Honoring Our Past, Celebrating Our Future. That is the theme of the annual Fourth of July celebration and parade in our small hometown. Each year, our village of just 220 residents welcomes between 4,000 and 5,000 visitors as friends, neighbors, high school alumni, rodeo enthusiasts, and classic car lovers gather to celebrate together.
This year, the theme seems especially fitting. Across the country, Americans are commemorating 250 years of freedom with celebrations centered on our nation's founding. As communities large and small come together to mark this milestone, we are reminded of the generations who built the foundations we enjoy today and of our responsibility to leave something meaningful for those who follow.
I have often thought that if communities could take the Clifton Strength…