Daily Herald opinion: Red, white and true blue: Celebrating America’s 250th falls to all of us

“Memorial Day, you remember. Veterans Day, you honor. Fourth of July, you celebrate.”

That quote from Rudy Keller, the man behind Wheaton’s Field of Honor flag display, goes on to explain that this year organizers will be doing a bit of all three for July 4. We think it’s a fitting way to mark America’s 250th birthday — by remembering our past, by honoring those who sacrificed for our nation and by celebrating the ideals we hold dear.

As our Katlyn Smith detailed in an article published Sunday, the suburbs are going all in on Independence Day this year to mark the semiquincentennial.

Fireworks shows may be more involved. Special concerts will celebrate with patriotic music. Some towns have reduced fees for parades.

T-shirts and hats bearing the City of Wheaton America 250 logo will be sold as keepsakes there. Both Wheaton and Glen Ellyn have sponsored new murals.

And Elk Grove Village is restoring an old historic cemetery — where two Revolutionary War veterans are buried — in honor of the nation’s 250th birthday and the village’s 70th.

Activities aren’t limited to the suburbs — or July 4. Events and initiatives throughout Illinois, from museum exhibits to library programs to celebratory performances, embrace the diversity of our state and its own special history.

In announcing Illinois’ plans late last year, Gov. JB Pritzker stressed that “Illinois has been central to this democratic project.”

“From early native America tribes to the Civil War to the Civil Rights Movement to today. Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama and Ida B. Wells — the story of Illinois has always been the story of America,” he said at the time.

You can mark that with a trip to Springfield, a spin through a local history museum or even by joining one of the virtual forums at il250.org.

Organizers and vendors are doing their part creating these events, putting countless hours into planning festivals, parades, decorations and so much more. But we as Americans should do our part as well by participating in parades or cheering from the sidelines, volunteering at a festival or patronizing one with our families, promoting a municipal band or filling a park for an outdoor concert to show our support.

Remember, we are creating special memories for our children and grandchildren by involving them in this milestone. Perhaps they will look back on it fondly in the same way some of us remember America’s bicentennial 50 years ago.

And you can do that in ways big and small, from planning a vacation around historical sites in Philadelphia to creating a family time capsule to be opened years later and cherished.

Democracy, after all, requires participation.

Celebrating it does as well.