First anniversary, fifth anniversary, tenth, twenty-fifth, fiftieth, sixtieth … most milestone anniversaries have traditional or contemporary gifts assigned to them. What does one do to celebrate a 250th anniversary? For one thing, we become very familiar with an unusual word. The United States will celebrate its 250th birthday this year. When Newtown celebrated the 300th anniversary of its founding in 2005, the term of the year was tercentennial. This year’s big word is semiquincentennial — “semi,” for half; plus “quin,” for five; plus “centennial,” for 100 years, adding up to half of 500 years, or 250 years.

Institutions across the country will observe and celebrate ahead of July 4, 2026 with myriad presentations. The America 250 | CT Commission was established on July 1, 2022 by Governor Lamont to coordinate in-state commemorations. A small team of residents responded to the national invitation last year when they encouraged fellow Newtowners to participate in Two Lights For Tomorrow. The nationwide initiative launched anniversary events by having home- and business owners place a pair of lanterns in windows on the anniversary of Paul Revere’s legendary midnight ride to warn of the British Army marching toward Lexington and Concord. Newtown responded, with at least four historic locations on Main Street and a pair of private residences placing two lanterns in windows or on doorsteps for the overnight of April 18-19.

Newtown Poet Laureate Lauren Clifford launched a personal project last summer, when she began researching and visiting towns and cities across the state to find themes encompassing the American spirit. She is composing documentary and narrative poems to portray some of the lesser-known stories she discovers, and has already shared at least a pair of the original works. Clifford spent much of Independence Day weekend 2025 representing her hometown while participating in two events. Her inaugural composition, “American Mettle,” is a four-part poetry series focusing on the four Founding Fathers of CT who signed the Declaration of Independence: Oliver Wolcott, Samuel Huntington, Roger Sherman, and William Williams. When she read that work on July 4, 2025 at East Cemetery in Litchfield, Clifford added a few lines about Benjamin Tallmadge, leader of a network of spies who delivered military intelligence to General Washington and who is buried in the historic cemetery. Clifford’s second work was presented the following day at The Samuel Huntington Homestead in Scotland (Conn.), where the property’s namesake was born. After reading her work, Clifford happily committed treason when she accepted an invitation to sign a Declaration of Independence, adding her name right next to that of Huntington’s. We cannot wait to see the next pieces of Clifford’s project as they are released.

Ahead of this country’s 200th anniversary 50 years ago, a Newtown Bicentennial Committee had already been formed. One of its first steps was to invite artists of all levels to create a logo for themed events. Prizes included savings bonds and tickets to a Newtown Bicentennial Colonial or Heritage Ball also being organized for 1976. Other events were already well into their planning stages when January 1, 1976 arrived. Unfortunately, we are not seeing that kind of devotion shown for the 250th anniversary at local, state, nor even national levels. As with so much of life today, a large part of the low-key approach is financing. Amid significant federal cuts across the board to government staffing and spending, Connecticut received a one-time $100,000 grant for use by America 250 | CT. State Historian Andrew Horowitz, PhD, a member of the commission, told one media outlet last summer the plan is for community-based commemorations, “rather than doing town-down centralized planning emanating out of Hartford.”

This could be a year for Newtown Historical Society to shine, along with additional residents like our poet laureate, and Lynn Friedman, Meredith DeSousa and Jim O’Brien, the trio who pulled together Newtown’s Two Lights For Tomorrow efforts in April. America 250 | CT is encouraging communities to organize events sharing their unique role in the history, culture, and civics of this state. It encourages organizers to invite the public to be not only part of their events, but also part of the planning. America 250 offers an opportunity to rise above what may be holding us down mentally, physically, and/or spiritually. This year is a time to celebrate what our founding fathers saw, what they did correctly — or incorrectly, and how we can learn from those missteps — and remember why the United States remains a country filled with people proud to call this land our collective home.