As the United States turns 250 years old, Americans across the country are spending the holiday thinking about what the big birthday means to them, with reflections and celebrations as diverse as the nation itself.NPR's member station reporters fanned out to collect snapshots of the occasion from sea to shining sea.At least two cities in the U.S.call themselves the "City of Presidents" and Cuba City, in Wisconsin, is one of them, largely due to its patriotic Main Street decorations.Every year from Memorial Day through Veteran's Day, red, white, and blue shields, one for each U.S.
president, are prominently displayed high up on the light poles lining Main Street.It's a tradition that began in 1976 to commemorate the country's bicentennial, says Donna Rogers, who is president of the ongoing project but admitted that when it first started, she wasn't particularly tuned-in to the display."I was raising three little boys and working at John Deere, so I didn't really pay too much attention to community service at that time," she said.A few years later, she was tapped to help keep the initiative alive.When she thinks of the country's history, she says the signing of the Declaration of Independence and abolition of slavery top her list, plus a current event–"Of course, now, our nation's 250th birthday.I think those three would be the three most important things in history to me," she said, quickly adding "[the] right for women to vote, don't forget that, right?"Rogers and Cuba City are pulling out all the stops for the 250th, with a parade and a mac-and-cheese festival, because "that was some of our founding fathers favorite foods, along with turkey and cranberries and other items."She laughed and admitted she googled that.
True or not, Rogers says they'll go all-out to celebrate the 250th in her "City of Presidents".WUWM's Susan Bence reported from Cuba City, Wisconsin.At the Georgia state finals of the National Civics Bee, middle school students were peppered with que...