MLB Game Begins Countdown to America's 250th Anniversary

It's three years until the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary, but festivities are already starting.

The anniversary push will be formally launched on Tuesday with an event during the Major League Baseball game between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Chicago Cubs at American Family Field in Milwaukee. The organization spearheading the celebration, known as America250, will start recruiting people to share their stories of what the country means to them.

America250, a nonpartisan organization created by Congress in 2016 to mark the anniversary, will oversee that process.

An "America's Invitation" launch video and a press conference was held before the game, and fans could visit a booth on the concourse and record a video telling their own American story.

"America's 250th anniversary belongs to all of us, and we want everyone to have the opportunity to be a part of it. That's why we're launching the countdown to 2026 with America's Invitation: an invitation for all Americans to share their own unique American stories and their hopes for our future," said Rosie Rios, chair of the U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission and former treasurer of the United States in a press release.

"Commemorating America's 250th is a chance to pause and reflect on our nation's past, to honor the contributions made by generations of Americans, and to envision the future we want to create for the next generation and beyond," Rios said. "We're honored to launch this effort in the nation's heartland at American Family Field as we build momentum and excitement on this multi-year journey to 2026."

The country is headed toward the anniversary date as it remains riven politically,

Before the U.S. reaches its semiquincentennial, it will have to survive the 2024 presidential election, which is shaping up to be as divisive as its prior two contests.

Times also were fraught in the run-up to the country's 1976 bicentennial celebration, which came two years after Richard Nixon resigned his presidency over the Watergate scandal and convulsions over the end of the Vietnam War. It followed a decade that saw the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr.

But Rios has fond memories of that celebration as an 11-year-old in Northern California. She watched old-fashioned sailing ships gather in Boston and New York harbors on her family's black-and-white television, and she visited the national Freedom Train exhibit when it stopped in Oakland. And, of course, she remembers the fireworks.

"I couldn't have been more proud than that evening to be an American, and I want my kids to feel the same way," Rios said in an interview.

Rios said she hopes the 2026 celebrations have a similar effect, regardless of national fights.

"I feel like we'll be successful if as many Americans as possible feel like this is the land of opportunity," Rios said.

The July Fourth event was the formal kickoff for planning for the celebrations.

It has already enlisted the neighborhood app Nextdoor and the YWCA as partners.

"We certainly have ideas," Rios said, "but we'd like to hear ideas from students. We'd love to hear ideas from all parts of the country."

Newsmax staffer Jack Gournell contributed.