ABOUT
America 250 PA Berks
250th ANNIVERSARY
2026 will mark the 250th Anniversary of our nation's founding. To observe this momentous occasion, the U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission will encourage Americans to remember our past, celebrate the present, and look forward to a promising future.
America250 is the largest and most inclusive celebration in our nation's history. A four-part framework guides the programming that will mark the anniversary of our founding.
INVITE:
America250 will extend an invitation to all Americans to commemorate 250 years, the longest stretch of any continuous democracy in the world.
INVOLVE:
For this commemoration, we are committed to involving as many Americans as possible, from every background and every community.
IMAGINE:
There's no more powerful resource in the world than imagination and America250 aims to tap into every American's hopes, dreams, and ideas in order to honor our past 250 years and shape our next 250.
INSPIRE:
We want to activate and unleash the American spirit, so that our descendants can look back on us 250 years from now and see the effects that we made on the course of our nation at this critical moment in history.
ABOUT
Berks County Commissioner Christian Leinbach serves as part of the America250PA County Advisory Committee as well as the Chair of the America250PABerks Committee.
“The Declaration of Independence is the foundational document of this Republic. Without the Declaration the purpose of government cannot be clearly understood. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men (people) are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men…” Our purpose is to promote and celebrate the principles contained within the Declaration of Independence for all.”
Steering Committees
Agriculture Committee
Chair: Emily Wangolo
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Liberty Bells Committee
Ryan Bradley
History Committee
Chair: Laurel Miller
Ben Neely
George Meiser
Lisa Meredith Unrath
Mary Ellen Heckman
Tom Stokes
Oral History Committee
Lisa Meredith Unrath
Stephanie Jacobs
Transportation Committee
Chair: Steve Wysowski
Phyllis Mitchell
Carol Adams
Joan Hannahoe
Kendra Cook
Underground Railroad Committee
Pastor Robert Brookins
Stephanie Jacobs
Phyllis Mitchell
Wynton Butler
Dr. Tamara Smith
Van Gilyard
Chaplin Barbara Cumberbatch-Harris
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Arts & Culture Committee
Justin Heimbecker
Amanda Ehst
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Website Committee
Chair: Heather Adams
Mary Ellen Heckman
Jared Millard