BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — Two hundred fifty years, a quarter millennium: A noteworthy achievement under any circumstances. But how does the semiquincentennial celebration compare with our excitement level in 1976? We asked people out at the Shops at River Walk what they remembered of America’s Bicentennial — even if they were clearly not old enough to have been around — and we were struck by their responses.
Fifty years ago, we were wearing tri-corner hats and waving 13-star flags, cutting red, white and blue sheetcakes, and admiring tall ships in historic American harbors.
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We had just endured one of the nation’s great traumas — Watergate, and, less than two years before the bicentennial, the first presidential resignation in American history. And yet there we were, coming together to celebrate our nation’s 200th birthday — Republicans, Democrats and everyone else, together. Our diversity was regarded as just another of our strengths.
How does that feeling of pride, unity and patriotism stack up to 2026 and an anniversary that one would think is even more noteworthy? Well, feelings are mixed…