{"id":191075,"date":"2026-02-24T06:23:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T06:23:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/191075\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T06:23:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T06:23:07","slug":"spirit-of-liberty-kicks-off-americas-250th-at-air-space-museum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/191075\/","title":{"rendered":"Spirit of Liberty kicks off America\u2019s 250th at Air & Space Museum"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"A<\/a>Birthday party guests dressed up for the occasion. (Photo by Diana Garcia\/San Diego Air & Space Museum)<\/p>\n

Patriotism and a birthday cake as big as the nation\u2019s legacy marked Monday\u2019s debut of Celebrate America 250!, the yearlong observance of the United States\u2019 250th birthday, at the San Diego Air & Space Museum<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Hosted by Rancho Santa Fe-based Spirit of Liberty Foundation<\/a>, the event\u2019s backdrop included a reproduction of John Trumbull\u2019s famous painting of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and 20-foot-tall \u201cHeart of America\u201d inflatable balloon to honor everyday heroes. <\/p>\n

The ceremony featured remarks by a General George Washington reenactor and speech by San Diego State University history professor Edward Blum, who introduced the new George Washington Medal of Freedom. <\/p>\n

\u201cAmerica\u2019s 250th\u00a0Birthday is important, but without George Washington\u2019s\u00a0leadership, and the Continental Army and the Patriots who defeated the then greatest military in the world \u2013 England \u2013 there would be no American Declaration of Independence,\u201d said\u00a0Richard Rovsek, chairman of the\u00a0Spirit of Liberty Foundation.\u00a0\u201cWe thank our Armed Forces from 1776 to today for keeping America and the world free!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>A George Washington reenactor delivers remarks about the birth of the nation. (Photo by Diana Garcia\/San Diego Air & Space Museum)<\/p>\n

Attendees witnessed the ringing of America\u2019s Freedom Bell, which contains bronze and steel salvaged from the 9\/11 Twin Towers, organizers said. <\/p>\n

A military chaplain blessed the three-tiered America\u2019s birthday cake decorated with portraits of the founding fathers topped with a bald eagle. The Sons and Daughters of the American Revolution cut the cake, with Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts serving it to attendees.<\/p>\n

\"Patriotic<\/a>The cake was decorated with portraits of the founding fathers topped with a bald eagle. (Photo by Diana Garcia\/San Diego Air & Space Museum)<\/p>\n

\u201cCelebrating America on its 250th\u00a0year birthday is absolutely critical to remembering our excellence as a nation,\u201d said\u00a0Jim Kidrick, president & CEO of the San Diego Air & Space Museum. \u201cOur past and our future are dependent on fulfilling the precepts and goals of a free nation, pursuing life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Accordingly, it\u2019s time now to chart our future like no time before, ensuring the sanctity of our past and the joy of our future!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Birthday party guests dressed up for the occasion. (Photo by Diana Garcia\/San Diego Air & Space Museum) Patriotism…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":191076,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[30705,24687,89603,74,67305,76,75],"class_list":["post-191075","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-birthday","tag-celebrations","tag-declaration-of-independence","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-air-space-museum","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191075","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=191075"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191075\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/191076"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=191075"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=191075"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=191075"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}