250 years

Next year our country will celebrate its "semiquincentennial," and you have to admit that does not exactly roll off the tongue.

It's the term used for commemorating 250 years, and for the U.S. it will be the 250th anniversary of the signing of the United States Declaration of Independence.  

According to my cursory research, there will be commemorative coins and stamps, and various activities and celebrations will take place leading up to July 4, 2026.

I will date myself here, but I was around for the last big event like this 50 years ago, "The Bicentennial," which was a lot easier to say than semiquincentennial. In fact, it was the year I graduated from high school and much of our graduation memorabilia contained patriotic memorabilia and symbols. After all, we were the "Bicentennial Class."

I can't tell if this 250-year commemoration is going to be the shindig the Bicentennial was. 

Longtime (and blog) friend Kelly and I were part of a "Bicentennial Chorale," a group of a dozen-or-so singers chosen from our top high school choir. We wore period costumes and while I believe the intent was for it to be a group that supplemented the big choir and sang a few patriotic numbers here and there, it took on a life of its own as we sang all over the area at other schools, churches, civic clubs, business meetings and parades. 

By the time the year was done, I believe we had performed close to 100 times. (My memory might be a little fuzzy, if not exaggerated, but I do remember being very busy with this group.) 

We sang the typical patriotic songs like "God Bless America," America the Beautiful" and "This is My Country," but as I recall, we also performed a little one-act play with some original music. Again, the memory is faulty. 

I know we had a lot of fun and enjoyed singing around town. It was a different time, of course, and who knows what a "Semiquincentennial Chorale" would look (or sound) like?