Celebrations are starting to kick off for America’s 250th Birthday

WEST FARGO, N.D. (KVRR) — This year marks America’s 250th Birthday. Across the country, many have planned exhibits, speakers, and outings to celebrate this historic moment. Including in both North Dakota and Minnesota.

“We’ll have somebody in a British red being prepared to be dunked in a dunk tank. We also have copies of the Declaration of Independence that will be printed in our print shop here, the Hunter Times, as well as different other trivia throughout that. And then in August, we have an exhibit coming. It’s a traveling exhibit that is a collaboration between the Daughters of the American Revolution and the American Battlefield Trust,” said Beth Jansen, Executive Director of Bonanzaville USA.

The exhibit, known as The American Revolution Experience, will display the effects of the revolution on people during and after. Jansen explained that Bonanzaville was approached with the traveling exhibit two years prior by the Daughters of the American Revolution. And just six weeks ago, they were approved. But Jansen also shared that they will be splitting up their time with the exhibit with the Fargo Public Library.

“It still is a very obviously important part of our history because we would not be here as a state, we would not be here as people had it not been for the American Revolution…so we’re going from this time period, the prairie time period, back even further to the American Revolution,” said Jansen.

Across the river, Moorhead Parks and Recreation and the Historical and Cultural Society of Clay County are co-hosting a community potluck at Viking Ship Park.

“We want as many people to come from the area and share their own cultural traditions and ways of celebrating because July 4, 1776, was our independence. And the founding fathers wrote that this would be a day of picnicking and celebration and fireworks,” said Laura Forde, Executive Director, Historical & Cultural Society of Clay County.

While Clay County did not exist in 1776, Forde explains that sharing the history and moving forward still relate to today.

“Even though what is officially Minnesota was not here at the time of the Revolution, there were people here. There were people that were chasing those same realities and dreams and hopes for their lives, and it’s still true today,” said Forde.

For more information on events in your area, you can find it here.