, and social;

Ideas for expressions of liberty – not only from colonists but also from enslaved people seeking freedom and Native Americans asserting sovereignty;

Ideas to ensure property rights of American colonists seeking to end excessive British taxation;

Ideas to permanently establish religious freedom;

Ideas that produced a promise of equality in the Declaration of Independence, participation in government as delineated in the Constitution, and protections defined in the Bill of Rights